Here he is! My Seishin Spiki for Martian Toys and New York Comic Con! It is my very first show piece and I couldn't be more excited about participating in "Spiki Attacks New York Comic Con"... I am part of an amazing line up where many of my favourite artists and toys designer can be seen as well. I just feel so honored to be part of this and I hope it is the first of many shows to come.
It's been nice to work on something different than a Dunny as I tend to work on those platforms and awful lot. Spiki caught my eye some time ago and I always wanted to customize one. I have so many platforms sitting on a shelf just waiting to have some work done to them, but I do find it very hard to find the time to get it all done. Work and baby seem to take up most of my time these days but I do appreciate my toys even more so now that I can't work on them every day.
He's an awesome little custom and I hope he will find a forever home over at NYCC next month. He will be available from Martian Toys both along with an array of different custom Spiki's.
I don't know when the next lot of customs will be ready as my airbrush decided to pack up half way through painting little Spiki here. So I will have to get another one. It was nice to work on Spiki the traditional way though and I managed to get some real nice detail in there like the fur on the back of his arms for example. I don't think I would have done that if my airbrush'd still been working.
I will keep you posted though as I have a load of ideas for the next lot of customs. Hope you enjoy looking at Spiki until then! <3
My Little Batlings are finally finished! I've been working on them for about two weeks now. I never thought I would have as little time as I do now after going back to work and all. But I do my best to squeeze in as much toy work as possible when I can.
These Batlings are probably the best customs I've made so far. I have spent so much time on every little detail and I kept sanding and adjusting them for about two days. My airbrushing skills are becoming better and better as well and I think this really shows in the final paint job. Actually I think I am ready for finer detail but I need a new airbrush before I can start practicing that. So I need to save up for a bit. Anyway, I hope you like these little Batlings and don't forget to check the store on Monday night if you want to grab one for yourself. Enjoy reading their stories below.
"The little Batlings live in the deep caverns of Tomodachi Island. Funny enough these little creatures are very scared of the dark. This has resulted in the Caverns being one of the brightest places on Tomodachi Island. They have decorated the caverns with bright fairy-lights in all the colors of the rainbow. Their furs are naturally dark and quite dull but they have sorted this out themselves as well by painting each other in various colors and patterns. "Dark" is just something they don't want to know about, so they pretend that it does not exist at all."
This is Loki. He is sleepy most of the time and he absolutely loves stars, however he is terrified of the dark. It's a bit tricky as you can only see the stars when it's dark so some of the creatures of Tomodachi Island has come to Lokis rescue and collected fallen stars for him so that he can enjoy the things he love the most without having to venture out in the scary darkness outside of the caverns.
And this is Pellie. She might be one of the sweetest little creatures that you can find in the caverns. Always spreading love around her wherever she goes. Of course she is obsessed with anything heart shaped and sparkly. Her most favorite thing to do is to hug and snuggle.
Little Fioline. Constantly running in and out of the caverns to collect all the beautiful flowers she can carry. In fact it is probablt time for a little clean out soon, as the flowers have almost taken over the caverns. The other Batlings love treasure and bling, but not Fioline. She prefers to fall asleep on a bed of flowers every night.
And Guster of course. Who can forget about Guster. Let's just say he's pretty loud. Always high on sugar and his laughter can be heard echoing through the caverns. He likes to play pranks on the Owlings that live and guard the treasures in the caverns. He sure is a prankster, the little devil.
All the Batlings will be available from my Big Cartel store from 09.00 PM BST (GMT+1) on Monday the 27th of July. Be there or be square!
I never thought I'd be able to finish these before my two weeks holiday to Sweden. I meant to finish them yesterday but got really ill and had to stay in bed all day. I don't know what the illness was as it is completely gone today. I had a high fever and everything and slept all day. I think I might have over worked myself again, trying to get as much done as possible before my holiday. Ah well, I am ok now anyway and I am looking forward to the first Holiday in a long time and I can't wait to hang out with all my friends and family. I miss them so much!
"The Leaflings are tiny little creatures living in the thick undergrowth of the Whispering Woods. During the day they venture up into the tree canopy to get as much sun as possible. They do this as it gets pretty cold and dark under the thick vegetation that covers the ground of the Whispering Woods. They are creatures with strong powers and through their crystals they bring balance and peace to their surroundings."
