shirotokuro

Felt Tip Fun

2010-08-09T16:26:00.003+01:00

Bought a cheapo packet of felt tip pens in the supermarket.
Lots of fun for under a quid! ^^

more on Flickr!

Amigurumi Foo

2010-06-05T14:02:00.002+01:00

My Foo Dog obsession has crept into my amigurumi, and not just one Foo either!
I still can't decide which I like best!

I wrote up the patterns so you can make the Foo of your choice.
Avaliable from my Etsy.

Odd Sox

2010-04-22T15:27:00.003+01:00

I saw some awesome sock dolls at a craft fair recently. It really opened up my eyes that there was more you could make from the humble sock than just sock monkeys! So I purchased a couple of great books (1 2) on sock doll making and a whole bunch of socks and got sewing!
Here's the result, some very Odd Sox!

I made a couple from the books first then got experimenting.

A totoro was sure to follow! XD"

And my favorites so far:

See more of my Odd Sox on Flickr

Happy St. Patricks Day

2010-03-17T16:39:00.003Z

and um, Happy New Year! XD"

Yeah I've been slacking on the posts this year, sorry 'bout that, it's not due to a lack of creativity, just a lack of time. XP

Anyways I figured today was a good day to reveal to the world (gotta do it sometime I guess) That I have been learning the Tin Whistle!
'Oh dear me NO! Who let her loose with a whistle?' I hear you cry! XD"

HAHA I know, it's a frigtening thought given my past of failed attempts to learn instruments.
But did I give in and decide I just didn't have a musical bone in my body?
No I persevered! And amazingly I found I could actually produce somthing that does sound sort of musical on the tin whistle! \ ^_^ /

Should to wish/dare to hear proof of my almost musical abilities, here's some tin whistle tunes played by me! ^^

Most are Irish, hence the St. Patricks day link.

Song of Summer <- this is my favorite. X3

Peig Ryans

Boys of the Town

Claremans Hornpipe

This one's not Irish, it's from a Studio Ghibli film called Tales From Earthsea, I've always loved it and so I'm well chuffed to be able to play it! X3
Teru no Uta

No one bleeding at the ears?
Good good! XD"
While it's clear I'm never gonna be a master, I feel rather pleased with myself at having got this far and hopefully I can improve a bit too!

Project 52 - December

2009-12-29T16:28:00.002Z

Finally we reach the end of Project 52, I hope you've enjoyed it.

It finishes with a whimper and a bang, I did some very poor paintings in the final month, but I did some that turned out really well too, here's the best of them:

Of course you can see all the paintings at Flickr.
And there is a calendar and prints available of the best images on RedBubble.

Horton's Horticultural Emporium

2009-12-05T13:16:00.003Z

I've written another book!
This time it's a childrens book, it's called Horton's Horticultural Emporium.
Here's the cover:

And here's an extract from it:

Chapter 1 – My Brother

All brothers fight, but not all the time. Big brothers are supposed to protect little brothers, and little brothers are supposed to look up to their big brothers. But this was not true of me and my brother Eddie. Even as a baby my older brother Eddie poked, pinched and prodded me to distraction. Until I was five years old I thought this was what older brothers were for.

Eddie was four years older than me, he was skinny and tall and his acne blotched face had a permanent sneer. He had the same tangle of brown hair as me, but that is the only way we were alike.

As far as I know Eddie had always had the habit of grabbing at things. He seemed incapable of just looking at something; he always had to touch it too. He couldn't keep his hands off anything. Everything from the TV screen to photographs were covered with his sticky fingerprints.

Even Mum was not immune, before I was born she had put up with a lot of pinching and biting from Eddie. She never told him off for doing this however, she only shooed him away in irritation. When he grabbed and scratched her friends she would just say, “It's a phase he's going through, he'll grow out of it.”

But he didn't grow out of it, and when I was born she took to saying, “Go and play with your brother.” every time Eddie annoyed her. So for the next eleven years I had to bear the brunt of my brothers habit. I was almost constantly bruised from being punched and sat upon, my hair was pulled and clothing ripped. Eddie would trip me into muddy puddles and shoulder barge me into hedges. Of the few toys I owned, most were broken within moments if Eddie got his hands on them.

But enough about Eddie for a moment, let me introduce myself, my name is Archibald Cullen, but just call me Archie. I have a rather quirky family, and despite being the most normal and mundane of them all, I never felt I fitted in. But I did find a place I belonged and this is the story of how I got there.

It all starts with my family, for although we didn't get along, if it were not for them I would never have found where I belonged.

Chapter 2 – My Mother

My Mother was a short, slightly plump lady. She had an unfortunate taste for tight clothing which only exaggerated her plumpness in a most unflattering way. She made me think of a sack of potatoes, all lumpy and shapeless, except she was a kaleidoscope of neon and primary colours and eye-popping patterns. She had long tangles of brown curly hair which she had highlighted at the hairdressers once a month. She wore enough make-up to ice a cake and spent hours in the bathroom every morning. She wore so much I imagined she must have to apply it with a trowel.

Mum never seemed to notice that Eddie was constantly harassing me, or maybe she didn't care. Right from my earliest memories I couldn't remember a time when my Mother had not had her mobile phone pressed to her ear. In fact for many years I thought that she must have been born with a mobile phone in her hand, for she was never seen without it. On her arms she wore metal bangles which clashed and clanked every time she moved. She had metal hoops in her ears too. Until I knew better, I thought she wore all this metal to improve her mobile phone signal.

And she never stopped talking on it. Once in the middle of the night, after Eddie had woken me, as often happened, I had gone to Mum's room to tell. She had been fast asleep in bed, but her mouth had been moving as if she were still talking, her empty hand pressed to her ear. Even in her sleep she did not stop talking.

She never seemed to talk about anything interesting however. It was always, “Did you see Marge? What was she thinking wearing those hideous shoes in public!” or “I can’t believe Brian and Melissa are going to get married. I've a good mind to phone the writers of that show and give them a piece of my mind. No of course I'll still watch it, I must find out what happens!” or, “Saturday? Yeah I'm free. What? The kids? Oh they'll be OK by themselves. Where shall we go?” Whatever the conversation it was always accompanied by peels of raucous laughter. I quickly learned to tune out the noise.

When she wasn't talking on the phone she was texting on it, and when she was doing neither of those, it was usually because she was watching soaps on the TV or because the house was full of her chattering friends. The house always seemed full of chattering ladies. The doorbell was always ringing, though the door was usually left standing open so the crowds of gossiping women could flow in and out like the tide. They were all young, painted with all shades of make-up, decorated with bangles and beads and hoops of gold and silver and gemstones. Of course every one of them carried a mobile phone. There was quite a cacophony of the latest ringtones when they all started going off.

Mrs Gemma Cullen, our Mother wasn't the kind of woman who was interested in children. How she had come to have two therefore was something of a mystery. Eddie and I rarely got a decent meal from our Mother. Often she forget completely because she was so caught up in hearing the latest gossip about some soap or reality TV show, or about the disgraceful thing her friend Marina had done on holiday in Corfu. But on the occasions when she actually cooked for us, with her mobile clamped between shoulder and ear so she could still chatter away, she invariably got distracted. So there would be custard on the fish fingers, ketchup on the ice cream and the chips would be either burned or still raw. Mostly we ate ready meals, Eddie and I quickly learned how to use the microwave ourselves.

Mum was no less neglectful of the other aspects of raising children. Laundry piled up, dentist appointments went by unattended, and birthdays were forgotten. For the early years of my life I thought this was how all mothers were.

I sometimes wondered where my Dad was but I never dared to ask Mum. Even if I had tried, it was hard to get a word in edgeways, or sideways or any other way with Mum because she was always too busy talking to other people. I sometimes thought that my Dad might have disappeared, vanished into non-existence because Mum had not paid enough attention to him. Unknown to me at the time, this was not all that far from the truth.

I soon learned that it was useless going to my Mum for protection from my brother’s constant torment.

Chapter 3 - The Garden

There was one place I was safe from my brother, the garden. Our house only had a small garden; it was overgrown with weeds and long grasses. In one corner was a rotting shed and a stepping stone path led through the jungle of vegetation to a gate that led to an alley at the back. The end of the garden was marked by an enormous hedge which I don't think had been trimmed since Mum had moved here; certainly the garden had not been touched in my lifetime.

