The Cave of Magical Squink!

Sale stuff

2010-01-27T18:47:00.004Z

All items for sale, if you are interested in any of these, drop me an email via www.squinky.co.uk or via Twitter @squink

All items have been displayed and are in excellent condition, packaging is all opened, and not perfect, but not bad (except the biskup egg which was ripped) Packaging only included where pictured.

Tokidoki Tiger

£10 posted in UK, bit more overseas

Mono Ledbetter Sluggonadon with card, which is slightly creased.

£15 posted in UK, bit more overseas.

Vinyl super mario bros mushrooms

£12 posted in uk for the set. Large one has a mark, which may be removable with a magic eraser or something.

Biskup Town Crier 8" Qee with slight nose rub (hardly visible)

£40 posted in UK

Biskup wrecker panda 2.5" Qee

£10 posted in UK

Biskup Polska Egg Qee

Boxed.

£45 posted in UK

2010-01-11T17:39:00.001Z

This blog is no longer maintained, for Squink! updates check http://chrissquink.wordpress.com/ :)

Mini fig clearout

2009-06-05T20:46:00.008+01:00

Well, I'm slimming down my collection, and trying to just keep bigger vinyl, so these have to go... If you are interested in any, drop me a message via the e-mail address on www.squinky.co.uk or message me on Twitter @squink for a price. :)

All have been carefully displayed, Cris Rose custom is called Little Nightmare and is around 3" tall.

Wordpress Blogging

2009-05-04T16:22:00.002+01:00

I'm in the process of setting up over on wordpress.com. The new blog address is http://chrissquink.wordpress.com so anyone that has this bookmarked, or follows, note that it probably won't be getting updated after today and all news will now be on wordpress instead. :)

Thanks!

Seishin 2 & Killer Figs

2009-05-03T21:57:00.003+01:00

Just finished off the second wave of Seishin custom Dunnys (see pic) Hope you like them, again, really enjoyed doing these! Finding out from @jamesyeah that Games Workshop have stopped making Tentacle Pink was pretty devastating though, my favourite colour of theirs, looks like I'll be mixing my own in future! I'm on a quest to find new bands at the moment, I hate feeling there are amazing bands out there I haven't heard yet! If any of you lot have any suggestions for bands/singers you think i'd like send links/names my way via the comments :) I'm blaupraust on Last.fm if you don't know what kind of music I like. Currently listening to Blue Foundation, who remind me a little of Mew, not bad at all! (Thought I hear one of their songs is on the Twilight soundtrack)

Short blog tonight as I'm not feeling too great (must be something I ate) So for now, here's the new Dunny's they go up tomorrow (Monday) at 7pm BST. :)

Risque Banquet

2009-05-02T20:39:00.003+01:00

Wow, It's bank holiday weekend again, which means screaming children are already lining the streets, searching the gutters for grains of sand to create some kid of holiday memory, while their parents wade around a basement full of money they are saving for a rainy day. Yes indeed, these are the very same people that have destroyed the economy and doomed us all, That's if the piggy flu doesn't get us first. Actually, I jest, I'm not really that mean/bitter. However the media do annoy me with their needless scaremongering, so much in fact that not only am I not going to buy a newspaper for the next few weeks, but I'm going to shout abuse at every single newspaper I see for the next few days, so there! Let that be a lesson to those journalists with too much flu ridden time on their hands.

Oh, That's right, I'm writing a blog here, not waging a mini war on bad words by bad people. So... I'm just about finished with the second wave of custom Dunnys, which will be the last set for a while. I'll get pics up once they're all finished, and let you know how to get your hands on them very soon. Really enjoying painting at the moment and a lot

of love has gone into these, my heart is now fully back in it, and I really hope it shows in my work :) The mini Uglydoll custom I finished on Thursday, complete with single tooth (pretty useless for eating anything other than candy floss/chips can be seen below! Hope you like it!

In my quest to start fresh with my life, after the recent changes I went and ordered a bike (pushbike), which I'm hoping i'll still be able to ride, since I haven't so much as gone within 4 feet of one since I was about 12 (and even then I was constantly falling off it and tearing open parts of my knee, by mistake..of course) So now I'll be hitting the roads, in a silly helmet, possibly with bunny ears attached to add to the level of comedy as I try hard to pedal at high speed, crawling along like a crippled squirrel.

Until next time..!

New stuff and nonsense!

2009-04-24T09:00:00.006+01:00

Wow, what's going on? I go to bed late, set my alarm for early, and still somehow wake up at 6:30 for no reason. Something is amiss! Possibly excited about having a cup of Assam, picked it up yesterday after being recommended it by James Yeah in my search for a coffee like alternative to tea (yes really) It's not like coffee, but really what was I expecting?? After my beans mostly failed other than the 4 I put out last week, I tried to 'chit' a few in a small box with damp paper, planted those and every single one has sprouted perfectly! Now I have more growing than I know what to do with! There will be no shortage of runner beans here as long as the frost holds off..

Finished the customs for my blind boxes set yesterday (see below) Hope you like them :)

Mysterious Quectangle

2009-04-15T20:57:00.003+01:00

Hello!

It's been a quiet week here, I apologize for the lack of blogging, had a lot to sort out and it's been quite stressful so I thought it wrong to take my fury out here (I know I usually enjoy a good rant but it seemed better to give it a rest on this occasion) This is the first night for almost a week I haven't had nervous muscle twitches in my face.

Finally got a mouse sorted for the Mac, which meant AT LAST I could put down that Wacom pen and enjoy using a flattened hand to control the screen based small arrow that seems to dictate life to so many at this point in history. I picked up a 2nd hand Pro mouse off Ebay since the new Mighty Mouse seems so problematic, not to mention expensive. It's definitely going to take some getting used to the lack of a 2nd mouse button and scroll wheel, but I tend to adjust to change fairly quickly so it should be fine. :) oh! I also managed to cut caffeine out of my life for a few days while I was trying to kill this nervous stress related twitching, happy to say I had no withdrawal symptoms other than craving the taste of coffee a little on the second day. No headaches, fatigue or anything like that though. See! I'm no addict!! The cup on the 3rd day was probably the best I've ever had though.. Not because I was in need of a hit so badly, just erm...well, just because I love the taste of coffee so much. Which always leads me to wonder why, if I enjoy coffee so much, I hate most coffee based edibles, chocolates, cakes....coffee doesn't work for me in any form except CUP BASED & Good old chocolate coated coffee beans. You know the ones, they leave bits of bean between your teeth for weeks afterwards, regardless of brushing frequency and vigorousness.

The runner beans I've been attempting to grow have pretty much failed except for 4 that grew, the rest of the beans rotted in the soil, pretty disappointing, but should be able to salvage something at least. Of the 4 that are growing, 2 are fairly poor, but 2 have gone crazy and are already up to around 30cm in height. really need to get them planted out now with a cane support before they fall over! Bamboo canes also make great tools for lightsabre battles when their usefulness as supports is over.

I'll be working on a whole load of new customs over the next couple of weeks, my new website design is also almost done, just need to get some work re-photographed for it before it goes live. I do enjoy doing site designs, unfortunately my knowledge of Dreamweaver remains fairly basic, I see a web design course in my future...

Until next time! Have a great day/evening/night!

Vimto Paradise

2009-04-07T19:26:00.008+01:00

Kids, why must you mock me with your youth?

I'm still coming to terms with being single for the first time in 6 years and figuring out where to go with my life, I toyed with the option of going to uni, both to learn a little more and also to meet like minded people from the area who might be possible future collaborators. However the cost of such a venture at this point would be high, and I don't feel like I'm in the right position right now.. So onto the next, which is updating my folio and trying to find an agent of some kind to help me find work, illustration, design, whatever.

Whatever I do, I want to start traveling more, see more of the world, and take in more inspiration from nature, people and places rather than being stuck behind a desk with stale ideas. It's not a great way to progress so I want out. I've been spending a lot of time trying to grow flowers, and runner beans, they've just sprouted and it's quite a nice feeling. It's not something I've ever had any interest in really, but i can see why people get caught up in their allotments, it's really quite relaxing, and the rewards are great. I need to balance this with work, and hopefully it should lead to me feeling fulfilled for the first time in a while.

I'm currently working on an 8" Dunny that was commissioned a while back, to be finished over the next few days, Then i'll be putting together a new blind boxed series of around six 3" Dunnys. As well as this though I'm heading back into graphic design, where I started. I love painting, and it's a great way to get characters out of my head, but I do miss my grids and typography a lot!

I've been clearing out the loft over the past few days and have the first of many e-bay auctions up now, you can find my stuff here: http://shop.ebay.co.uk/merchant/blaupraust

Here's a peek at my latest custom so far... Hope you like it! Have a great week, I'll blog as soon as I have interesting news, or I buy branded beans!