These Leaflings sit on a 3" Kidrobot Dunny Platform. Painted with acrylics and finished with a matte UV resistant varnish. It carries three Amethyst Crystals around its neck which are said to provide calm, balance, patience, and peace.
"This Leafling has reached his final for as a Seishin. This means that it is ready to leave Tomodachi Island and cross over to the Spirit world called Seishin. Since all Leaflings carry crystals and feel very lost without them they are allowed to bring them when they pass to Seishin."
This Seishin Leafling sits on a 3" Kidrobot Dunny Platform. Painted with acrylics and finished with a matte UV resistant varnish. It carries a Rose Quartz crystal arround its neck which is known as the 'love stone' as the message it emits is the strong vibration of unconditional love, joy, warmth and healing.
I decided to change the name of the spirit world to Seishin as Yurei is a bit to dark for Tomodachi Island. So the new name for it is Seishin. These will be the last Dunnys for a little while. I am going to take a nice long break in Sweden and just enjoy life with family and friends. I hope to come back with a fresh mind and allot of new inspiration. I am also going back to work on the 25th of June so that will be interesting. I work part-time in a pet shop and I am really looking forward to going back after a year of maternity leave.
Now I got to pack for tomorrow! The Dunnys will be up for sale from 6.00 pm (GMT +1) in my Big Cartel shop HERE!
Wow I can't believe both Karii and Ekii sold out within a few hours of putting them up for sale! I am so excited! Actually I got so excited that I decided to have a Summer Sale this weekend ONLY! over at the Big Cartel shop!
So head on over this weekend to get 25% off your entire purchase! Just enter the code SUMMERSALE upon checkout and you shall receive your award!
I am going away to Sweden for two weeks from the 6th of June, but before then I hope to get at least two more Dunnys made. So during next week at some point there will be another two Dunnys posted in the shop. I will keep you up to date! I am really sorry for the ones of you that missed out! But there will be more chances. I am focusing on creatures from the whispering woods at the moment, and this will be the theme of the coming two. Also don't forget that I do take commissions through THIS form! If you want to make sure that the Dunny is yours then I suggest hitting me up for a commission! They start at £65.00 (excluding shipping) so don't hesitate! :D And don't forget to sign up to my Newsletter where you will get info about up and coming releases as well as discounts and events!
Karii and Ekii are finished! I know I've said it before but I have to say it again! I LOVE WORKING ON THESE LITTLE THINGS! I am definitely addicted to Dunnys and I can't stop working on the platform. Anyway who cares! Keep reading for a closer introduction of these two little fellas.
"Karii comes from the northern part of the Whispering Woods. It is slightly colder here but his coat is thick and warm. Karii is part of the Deer Folk tribe. This tribe always travel in heards through the woods. Just like deers they are always on their guard and they can be quite hard to spot. They specialize in camouflage and melt in with their surroundings really well. Not much is known about them as they tend to keep to themselves. Maybe they will let us in one day, but until then, lets enjoy their beauty from a distance."
Keep in mind that these are only 3" tall and the detail on the wood was very time consuming.
Karii came out just as cute as I'd planned and I think he looks pretty much exactly like the picture I drew. Whispering Woods is such a large part of Tomodachi Island and I have got loads of creatures lined up from this part. I wish I had more than two hands sometimes...
"Ekii is a shy little creature. Part of the species Snubble Folk. He is very small, about the size of a house mouse and his favourite thing to do is to build little nests inside of old tree trunks. Don't think that his nests would look anything like a mouses though. Oh no, Ekii spends allot of time planning and gathering the perfect materials for his nests. They may be small but oh so grand! He is a craftsman and his handy work is quite impressive. Maybe he will show us one day, but for now only the Snubble folk of the Whispering Woods will truly know what his creations look like, as they are the only ones he work for."
I think it is obvious that Ekii took me the longest to make. His pine-cone/acorn hat nearly drove me insane. Saying that I probably didn't have to spend half as long on it as I did. I have discovered that the scalpel is a much better "sanding" tool than sandpaper, so get things very even. This also mean that I have found another way of getting lost in nit picking and fine-tuning.....
Oh the tiny tiny detail.....
Both Ekii and Karii are available for purchase in my BigCartel shop: HERE!