It was inside this tangled overgrown hedge that my secret sanctuary lay. Underneath the hedge was hollow, the foliage draped down the sides supported by bare trunks. Between them there was only leaf litter and bare earth. At the edges weeds grew in the dappled light.

You might wonder why this was a safe haven for me, for surely Eddie would know of it too. And he did know of it, but he never came there even to taunt me. It was because of the wasps.

Many summers ago there had been a wasp nest in the hedge here, and of course my brother had been unable to resist poking it. To his credit he was smart enough not to poke it directly with his finger, but had decided to use a stick instead. As soon as I realised what he was going to do I retreated to the safety of the kitchen to watch through the window. He had poked cautiously at it at first, but when this provoked no reaction from the wasps Eddie had smacked the nest with all his strength. That certainly got a reaction. A swarm of angry wasps had streamed from the nest and gone straight for him. He had swiped at them with the stick, his flailing limbs only upsetting the wasps more until they formed a thick cloud of insects all around him.

He came running into the house covered in painful looking red welts and screaming his head off. This was beyond even my Mother’s ability to ignore.

“I'll have to call you back.” she said to whoever had been on the phone. Never in my life had I heard her utter those words before!

She phoned a wasp exterminator as soon as she and Eddie returned from the hospital. I watched from my bedroom window as the exterminator came and killed all the wasps, pumping toxic smoke into their nest. I felt so sorry for them, it wasn't their fault, they had only been protecting their nest.

The next day I had gone down to the end of the garden and crawled into the hedge. I found the wasp's nest still in place among the branches. Nothing stirred in it now; the floor was littered with the bodies of dead wasps. I took the nest down, it was so light in my hands, it felt like paper. Curious I peeled it open; it came apart in flakes like leaves from a cabbage. In the very centre were hexagonal chambers, all perfectly constructed. It was a marvellous creation.

But the wasps left me something even more marvellous, they left me with a safe hiding hole. When I emerged from looking at the wasps nest I saw Eddie watching from the kitchen window. His face was as white as a sheet aside from the ugly red welts where the wasps had stung him. Even though the wasps were gone, it would be many years before Eddie ventured to the bottom of the garden again.

Chapter 4 – Payback

Of course I couldn't always hide from my brothers bullying but I had my ways of getting back at Eddie too. I would have gone mad without some sort of release. My brother may have been much bigger and older than I was, but I was much smarter than him despite my younger age. I think when you are faced with great adversity you adapt to the circumstances. I adapted by getting smart.

I never got much sleep thanks to my brother, he would always come in when I was sleeping and pounce on me or steal my blankets. To pay him back for this, one day I caught a bluebottle in a jam jar. Now a bluebottle is not at all harmful, but it does make a wonderfully loud buzzing sound as it flies. The jam jar only enhanced the buzzing sound. I put some squashy blackberries in the jar for the bluebottle to eat and stretched a dish cloth over the top, securing it with an elastic band so the bluebottle couldn't escape. Then, while Eddie was at school I hide the jar with the bluebottle in his room. I put it on a high shelf behind some books. Eddie never read books so I knew he wouldn't discover it.

That night I waited, anticipating what might happen. About half an hour after Eddie had gone to bed it began. Eddie burst out of his room in a panic.

“There's a wasp in my room!” He shouted jumping on my bed and shaking me. “Get it out!” Eddie couldn't tell the buzzing of an innocent bluebottle apart from the buzzing of a wasp. Playing the part I went through to his room to look for the 'wasp'. He cowered at the door as I went in. The bluebottle had settled down again and the room was silent.

“You must have dreamed it.” I said, “There's nothing here, go to bed!”
Eddie, unconvinced nervously got back into bed. Another fifteen minutes went by, then the bluebottle became restless again. Eddie flew down the stairs taking them two at a time yelling for Mum. Mum was watching her favourite soap on TV and wasn't pleased to be interrupted. But even she couldn't ignore Eddie's yells. She duly came upstairs to investigate (during the ad break).

To my delight the bluebottle was playing its part perfectly and had gone silent again.

“What do you think you're doing playing silly games and disturbing me?” Mum ranted at Eddie, “There's nothing here, now go to bed and you'll be sorry if you disturb me again with this nonsense!” Her face was scarlet with rage and Eddie didn't doubt she meant it. “You'll be sorry if you've made me miss my soap.” She muttered as she stomped back down the stairs.

Eddie was quiet after that, but I heard him whimpering in the early hours of the morning when I got up to use the bathroom. At breakfast the next morning Eddie looked grey in the face and there were big, dark circles under his eyes. It looked like he hadn't slept a wink. I, on the other hand, had had a most refreshing night’s sleep.

After Eddie had left for school I went and retrieved the jam jar from the shelf in Eddie's room. One night was enough, it would have been cruel otherwise, cruel to the bluebottle that is. The bluebottle was none the worse for its overnight stay in my brother's room and it buzzed happily away when I released it into the garden.

Chapter 5 – The Cat

Eddie and I never had any pets, Mum didn't have time for children let alone animals. Thanks to Eddie I didn't have any friends, so I longed for the companionship of a pet. An older girl who lived down the street had once taken pity on me and shown me her pet gerbils. They had been marvellous, so funny to watch, and soft to touch. I knew Mum would never buy me gerbils. But I did once have a pet, it happened quite by chance.

I had been hiding in my den in the hedge when I heard the soft mewing of the tiny creature. The kitten was filthy and skinny, it had no collar and its Mother was nowhere in sight. Forgotten and alone, I felt an immediate sympathy with the small creature. I coaxed it towards me and wrapped it in my sweater, the kitten pushed its head against my hand and purred affectionately.

Keeping the kitten a secret from Mum wasn't a problem, I could have kept a lion in the living room and she would probably not have noticed. Keeping it hidden from my brother was much more of a challenge however. Eddie was always popping up unexpectedly, and always interfering with my things so I had learned to find places where I could hide my special things from my brothers prying eyes and probing fingers.

I decide it would be safest to keep the kitten outdoors, the main problem would be finding it shelter. Then I remembered the wooden fruit crates stacked up behind the supermarket. One of those would be perfect. The supermarket was at the end of our road, but it was a long and busy road with a steep hill and I had never been there on my own before. I was a little afraid as I set out along the street, only the thought of the kitten made me go on.

I got many curious looks from people along the way, for I was only a small boy at the time who should not have been out alone. I knew Mum would not even have noticed I was gone. I got even more curious looks on the way back as I hauled the wooden fruit crate along. It was much heavier than I had expected and almost as tall as me when stood on end. It took me a long time and I had to stop and rest several times on the uphill stretch, sitting on the upturned crate, gasping and red in the face from effort.

At last I arrived at my own back gate. I had left the kitten in a cardboard box with an old towel and a dish of milk. It was busy washing itself when I peeped in, it looked up at me with wide green eyes. I set up the crate under the cover of the hedge and transferred the kitten to it. The kitten would be safe and warm and dry here.

And it was. I took good care of the scruffy young kitten bringing it everything it needed. I stole food and milk from the kitchen, brought it old towels to keep it warm, made toys for it from feathers and bits of string. The kitten grew into a sleek and beautiful young cat and I was very happy. It was marvellous to have the cat as my friend, it never scratched or chased me. It would curl up with me when I hid crying in the bushes, or whenever I felt lonely, which was often.
Of course, this friendship could not last. It was inevitable really, but when it happened, it made me very sad all the same. The cat was grown now and naturally as cats will it took to wandering the neighbourhood. It always returned to the fruit crate under the bushes at the bottom of the garden though.

One day as Eddie and Mum and I were walking back from the supermarket, I saw the cat sitting on a wall ahead of us. The cat, recognising his friend jumped lithely down from the wall, landing neatly on four feet and started meandering towards me, meowing a greeting. I felt alarmed and charmed all at once. Delighted that my friend wanted to greet me, but alarmed at what Eddie might do.

I decided the best thing to do would be to ignore the cat completely, but the cat stood directly in my way making it impossible to ignore. I stopped, Eddie stopped just behind me. Mum, oblivious, continued walking, prattling into her mobile as usual.

The cat rubbed against my legs and purred.