Crumpets!!

2009-04-03T20:21:00.008+01:00

I've been busy the past couple of nights working on new customs, a pair of Dunnys I'm calling Crumpets! (pictured below) I'm actually enjoying painting again at the moment, probably because I'm getting out in the garden too so it's breaking up the work a little. It is meant to get wet and windy again soon though so I'm hoping my seedlings pull through!

New customs both lovingly sprayed with Montana Gold and painted in acrylics.

Working on a new website soon, which will have a new gmail e-mail address and hopefully will result in an end to the ridiculous issues I've had lately with port blocking by my isp.

Hope you in the UK are enjoying the sunshine while it lasts!

I'm semi back..

2009-03-31T19:29:00.004+01:00

After a struggle against the world of Apple and it's special cables (meaning I didn't have any I could use to connect to an existing VGA connection on my monitor) I finally have something set up and working albeit on reduced screen due to resolution issues. I have a load of Dunnys ready to prime, and a couple of commissions to finish, the bulk of old work is finished, and the rest should be done very soon. I have however managed to completely screw my back doing garden based things..So rest is in order or i'll be out of it for even longer. Damn.

In my quest to find interesting things to do outside of the studio, I bought a propagator, some runner bean seeds, marigold seeds and set them to grow, as well as re-potting my cacti into bigger pots... They've been prisoners of cheap plastic pots for far too long! Hopefully this will be a small hobby for me as well as growing credit crunch busting food.. We'll see! It does say that runner beans are perfect for children to grow, if they fail, I'll weep..

No custom ictures today, but I should have some new ones done this week if my back gets better, I lean over in a rather odd way to paint (probably contributed to the damage in the first place) as this helps me with the small details. Fingers crossed painting should resume in the next couple of days... But damn, right now this is agony.

Currently listening to the Kitsune Tabloid by Phoenix, a nice eclectic selection on there, it comes recommended!

Hope you're all having a good start to the week!

Demolition!

2009-03-26T17:33:00.008Z

Well, just 2 days to go before I'm truly single and will be starting to organize what will now truly become a working studio. I'll be setting up a light tent for pics, and also picking up a new best friend in the form of a fish... I'm not sure what kind yet, but it will be some form of fresh water one I'd imagine as I think I'd end up killing anything tropical (by mistake obviously!) I'll be asking for suggestions for the name here and via my Twitter (Is that too much like something they'd do on Blue Peter?)

I have a few Dunnys left here to prime and spray, so lots to keep me busy over the coming week..Obviously keep an eye on my Flickr/Twitter for news on when they become available. My website as you'll have noticed, hasn't been updated in a while... I've been having extreme Dreamweaver issues so for now at least, all new work and latest customs will appear here first. Once it's sorted and updatable again I'll post up here, or you will probably notice, I am considering doing a brand new site at some point this year if time permits.

Received an awesome chunk of vinyl this morning from 64colors, the vintage edition of Marshall (pictured below) is limited to 500 and available now from 64colours direct, or Rotofugi.

Huge thanks to Moo.com for featuring my T-shirt tags in their newsletter today! If you don't know who Moo are, I thoroughly recommend checking them out at www.moo.com

Also I'll be working on a couple of Google themes as suggested by @a20261 on Twitter... Expect a lot more from me in the weeks to come..

Beards are cool!

2009-03-24T10:41:00.002Z

There seems to be a funny little obsession for beards between illustrators, designers, and toy designers, it's an interesting thing, but I get a large number of requests for bearded characters. Last night I picked up one of the Dunny's I have base coated and let loose with complete disregard for those who prefer a clean shaven face.

I hope you like how Sweech turned out! A lush Milka purple with glittery ears and painted with acrylics, including a lovely and shiny metallic silver. I haven't added this one to my store yet, but if you would like to pick it up, drop me a message asap via my Flickr account. I've priced this one up at just £20 posted worldwide.

Now I better get back to drinking green tea (mainly out of guilt for the huge coffee I had this morning) But dare I say...the stuff is growing on me.. Not literally.

Sooooooooo It's Friday again.

2009-03-20T18:50:00.005Z

Time flies... It's just over a week since I was 'let go' by my girlfriend of 6 years, and a week until she moves out for good.. I'm trying to keep as busy as possible so decided to customize a Bossy today rather than just selling it (I have a few items I've dug out that I also need to sell as this is turning out to be a costly experience) I hope you like how he turned out. http://www.flickr.com/photos/blaupraust

I'm surrounded by boxes of stuff at the moment as the quest to pack away 6 years worth of posessions continues.. It's hard seeing it all packed away like that but I'm doing my best to keep on top of everything, including emotions! I'm really happy with how bossy turned out so at least I can say it isn't affecting my work too much.

Hope you all had a great day, weather not so bad here today :)

Facebook goes all Twitter!

2009-03-16T17:23:00.005Z

Yeah, it's breaking news, and seems to be driving people mad, A huge proportion of friends on Twitter and Facebook have changed their status to a number of related comments. Mostly complaining about how much they hate the new layout, and how similar it is to Twitter, I agree.. Can you blame them though? Twitter is becoming all people need, there is no longer a need to communicate fully with people you know, why bother when a few words is enough.. Is it? Really? While I do like Twitter for its simple way of giving you the ability to offer a small teaser of whats happening in your life at that moment, it does feel a little too brief, maybe even quite lazy to JUST use that for communicating with friends.

I was a little upset that Facebook now revolves around a simple list of updates from friends, and for that reason I've taken a step back and updated my Myspace pages (Yes it is full of scene kids) I don't know how long it'll last since most people have now abandoned it, but we shall see. I have changed my name on Facebook to make it more obvious who I am, as a lot of people seemed to have no idea, since I only ever used my real name on there, and to be honest, it's not something I plaster around. If you'd like to add me on Facebook, you can do that here: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=579137040 I have a bit of work on there and will add more recent bits and bobs in the coming days.

Things are still hectic here, still trying to sort my head out... I went for a walk earlier, something I've been meaning to do for a while now, but there never seemed to be anywhere to head towards. Today I just walked, there was no set destination but I ended up at Hallowes golf course, it's pretty up there, and quite nice to escape the busy roads, but the flying golf balls are a little hazardous! I really needed to clear my head and it did the trick for a while, I think I might start doing that walk daily, I definitely need to start getting out more. Hopefully it'll trigger something inside me to bring back that creative spark! I have also become infatuated with the singer from Bat For Lashes... If you haven't heard of them, I'd recommend checking them out!

For now, I have the Gilmore Girls for company at least...

Ferlaming Norah.

2009-03-13T16:34:00.005Z

Is it really nearly 5pm already crikey, so much still to do today, before Comic Relief later, I try to avoid working on Friday the 13th for obvious reasons but today hasn't gone so bad. Got some painting done, cut my hair (That's right, I cut my own hair blindly, the hairdressers started butchering it so I started doing it myself and butchering it a little less) I also got 3 Dunnys through this morning which I stripped with the usual paint thunners and they're primed and ready for whatever I throw at them in the next few days.... I have to just stare at them until my show pieces are done...

My eyes hurt like hell today! Not had as much sleep as I'm used to the past few night, due to extreme stresses, but I'm still going, still motivated, still eagerly painting and full of ideas. I plan on getting a fish soon, just a goldfish or a similar simple breed... Nothing too fancy, someone to talk to, and make me cups of tea and coffee when the going gets tough... Fish can do that, they have strong fins, capable of carrying cups of steaming hot liquid. I just feel the gap in my life needs filling, I am devoted to my work, but relations are important to me too. I have to share things in my life with other people.

The Casserole Is In The Dustbin.

2009-03-12T08:44:00.007Z

Finally I can rest after spending the last 2 days repainting the studio in a Dulux Gentle Fawn and Muddy Puddle, for now at least.. the Fawn was a mistake and I don't think I'm going to be able to get used to it's dull and murky appearance. Unfortunately that means another trip to Homebase once I have my latest commissions finished! Things have been a little stressful lately, last night me and my girlfriend of roughly 6 years, decided to go our seperate ways, so there are some tough months ahead. Rest assured though, I will be working hard to keep on top of customs and will try to become more active with artwork. It will be nice to have a bit more work space but it's going to be a difficult time. I've just ordered 3 Dunnys to paint up, so expect to see new work available on my store in the coming weeks. Pictures will go up on Twitter first where followers are entitled to 10% off, if you have a Twitter account and aren't following, you'll find me at twitter.com/squink, or you can click on the link to the right.

Here's another preview of my custom for the IWG show at Rocketworld, should be finished this week, but I won't be posting full shots until the day of the show, for those unable to make it.

Clean/Mean/Tea/Boof!