"Rikkit Tikki - The coolest girl at the Bamboo Coast. She wasn't cool before her one of a kind Adidas pumps got washed up on the beach on day though. Now she struts around in her pumps with everyone being super jealous. After she got her shoes she just wont wear anything else but black and white to match. Strange little thing she is, but she sure has got the coolest pumps on the Island... "
She came out so sweet! I've been working hard over the weekend to finish Rikki Tikki. I've promised a preview of my sale for today and so I just had to finish her. I am happy to say that all is ready to go now! I've been so busy over the past two months trying to get my first sale up. I am very proud of myself to say the least. Two months ago I didn't have any custom toys and now I've finished 10 (!). You will get the preview later today as I am still to price everything.
Rikki Tikki sits on a 5" MadL platform. Sculpted with Super Sculpey, painted with acrylics and finished with a UV resistant matte varnish. The pompoms are needle felted :)
She will be available from the webshop on Friday the 1st of May at £110. More info to come!
"He was once a magnificent beast from the Whispering Woods. He migrated to the Sakura Sanctuary quite some time ago now. He has now reached his final form as a Yūrei and is now ready to leave the island to become part of the spirit realm."
Rooz is now finished and I've almost hit the finish line. One more to go and the sale is only a week and a half away. I am very happy with Rooz and so pleased to have worked on this kidrobot platform. I know he is quite rare, but I don't understand why. It is amazing to work on and has a super cute silhouette.
The are hard to come by but I hope to work on this platform again in the future. I always keep an eye out for good deals and rare platforms so I am sure I will bump in to him again some time.
I used decals for his forehead and his back which worked really well with this job. For tiny detail I find the decals very handy and I love designing them on the computer. It can be a real struggle to work with when it's this small though. But with patience it will come together in the end.
"The Passing to Yūrei" will be part of the sale on May 1st at 12:00pm GMT.
"Well well well if it ain't the Miochos. They're part of the Queens guard but they are pretty lousy at their job. Laughing and joking about absolutely everything. No one knows why she hired them but I guess they do bring her a good laugh. There's not really anything to worry about on Tomodachi Island anyway, so why not laugh instead. "
Oh I am feeling productive this week and I've only got two more toys to finish and one drawing before my big sale on May 1st! I can't wait. Love how these came out and it was nice to work on something different this time. I do love sculpting but I think I will keep painting and using decals as well in the future. Especially on tiny vinyl figures like these 2.5" Dudeboxes.
These will be for sale at £35.00 each on May 1st!
Wow I am so sorry! 11 days and no blog posts. I started last week with getting ill and having loads of orders to do. Not a good combination if you want to get toys and artwork done as well. What normally takes me a day to complete took me three so I have had next to no time to work on my personal projects. I did manage to start my mini dudes however and I thought I'd give a little update on what's actually going on here.
As you know I am working hard to have my first art and toy sale here on the Tomodachi Island website. I am happy to say that I am almost there. I have set a date and the date will be the 1st of May! So do mark this date in your Calendars if you're interested in any of my pieces. I will hold a preview 5 days before the actual sale, with prices and all the items available. I am working on three 2.5" Dudes and this 4" Kidrobot Rooz at the moment.
I also hope to get started on this MADL this week, and that will be it before the big sale.
I also received another 7" Foomi in the post the other day. She's for my next sale that will be on the 1st of June. I hoped to get her done for the first sale but I am realizing that I am running out of time and this one will be quite detailed. Many hours will be put in to this one and I have high expectations of her.
As you know, the big Dudeboxes are finished but I am still waiting for their zipper pulls. They should be with me by next week and I can't wait to show you these guys in all their glory. I am so happy with them even though I nearly gave up half way through. I guess to actually finish them is the reward at the end of a long long struggle. And it does make it all worth while.
This week will be full of WIP pictures and updates to make up for the past week that gave you absolutely nothing. I am looking forward to it and I hope you are too. Yet again sorry for leaving you in the dark last week. I'm back with vigor this week!
This project is definitely one of the longest ever. The finish line just feels further and further away every day. Funny thing with toys is that I always finish them. If this was a painting I would probably never finish it, as I run out of patience when things take to long. It goes to show once again that I am truly in my element now. I think this is the last time I will be working on three toys at the same time however. But they do go in the same series so I guess it had to be done.
The paint job took forever and is only about 50% done. I can't wait to be able to afford some proper air brush paint like the high flow Golden acrylics though. I got black and white the other day and I now know why everyone loves Golden Acrylics so much. They sure as hell are the best acrylics out there for custom toys, and probably for painting as well.