“What's this?” Eddie asked, prodding me in the arm, “You have a pet?”
“No!” I stammered, “It's just one of the neighbours cats, I see it about sometimes.” It would have made no difference whatever I said. Eddie crouched down and cooed at the cat. I willed the cat not to go to him, but the cat didn't know it was in any danger. It sauntered over to him and sniffed at his outstretched hands. Eddie lunged and scooped the cat up in his arms. It gave a startled yowl and began squirming like a snake. Eddie roughly tried to stop it escaping, laughing cruelly the whole time.

“Stop it!” I cried running forwards and trying to prise the cat from my brother’s tight grip. “Let it go!” In its distress the cat had become a screeching ball of teeth and claws. As I tried to help it, a paw slashed out indiscriminately and left red streaks across my arm. I backed away clutching my arm and watched as Eddie disappeared behind the spitting ball of fur that the cat became. He was no longer trying to hold onto the cat, his arms flailed and struck at it as he tried to drive it away. But the cat wasn't done yet, it scratched and bit him in a fury before finally leaping gracefully away and trotting off across the street, head held high.

Eddie was covered in claw and bite marks, his clothes were torn to tatters. He stood there in the street, his face bright red, his bottom lip wobbled dangerously and I could see tears in his eyes. I felt laughter rising up in me. He had met his match in the cat. He glared at me as I tried to control my smirk, then he ran off down the street towards home.

After that the cat didn't return to the box under the hedge. It stayed in the neighbourhood, I think old Mrs Tenby across the road took it in and fed it. I saw it quite often on the street, but whenever it saw me or Eddie it would always pointedly cross the street to stay away from us. I'd like to think it gazed at me from afar with a sympathetic look in its eye, but that was probably just my imagination.

I was angry with Eddie for a long time for making the cat leave. My only consolation was that the cat had fought back and won. One day I thought, Eddie will poke something and get more than scratches or stings for his trouble.

Chapter 6 - Slugs

It was about a week after the cat left that I realised it was never coming back. I became more upset and angry at Eddie for scaring away my only friend than I had ever been before. It was raining and I was sitting in my den alone with water dripping through the leaves onto my head when I saw the most enormous slug. It was dark brown and glistening with slime. As I watched it slowly slide towards me, I forgot about my grief and the germ of an idea arose. I ran and fetched a glass jar and used a stick to encourage the slug into it.

Another of Eddie's many faults was that he always ate up my favourite breakfast cereal before I could get any and he never let me get the jam either. The morning after I had captured the slug I watched as he took the last two Weetee-Bics from the box and lavished great globules of blackcurrant jam on them as usual. Then he had to get up to get the milk from the fridge. This was my chance, while his back was turned I took out the jar with the slug in it from under my sweater and with a sharp smack on the bottom of the jar I deposited the slug right on top of the Weetee-Bic biscuits among the jam. The colour of the jam and the colour of the slug matched perfectly and surrounded by great spoonfuls of jam the slug was barely noticeable.

I quickly hid the jar and looked innocent as Eddie returned with the milk. He didn't notice the slug sliding across his breakfast as he poured milk into his bowl. I watched with fascinated horror and delight as he dug in with his spoon and lifted half the Weetee-Bic, slug and all, towards his mouth. He was really going to eat it. Would he even notice? Right at the last second I cried out.

“STOP!”

Eddie glared at me.

“There's something moving in your breakfast.” I hated myself for telling him, but, it wouldn't have been fair to let him eat it. Not fair to the slug that is. Eddie was now looking at his spoon in disgust, his face took on a pale green hue and then with a clatter he dropped his spoon and raced for the bathroom to be sick. The slug landed on the floor in a pool of milk and soggy cereal. I quickly scooped it up and put it outside.

I had my pick of the breakfast cereals for some time after that, and Eddie didn't touch the jam for a year. He would come down to breakfast looking queasy and examined every spoonful closely before putting it in his mouth. It was brilliant! It didn't make up for the cat, but it soothed my anger at least.

If you want to know what happens next, please buy the book.
Avaliable from Lulu now!

Sew Much Love

2009-12-01T13:02:00.002Z

I was contacted recently and asked if I'd contribute some of my puppets to a new charity project called Sew Much Love.
I thought it was a great concept for a charity project and a worthy cause so Humphrey and Florence have gone off to be part of the project.

There's still time if you would like to contribute to this project. Even if you don't know what to make there are links to tutorials on the Sew Much Love website.
So please check it out and contribute if you can!

Project 52 - November

2009-11-21T13:57:00.002Z

This month's set of paintings were more good than bad, but still nowhere near perfect.

Project 52 Flickr Set

The best paintings from Project 52 are avaliable from Redbubble as high quality prints.
Also a calendar of the best of the best is now available.

If you like the images from Project 52, maybe you'll like the story that inspired them and was in turn inspired by them. It's called Windmaster and is available now from Lulu.

Ice Cream in November

2009-11-05T12:46:00.000Z

Gulls screech, waves pound the shore,
Bitter salt on my lips.
Freezing wind upon my cheeks,
Fingers numb with cold.
Pin sharp flecks of rain strike my face,
The smell of the sea.
My ears filled with the shingle’s roar,
A good day for ice cream.

GAH! Get Ready for CHRISTMAS!

2009-11-02T16:35:00.006Z

I know, it's too early to think about Christmas yet! But if you want to snag the coolest goodies and get them delivered in time then I'm afraid it's time to focus!

I've added lots of new stuff to my Etsy store , and there's a few more items to go on over the next week or so, so go check out what's on offer, you might just spot that perfect gift. Remember many of these are one off plushies or limited edition figures, great for a unique gift.

If you are ordering please bear in mind the Christmas posting deadlines!
I am based in England so please order early if you want the item in time for Christmas.
Royal Mail christmas posting deadlines are:
4th December for South & Central America, Caribbean, Africa, Middle East, Far East, Asia, New Zealand & Australia
10th December for Japan, USA, Canada & Eastern Europe
11th December for Western Europe
15th December (parcels) for UK

And don't forget there's lots of prints and t-shirts and even calendars for sale on RedBubble too!

Happy Christmas Shopping to ya all! ^^

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T12:44:00.002Z

I never made any clothing before but I wanted to make a costume for Halloween and make it so I could wear it at other times too so it was practical.
I've also wanted to make a Totoro hoodie for ages.
I bought a hoodie pattern off Fitz patterns but had to redesign the hood to make it easier to do the ears. I also redesigned the sleeves to include mittens which I then added claws to. The sleeves have a hole at the back so you can get your hands out to do things.
The ears turned out a bit too floppy, and I would have done the teeth slightly differently if I did it again, but for my first costume and first clothing I love how it turned out.
It was a lot of hand sewing tho so I won't be doing a remake! XD"

My dad got me a massive pumpkin this year. It made 8 portions of soup, me and Tao and Zen ate the seeds and I also carved it into this:

It's Daruma-san. Maybe not the most traditional Daruma but, I like how it turned out.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Project 52 - October

2009-10-18T16:38:00.004+01:00

Not the best month but not a complete disaster either.
This was the best of the 4 tho:

You can see the rest and the other Project 52 paintings at Flickr

You can buy the best of them at RedBubble.
And, you can now buy a 2010 calendar with my selection of the very best 13 Project 52 paintings in it so you can enjoy them all through the year.

Project 52 - September

2009-09-18T15:39:00.002+01:00

All 4 paintings this month turned out pretty good I think.
Not perfect, but not too bad at least.! XD"

You can buy prints of these and other paintings from the project at RedBubble.

Fiona Dionaea

2009-09-17T12:53:00.002+01:00

Fiona Dionaea was my entry to this years Jungle themed puppet contest at Puppet Project.
Sadly she didn't make the top 10 tho.
You can see the top 10 and vote for the winner at the Puppet Project site.

Fiona Dionaeaâs parents cultivated her talent for singing and acting from a young age and her talents quickly grew. Plucked from her jungle home just as her abilities ripened, she made a name for herself starring in some of the greatest movies of the 30âs and 40âs including numerous Tarzan films. She was always first choice among directors for the roles of lead carnivorous plant, and stood out from the crowd when placed among other exotic plant extras. She put down roots in Hollywood where she remains firmly planted to this day. Her career has blossomed although her talents have wilted in more recent years. She puts her continued youthful looks down to regular pruning and a strict diet of liquid plant feed with the occasional insect or small mammal that wanders too close.

Tiny Fauna

2009-09-16T16:28:00.003+01:00

Here's all the gang of Tiny Fauna together.
You too can get them all together now by buying all 4 patterns in one package.
And best of all you'll save $5 compared to if you bought them all seperatly! \^_^/

Go to the Sewing Patterns section of my Etsy to find out more.