2009-03-06T15:13:00.004Z

Well, I've just finished a thorough cleaning and tidying of the studio, it always makes me feel better, more motivated and able to find things I thought were lost forever. Got another Graze box this morning with Pineapple and the most amazing olives ever, so that really set me up for the day :) Well...put me in a good mood at least! The vertigo is still lingering though a little better today, so hopefully things will be back to normal in a couple of days. It's really surprised me how much I rely on working on customs etc to keep me sane and these past few days have really had me down due to not being able to do anything at all worthwhile..

This morning I packed up my remaining tees into bags and have checked the stock levels and updated. I have also knocked them down to £12.75 for a little while, I sent my laptop packing yesterday and am still over £150 short of my new Mac, partly sue to Apple bringing out a swankier model that has added another £100+ to the cost of such a luxury! The small sizes I have left in the regular colour scheme would be suited to girls who usually wear skinny fit tees, or really thin guys.. If you can't afford one, don't want one, or have one already then any attempts to spread the word via Facebook/Twitter etc would me massively appreciated!!

Pic of the remaining stock below... Want one? http://www.squink.bigcartel.com

The world spins...

2009-03-04T11:22:00.002Z

Okay.. Now this has to be the hardest I've ever had to concentrate to write a blog.. I've had vertigo (the dizziness) for 3 days now, I just started taking tablets for it, but basically, looking around the keyboard to type is like trying to watch a passing train.. So incredibly annoying, I am really hoping this goes soon, it's rendered me absolutely useless for the past 3 days, I mean come on, I'm getting dizzy from just typing, this is insane! Any typos I apologise, but I seriously can't skip from line start to end right now..

Just got my Graze box, which cheered me up a little, some really tasty stuff going on, and it gives me something to take my mind off the motion sickness at least... I also got a few codes with the box that you in the UK can use for a discount, giving you your first box for just £1 :) Here it is! 5KV1GGJB Use it at www.graze.com

I have to try and paint today, which may be impossible...

AARGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Belly has spoken!

2009-02-28T14:38:00.006Z

After getting slightly confused this morning, I'm now pretty sure it's Saturday, and not Friday like I first thought. I was relieved, but weekends don't bring much of a change for me, I still work the same as in the week, difference being, there are more distractions as people are generally off work and out and about enjoying action packed lives, full of fun and games, though probably mostly just being sick, and recovering from last nights drinking games by eating lots and lots of smelly greasy overcooked bacon.

I spent last night finishing the belly section of my show piece for Humans Beware in April, I still have lots to do, but it's nice to finally see my ideas coming together. The new brushes I picked up a few days ago are amazing, and have really made a huge difference to the clean-ness (yep!) of my line work. The thin brushes split really easily, but for the difference made, I may end up replacing my brush every couple of customs from now on. You can see a teaser of my custom for the show down below, I really hope you like how it's looking so far! :)

Just been watching Gilmore Girls again, I know, it is probably one of the most girly programmes on TV, but I am fairly obsessed, it makes me happy.. I do worry sometimes, I watch things like that, enjoy baking, and cleaning, and have just placed an order for a large supply of sewing machines (Okay so the last bit isn't true..) I should really go and lift something heavy just to balance things out. The kettle is fairly heavy, so is the coffee jar...hmmm...

Sticky Man of Acid Bath

2009-02-26T18:00:00.005Z

Sorry it's been a while since the last update, things have been hectic here, both in good ways and not so good ways. I have a lot of commissions to finish off that i'm trying my hardest to get finished over the next 2 weeks, and also the possibility of some changes at home to deal with. I apologise if you're waiting for commissioned work, I'm trying super hard to get things done without rushing.

I've managed to rescue a few pots of paint by re-adding the water that had evaporated from the pots, and lodging itself somewhere in the air of my studio, which is great! Since when I went to buy replacements from the legendary Games Workshop, they were oddly closed midweek. I don't know if they close on Wednesdays or if they too are having financial problems.. The price of primer has shot up from £5.99 to £7.85 since I last went in though, which is pretty harsh considering the time before this, it had gone up £1 too. Still, it's good stuff and lasts me a few customs so I'll try not to complain too much!

I'm still working on a custom for the IWG show coming up in April (Flyer below) I hope you can drop by and check it out if you're in the area, some great names involved!! Right, back to work!!

Generosity of Mankind

2009-02-21T17:48:00.006Z

Cup of tea (yes, tea???!) in hand, fingers (on other hand) at the ready! Actually, I tell a lie, I'm typing with both hands, the cup is merely close to my arms. Time for a blog on what has been a fairly nice Saturday outdoors! A huge change from the snow and ice storms we've had recently, it was still cold, but the sun was out and I did wander out on a couple of occasions. Once to remove mystery bulbs that have sprouted in a pot with no soil within, and plant them, and also to do a spot of shopping, actually just to buy breakfast cereal and salad mix. EXCITING!!

I have avoided the shopping in Sheffield that was planned for today due to the madness of Games Workshop on Saturdays, along with the fear of seeing more dangerous children, who want to stab me violently in my armpits, so I've been organizing my Flickr account, which as some of you may have seen shows 'pro' next to my username! This is thanks to a massively generous 'alantucker' via Twitter, who actually gifted me a years pro account after I mentioned on my Twitter post that it was something I was looking into, and wondering if it was worth the money. Well my faith in humanity is restored, it was a genuinely kind gesture and one that is appreciated massively! Alan, if you're reading this, thank you! So anyhow, since I have now realized that a pro account is definitely worthwhile, I've sorted all my pictures into collections/sets so it will all be much easier to browse from now on. Customs are all grouped together, so if anyone has wanted to browse customs from the past few years, it's easy! And you have Alan Tucker to thank!

Yesterday I was busy painting, baking an apple and blueberry pie, as well as cooking a gammon joint in a 2 litre bottle of Coca Cola. I do love cooking, I have been told on a fair few occasions I should look into it as a career path.. I don't know if it's just me but does doing such a thing as a 'job' take the fun out of it? I love it as a hobby, and see it as one rather than an essential thing to do... But the thought of cooking meals day in day out for strangers really makes me want to burn my own arms off.

I better run! Tea is going cold (actually, my halogen lamp will probably heat it back up if I put it close enough, damn that thing gets hot!!!)

P.S - If you do read my blog, please please do comment, It'd be nice to know who's checking it :)

Let There Be Light!

2009-02-17T19:59:00.005Z

It's Tuesday already!

Woke up this morning at around 8:30, I usually find it really hard to sleep in, anything over 7 hours and I wake up with a banging headache, not bad at all today though! Thankfully this meant I was alright to head into Sheffield to pick up the lamp I've been meaning to sort for the past few days. The low light levels here at this time of year have meant I've had very limited painting time, and now I have a nice new lamp to help me paint deep into the night! It should up my productivity too, which is great news!

Anyway, after waking up this morning I made myself a latte, the way I saw them do it in Costa, minus the fancy machines (I'm limited to a hand press) but it works nicely anyhow, I just don't look as flash when I'm making it. It was an amazing coffee. So amazing I took pictures for you all, seriously, it was that nice! (Maybe I'm exaggerating, I don't know) The unrefined cane sugar is always nicer than basic white granulated..

Sheffield was full of children today, both of the school variety, and emo variety. They had a fairground setup, complete with pavement vomit. It was a slightly disgusting experience overall. Especially since those people that walk in your way and leave you nowhere else to walk, resulting in an awkward shifting left and right, ending in a tussle, and death to one party, were out in force. I usually don't mind shopping in Sheffield, it was just overly busy, and smelled like idiots. I think the schools might be on a break, again. Seriously kids, get some work done, you're making the recession worse.

Needless to say I avoided Games Workshop today, I still need to go there for primer, but didn't fancy heading leg first into a gigantic pretend warzone (probably more terrifying than the real thing in many ways) I can finish commissions and head there later in the week, or when there is less likely to be an important meeting of deadly forces on the 'special gaming table' (no offense intended to anyone that plays these stupidly childish war games)

Anyhow, here are a couple of pictures, this mornings coffee (it's good) and my current setup.

Until next time.... Please, please, if you're sick on the pavement, at least put a newspaper over it.

It's Sunday! Again!

2009-02-15T17:54:00.006Z

I really hate Sundays, for a number of reasons, most of which I can't remember at this moment in time, I'll get back to you. But the main reason I hate Sundays, is because they have become a day of nothingness. Shops close too early due to ancient trading laws, and as a special treat for those people who would gladly work Sundays as they are in need of the cash, they have fantastic repeats of various 80s/90s comedies, along with the religious programming, which generally has a very limited appeal to todays viewer. It is as dull as it gets. I do feel sorry for the kids more than anyone,especially as it gets dark so early and they have nothing to watch on TV, kids TV nowadays is fairly pathetic, unless they have Sky/cable, they just aren't catered for. Bring back kids Morning TV (I would like to watch it too!)