I also managed to break all the zippers whilst painting them. But I think it was for the best or they'd probably broken in transit anyway knowing my luck. But I have a solution to that problem that will look so much cooler. So no biggie really.
Sorry for the lack of updates this week by the way. Been a busy one and yesterday I took my little baby girl to London for the day which was a bit of an adventure. Today I am absolutely knackered though. Looking forward to next week when I plan to get loads done and hopefully finish these little devils.
I only just finished my first custom vinyl toy. It is litteraly just over a month since I did Trikky and Brob and just a couple of weeks ago that I finished The Queen of Candy Cove. I could never have imagined being featured by Kidrobot them selves but not only did they feature The Queen of Candy cove on their Instagram but also in their Blog!
I've been such a massive fan of Kidrobot for years and years so to be featured by them is a huge dream come true. Wow! I'm so happy! Thank you guys so much!
As if that wasn't enough, The Toy Chronicle, which is an amazing UK Toy Blog that I have followed for quite some time as well, did a full feature on me.
The feature made me feel special and it's brought out even more inspiration than I thought was possible. The boost from these features is just amazing. I really feel on top of the world and I can't say thank you enough! THAAAAAANNNNKKK YOOOU! <3
CLICK THE PICTURES TO READ THE FULL FEATURES!
I did manage to get some sculpting done over the weekend anyway. So the Dudes now got little horns in various shapes and sizes and the third Dude has got a face as well. I managed to start on the zippers as well which was one hell of a tricky one but came out nice in the end.
Teeny tiny detail.... Even made my hand shake for a second and I can't say that has ever happened before. The detail is great though and I'm very pleased with the end result. Now I got another two to make... pheeeeew!
Maybe maybe maybe I will be able to start a paint job next week. Let's hope ey!
And the third face is in place. Might make some small changes to this one though, it don't feel finished for some reason.
I am actually getting somewhere with these. Mainly because I've chosen to loose sleep rather than loosing time on my toys. So I've been getting up around six every morning to feed my little girl and then she goes back to bed and I go into the workshop. I've also been working later at night when she's asleep. I just can't put my toys down at the moment.
I've managed to finish two faces so far and I think that will be more or less it before the weekend now. The parents in law are coming to visit so I will have no chance to work during the weekend. But I will be back on it first thing Monday!
Here's some WIP pictures anyway. Loving them so far and can't wait to finish them.
My favorite tools that I tend to use more or less all the time :D
All hail the Queen of Candy Cove! She has finally made he first appearance after her mother sadly passed away. It is time for her to take over the reign of Candy Cove and her nerves are more on the outside than the inside. She's not much of a people person and hates center of attention (sucks being a Queen then I guess?!). This is something that she'll have to deal with however and she needs to take control over the terrible sugar lows she tends to get after eating to many Love Hearts!
The Queen of Candy Cove is modeled on an 7" Kidrobot Foomi DIY Platform by Emelie Jensen for Tomodachi Island.
In her left hand she carries a golden lollipop with pink rhinestones. Completely hand sculpted.
The Queen of Candy Cove will be part of Tomodachi Island's first Sale which date is still to be announced. Stay Tuned for more info!
I finally got hold of some Dudeboxes. I've wanted to work on them ever since I laid eyes on them years ago. Unfortunately Dudbox has gotten in to some sort of problem and they no longer produce vinyl toys. So I was very sad now that I finally started customizing toys to find that they are hard to get hold of. But I found some in the end and I bought more or less half the stock (I will buy more when I can afford it).
They are such great DIY platforms as they leave so much to you imagination. It took me more or less all weekend to prepare them for sculpting as I needed to fill them up and make them sturdy enough inside to carry the faces. But now they're rock solid and ready to go. Eyes should go in the post today and be with me tomorrow. I seriously can't wait to finish these I just know they'll look awesome when they're done.
Once I've got enough toys ready they will be up for sale. I will let you know when the sale will start. What I can say already is that there will be loads of original goodies and one of a kind items. Super excited about it!
Here's the general layout and the faces that will go inside.
So the Queen of Candy Cove is more or less completed. I am waiting for one of her accessories to come through the post before I can show her to you in all her glory however. This is my first custom vinyl toy that I am completely and utterly stoked about. I've used so many new things creating her and it's just made me more addicted to customizing vinyl toys. I have way to many in my possession at the moment, and I can't wait to work on all of them. Anyway, here's some W.I.P. pictures whilst waiting for the rest :D