Tiny Fuu

2009-09-14T17:15:00.003+01:00

Last in the 'Tinys' collection comes Tiny Fuu!

Tiny Fuu was rather more complicated than the previous Tinys, but don't let that put you off because he's also the cutest! X3

The sewing pattern is avaliable from Etsy now!

And remember, Tiny Fuu is also avaliable as a phone charm and on t-shirts at red bubble.

Tiny Ele Plushie

2009-09-12T14:38:00.002+01:00

Close on the heels of Tiny Lion comes Tiny Ele!

Make the whole trio of Tiny Tora, Tiny Lion and Tiny Ele from my PDF patterns avaliable now at Etsy.

And don't forget the t-shirts from Red Bubble.

Tiny Lion gets Plushified!

2009-09-10T15:01:00.002+01:00

Remember Tiny Lion?

Well now he's transformed into a huggable plush toy for you to make! X3

You can buy the pattern at Etsy.

And don't forget you can buy t-shirst with Tiny Lion on from Red Bubble too. ;)

Windmaster

2009-09-06T13:05:00.003+01:00

I've written a book.
It's called Windmaster.

I'm not sure if it's any good or not, but I like it! XD"
You can buy it from Lulu.

Here's an extract from it:

As the time of the duel approached the plaza became packed with people, it seemed like the whole city had come to witness it. Buntaro was surprised that the city even had this many people living in it. He looked around for Kerwen but he couldn’t pick her out in the heaving crowds. He hoped she had found a good spot to watch from.
Ayr stood silent and motionless by the poolside, apparently lost in thought again. He’d better start focusing if he doesn’t want to lose his head, Buntaro mused to himself as he wandered along the edge of the crowd looking for potential escape routes should the need arise. It didn’t look promising; the crowds were packed together so tightly they were trapped within a writhing noose of human bodies.
Then the hour of the duel struck on the old clock tower away across the city, the sound carrying easily in the cold thin air of the mountains, the crowd flowed apart like water and through it strode Haito, the young Samurai from the day before, behind him followed around thirty other young men all dressed similarly in antiquated Samurai dress, their heads held high, katanas through their belts. Buntaro thought they looked ridiculous, who did they think they were? No one wore clothes like that anymore; even in his time serving his Lord such dress had been pretentious and unpractical. Haito at least had chosen to wear more practical pants for the occasion, though he still wore the padded robe.
Buntaro returned to Ayr’s side, Ayr stood facing away from Haito, the smug smile on Haito’s face faded into an angry jeer at this apparent slight as he stopped before Buntaro and Ayr.

“Well it seems you didn’t have the good sense to run away,” he jeered. “I suppose you lose less honour by losing your head than you would from fleeing,” he sneered.

“What do you know of honour?” Buntaro returned. “You young whelp, I don’t suppose you’ve ever seen the horror of battle, or honoured your enemy as you struck him down?” Buntaro said, his ire rising once again, he spat at the man’s feet. Haito turned red with fury at this insult, but before anything more could come of it Ayr turned and once again diffused the situation.

“I am ready now, if you wish to continue on this path?” he said levelly as if unaware of the tense moment that had just occurred.

“I am, I’m more than ready to deal with you,” Haito spat “And then I will deal with your friend!”

“Maybe you’d better exchange that toy of yours for a real man’s sword.” Haito said indicating the wooden bokken tucked in Ayr’s belt, Haito’s band of Samurai laughed and jeered at Ayr. Buntaro standing close and leaning in to Ayr whispered, “Aye lad, take my sword, she’ll see you right.” Ayr shook his head; he thought again of the past, already too much blood had been spilled in this place.

“I’ll not take another’s life over a petty disagreement like this,” he said. “I’m fine as I am.” Haito laughed harshly.

“Well don’t blame me when your head is rolling on the floor, I did offer you the chance. Don’t think I’ll go easy on you!” he said, his eyes narrowing.
Ayr just calmly nodded his head and stepped away to take up position. Buntaro followed him closely looking worried, but he knew better than to question his friend’s choice. They exchanged a few last words.

“Don’t lose your head!” Buntaro told him with concern.

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Ayr replied, calm as ever, his calmness soothing Buntaro’s fraying nerves. Then Buntaro went to join the crowd, there was nothing more he could do but watch.

Haito addressed the crowd.

“The terms of the duel are, when I win, we’ll be rid of this pretender, and then I’ll rid us of his portly friend too!” the Samurai he’d brought with him cheered and encouraged the crowd to do so with angry threats.

“And if I should win?” Ayr enquired smoothly. Haito turned a cruel smile on Ayr.

“I admire your optimism, but that’s not going to happen!” he assured him.
The Samurai lackeys who had come with Haito spread out and positioned themselves around the front of the crowd forming a semicircle around the two duellers, now enclosed on one side by the semicircle of the crowd, and on the other by the semicircle of the pool edge, forming a crescent moon shape space in which to duel.
One of the Samurai presented Haito with his swords and relieved him of his padded robe before returning to his position in the crowd. The swords were elaborate and expensive looking, the scabbards highly decorated with engravings. Haito secured the swords to his belt, then spent a few moments warming his muscles and showing off his sword skill to the waiting crowd. Ayr watched closely, the old lady had been right, anyone could see this man was all show. His skills may look pretty when on show, but against an unpredictable opponent, such fancy skills were not much use. Maybe he could scare the peasants but any real swordsman need have no fear of him.
Haito stopped his display and looked at Ayr.

“Aren’t you going to warm up?” he asked with a sneer, “We wouldn’t want you pulling a muscle during the duel.” the other Samurai laughed and hurled insults.

“I’m warm enough thank you,” Ayr replied. Once Haito had finished his posturing a large Samurai stepped forward from the crowd, Ayr and Haito took positions opposite each other, the large Samurai between them, he raised his arm.

“Let the duel begin!” he shouted his arm dropped and he quickly retreated back to his place in the crowd.
Haito circled Ayr, Ayr drew his bokken and held his position and waited patiently. Then the young Samurai attacked with a flurry of strikes, Ayr danced lightly backwards on the balls of his feet dodging each strike with ease, predicting each thrust and swipe, occasionally deflecting a blow with lazy sweeps of his bokken.
Haito chased the dancing Ayr around the plaza, following every sequence of strikes by more and more sequences, but never even coming close to actually striking Ayr himself. Ayr made no attempts to strike his opponent, and he had no need to use any of his extra speed or agility to avoid the man, he just let the man tire himself out with the constant effort of attacking.
Finally seeing he was being made a fool of Haito stopped to draw breath, white clouds of vapour filled the cold air with every gasp.

“I see,” he said between long draws of air, “That you do intend to run away after all!” Again the Samurai lackeys in the crowd jeered, calls of cowardice reached Ayr’s ears.

“Fight me!” the young Samurai demanded, “If you’ve any honour at all then fight me!”
Ayr said nothing he did not rise to the taunts but remained focused and calm and ready, he circled slowly around until his back was to the pool, his eyes on Haito the whole time. The man may not be skilled, but you should never underestimate even a fool if he holds a blade.
Finally Haito caught his breath and took up a ready position, for a long time they stood, still, watching, waiting for the other to make the first move. Ayr could have waited all day, but he knew he wouldn’t need to, Haito was impatient for his glory and eventually anger, that Ayr would not attack him, overcame him and he sprang forward with a roar to try and strike him.
Ayr had seen the anger building and saw the moment the man had snapped and moved to strike, the man’s anger made him clumsy and foolish in his attack and Ayr easily side stepped him. Seeing his mistake Haito turned his katana to protect himself, expecting to be struck, but Ayr had other plans for him instead of raising his bokken and striking a blow, he lowered it parallel to the ground and swept the young man’s legs out from under him. Haito stumbled forwards and straight over the raised edge of the pool, the momentum of his own initial attack sending him irresistibly forwards over the edge with an almighty crash and a splash through the icy surface into the filthy water of the pool’s shallows.
Buntaro burst out laughing, and the crowd followed, the Samurai in the crowd were perplexed and confused, not sure if they should help their Master or subdue the crowd, they stood in disarray. Haito rose, spluttering from the stinking water, shivering and gasping against the cold, green slime hung in his hair and his fine clothes were thick with stinking mud stirred up from the bottom of the pool.
He almost slipped and fell back as he stepped over the marble wall due to the slippery gunk that coated his boots. Shaking with rage he picked off the worst bits of weed, some of his Samurai thugs finally ran forward and fussed over him, but he shook them off and shoved and struck at them in his rage.