However, I've been keeping myself busy with painting, though it has reminded me how badly I need to head into town and pick up a desk lamp, it gets dark around 4:30pm, but the dim skies last all day and it's pretty difficult to paint in such conditions. Maybe that's something to do tomorrow.. I should pick up some more primer too from Games Workshop *shudder* I'm not entirely sure where the best place would be to find a decent lamp that isn't over priced, as we don't have an Ikea around here yet. I may build my own if we don't get one closer than Nottingham soon! I think they're generally all built out of lego bricks so it shouldn't be too difficult with the right manuals (which I'm sure will be readily available online, like most things, including recipes)

I have a few items to list on ebay tonight, including the Double Black Skuttle and Mini Biskup Dragamel, they haven't had any interest on the forums so off they go! I'll drop the link to my sales on here when they're on there. I'll probably drop in a BIN price at the prices I listed them for here, so if you wanted one and missed out, you will still have a chance to pick them up!

*edit* E-BAY LINK HERE

I'm edging closer towards my Mac... The laptop and desktop PC are worse by the day and utterly frustrating so I'm looking forward to it more than I can put into words! About £80 short as it stands! Fingers crossed my auctions will make it up and i'll be able to work without fear of being forced to jump out of an open window at regular intervals.

I will blog again soon! I have a cup of tea going cold! Enjoy these pictures of what's missing from weekends!

Head Gasp

2009-02-12T11:33:00.008Z

It's really early in the day for me to be doing my blog, I know! I missed yesterday though and thought i'd make up for it! Just finished my daily 'proper' coffee, as opposed to the semi-disgusting freeze dried stuff I consume throughout the day, hey, it's no fun cleaning out that coffee press! In fresh coffee I take 1 sugar, preferably brown, and in instant I take no sugar. Not sure if that's strange, but I feel sweetness enhances the taste, when it comes to instant coffee, that's not a taste I particularly want enhancing. Anyhow, enough of my mindless morning coffee talk.. For now.

I'm still trying to choose my favourite out of the pictures taken by Namal a few days ago, but I've added a couple below for you to take a look at. It's really great to see my work being worn by real people and not just on a hanger against my studio door! Huge thanks going out to Mr. Namal.

It's still really cold here, the routine with the remaining snow seems to be: Defrost a little during the day, freeze into a nightmarish deathtrap at night, defrost a bit more next day, freeze into a hellish slip maze at night, and so on. Hopefully this won't go on too much longer, as it requires you to walk looking like someone who has failed to control their bowels and let slip in public. Not a great look!

I've also just ordered the latest offer from the Hotel Chocolat tasting club, their chocolates really are the best I've ever had, makes the offer price of £6.95 including postage very attractive (They're usually £16.95...ouch) but seriously, if you haven't tried their chocs, I'd recommend it, although you'll probably never be able to eat Cadburys again, let alone Nestle, without feeling like you're consuming the contents of a bin bag. (I still eat Cadburys, but only because it's cheap) I'm also trying to spread the word about Last.Fm to anyone that hasn't heard of it, it's an amazing piece of software downloadable, which 'scrobbles' tracks you listen to on various music players (including your Ipod) and creates a library and history of your played tracks, it gives you the opportunity to see what you've been listening to the most over set periods of time, as well as adding friends and comparing musical tastes. great fun!

Right, I'm off to make food.. If you decide to go for Last.fm, you'll find me here:http://www.last.fm/user/blaupraust

Tuesday Frostbite

2009-02-10T17:29:00.005Z

Okay, maybe frostbite is an exaggeration, but lets just say I'm COLD! For indoors anyway. I had a bout of chilblains after new year, and am suffering again after venturing out yesterday for a bit of food shopping. Trying to keep as warm as possible, but it's not always easy when the radiator insists on directing all heat out towards the window. Anyhow, slippers are needed I think, donations welcome! (I'm kidding) May go and pick up some of those huge monster feet ones so I can stomp around, and grumpy strops will be all the more effective!

Just made a latte the 'proper' way, and it's great! Hot to cold time currently stands at around 5 minutes though. DRINK FAST. It is really nice though especially using my favourite Javan coffee. Just sat listening to the great Scarlett Johansson album that seems to be a love it or hate it affair, personally I love the melodies buried in sound/noise. As for her voice, it's an instrument! The production especially really makes it stand out for me. Also been listening to Bluish by Animal Collective, it sounded even better while I was walking in the snow yesterday, one of my favourite tracks of the past 5 years, and I don't even know why I like it.

I'm just sorting through the photographs I just received from Namal, who took some fantastic shots of my tees new and old being modeled nicely! A selection will be up here, along with my website and Flickr account soon! As it stands, around half of my stock of cheesecake t-shirts have sold out. There were originally going to be 20 brown/gold, but I have decided to cut it at just 10. Edition cards will still state the number /20, but rest assured, only 10 have, and will ever be printed. Get them while you can!

I've attached a picture of my old business cards that were printed with the die pictured a few posts back, due to requests. Hope you like them, I still have a few left (recently rediscovered) and will include one with t-shirt orders from now on.

Interior Warmth. Exterior Coldth.

2009-02-05T21:44:00.005Z

Yesterday, the 4 inches or so of snow from Tuesday had begun to melt and turned to lethal ice. Upon waking his morning and looking outside, it seems it had silently made a comeback, like a frosty lingering fart. As I write this, the main roads are clear, and the not so main roads are slushy, but the worst seems to have passed, it's due to freeze over again tonight so no doubt the remaining snow will have iced over by morning.. It'll be nice to have the public transport back to normal though as I have needed to pick up paints this week and been pretty much trapped in this small town, where all they sell, is bird food, and mini screwdrivers. Not even good screwdrivers, the type that bend to a ridiculous metallic mangled mess when faced with a semi-tight screw.

I did venture out with my camera earlier and took a couple of quick pictures of the snow, but the threat of having a great compacted ball of the stuff thrown directly at my face was all too real today as the schools were closed again. I don't know why, it really wasn't that bad. Most of the parents who drive their kids to school have stupidly oversized Land-rovers anyhow, which would have been perfectly suited to todays weather. I'm positive most kids would have been happy to walk to school had their doors bothered to open. Anyway, rant over! It's cold! But I have a coat!

Trying to find some great music to listen to in the snow was a task I was faced with this morning, I settled on Trentemoller - The Last Resort, I'm not usually a fan of repetitive beats but this one has a lot of melody behind it, and is quite hypnotic too. One of those albums that sounds much better in certain surrounding, the snow was perfect.

I've started to put together a list of pieces I have to finish as I'm getting a bit confused about what's what at the moment, things are soon to be organized though and I'll be finishing recent commissions in order of when they were received. I'm still trying to decide on what I'm letting go from my collection, I have sold a lot over the past few months and only really have my favourites left, however, I really need to get focused on work right now, so need to be strict with myself....It's just...so hard to let go of things I've had since the very beginning.

Like I said yesterday, I will update my sale post when I decide what else I can part with, One thing is for sure, my Japanese vinyl is staying with me. It's just so perfect. It saddens me that I may be letting go of items for less than retail as I know most people are going through hard times financially, but I hope I can take some pleasure at least in knowing items I am selling will go to good homes.

Picked up some Javan coffee from Sainsburys today, that really is the coffee of kings, I can't get enough of the stuff! My cafetiere will be worn out soon enough, my plunging hand also suffering extreme handle damage! Still, great coffee makes me happy, even the smell of it motivates me more than anything else could. Am I an addict? Nah.... I just love it! :D

It's all about the magnesium!

2009-02-04T17:44:00.011Z

It's Wednesday already and the ground remains whiter than white!

Recently I've been back in touch with the printers I used for my foil blocked business cards back in 2007. They have just update their site and made it look rather gorgeous, I have since been sent my magnesium die, which was used to press my cards back then. I still have a few of the cards left but they are now retired, I'll be working on new ones soon! It's a quite a nice memento to have, even if it is possibly quite flammable! (See pics) You can find the printers at: www.istprintingservices.co.uk

T-shirt orders in the UK have now been posted, with overseas orders shipping out tomorrow. The journey to the post office was uneventful luckily, but there were a few moments of sheer terror where my footing started to slip away and I very nearly ended up on the cold wet pavement for eternity. As you probably know if you read the blog regularly, i have my heart set on getting a Mac at the moment, a Mini Mac seems more in my price range right now. Many thanks to those of you that have shown fantastic support by picking up tees, especially as the weather is so cold right now! I am edging closer and closer towards my goal. for that, I am very grateful!

