Ha ha, only kidding they do look like they were sent back from the future by Skynet though ;)

So finally the London 2012 Olympic Mascots by have been revealed. As you would expect from the 2012 committee, they are not really what we expected! Far from cute & cuddly they are cold & hard, more like a Henry Moore sculpture than a kids toy.

Designed by London agency iris, I read that they only cost ”a few thousand pounds”, I think they probably cost a bit more than that! Probably just trying to play it down after the £400,000 logo fiasco.

I feel for it’s designer though, whatever you create you’re going to get people ripping the shit out of it (myself included, sorry..) It’s an impossible brief, design by committee jobs always are.. I actually like it quite a lot, everything from the neck down looks awesome, great proportions, clean lines, sweet as in my book. Problem is though, why oh why that eye Olympic Committee?

You can tell by the descriptions on iris’ design boards, that the eye was supposed to be a camera lens, but at some point they decided to stick a cartoon eye on there which looks totally at odds to the rest of the angular design. Pixar have already shown with characters like WALL•E, or even their original anglepoise lamp short, that with the limitations of something ‘less human’, you can get a lot more unique character out of it. Feels like it was almost good, but they fucked it up at the last hurdle..

I actually took part in the original pitch too!

Only fair to put my own work up for comparison/criticism. My idea was unsurprisingly the sock monster route. Rather than selling preformed shiny toys to the kiddies, I wanted to make ‘kits’ which were essentially a pair of long sport socks with instructions of how to make your own mascot from scratch! Thought it would be nice thing to do in school as a crafty lesson, give them chance to be creative and add a bit personal flair to their own mascot. The agency I was working for poo poo’d it because it wasn’t ‘commercially viable’, said the committee would never go for it as they needed to pay for the Olympics through some mass-produced piece of Chinese plastic..

This set of foodie felt patterns ($3.99), just caught my eye, I really want to make a string of felt sausages :) There’s a plethora of other cute felt patterns from julyhobby on her Etsy.

While looking up what the hell you call a string of sausages, I came across Sausages 4 All, awful name I know, but they have a dizzying array of sausages ready to be delivered to your door in the UK. Kangaroo sausage anyone?

Via: Jeanie & Jewell.

Wow, there’s a serious amount of work gone into these super cute crocheted Amigurumi. Not only are the character wonderful, but the whole set up of each shot – backgrounds, props, amazing attention to detail! Here’s her Flickr too.

Via: Graphik Addict.

In the same vein as Little People, Inhae Renee’s My Milk Toof explores the lives of these little miniature milk teeth in beautifully shot photography, having their charming little adventures. Damn they’re so cute.

Via: HeyBuzz.

Me and Nicky were invited by my mate Rob to enter his Pimp my Trunki challenge! If you’re not aware of Rob’s luggage for little people, check ‘em out here. I remembered when Rob was designing the original Trunki at University, his first sketches were all of a furry animals. I always thought at somepoint he’d release a big furry version, but he hasn’t, so I’ve done it for him!

I’ve made it so that it’s basically just a stuffed cover that could be easily slipped on and off (and packed away inside). The material I used (toilet rugs!) was a bit on the think side, had to hand sew everything and it only just about manages to pack away inside itself. Nicky made the little caveman rider, I’m sure all you crafters will want to know how we did the hair – I’m not entirely sure what it is, some sort of hair piece (but ring shaped?) from the big wig shop at the beginning of Ridley Road Market in Dalson.

It’s going to be displayed along with about 10 other custom trunki’s from other designers and artists at this years Bristol Design Festival, 5th-11th June 2009. I’ll be going down on Saturday to check it out.

Update: What I didn’t realise (should of read the brief..) is that the custum Trunki’s are getting auctioned off to raise money for the festival. So if you can’t make it down the auction and would like to own a Cookie & Nicky ridable luggage original, then email penny@magmatic.co.uk with your bid.

I‘m loving the massive wool afros on these dolls by Marilyn and John Neuhart, from the 1960′s. Got a feeling there might be some experimenting with barnets on mine and Nicky’s sock monkey’s soon :) See the full interview with Marilyn on The Scout.

Via grain edit.

Or maybe it’s to keep your hands warm & your beer cold. Either way you’ll look pretty damn cool doing it with one of these hand knitted Beer Cosy.

Love these Felt Cereal Boxes by Snaggs, check out Fix - that looks like a serious breakfast ;) Tonnes more things she’s made on her Flickr, and a few bits & pieces available to buy from her Etsy store.

Ithink these crocheted breasts and penises by Shannon Gerard are hilarious :) But they’ve actually got quite a serious application – Early Detection Kits contain small lumps that can be found by following instructions provided in the accompanying booklets. The booklets take you through all the necessary steps for performing monthly self-examinations of your own breasts or testicles.

Top work Shannon, the perfect prop to take the edge off what could be quite an embarrassing and dry ‘lesson’.

Via FFFFOUND!

My missis Nicky finished a new Sock Monster last night, say hello to Jack. I’m loving the mouth on this one :) You can see more things she’s made here.

Finally my missus Nicky has got her own blog – Monster Munch!

“Monster-Munch will be bringing to you the delights of the world of SockMonster making, nice Typography, Web things, Doodles, Toys, and generally any bits and bobs that take my fancy.”

It took her about 6 months to decide on a name and about 24 hours to design, build and fill with posts! I’m sure Nicky will be a brilliant blogger, she’s got a great eye for things, so get it in your bookmarks or subscribe to the RSS.

Also you check out Nicky’s FFFFOUND & Flickr.

Incidentally Monster Munch is the name I use for the dog I want, but haven’t got yet.

I think some of my previous cock monsters would be interested in this amusing video. Something to do with these C.M.O.N.S – it’s a bit beyond me what’s going on here, but something to do with the Vauxhall Corsa…

Cheers Nicky for the link.

Lots of nice things going on over at SAUERKIDS, an artist duo based in Rotterdam. Love the Boggercar plush toy above, their paintings are amazing too, they’ve got a similar style to Brian Taylor (Candykiller).

Love these Fox Scarfs made of salvaged wool from LU FLUX. (Flash site so can’t deep link… Look under Wares > Accessories) Bit pricey at £120 though :(

My friends Bec & Will just got engaged, yay! I made them this little sock bunny as their present, he’s called Brian.