“What honour is there in tripping a man?” railed the filth covered Haito, appealing to the newly subdued crowd for sympathy, but finding none.

“In battle, honour remains with he who keeps his head on his shoulders,” Buntaro shouted from the crowd. The crowd cheered him until Haito’s goons turned to threaten them again and they fell silent.

“To strike a single clean blow is how to win with honour,” Haito said officiously, the dank water dripping from his long hair and uncontrolled shivering which made his teeth chatter spoilt the effect of his attempted authority.

“If that is how you want it, then so shall it be,” Ayr replied calm and focused.
Ayr waited patiently while Haito removed his heavy soaking short coat and used it to wipe the slippery slime from his boots. He wrung out his long black hair and tied it up out of his eyes before standing ready once more.

“This time I will finish it!” he proclaimed through blue lips.

Once again they began the deadly dance. Steam rose from the soaked Haito as the sun’s heat touched his sopping clothes. After once again sparring and parrying and circling for some time Haito began to tire and despair, why could he not hit him, he thought angrily as Ayr once again danced out of range of his strike, why will he not attack, he thought, anger flaring through him with ever increasing intensity.
As if reading his thoughts at that moment Ayr moved towards him.
To the crowd it happened in an instant, like a lightning strike, but to Haito it was as if time stood still, and although he could see the blow coming, he knew he was powerless to change his fate. Time resumed its normal pace and the last the young Samurai heard was the hollow sound of the wooden bokken striking his head, and in his ears the hollow sound of defeat as he fell unconscious to the floor.
The crowd roared their approval, Buntaro ran forward to embrace his friend.

“HA HAH!” he cried in delight, “You sure taught him a thing or two!” Some of the Samurai had run to their Master’s aid, and were trying to rouse the unconscious man; a growing lump was visible on his forehead. Others surrounded Ayr and Buntaro threatening them, swords drawn. The rest were trying to subdue the crowd, but with Haito unconscious on the floor and with spirits freed by Ayr’s show of defiance their threats no longer carried any weight, spurred on by Ayr’s show of strength against these bullies, the crowd pushed past them and swept up Buntaro and Ayr, surrounding them with a safe barrier of cheering bodies as they carried them off down the street away from the plaza.

Did you enjoy that?
*cough buy it here cough*

XD

Nelly the Hedgehog

2009-09-01T12:23:00.006+01:00

The British Hedgehog Preservation Society Recently held a limmerick contest, I decided to illustrated my limmerick, just for fun:

I really liked the design of Nelly and so I made her into a plush toy!

Soon she met a friend called Henry too.

Nelly and Henry are off to entertain the folks at the BHPS, but if you like them, you can make your very own hedgehog from the Nelly the Hedgehog sewing pattern which is avaliable now in my Etsy store.

Nelly is a very easy pattern so anyone should be able to make her.

Of course Having made plush toy Nelly, a vector graphic of her was soon to follow.

I used it on the pattern cover but it's also available on t-shirts from Red Bubble.

Half of all profits from Nelly patterns and t-shirts will go to the BHPS.

Project 52 - August

2009-08-21T15:03:00.002+01:00

August was not the best month for painting, only one that I was pleased with:

I went on to repaint this bigger as a gift for someone.

You can see all this months paintings as well as oones from previous mnths at Flickr.
Or buy prints of my paintings at RedBubble.

Cuteness OD

2009-07-24T16:50:00.003+01:00

Tiny Tora is now avaliable in plushie form!
You can sew your own Tiny Tora from my latest sewing pattern, avaliable now on Etsy.

Tiny Tora is really easy to make for people of all sewing abilities.

Buy the pattern now!

If that's not cute enough for you, check out my latest design in the Tiny range, it's Tiny Fuu!

Tiny Fuu is the cutest Foo Dog you'll ever see, he's avaliable on T-shirts at Redbubble right now, and if you're quick there's even a 15% discount avaliable right now!

If flat Fuu isn't your thing, check out these adorable Tiny Fuu phone charms which are totally hand made in a very limited number by me myself!

Buy one now at Etsy!

Tiny Tora and Friends

2009-07-18T18:57:00.002+01:00

Tiny Tora has got some new friends, Tiny Ele and Tiny Lion!

Ok, so sometimes they fall out, but mostly they're friends!

You can find both those designs and more on t-shirts at RedBubble

Project 52 - July

2009-07-12T17:39:00.004+01:00

They're not perfect but all this months paintings turned out decent at least.

See all the Project 52 paintings at Flickr

Buy the best Project 52 paintings at Red Bubble

World Strider

2009-06-28T17:23:00.001+01:00

World Strider is now avaliable as a print at Red Bubble

Project 52 - June

2009-06-20T18:50:00.002+01:00

Finally this month I seemed to have gained some skill in watercolours with only one truley terrible painting, all the others had some redeeming qualities.

This was my favorite of the month:

And I liked how the details on this one turned out:

To see all the paintings from Project 52 and learn more about the project please visit my Flickr
To buy prints of my best watercolours please visit redbubble.

Drawing Day

2009-06-07T14:04:00.002+01:00

Yesterday was Drawing Day!
yay! \ ^_^ /

I only got round to doing some drawings late on yesterday so posting them today:

e-Mon and Min-e-Mon Rehoming Scheme

2009-06-06T13:26:00.002+01:00

Now's your chance to own your very own e-Mon or Min-e-Mon (without having to make one yourself) Because 2 of the family are looking for new homes.

The small orange faced burgandy bodied Min-e-Mon and the red faced and brown bodied e-Mon on the left side of the above photo are the two homeless creatures.

So please help them out and give them a loving home, in return they'll help you express yourself!

If you want to rehome one of them, please visit my Etsy.

e-Mon goes Mini!

2009-05-31T17:54:00.003+01:00

Min-e-Mon is my latest sewing pattern release avaliable now at Etsy

Min-e-Mon is a simpler smaller version of an e-Mon, if you don't know what an e-Mon is, read this blog.

Like e-Mon, Min-e-Mon has 2 faces so you can express yourself with him, however he's much quicker and simpler to make, perfect for everyone, from beginners up to try!

Contest!

2009-05-30T17:56:00.002+01:00

This is my entry to Wacom's 'Bring your vision to Life- Good VS Evil' contest on Deviant Art.
It didn't make the top 50 but if a million people favorite it on DA it could win the community award. *Ok that's not gonna happen, but I thought you'd like to see it anyways*

World Strider by ~CreativeSoup on deviant ART

Archibald the Armadillo

2009-05-25T15:42:00.003+01:00

Archie the Armadillo likes rolling in flowers and sun bathing.
When he's scared he rolls into a ball but if you talk to him nicely he'll soon uncurl.
His favorite foods are ants and other bugs.

Now you can make your very own armadillo because the pattern is available on Etsy!

Project 52 - May

2009-05-23T19:16:00.002+01:00

May was another bad month for painting.
I know I say that every month but next month things start picking up, so if you've stuck with me this long, wait just a little longer, there's some better stuff on the way!

But for now, this is the best of May's effort.

For the rest and all the months paintings so far please visit my Flickr.

e-Mon Tee's

2009-05-09T14:11:00.002+01:00

Based on my e-Mon plush toy *see blog below* now you can express yourself with an e-Mon t-shirt!

All these designs available now at Red Bubble.

e-Mon Express Yourself!

2009-05-03T16:20:00.004+01:00

What the heck is an e-Mon you may be wondering?
The answer, it's a neat transforming plushie that lets you express your moods and my latest sewing creation!

Check out e-Mon transforming:

The e-Mon (stands for 'Emotion Monster') has 2 faces, one grumpy, one happy (or whichever moods you choose to espress on your e-Mon) You can flip the face inside out to reveal the other face.
So when you're happy, let everyone know by showing e-Mon's happy face, and if you're feeling grumpy and irratable, flip him to his grumpy side as a warning to friends, family or co-workers!

The pattern to make your very own e-Mon is avaliable right now on Etsy!
So lets all start expressing ourselves in the e-Mon revolution!