If you guys could continue to spread the word and help me out with promoting in any way you can, that would be very awesome of you! It's amazing how fast posts slip down popular forums such as Kidrobot, and end up ignored on page 500 of 500.000.

I should have some better t-shirt pics later this week/over the weekend courtesy of Namal - www.namal.co.uk I will update you all when they go up, as you can probably see, I haven't found anyone warm enough locally to take off their coats and help model the tees for me! Anyhow, a huge thanks for those of you who have bought tees so far, and a big thank you to those of you who do like them (and have sent nice comments my way) but can't afford one :)

I'm off for a big bowl of credit crunch! Yummy!!

Like a headless swan.

2009-02-02T15:40:00.010Z

Today is like a headless swan, one of those days when you have true natural beauty happening just outside the window. However it comes with a major flaw (therefore is like a headless swan), that being it has made it impossible for me to get out to the Post Office today to post yesterdays & this mornings T-shirt orders (without falling, and quite possibly not being able to get back up again)

It's now been snowing non-stop since I woke up at 8:15-am, it really does look like Christmas out there (See pics) but I'm slightly annoyed that after being truly organized yesterday and getting all orders packed, properly labelled and bagged ready to go, that here they are, stuck in a box, awaiting a break from the icy flurry. To those of you waiting for your tees, I apologize sincerely, they will be posted tomorrow morning without fail.

The morning has been spent attempting to figure out why my Windows Vista powered (that'll be the problem then!) laptop, is refusing to do what it's intended to do, i.e.-work, and instead sits there, sounding like it's loading the worlds largest Photoshop file, while I sit, weeping into a cup of cold tea. I'm hoping that the sales from the latest tees will help towards the Mac I've waited so long for, as at this moment in time, my Ipod Touch is a more reliable computing system than my laptop. That's right, even an Apple MP3 player, kicks a Microsoft powered PC into stupid death land. Had a quick look at Windows 7 a few days ago, and only have a few words to say about the Microsoft vs Apple battle...

Sorry Microsoft, you lose.

Reading:

Listening:

Viewing:

Must....eat...

2009-02-01T11:06:00.005Z

Well, been spending all morning sorting out the shirts, tagging them and getting the sizes sorted for sale today, but i'm finally done! You can now pick up your very own cheesecake tee. I don't have many in each size so if you want one, don't hang around too long, in some sizes there are just 2 available! Now must go and make food, will blog more later!

You can pick up yours here: Store

Wake/Coffee/Shower/Coffee/Coffee/Coffee

2009-01-31T09:28:00.007Z

Up nice and early this morning, 6:43 to be exact, I was up quite late on Twitter (Damn that thing is addictive) but woke with a surprising amount of energy.. That doesn't mean to say i bounced out of bed or anything like that, I simply feel a little more awake than usual after less than 7 hours sleep. I spent yesterday going through the t-shirts that arrived mid morning, the print quality is spot on, those guys did themselves proud yet again! (see pics below) I also read a little of Derren Browns book, until it got rather complicated half way through, I by no means want to be a magician, I just have a great interest in the way he works mentally. It provided a little insight, but is really aimed at those wanting to follow his career path, still fairly interesting and quite funny at points. Not one for the passing fan though.

Off into Sheffield centre this morning to pick up some kind of yarn/thread for attaching the tags to the t-shirts, and to meet a friend for coffee (I have a full card for Cafe Nero so that means FREE COFFEE!! what could be better? really!) Listening to Radiohead - The Bends before heading into the abyss for some breakfast. Not sure such a depressing album is a great way to start the day, but I'm quite immune to the sombre tones of Thom after listening to The Cure constantly for a number of months a couple of years back. Still, Pornography is an amazing album.

Must go! Enjoy the pics, these are due to go on sale on Sunday afternoon priced at £15 each, via bigcartel.

Moo Blog

2009-01-28T16:26:00.008Z

After posting up the photo's of my cards on Flickr, I got a nice message from Denise@Moo who wanted to use my images on the moo.com blog, what a nice surprise! I'm quite flattered that the very people who print these lovely cards like them enough to want to show them off to customers. If you haven't used Moo before, I cannot recommend them highly enough!

You can find the blog post here: http://www.moo.com/blog

Today I mostly spent the whole day tidying under the bed, it's something I daren't tackle often as it's such a huge task. But after a good 3.5 hours, it's all done now, and thankfully all the monsters that had taken up residence, had all died due to exposure to extreme electronica! I also bought some potatoes. Fun times!

Currently loving this:

Tee tags have arrived

2009-01-27T12:01:00.011Z

Nice surprise this morning, considering the estimated delivery date was the 29th! What an awesome service from Moo yet again.

Here are the cards that will come attached to the t-shirts, printed on 100% Recycled fibre. all signed and numbered. The face cards will be handed out randomly as business cards for the time being..

New Squink! tees!

2009-01-26T11:09:00.008Z

Freshly ordered and on their way soon....

Magical Cheesecake Fashion Items!

2009-01-24T19:29:00.012Z

It's 2009! That time of year again, coming up to springtime soon, but right now, we have the dull mornings, and gloomy rainy nights, how about something new to cheer you up??? I'm just putting the finishing touches to a brand new t-shirt design, to be revealed on Monday! This will be printed up on Hanes tees, and come in 2 colour variants, white on black regular edition, and a lush metallic gold on chocolate. The chocolate version is limited to just 20 worldwide!

You will be able to pick yours up very soon here:

http://www.squink.bigcartel.com

All tees purchased from me will come with a numbered care tag, which is made from 100% recycled material, and be packed in a 95% recycled bag, gotta look after the planet!! :)

Space Terror! Custom Dunnys x 5!

2008-10-18T00:27:00.007+01:00

It's Friday!! Started working on 5 new customs today, all hand splattered/sprayed with various flash colours for a lovely multi layered effect! I've put these up for preorder on my store page at £18.95 a pop, they're each blind boxed, picture here is the progress so far, a preorder will secure you a custom once they're done. Hope you like them! Also a big thanks to Jeremy at Toycyte for the write up! (Great site that has to be checked out!)

Lino Cutting Makes My Fingers Pain, Pain

2008-10-16T16:28:00.004+01:00

On searching for a scalpel today, I came across a couple of sheets of lino I had set aside, and forgotten about after doing a couple of prints with it last year! How the memories of blistered fingers, and cut wrists had faded, but were brough back to horrific life with this discovery. However, I'm not one to let extreme pain and blood loss deter me from my work! I'd forgotten how foul the stuff smells though!

I've just started a new print, which is double the size of the last lot I did, my fingers hurt already, but i'm pleased with how it's coming along, I plan to do a similar thing with this one once complete, and release a series of prints on vintage book pages, gives even more of an individual look to each print, and they look awesome framed!

I'll post up here when they're done, and also a link to the place you can pick em up.

Laterzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Toasted Crumpets & Bad Type

2008-10-02T07:50:00.005+01:00

Woke up in a bit of a bad mood this morning, not because I had to be up at 6am after not getting to bed until midnight (I'm not too bad at sleeping very little), but because I noticed that after the window cleaners had been yesterday, that they'd completely trampled over where I planted all the bulbs ready for spring next year, this causes me to lose further confidence in these kinds of workers, who seem to have no common sense at all. I would drop in a complaint, but they don't speak English. What to do..

This magazine, the monthly publication from Sainsbury's caught my eye this morning, now I'm usually not one to be too picky about this kind of thing unless i'm doing it myself, but this hideous piece of typeface editing almost made me sick in my Frosties.. 'I know, lets put rounded bits on a square font. That'll look just gorgeous!' Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.. :/

Chuck'n'Dee - War Torn

2008-09-28T14:04:00.003+01:00

After getting up really early this morning, i've been working on a couple of a new customs, a pair to be precise! These little fellas have a backstory which can be found on the store page here: STORE
They can be picked up now for £19.95/about $38 ish each, or can be sold as a pair. Chuck is clean, and Dee is sporting a battle damaged paint job. Both are completely hand painted in browns, blacks, pinks and gold.

I hope you enjoy these characters, I'm really happy with how they turned out, and may create more characters based along the same storyline..

New custom up on the store!

2008-09-25T10:13:00.005+01:00

Full blog for the day coming later, I've just finished a brand new custom which is up on my Bigcartel store now pick this one up for £19.95 :) Hope you like it! I'm really happy with how the shades of grey came out.

Now off out to buy a water sprayer!

Growth!

2008-09-24T13:45:00.003+01:00

3 days since sowing the seeds, this is what I have so far, they're coming along great! didn't really expect such fast results, but it just shows i'm a complete beginner! The weather isn't bad today, and I finally got a case for my ipod so I may venture out for a walk later, it'll be interesting to see if I can find any unlisted wi-fi hotspots nearby...

