Monskey Mess by alliebrock

I’m not quite sure I’ve made it public, but for a little less than a year now, I’ve become a make-up nut. Last summer I bought dresses, I bought stockings, more shoes and more makeup then I could afford. I am an owner of a Sephora rewards card, which at the moment seems a little dangerous due to Tokidoki’s latest collaboration with the makeup super store. Hit the jump to see several photo compilations. I’ve spent the better part of the day getting these screengrabs and close-ups so please, if you’re going to use the images, credit myself or IHCS. Thank you!

Last night, while visiting Shawnimals’ website to link the upcoming Ninjatown Charms, I clicked on the NotM link because I like to drool over the monthly releases and noticed that you can buy the NotM pins. Sadly, not all of us can afford to purchase a ninja, although knowing about all the hard work that the Shawnimals team put into their plushies– they’re each worth their price tag, but I realize times are tough all around and its just not easy to spend frivolously. Well, if you’re anything like myself, and would still love to show-off even the slightest love for these unique ninjas, purchasing $1 pins may just be the way to go.

You can head on over to NotM page and purchase these for a dollar each. Currently, January through March buttons are still available. Happy Shopping!

One of the sweetest, and most charming news I received this week was the upcoming release of Shawnimals’ Ninjatown Zipper Pulls. Shawnimals teamed up with Squibbles Ink & Rotofugi, to deliver 16 designs based off the Ninjatown video game that was released October 2008.  Keep reading to check out all 16 designs, along with some packaging photos.

I’ll start off with, YAY!!! I always experience a unique joy when it comes to shows that Brent Nolasco participates in– and in this case, the joy is extended to the 4 other participants of the upcoming 5 Eyed Dragon show coming up in April at Dragatomi. The show will feature the works of some of the biggest names in the customizing world; Leecifer, DrilOne, Betso, Brent Nolasco and Southern Drawl.

I am experiencing a bout of jealousy in regards to this show. Mostly because for the past couple of months Southern Drawl has been rather quiet in the scene. Just days before the postcard for the show was leaked, I’d thrown his name out as a suggestion for a show and the person I was talking to didn’t recognize his name and it basically gave me an excuse to revisit and share some of his older munny designs. Anyway, this show is the first time in a while that he’ll be putting out a body of work– at least I hope so. Since it is five gentlemen (uh, where are the ladies?!!), I’m not sure how many pieces each artist will get to show. But the rest of the line up, includes artists who are very complementary to each other.

I can’t wait to see more photos of this show– Betso is already winning my heart with the custom on the card– I’m not entirely sure what figure he’s using for it. Anyway, if you’re in Sactown in April (the week after WonderCon), consider stopping by and giving Joanne/Ray and the rest of the crew a hug from me. <3!

It feels a little strange that I haven’t posted about Camilla d’Errico in a while. I’ve spotted her all over the blogosphere lately do to her print releases and various other projects in fashion and comics. And yet, my mind wandered somewhere else. No worries though, because I don’t think I’ve spotted the pendants above anywhere. So, time to share.

I took the liberty of taking the best image that showcased the adorable character Kuro in his glass pendant form, and spruced it up just a bit. When I visited Camilla’s shop (again, she’s recently released several fashion items and since her wallet release at the end of 2008, I’ve dug her style), I didn’t expect to see this little guy. At first I thought he might’ve been a polymer pendant, but it turned out to be made of glass.

No information on how large each is, but if it’s anything like my cupcake pendant that’s also made of glass, it’ll be a little less than an inch in height. These pendants are limited to 250 pieces, and similar to resin creations– every pendant will be unique. The pendant is shipped in a black box and comes with a certificate of authenticity. Although it is a pendant, one that comes accompanied with an 18″ silver chain, it also comes with a cell phone strap attachment so you have the option of using it as a cell phone strap.

For those of you who, like myself, are allergic to anything that isn’t a precious metal– I can personally vouch for the glass pendant option. As I mentioned, my cupcake charm (favorite one of all my pendants) is made of glass and not once have I broken out into hives, so rest assured that you should be able to show off Kuro carefree of any negative reactions. If you want one of these pendants, head on over to Camilla’s shop, each costs $30 plus shipping.

This week San Francisco is hosting the Game Developer’s Conference (GDC), and lucky for us locals, the Hotel des Arts is celebrating by opening their unique space to the “Into the Pixel” and “Video Game Art Show” exhibitions. Opening night is this Thursday, March 11 from 6pm – 10pm, and is free to all. The show will be up through April.

I found it surprisingly difficult to find out much about the event, as unfortunately the Hotel des Arts’ website hasn’t been updated recently. But according to Game Scenes:

In addition to the Into the Pixel exhibition on the main floor of the Hotel des Arts, all five floors of San Francisco’s ‘Art Hotel’ will be filled with artwork ‘from and inspired by video games’. … Gallery partners for this unique VIDEO GAME ART SHOW include Super7, Gallery 1988, Project One Gallery, and the START SOMA art gallery.

Joystiq also reports that the entire fourth floor will be dedicated to art from the making of EA’s “Dante’s Inferno”. The Game Scenes article also has some interesting history on the “Into the Pixel” shows, as well as some examples from last year. I’m loving this sneak peek of some art which will be shown at the Video Game Art Show, from 3 Fish Studios (my original source for the show). Eric shared the image above in his March newsletter. Keep reading for directions to the show, along with a view of one of Hotel des Arts’ rooms.

Thanks to Grain Edit (a great design and illustration blog), I discovered Hey Studio and their Calendar they produced in December, which featured a new character for every day of the month. The site is in Spanish, but if you can’t read it, the images are pretty easy to understand or Google Translate does a pretty good job. I love the graphic, black-outline aesthetic, and simplified geometric shapes that tie all the characters together. And I’m a sucker for redesigning classic pop culture icons (Darth Vader, Mary Poppins, Ghostbusters?! – so awesome!). I wonder how they decide on each day’s character (CJ Parker from Baywatch??).

Plus, they instantly made me think of the Android toys by Andrew Bell that were recently released – and sold out ridiculously quickly. Now if we could just get these two together for a second series…I would buy those figures in a minute!

Note: Android figures are being released to select stores, so check with your favorites and snatch some up while they’re still available!

I thought I would share that tomorrow night, or better yet, tonight– I plan on attending Shin Tanaka’s shindig. Shin Tanaka, known as the “paper maestro” on the internets will be in town for a couple of days and what better way to celebrate the New York invasion than with a party?!  Paper toys is a medium that I’ve dabbled in the past– in attempting to put the figures together, not so much in the creation of a character– now that I have the opportunity to see Shin Tanaka live, I hope that the live art includes an insight of his well-known work with paper toys (I’ve collected the examples above for reference). I don’t really know what to expect though, the party is from 10pm-4am. Anyway, if you’re in town and want to check it out yourself, you can head on over to New York-Tokyo site and RSVP.

Also, check out Shin Tanaka’s website, if only for the design. I love his polaroid slideshows the most.

I know I haven’t posted in a while. For those who follow my twitter, you’ll note that my computer crashed during a crucial time in posting and then I proceeding to get sick. Such fun was had. Anyway, I fell behind on many aspects for a while, but I think I’m pretty caught up with the various scenes I scope out and will start with finally posting about the upcoming custom Jibibuts show taking place at Munky King Melrose next month. I’ve gone ahead and searched the internet for some of the customs surfacing on the net, so hit the jump to check out larger images and additional customs…