Project 52 - April

2009-04-18T12:57:00.002+01:00

April was another poor month for my watercolour painting.
I totally over worked them, had bad composition and unthought out subjects. -_-"

On the positive sides I did learn some interesting techniques from doing them.

To see the others from April, and previous months, visit my Flickr

Happy Easter!

2009-04-10T15:09:00.002+01:00

It's a little Early, but Happy Easter everyone!

I designed these easy to make duck finger puppets for Easter a few years back, now I offer them to all!

Print off at the original size (from the Extras page or Flickr) follow the directions to make them and have finger puppet fun! ;)

Tiny Tora Tee's

2009-04-06T14:13:00.003+01:00

Tiny Tora might be very small but he's also very tough!
He can take down opponents many times his size and still look totally adorable while he's doing it!

Show your love for Tiny Tora with a fantastic Tiny Tora T-shirt avaliable in the following designs from Redbubble!

Monster Hats!

2009-04-04T12:55:00.002+01:00

I always seem to start making hats when the weather is warming up! XD"

This time I made a monster hat based on my monster bag!

You too can have a monster hat to chew on your head and keep it warm (once it's winter again, or on those fresh spring mornings!)

This hat is up for sale on Etsy, or you can make your own because the pattern is avaliable on Etsy too!

It's very easy to make for anyone even beginners and doesn't take long to make either!

for more info go to my Etsy!

Onigiri Toy - Free Sewing Pattern!

2009-03-29T15:00:00.002+01:00

I made this cute Onigiri (rice ball) as a gift, he turned out kinda cute so I've written up a tutorial so you can make him yourself!
The pattern is a free pdf which you can find on the Extras page of my website. (or from the link at the bottom of this post)
He's very easy to make so is perfect for beginners or a quick project. You can make him in half an hour using scraps of fabric.
Great as a gift or for yourself, customise him any way you like!
If you make one, send me a picture! ;)

Get the Tutorial here!

Have fun! ;)

Moleskine

2009-03-24T13:36:00.002Z

This is one of my favorite drawings I've done in my moleskine so far.
It's of my characters Ayr and Glyder.
Ayr is based on Akihito Okano, Glyder was based on a photo of a Tibetan man from a book.
I later turned the Glyder half into a watercolour for part of Project 52.

Bags With Bite!

2009-03-14T15:34:00.003Z

Messing around wondering what to do to use up all my fabric scraps I decided to make something practical with them... a bag!
But of course it couldn't be just any ole bag, it had to be fun and cute and unique, so I made a bag with bite!

Meet Scraps, the result of my efforts!

I was rather charmed by the little fellow and decided to write up the pattern so others too could have a monster bag!
During the process I created another monster bag named Ginger.
He only eats gingerbread, 3 meals a day, or he gets grumpy. X3

If you fancy having your own Monster Bag, the pattern is avaliable from Etsy, and Ginger is also for sale there.

Project 52 - March

2009-03-05T15:24:00.003Z

March was a terrible month for my watercolours, I couldn't seem to do a decent one!
They were all over worked or under planned.

Still I had a go, to see the rest of this months awful attempts go to my Flickr.

Project 52 - February

2009-02-13T16:12:00.002Z

February 08's paintings for Project 52 have just been uploaded to Flickr.

The first painting I did that month was the first time I felt I'd done a respectable painting.
I did more research for this painting, I drew the face from a photo of an old man out of a book about Tibet then redrew him as my character Glyder.

However I was still not using the true qualities of watercolours, but in my 3rd painting that month I finally started to appreciate the translucent qualities and use them better.
I really liked the way the colours turned out in this painting.

You can see all the paintings from this month (and last month) on my Flickr.
Also you can now buy prints of the best paintings at RedBubble.

Kung Hei Fat Choi!

2009-01-26T13:29:00.000Z

Happy Chinese New Year!

(I hope the kanji for 'Happy New Year' are correct here.)

It's the year of the Ox fyi.
the 'rats' which look suspiciously like a certain couple of gerbils I know, XD" are giving way from the year of the rat to the year of the ox.

This was a hastily made illo for the new year challenged by my frined Ame to do something with only 2 days to do it *since the new year crept up on us!* XD"

Sketched in pencil, coloured in Painter, made into a wallie in PS.
I haven't done any digital painting for over a year and couldn't spend much time on this so it's real rough but hope you like.
Feel free to download it from Flickr and use it as a wallie! X3

Moleskine 11

2009-01-24T14:42:00.001Z

Moleskine

2009-01-10T14:47:00.001Z

In 2008 I started my first moleskine journal in an attempt to do more drawing and explore ideas and characters in ways I wouldn't usually do in my other sketchbooks.
I could only find a really cheap moleskine which turned out to have very poor quality paper in it which is almost impossible to erase from without smudging or damaging the paper. -_-
However I decided to draw in it anyway, and still found it enjoyable so I'm keeping going despite struggling with the paper! ^^

I'm gonna post some of my moley pages here as I upload them, so, enjoy!

to see everything from my Moley and read notes about the drawings, go here.

Project 52

2009-01-05T12:49:00.004Z

So Christmas has gone and the New Year is already 5 days old, I hope everyone had a great holiday!
Today it's back to work for most people, so to bring a little excitement to your day I'm going to tell you about a project I've been working on for the last year.

In 2008 I made a resolution to learn more about painting watercolours. In order to motive myself I set myself the challenge of painting one watercolour per week.

I decided I needed a bit of a theme for my paintings so that I wasn't flailing about every week wondering what I might paint.
I decided to base all my paintings on the characters and world of a story I'm working on since I was already exploring the story visually anyway.

Previous to this I had very limited watercolour knowledge, and the few I had done were very tight and controlled, I wanted to loosen up and have fun experimenting.

As a result, the first few paintings are total rubbish! XD"
In fact many of the paintings are complete disasters, but here and there I managed to produce somthing I felt pleased with.

Also I was not using the best materials, most of the paintings were done in an a5 sketchbook on cartridge paper, a few were on a4 boldemere watercolour paper *not very high quality paper* My brushes were a mix of old watercolour brushes and new boldmere ones. The paints are Daler-Rowney halfpans and also boldmere tube paints *again the boldmere not very good quality, tho I love the cerulean blue and purple! X3*
I know the old saying goes if you don't use the best tools you can't expect the best results, but not everyone can afford the best tools, so it was either have a go with what I had avaliable to me or not try at all.
So I had a go! ;)

I looked at many watercolour books through the year, and many different artists who paint in different styles.
One of the problems I found was that I liked so many different styles I couldn't settle on just one, and sometimes the styles got mixed up in a bad way I think.
I still don't know which style of watercolours I aspire too even after 52 paintings!

Also I'm still not an accomplished watercolourist, but I hope I've learned a little on which I can continue to build.

Anyone who is experienced in watercolours, feel free to leave constructive critiscm and tips for improving! ;)

Here's the very first painting.

I know, I know, it's not very good, but they do get better, I promise! *well a little better*

Here's a little teaser of thumbnails from some of the paintings you'll see over the year.

Over this year I will be uploading all 52 paintings, good, bad and terrible, shown for your judgement on Flickr.
Once a month I'll post here and show off the best paintings from that month. Also I'll be uploading the very best to RedBubble so you can buy them as prints etc if you wish.

Next month I actually have some decent paintings to show so be sure to come back then!

Happy Holidays Folks

2008-12-24T16:14:00.000Z

I decorated the xmas cake this year, but was limited to icing and marzipan hence the yellow penguins! XD"

The cake has a story with it too:

As everyone well knows Polarbears and Penguins live at opposite sides of the world and can never meet.
but obviously in this modern age, sometimes a polarbear will strike up a friendship with a penguin via the internet.
And sometimes, on special holidays like xmas maybe they will want to visit each other.

William the polarbear has caught the Ice-flow Express to the Antarctic to exchange gifts with his good friends Wilfred, Rodney and Thomas the penguins! X3

Featured!

2008-12-19T14:35:00.003Z

I had another nice surprise today when I dropped by at RedBubble, one of my designs was featured on thier home page!

The theme was bears and my design Star Bear was in some excellent company!
Bears have been top of my favorite animal list for a long time and are a long time inspiration, so to get featured for the first time during a bear theme is extra special! X3

It won't be up for long so go check out Star Bear and the other excellent bears on Redbubble's hompage today!

Congrats on 6th place Rufus!