Also, here's a little sneakpeek of what i'm working on at the moment, all will be revealed soon..

Mystical Green Fingers

2008-09-23T13:15:00.004+01:00

Well, finally finished the Denbu's and got them all packed and ready to go! Most are shipping today, but my packing paper decided to run out so a couple are delayed until tomorrow, it's good to have them finished though, it means I can start working on some new ones, got some crazy characters in my head that need setting free!

I don't know if any of you lot know, but over the past few months i've been getting quite into gardening, so have been digging over ours, and trying to make it look semi presentable, went out and bought some bulbs a couple of days ago (when the sun was still out) and planted a few Daffodils and some mystery bulbs I found in a pot at the front of the house, who knows what will become of them! I also planted an Alpine strawberry in a small pot, that has really come along and has been producing a lot more fruit than I expected with the poor weather we've had over the summer. They're really tiny, but still very fruity and it's great to see the development and growth with a little nurturing.

Picked up some mixed oriental saled seeds and a tray of compost, as well as spring onion seeds too, so i'll post up pics once I see results, i'll be starting to grow a range of fruit and veg in the garden, as soon as winter is done with, really looking forward to it :D The Squink! garden of joy!

The great nut theft.

2008-09-20T23:10:00.007+01:00

It's Saturday! which means noisy kids outside, and nothing on TV. Taking it easy today, so I've been listening to a bit of the latest by Flying Lotus, awesome artwork on the album (by Build) and interesting glitchy hip-hop/electro beats, not bad at all!

I didn't get around to updating here last night, but posted up a new custom 3" Dunny on the store. It is now sold but i've added some pics here too for those of you that missed it. What i'll probably do from now on is offer a discount code just before any new ones go on sale, to people who are following me on Twitter.com/squink, meaning super fans can get a percentage discount :)

My caffeine intake is a little over what was planned today, but i'm still 2 days without coffee. I think that's the longest i've gone without it for at least a year! I am still craving it so might pick up a decaf variety tomorrow. Still feels good to be trying to change my ways with the heavy drinking of bitter, sweet coffee....Damn.. doesn't feel so good right now.

Bought a new hanging nut 'thing' for the birds a few days ago, which has been claimed by a squirrel i'll name 'turret' he was caught red pawed today completely destroying the plastic to get at the tasty nuts, can't blame him really. I do like squirrels visiting too though so i'll happily let him eat/chew it. As long as he stops burying damn bird seeds everywhere. Must have the gardening/farmers gene in there somewhere, I keep having to dig up mini crops..

Pics: Enjoy!

Cutting back on Caffeine/Progress update

2008-09-19T12:32:00.004+01:00

Many of you that read this blog will know by now, i'm doing my best to cut caffeine out of my routine, or at least try to reduce it. I tried cutting it completely and felt super rough, so the plan now is to start drinking less per day and see if I can start to cut it out completely in a few weeks time. Yesterday, I didn't have coffee at all, and spread 3 cups of tea over the day, I did start to get a slight headache around 2:30pm but this could have been down to dehydration as I was working in the garden for a good 3 hours without a drink (I got carried away)

So far today I've had 1 cup of tea, and plan to have one more around tea time, and then a camomile tea tonight before bed, that will be a massive reduction and I might be able to get away with just having one cup on saturday. Hopefully! As for why i'm cutting back, I don't really know, maybe just to see if I can do it, and most definitely to show myself that it does actually have a hold on me, even if I don't feel like it's a necessity.

-

Anyway, aside from that, the Denbu's are almost done and will start shipping out to everyone at the beginning of next week, should take a couple of days to arrive in the UK, and 5-7 overseas. Please let me know when they arrive (If you picked one up) just to put my mind at rest, and i'll tick them off as we go.

The Ipod touch I picked up at the start of the week is proving extremely useful for contacts and updates, if any of you lot have a Twitter account, then you'll find me at www.twitter.com/squink where i'll regularly be updating on what i'm working on, etc (It's especially good if you pick up the ipod/iphone application). If you don't have an account on there i'd highly recommend it, as it's an extremely useful way of keeping yourself updated on what's going on with people you know, and people you don't know.

I'll update on tea/coffee progress later tonight/tomorrow morning, I may have cracked by then..

Reasons why I can't give up caffeine

2008-09-17T09:03:00.012+01:00

After being inspired by a fellow blogger: http://mybloggywog.com/2008/08/28/giving-up-caffeine I decided to give it a go myself, I expected to be able to do it withno problems as I've never really classed it as a drug, though it is. Never felt like I need to keep drinking it for fear of adverse effects, never felt cravings other than for the taste, never (knowingly) for the effects and drug content. How wrong I was. I can't put into words how bad the headache was that started to creep up on me after just a day without the stuff, I didn't drink excessive amounts of water, which can lead to headaches and death (fun times) and don't get headaches that often, so this was no coincidence, by just 6pm the night I stopped, it was starting to show.

The kind of headache where you don't want to stand up, even move, because you know it'll lead to that slow dull throbbing at the back of your eyes, I spent most of that evening sat still, watching absolute trash on TV. Until i could take it no more, and got one of my many mystical slaves to make me a cup of coffee, a small one (small cup of coffee, not a small slave) which I reluctantly took into my body (Again..the coffee, not the small slave) The headache was gone, like a baby on the run from the police, giving chase after a hit and run.

I may try again soon, but for now, I just can't face a headache like that, which pretty much brought work and everything else to a standstill.

Also, I make really nice coffee.

Just a random fella

2008-09-14T22:39:00.005+01:00

Not part of Denbu's but a happy little guy who likes sitting in front of laptop screen, for the hell of it!
Which reminds me, I was meant to be posting up a series of progress pics from start to finish, I do get a little carried away... It slipped my mind completely!!

Denbu's Pt. 2

2008-09-14T19:39:00.002+01:00

Progress today has been good, they're almost done! just finishing touches to add and then the boxes to wrap. Should be all good for leaving here this week! :) Hope you that bought them are happy with how they turned out!

Denbu's!

2008-09-13T23:17:00.003+01:00

Finally had some nice weather today so I could get all of these sprayed ready for the brush work! I took a couple of shots, excuse the poor ambient lighting, i'll be working on these again tomorrow and will keep things updated over here! they should all be ready to go by the end of this week.

Rock Steady!

2008-09-12T16:05:00.004+01:00

Dunny S5 Case arrived this morning, and you know me, I don't hang about! These are all stripped, primed and ready for customising, progress pics will be added to the blog as I go! :)

I have had a go at these with a touch of colour today, but the damp weather is causing horrible levels of blooming, fingers crossed it won't be raining tomorrow.

The Rescuers

2008-09-11T22:23:00.003+01:00

Today, a giant lizard goes hungry.

My dad rescued the little fella pictured below from the crushing jaws of a scaled beast, and he now resides in a plastic container, for now. He's awesome, been out for exercise, and actually not skittish like I imagined, extremely tame, or drunk. Right now he's sunbathing under a magnifying light usually used to help (to try to) fix laptops. How something so cool is bred on a massive scale and fed to animals like grain is really beyond me, it's just...odd. Those legs! Wow..

Dunny news.. They didn't show today so it looks like Royal Mail have had their way with the package. the case of S5 is due tomorrow though, so progress will definitely begin as soon as the boxes are open! The delay is extremely frustrating, especially as I planned my day around getting these underway, meaning it's been otherwise pretty uneventful. It meant my Xbox360 got a workout, i'm failing to get excited about any of my current games as I can't get my mind off Fallout 3.. That looks truly awesome....

Postal Treasures MIA

2008-09-10T18:43:00.007+01:00

Well, today didn't go fully to plan, as the Dunny's on their way for the customs have been delayed by our utterly useless postal service (Thanks Royal Mail) However, the case is due for delivery this Friday via courier, so they'll still be underway tomorrow, Friday at the absolute latest. #1 is all done and dusted, 9 to go! There was a delivery this morning, if only of a Skype headset which I ordered a few days ago off e-bay, to replace a phone that arrived broken courtesy of an utterly useless seller (Paypal claim in progress) I can't say I enjoy talking on the phone, or the sound of my own voice, but free calls are quite an exciting concept. I seem to be way behind the times with this piece of software, and have only just found out that it doesn't require payment. Idiot.

Downloaded the new Itunes last night too in preparation for getting an I-pod touch early next week, I gotta say I don't really use Itunes for general music listening, but the new look is rather nice, and it also seems more stable than the previous version, nice job Apple (I still hate you, sort of) Here is a picture of some apples that don't play music, but are better in a pie. A visual treat!

Rain = Pain

2008-09-09T23:03:00.003+01:00

Yep, it's raining again, there seems to be no escape from it at the moment, our postman has a soaked sack apparently (erm..) which means all my post has been arriving soaked through, boxes ripped apart, fingers crossed the Dunny case I have on the way will make it in one piece! There's just no letting up, a sad reminder of the floods of last year.

As i'm still waiting for Dunny's in the post, I haven't been able to get any painting done today unfortunately, annoying as i'm really excited about the next lot of customs, but all I can do is wait.. Shouldn't be long until they arrive. I'm just hoping the weather dries up a tad, as spray painting when it's raining leads to misty patches in the paint..

Overall, been pretty quiet today, there isn't much to do when it's generally so wet outside, watched a couple of films, including 'There Will Be Blood' which was a whole load better than I expected it to be. I'd recommend it.

Hopefully a more productive day tomorrow..

Dunny progress tonight

2008-09-08T21:36:00.006+01:00

Okay so this is where i'm at so far, really happy with how this one has come together, hope you all like it! Just a few final touches, this is the ex-Mad Barbarians Dunny I picked up today blind. Really wish they'd start producing DIY Dunny.. Now I'm off for more coffee...mmm tasty coffee..(I really should cut down)

Today I took a Tripipip

2008-09-08T16:33:00.006+01:00

*Currently listening to the new Bloc Party and wondering what happened*

It's another day, weather is not so bad today, just still a tad annoying that's it's so unpredictable, meaning me taking along a big heavy coat lead to increasing interior heat levels! Oh well, Forbidden Planet had their Dunny case out today, meaning I was able to pick up a couple blind, got a Mad Barbarians, and a flocked Mishka, not what I wanted, the MB has been primed ready for the first of The Denbu's, the flocked one however is probably gonna sit around a while as I doubt paint will take to flock very well and I don't fancy stripping fluff off vinyl..

Sheffield centre is still under extreme construction, the two car parks they've put up are a little... controversial to say the least but no doubt it'll be a huge improvement on the run down Moor side of the town once everything is finished. I'm quite looking forward to it all actually, even if it isn't due to be complete for about 8 years!

Denbu's are gonna be started this week and shipping will start soon after for those of you that have ordered them, Here's a peek via magical photograph. This one will be as pure as can be.

Kids TV Dumber and Dumber

2008-09-07T10:01:00.007+01:00

It's not even lunchtime yet and already i've been both amused and disgusted at the same time. Not admitting to watching Smart since the deeply shocking suicide of presenter Mark Speight, I'm already quite sad that the programme continues without him (being the only decent and artistically minded member of the team) but the replacements are increasingly annoying. Mike, the new guy, an American with the most frustrating voice on earth, and a smile like someone is tearing his mouth open with some kind of future, rubber band based torture device is especially annoying.(Pictured below with Kirsten). This morning they created a splattered piece of artwork, in the ultimate Jackson Pollock Style. Then proceeded to tell the young viewers that they were doing it 'Just like Damien Hirst' Oh dear me. These poor kids are going to grow up absolutely clueless if they continue to get presenters to do an art show who have absolutely no art knowledge. Mike, please please read some art books at least before attempting to tell kids about art. :) Cheers mate! (I hope i'm not just being bitter because Mark was a genius)

Christ, now another art programme on the other channel is telling kids to make bath crayons out of soap flakes and food colouring, surely food colouring is gonna stain the grout between the tiles? Noooooooo! Damn, I must be getting old, save the grout!

Slimming. Vinyl Style.

2008-09-06T15:14:00.013+01:00

Today something odd happened, completely out of character for me.. I've started to want an Ipod touch. My Old Sony has been an awesome companion over the past few years, but it's just about had its day, crashes, paint is worn off, etc. Apple are a company I haven't given any cash to thus far, I just kinda feel a little funny about buying into current trends.. I didn't want an Mp3 player for looks alone, but I think now, the functionality is such that it's something I'd use all the time for various purposes. So now, I must have one. Though I'll still be using my trusty PC ;)

Because of this, I'm starting to sell off bits of my collection, I still have a real passion for vinyl but have far too much of the stuff.. So a swap of sorts for a Touch is on the cards! Here's a list of what I'm letting go. You can get in touch via - stuff @ squinky.co .uk taking out the spaces, if anything is of interest. I'll update the list if I think of anything else.

Biskup Alpha Gaichou regular black painted version - Ltd to 350 - £20/$40 shipped

Friydae * RAINY DAE*

2008-09-05T15:28:00.012+01:00

*Note the sunny text for added sarcastic effect* This is probably the wettest day this year so far, since waking up this morning at around 7:30am, It's been raining constantly, some minutes heavy, some light but it hasn't stopped. Regardless of this I went into town to grab some Series 5 Dunny's from Forbidden Planet, I do have a case on the way but the urge to have a few to open now got the better of me. Anyway, they didn't have any. Someone from Save the Children stopped me to discuss charity, I told them I had no money, only to be told they didn't want any money from me, I stopped for a chat and proceeded to discuss my work with them, including how I've organised charity sales before and could do one for them in the future, she then asked me for £7 a month. Funny, she said she didn't want my money, I was extremely confused and i'm now not sure what money is..

Fun times in the rain.

Still, the coffee I made when I got back home was nice, if a tad stale. I have a few Dunnys coming in the next few days which are the starting point for Denbu's, I'll be posting up progress here as they come together, should have something started at least by the end of the week.

Here's a picture for your enjoyment!

Mucho AGAGAG

2008-09-03T16:28:00.005+01:00

*EDIT* Denbu's are now totally SOLD OUT! **

Here we are again, another rainy day in good old England, this kind of weather gets me down, not so much because it's wet, but because it's unpredictable. I've been out gardening the past few days and there's nothing more annoying than getting started, stopping because it rains, then starting again roasting in the sun only to get rained on 5 minutes later. Gahhhhhh!

Anyhow, today is all about CUSTOMS. I've just announced i'm starting on a series of 10 hand painted Dunnys, titled The Denbu's! I've put em up in my store and will start posting up previews very soon.. For now though, preorders are available at a reduced cost of £16 for the early bird, ending at midnight tonight! Go grab em.. Here:

http://squink.bigcartel.com/product/denbus-blind-packed-custom-3-dunnys-preorder

Tees & Oats

2008-07-05T15:20:00.004+01:00

Today i'm Antony Worral Thompson, I'm Ainsley Harriot, I'm Delia Smith. I baked some Oat Cookies™ based on the recipe on the back of the oats packet. Good idea? Not really.

The recipe is poor, with sugar being mentioned as a required ingredient, yet being completely left out of the instructions on how to make these tasty treats. However... I succeeded and within about 30 mins I had a huge tray full of hard/soft sugar based biccies. My baking is something i've been building on for the last few months, I do enjoy cooking, to the delight of my girlfriend, who gets pretty much everything handed to her 'on a plate'................................... Okay that was pretty bad, I apologise. I bake a lot of my own bread quite successfully, and puddings are a fave too, these cookies however are, well.... pretty crap. Recipes on back of packets of oats = poor. Am I simply blaming the instructions for my poor mixing? Who knows! I thought I did a pretty good job!

After breaking my teeth on cookies, I sat down with a coffee (no surprise there) and set to work on a new design to be printed up on some rather limited tees. The end result is here, I don't know if the recipe failure had any influence on the design, it probably did....

Enjoy!

Super Dry Fast Magic Love!

2008-07-02T10:03:00.006+01:00

Phew! Finally back from Edinburgh after an extremely wet Radiohead gig! It poured for around 7 hours while I stood about rather soaked. Glasgow eh! To think I was sat in the sun outside a bar in Edinburgh only 1.5 hours before the rain started. A good show by the boys, although I did find my attention wandering at times to the antics of the crowd. An amazing performance of Idioteque made it all worthwhile however.

Bat for lashes (The support) were incredible. I've been a fan since hearing the album a couple of months ago, but a very good singer, and fantastic performance from the band. Really looking forward to the next album as the new tracks played blew the older ones out of the water.

I took a few pics, but they didn't turn out to great due to the rain and dull weather. Here's a few, the rest are over on my Flickr.

I've also started updaing my site, cleaning up a few bits and bobs, and am just starting plans to produce a couple of new t-shirt designs. Keep your eyes and ears peeled!

Oop Norf!

2008-06-25T17:54:00.005+01:00

Tomorrow, I'll be heading up to Edinburgh in preparation for the Radiohead gig in Glasgow on Friday, and will be in Scotland until Monday evening. I'll be unable to answer e-mails or ship out orders during that time, so please don't worry if you order something and don't hear back until Monday.

I'll be taking the faithful camera along so I'll get pics up here on my return I haven't seen Radiohead live before so it's really something to look forward to! Bleeps, Glitches and Guitars. Awesome.

Hope it doesn't rain!

Anyhow, for now, here's a link to the store which I've just completed a new look for. Hope you like it! Any questions, drop me a line.