2008-12-14T13:08:00.002Z

Much to my surprise and delight, Rufus the troll, came 6th in the Etsy best toy contest!
Out of 60 entries I was really amazed he was so high up!
It seems voting was pretty close too, so he wasn't far behind the winner in votes!
Congrats Rufus! \ ^_^ /
And thanks to anyone who voted for him! ^^

He's still needing a new home, so if anyone wants to buy this popular fella please visit my Etsy store!

Vote for Rufus!

2008-12-08T18:19:00.005Z

Well today I had a great surprise Rufus the troll, a mouth puppet thats for sale in my Etsy store has been nominated for 'Holiday 2008: Choose Your Favorite Toy!' contest!

He's one of 60 toys you can vote for, so please go here and vote for him, or whichever is your favorite toy!

Out of the millions of amazing toys that must be on Etsy, I'm really proud of Rufus for making it into this contest! ^^

Crafty Christmas

2008-12-01T13:58:00.003Z

Christmas is closing on us fast now and the annual shopping frenzy will no doubt descend. So here’s a few ideas and tips to make your Christmas shopping a little easier.

My top tip is, buy handmade!

There are a lot of good reasons to buy a handcrafted gift for your loved ones.
Handmade gifts are most likely unique, you won’t find stacks of them in every store, so you can be sure you’re giving a very special gift.

Whether you made it yourself or it was handmade by someone else, I think the fact you took the time to pick out a special handmade gift for someone will make the person receiving it, appreciate the gift more.

Also rather than buying multiple generic gifts for someone, a single well picked handmade gift will do the trick and be much more special!

You can have a guilt free Christmas knowing your gifts were not made in a sweatshop, but lovingly, individually crafted by a skilled artist.

With online stores like Etsy, there are millions of handmade items easily to hand, you can avoid the Christmas chaos down the shops and order everything from the comfort of your own home!

If you want to give a handmade gift you made yourself, but don’t know what to make, how about buying a pattern to work from?
You can still make the design unique by changing colours and adding your own enhancements but it’s a good kicking off point.
Also you can make all the gifts you need from 1 pattern, so with only the materials and the cost of the pattern to pay, it’s a good way to save money.

And not only will these gifts make your Christmas great, but you’ll be giving crafters and artists out there a great gift too buy buying their items!

International shipping dates are closing fast so please order soon if you want an item for Christmas, I’ll do my best to post all items as swiftly as possible!

So take a look at my Etsy store, I've added lots of new items and readjusted my prices!
If you don't see the perfect gift in my store, check out all the other great stores on Etsy and buy handmade to make someone’s Christmas!

Tako the Octopus Easy Sewing Pattern

2008-11-29T15:38:00.002Z

Octopus are one of the most awesome among the many awesome creatures of the sea!
They can change colour and shape, they can get through really tiny holes, they are really smart and thats just a few of the awesome things about them!

Now you can make your very own pet octopus with my new Tako the Octopus sewing pattern!

The pattern is very easy to make so even beginners should have no trouble making this cute octopus!

You can purchase the patter at Etsy!

Foo-Dogs

2008-11-26T17:01:00.004Z

I've been fond of Foo-dogs since I made sculptures of one some years ago for my family.

(If you want to know how i made that, read this!)

Foo-Dogs are mythalogical guaridans of temples in China and Japan, they're often found as a pair of statues on either side of the entrance.
The female will be on the left and have her paw on a cub, the male will be on the right and have his paw on a sphere.

Here's a new take on Foo-dogs.

These are avaliable as t-shirts, as a pair or individually, and are avaliable as cards and prints at Redbubble.

Farmyard Rock, Rockin' the Farmyard!

2008-11-15T14:55:00.004Z

Farmyard Rock are:

Quentin Duck on vocals:

Lead singer of Farmyard Rock, and writer of all thier lyrics. His vocals have been described and heavenly as well as powerful.
Outrageous and energetic on stage, he's surprisingly sensitive and shy when not in the public eye.

Cowboy Horse on lead guitar:

Cowboy is the undisputed king of the guitar solo.
This along with his good looks means he always gets the most fan-mail.
Cowboy is the most rebelious member of the band, but he’s also a dedictaed friend to his band-mates.

Oscar Pig on bass guitar:

He's one funky pig and the most outlandish and outrageous member of the band!
He's always up for a joke or some crazy adventure.

Euan Sheep on keyboard:

A brilliant pianist he writes most of the music for the band.
Not afraid to try new things this is one sheep who does not follow the crowd!
Together with Bently, he's one of the more mature and sensible members of the band.

And last but not least, Bently Bull on drums:

Bently Bull is a skilled drummer with the best rythmn on the farm.
Bently formed the band with his best friend Cowboy Horse on guitar.
Steady headed as the band leader, Bently goes wild once he’s sitting at his drum kit.

Here's a snapshot of them performing at thier debut gig:

And a poster for thier upcoming tour!

You can buy all of these designs as t-shirts or prints and posters at my RedBubble site.

Make a Moving Mouth Puppet!

2008-11-10T15:22:00.004Z

You might imagine making a moving mouth puppet is tricky, but it's really not, and now it's even easier because I've designed my own simple pattern for a moving mouth puppet!

It's a 14 page PDF which you can buy from my Etsy store

Using the pattern you can make a troll or lion puppet, or use it as a base for your own creation!
As well as the full size pattern the PDF pattern includes step by step instructions, photographs and diagrams.

They're lots of fun to make, and play with!

While probably not being up to a professional standard for a mouth puppet, because of the flexable foam mouthplate they are very expressive puppets!

If you want to try out one of my patterns before you buy, check out my free patterns on the Extras page!

Dreamland Chronicles Character Hats!

2008-11-09T14:35:00.004Z

Earlier this year the creator of The Dreamland Chronicles Scott Christian Sava saw my cat hats and asked if I might make some hats of the characters from his comic.
Being a fan of the Dreamland Chronicles and knowing him from a ways back now of course I wanted to give it a try.

I was still learning about sewing at the time so I didn't know how it might turn out, but overall I think they turned out pretty good!

There's Paddington Rumblebottom the Third who's a Rock Giant

Nastajia Ashenheart a royal elf
Short hair:

Long hair:

And Felicity a feisty cat-lady!
Brim:

No brim:

There had been hopes of mass producing them however due to time money and other issues that has fallen by the wayside for now.

However these prototype hats are now up for sale in my Etsy store!

If you don't know the Dreamland Chronicles, go here and educate yourselves!
It's a fantastic and epic tale and with it's beautiful CGI artwork its also rather special in the comic world!
You can read it online, but even better, why not nip down the comic shop and buy the TPB so you can sit back and relax with it! ^^

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T15:44:00.003Z

It was tough getting a pumpkin this year, but eventually I spotted the perfect one!
Here's what I did with it:

Thats Totoro from the Studio Ghibli movie Tonari no Totoro if you don't already know!

I'm chuffed with how he turned out!
I haven't carved a pumpkin in that way before, just taking the skin off in places and not cutting right through. This year I broke out my wood carving chisels and did it with those! ^^

It was tough to photograph him all lit up, not least becames the candle kept going out! XD"

I made tomato and pumpkin soup from the flesh I scooped out the middle! Yum!

Have a Happy halloween everyone!

October Snow

2008-10-29T20:03:00.003Z

Yesterday it snowed!
Not enough to make a snow Totoro, but I was still excited to see it.
This morning of course there was just a scattering of hard frozen snow left, but it was still cold and a good frost too.
And to top it off it was a beautiful clear morning, so I went to my local patch and took a few photos, here's a few of my favorites:

You can see a few more shots I took and also buy prints of them if you wish at Red Bubble.

Free Halloween Finger Puppet Tutorial

2008-10-24T18:14:00.004+01:00

Here's my gift for you this Halloween, a free pattern and tutorial!

Skull Bird is a fun finger puppet for you to make, and he'll be perfect for when you go trick n treating this Halloween!

He's super quick and easy to make, and you can make him by sewing from felt, or by gluing from cut paper depending on your skills!

So what are you waiting for, go get the pattern and get making!
Free Skull Bird Pattern and Tutorial

Skull Bird is also avaliable in 2 designs on T-shirst from RedBubble, so you can look the part too this Halloween!
Skull Bird design 1
Skull Bird Design 2

Also check out my other free things to make on the Extras page!

Ninja-Bear, Bear-Ninja!

2008-10-23T15:52:00.003+01:00

Ninja-Bear, Ninja-Bear,
Sneaking here, peeping there,
Where's he hiding? Could be anywhere!
Oh, where is Ninja-Bear?

He's... heeeere!

Is he a bear in a ninja suit, or a ninja in a bear suit?

Bear-Ninja (or Ninja-Bear) will never reveal the answer, even if you were fortunate enough to be able to catch hold of him!

Sneaky and mysterious, he could be hiding in your bowl of cereal, or laundry basket right now and you'd never know he was there!

Ninja bear is so cute he's deadly!

Ninja Bear has popped up as a puppet:

A plushie:

He's quite numerous on T-shirt designs!

*These and more avaliable from RedBubble*

And now he can be all yours in the form of this adorable hand made phone charm!

Which is up for sale right now on Etsy!

Jellies!

2008-10-14T12:59:00.002+01:00

As a child, a trip to Llandudno was never complete without peering over the side of the pier at the jellyfish!
In fact if there weren't any, it was a big dissapointment!

Now I can see cute jellies where ever I go because I've made a cute jellyfish phone charm!

There's no worries about getting stung by this little chap, his non-stinging stinger is made of harmless pretty beads.

And you can own one too as there's one for sale now on my Etsy!

I decided to make a backing card for the jelly charms.

Usually, because I am a Flash dunce, I take my vector illos into photoshop to add any gradients. However on this illo I did everything in Flash, and I'm pretty chuffed with the results!

I liked the design so much I have made it avaliable on Redbubble in 3 different styles as a t-shirt and prints.

Tea Time!

2008-09-29T19:37:00.003+01:00

My dad funded a pottery painting adventure so we borrowed the paints from the shop and set to work!

It took me about 3 days to paint my teapot and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out!

Now I can finally have a cuppa tea! XD

I also painted a plate to put cake on while enjoying my teabreak, it stars Tao and Zen my gerbils. To stop them nibbling on my snack I also painted sunflower seeds on the plate for them.

Ryki TPB!

2008-09-12T16:18:00.004+01:00

In a far and distant past life I was a comic book artist! X3

Ok so I still could be one, but well recently my creative urges have taken me in other directions.

However my first ever proper comic was sitting sadly neglected and unpublished and I decided it was time to get it out there into the world.

So after a long wait the Ryki TPB collecting issues 1-3 of my and Chris Sawyers comic Ryki plus loads of extras such as sketches and pin-ups, is avaliable now.
It's 124 pages B&W with full colour wrap-round cover and suitable for all ages.

Here's the blurb:
Brash and advanced, the Teku control any aspect of the mystical Eeko they wish. These conditions have done nothing to dampen the spirit of the Eeko. From their distorted past, looms a broken present and a questionable future. One brave Eekoian sets out on an adventure that will change the fate of an entire planet and will lead him back to the one place he does not want to return. Home.
And here's the website: Ryki site

Buy Ryki TPB

PS. If any of my family or friends is reading this, you'll probably get one for Xmas, so please consult me before buying a copy! XD"

Since we're talking comics I may as well tell you about my other major comic project, this time a solo project, it's called Ninja Tom's 'Philosophy of Life' and is also avaliable in a TPB collecting issues 1-4 plus some special short stories and all the other usual extras!
It's 170 pages B&W with full colour wrap cover and suitable for all ages.

Here's the blurb:
Fun, fights and philosophy for all the family! Master Ninja and Grizzly bear, Tom teaches his young apprentice Tayo through telling stories. An experiment in art and storytelling, this book collects issues 1 - 4 of the comic book 'Ninja Tom's 'Philosophy of Life''. It also includes 2 new bonus short stories and lots of new illustrations and a behind the scenes look at the making of Ninja Tom. Also learn about the inspiration behind each story and get clued up on some cool bear facts along the way! Suitable for all ages! Let me tell you a story...
And here's the website: www.ninjatom.tk

Buy Ninja Tom TPB

I Must Clean My Fridge!

2008-09-11T16:02:00.002+01:00

Look at all the bacteria growing on my fridge! 0_o

First it was these guys

And now there's even more of them!

Well, there's only so much room on my fridge for bateria, and since I'd feel bad disinfecting such cute bugs I've decided to sell them on Etsy instead!

That's right, you can start your very own bateria colony with these Bateria Buddies sets!

shiro art in New York!

2008-08-29T19:34:00.003+01:00

I have 3 peices of work in the Railroad Ties/Sweet and Seldom Seen 2 show that's on now at the Kismet Gallery in New York!

For the Railroad Ties part of the show which had to be related to railways in some way I did a pair of paintings titled 'Life On The Line'

Inspired by the fact that railway lines, used and disused are great places for wildlife, a great place for my lil stoat Kit and probably many of his friends to hang out!

For the Sweet and Seldom Seen part of the show I sent these 2 sculptures of Kit, unimaginativly titled 'Big Kit, Little Kit':

And finally I also sent Sydney!

Hope you're having a fabulous time in New York and making lots of influential friends Syd! X3

And they're all for sale, so snap up some shiro art state side right now!

The show runs from today until 24th September so if you're in the area please go an check it out!
For more info visit the Kismet Gallery Website.

This Lil Ninja Went To Market...

2008-08-27T15:59:00.003+01:00

But first, this lil ninja stayed home...

I asked my Mum to check my Ninja Puppet tutorial for mistakes and while she was at it, she made a ninja puppet!
But not just any ninja, he's a mini tomato ninja finger puppet!

Isn't he cute! X3
As you can see he's tiny, and very good at hiding among tomatoes.
If you want to make one just use my free Ninja Glove Puppet pattern but greatly reduced.
glue on the felt and don't add a lining, tho he'll prbably still need a bit of stuffing in his head!

And please folks, watch out for mini ninja lurking in your veggies! 0_0

It's ninja all round again today, this Lil Ninja is up for sale on Etsy now!

He's one of many slightly miss-shapen but totally lovable Ninja prototypes that have been popping up everywhere here!
It's funny really, I managed to make a complex toy like oscar almost completely right first time, but getting this simple lil ninja's shape right is proving most taxing! ^^"
So, expect more ninja prototypes on Etsy in the future! ;)

Big Ninja, on Etsy!

2008-08-17T15:38:00.002+01:00

One of my toy prototypes is up for sale on Esty now!

I made Big Ninja as a test for a toy, he didn't quite look how I wanted him too, but he's still an awesome ninja and deserving of a good home! X3

There's lots of other stuff for sale too, so please check it all out! ^^

Free Ninja Puppet Sewing Pattern!

2008-08-15T17:52:00.004+01:00

After making some pretty complex toys I decided I wanted to relax and design something quick, fun and easy, the result was a ninja glove puppet!

He amused me so much I decided to take the oppertunity to make a free tutorial of how to make him so I could share the ninja puppet goodness with the world! \ ^_^ /

He's really easy to make so even novice sewers can have a go, and if you have any problems or feedback about my tutorial, please let me know!

Here's the cover to the pattern booklet so you can see him.
Sorry for the rubbish photos, the light was bad by the time I finished making him! ^^"

You can download the pattern and instructions on how to make him on the Extra page.

Please feel free to tell your friends about this tutorial, or write about it on your blog or forum, spread the word! ^^

Arthur The Magic Dragon - Featured!

2008-08-14T11:57:00.002+01:00

My toy Arthur The Magic Dragon got featured in a Treasury on Etsy!
See Arthur being featured here! (but only for the next few days)

If you can't see that page or are too late to see him, here it is screencapped!

Well done Arthur, and thanks to Crochetgal for giving me my first feature!

New Blog! \ ^_^ /

2008-08-14T11:52:00.002+01:00

Welcome to the all new shirotokuro blog!
Here, on the ocassional occasion that I have news I shall write about it!

Sorry the blog isn't very fancy looking, I had hoped to intergrate it into the site design better, but Blogger must have made some changes and it's a long time since I integrated a blog into a site and I can't figure it out!
Me am dumb! XP

So for now at least it's this plain old functional think! ^^"

You can get back to the site proper using the links on the right tho, so we're all hooked up here!

Talking of the site I've added another new section called 'Extra'. This page will be used for occassional random stuff I can't put anywhere else... it'll be random but it'll be cool, more news on what the first thing on the page will be soon, so watch the site or this blog! ;)