Objects Of Desire

Plushform @ Rotofugi this month!

2008-06-24T23:07:00.007+01:00

This fab exhibit is coming up very soon at Rotofugi on the 27th, if you're in the area, please drop by, there are some fantastic artists involved and it looks set to be a great event! Not to be missed!!

What's going on??

2008-06-09T15:47:00.005+01:00

Crikey! It's been a while.. I've been painting like someone with brushes for hands and paint pots for elbows (or somthing similar) It's been pretty much non-stop for the past few months, but i've really been enjoying painting while the rain has been pouring down outside.

Things have changed over the past couple of weeks, the heat is on the way, out apple tree which was cut back last year has started to sprout, and things are bright and lovely outside (apart from the dreaded hayfever starting, which I've been suffering with for at least 10 years and it never fails to drive me insane. Last night leaving me resembling some sort of demon, with eyes as red as tinned plum tomatoes. Bah)

Anyhow, as far as work goes, I've just finished a new mini print, based around a simplistic character face, and some spray action, a bit of fun but I think it turned out quite striking. Also still working on series 3 Mox Crushies and they should be shipping out in the next week or so, yesterday was spent having a mess about with Sculpey, which ended in a small character being produced and painted (now up on the store along with the prints)

Pics of the latest bits and bobs below..

Latest updates!

2008-03-04T00:55:00.003Z

Wll it's been a while since my last update!! Been super busy working on the Mox Crushies custom Dunny series, which was sold out in 25 minutes on the brand new Squink! store, which some of you may have found via the website. If not, it can be found at:

http://squink.bigcartel.com

Lots of new things coming over the next few days/weeks, including a 2nd series of 10 Mox Crushies, random mystery customs, and paintings etc. Badge packs are due very soon too!

Anyhow, here's a few images of my latest work, enjoy!

Mr. Choom! Mini Prints

2008-02-08T12:39:00.000Z

Mr. Choom prints arrived this morning, printed at 5 x 7" and on matte photographic paper for vivid colours and clarity! These are limited to 15 worldwide, 14 colour and 1 monochrome randomly selected.

Signed and numbered in silver pen. These can be had for £5/$12 each including shipping by mailing us via www.squinky.co.uk

KidKustoms Charity Project coming soon!

2008-02-07T10:22:00.000Z

'Kid Kustoms is collaborating with PPG industries and Wheaty Wheat Studios to bring you completely new medium and international forum to display your talents. They have invited the world’s best hot rod stripers, street artists, illustrators, air brushers, graphic designers, and cartoonists to compete in one of 3 categories to generate awareness and resources for this year’s charitable organizations. Participation is by invite only'

I'm really proud to have been invited to take part in this project, going to help a good cause and should be a lot of fun! More information and an artist list can be found here: http://kidkustoms.wordpress.com/

Some fantastic artists from the toy world also involved include: Dalek, Tara Mcpherson Andrew Bell, Peskimo, Jim Koch, Brent Nolasco, Julie West & Triclops.

Check here for more info as it comes and maybe some preview pics...

Mini Munny Customs

2008-02-04T20:56:00.000Z

The Blind Boxed Mini Munnys started shipping out today, with the first 3 staying within the UK. I have to admit, though these have been my most popular customs to date comment wise, they don't seem to sell as well as Dunnys. I do enjoy working on the Munny shape more, and the size of the mini variation is perfect. Just not really all that popular when it comes to sales.

I dare say there will be more Munny customs in future, but not until the sales pick up. Until then, it'll be Dunnys and Qee all the way!

There are still 2 Blind Boxxed Mini Munnys remaining, get in touch if you'd like one. But please please don't message me to ask when I'm doing more Dunnys.... ;)

Free PSP Wallpaper!

2008-02-01T13:39:00.001Z

For all those of you with a PSP.. This is scaled to fit screen along with a pixel typeface so you don't need to do any editing or zooming. Enjoy!

The Tribes of Terror

2008-01-28T22:35:00.001Z

Heyho! It's been a busy few days for me, the paintbrush has been working overtime, and splitting rapidly!

The result? A series of 5 blind boxed Mini Munny customs! You can sign up for one by visiting the Octane3.com forum and checking the trading/selling thread asap. At present there are just 3 spots remaining.

These are £30 each, which includes worldwide shipping.

Mini Munny Madness!

2008-01-27T11:05:00.000Z

I had a busy night last night, my mind was working overtime so I decided to put it to good use and completed my first 3 Mini Munny customs. These are currently all sold but I'll be working on more today so keep an eye out on the Octane3 Customs section of their forum as that's where they'll appear first!

This little lot are named - Mini Terror - Hori-Nomo - Mr Lift.

Enjoy!

Funkin with Evil!

2008-01-26T10:12:00.001Z

This morning held a quite a large amount of postal based glory, firstly with the Evil Keeps Me Warm tees, which I will soon have a limited amount of to sell directly.

Secondly was 10 Kidrobot Mini Munny, some of which are due to be painted up and sold as a blind packed custom series. The list will be based over in the B/S/T section of the forum over on Octane3.com, if you haven't got an account there, go get one!

My hands are going to be soaked in paint by the end of today, I can see it now...

Yesterday was full of primed material

2008-01-26T01:08:00.000Z

Yesterday was also full of coffee goodness. Cafe Nero again (Cafe Latino have now been abandoned due to the managers unfriendly stare), this time I was able to obtain a full cup and not a half coffee/half frothy milk combination. The coffee based stimulation led me to seek out canvas, I bought a couple of small-ish box canvaseseses (there are some great deals to be had on these if you know where to look!) I'll get pics up as soon as they're finished. As usual, they'll be up for sale to pay for my unhealthy obsession with caffeine in its many forms.

Possibly also a Flake.

Moku In Rain - Custom BunneeQ Qee.

2008-01-23T17:01:00.000Z

I've just put the finishing touches to this, my first ever custom effort on an 8" Qee. He's currently available to purchase and is £100/$210 which includes worldwide shipping (Contact me via the website)

This design has been approved by Raymond (Toy2R) and will be put into production in the future!

Hope you like him!

Custom for Adfunture/Hicalorie show

2007-11-04T17:54:00.000Z

This custom was designed and created for the DIY Calamari show at Bodhi in London on the 15th of November 2007.

Featuring an amazing lineup of artists including: Mike Burnett, Jeremyville, Kathie Olivas, Julie West, Sauerkids, Kenn Munk, Peskimo, Mr. Jago, Squink, DGPH, Elph, Jeremiah Ketner, Richt, Bagger 43, Sneaky Raccoon, Christina Conway, Sichi, DRO, Clutter Magazine, Matthew Hodson, Phil Corbett, Sune Ehlers, Hello Brute, Jam Factory, Tarantulas, Octane 3, Lunartik, Yuck, PlaysKewl, Morpheus, Triclops, Nakanari, Julie Hill and Hicalorie

Squink! new identity

2007-10-13T23:54:00.000+01:00

After much deliberation, the final logotype has been settled upon. I hope you're as happy as I am with the end result. The website will be undergoing some changes over the next few weeks and the new identity will be integrated in the process, look out for it!

To Steal The Heart of a Lonely Ghost...

2007-10-06T09:06:00.000+01:00

Just finished! Custom painted IWZL figure finished in acrylic sprays with semi-marbled effect, and detailed in acrylics.

Clinging onto his heart for dear life! This little guy won't let go... To Steal The Heart of a Lonely Ghost... You must give him in return what he desires most...

Awww, go on.. give him a little love!!

Freezing cold Custom Robotboy Figure

2007-10-02T09:50:00.000+01:00

Custom painted Robotboy plastic figure. Commission work 2007.

Painted with sprays and detailed with acrylic paints.

Squink! Vs Hicalorie + Adfunture

2007-09-22T09:50:00.001+01:00

I've just received my shiny new Hicalorie Lefty vinyl toy from Adfunture, which I have kindly been asked to customise for their show. This really is a perfect sculpt for me, a huge thanks to Hicalorie for inviting us to take part.

Progress 22/09/07

Progress 26/09/07

Progress 01/10/07

Hate Is Happiness Choco Edition SOLD OUT

2007-09-20T17:28:00.000+01:00

The limited choco edition of the t-shirts are now all sold out, however you may still be able to pick one up from next week in the UK, as 11 of the 35 made are being stocked by Fat Buddha in Glasgow!

They're printed by professionals on Hanes Fit-T which are really nice and soft fitted tees, and as far as I know they don't employ any small children/slaves!! Good for them!

The Forbidden Planet International Cream Tee edition (Ltd to 75) is in selected stores now!

Welcome!

2007-01-14T01:38:00.000Z

Welcome to the Squink! blog, stay tuned for artwork and more!