Final Post ... here

Dear Reader,

We're not gone, we've just moved this blog to join our main website, please click here for more!

Thanks for your continued support :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Just Trucking Along

Dear Reader,

One of the joys in life is getting glimpses into the myriad possibilities the world offers. So yesterday, how fun to be a trucker for a day :)

Our big shipment of new card deck instructions finally arrived and I was on the bill of lading to pick it up!

Having visited the warehouse to pick up the goods - which was the size of at least a couple of football fields - I now want a turn with the forklifts!

Keep an eye out for fun new opportunities yourself and share what you know with someone else; this morning I'm going to open my daughter's eyes to Pascal's triangle and the amazing world of binomial coefficients :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Halloween Shoot Continues

Dear Reader,

The squirrels have entered the graveyard and the Halloween shoot continues.

Over the weekend, my wonderful and talented friend Tom Clancey (the cinematographer, not the resurrected writer) stopped by for a couple of days to lend a hand on the graveyard shift. What ensued was a master class in photography for me :) Learning is such a joy and learning from a good friend is all the more fun!


Then yesterday, I watched Boxtrolls with my youngest, and at the end of the movie there was a little piece showing the makers moving the individual characters shot by shot. It was pretty cool, and it made me want to share a couple of images of the concentration that goes into making our little pieces - here's a couple of images my lovely wife caught of me :)

Yes, that's a candy bag in my hands :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Closer and Closer to Halloween

Dear Reader,

The final hours of the set build are always the most fun as things really start to take shape, so ...

today I thought I'd give you a quick glimpse into the evolution of the table-top cemetery!

I love the way a world gradually materializes in just a few hours :)

And it's always interesting to see what goes where and how fundamentals such as the ground beneath our feet make some of the biggest differences.

There's still a little way to go, I mean obviously we need a night sky and a few more tombstones, but all in all its getting close :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Halloween Cast of Characters Coming Together

Dear Reader,

Even squirrels like to Trick or Treat and of course they get dressed up for the occasion!

So far we have skeleton squirrels - insisted upon by my youngest, and now my own personal favorite - a witch - complete with broom - and still to come a ghost squirrel and of course the mummy, a regular favorite.

Finally, there's the stomping grounds including the night sky and the moon! Super excited to put the final touches together and shoot these later this week. I'm pretty sure everyone will have a good chuckle :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

PS there's a mystery guest character in the Halloween clip, see if you can guess :)

Halloween Is On Its Way!

Dear Reader,

Halloween is on its way, I know because there's a lot of discussion about costumes in the house. There's also been talk about how The Squirrel King should celebrate.

At this stage it's fair to say there will be a witch squirrel, a ghost squirrel, a mummy squirrel and maybe even a skeleton squirrel.

Where will we find them? Here's a couple of visual clues.

What they are doing in the graveyard ... well that you'll just have to wait for :)

Stay tuned as the set comes together!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Display Boxes

Dear Reader,

It all started with the "farm-to-school" produce box; our new in-store display unit that is :)

Over the last few months we've been busy with many things behind the scenes and our new display unit is certainly one of them.

Inspired by the waxed cardboard that our swag of fresh fruit and veges arrives in every week, we decided to take a similar tack with our new in-store display units.

We're pretty excited by the final product, seen here with and without acorns, so keep an eye out for them in stores near you :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

And Then They All Disappeared

Dear Reader,

As we prepared for the big shipment to Canada, it occurred to me that it would be fun to document the chief squirrel overseeing our packing job. And so without further ado, here it is for your viewing pleasure :)

Four pallets in all, and all headed north. If you live in Canada, keep an eye out in your nearest Mastermind Toy store :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Sunshine and Forest Packs!

Dear Reader,

There has been a lot of talk of late of boxes, so I wanted to take a moment to remind everyone what's inside all those boxes ... Acorns!

A big part of our hectic schedule over the last couple of months has been an expansion of color choices and a wonderful overhaul of the tags. So without further ado, I present to you, our Sunshine Pack, that sets you up for pink, yellow and orange squirrels, and ...


our Forest Pack that has the fixings for purple, blue and green!!

Super excited to see the squirrels you guys make with these new colors :) Keep an eye out for them, they're starting to head out into the world!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Boxes and Boxes of Acorns!!

Dear Reader,

The last couple of months have been incredibly hectic, but we're about to lighten our load because ...

Our Canadian shipment is ready to go!!



A thousand acorns and dozens of stowaway squirrels are set to trek north.

With a little luck this will free me up to share more images with you!

Stay tuned for more posts, because there's plenty happening at Squirrel King headquarters :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Flash-Mob Oath!

Dear Reader,

We've done a redesign of our Oath!!

Don't worry, our commitment remains the same, the difference is that we've now amassed enough squirrels behind the scenes for a flash-mob to form :)

Said squirrels joined together on a bright green background and spelt it out - kind of similar to the fields of France where people have recently celebrated the cycling Tour.

Here it is in all it's glory!!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

A Long Overdue Update

Dear Reader,

It's been a chaotic last few weeks and we've traveled far and wide ... and it's been too long since I posted here!

The upside of all this is that The Squirrel King is spreading out across the country :)

We've been flat out attending trade shows for the first time ever and the response we've garnered is a little overwhelming. People - from Florida to LA, from Dallas to Canada - love our product and more generally the philosophy underpinning what we're doing.

To all our new friends, it's been wonderful to meet you!

Stay tuned for more updates, I'll try to get back to at least once a week :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Practice Time in the Almost Finished Stadium

Dear Reader,

Our stadium is getting much closer to completion and the stands are starting to fill with spectators, so my supreme helper decided that the time had come to start warming up the goalie. Check out the action:


Can't wait to share more :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Preparations for a Big Game

Dear Reader,

While Brazil prepares for a few soccer matches of their own, over at Squirrel King headquarters we've cleared the acorns from our living room to make space for a stadium of our own. With a bit of luck, we like Brazil will be ready for action shortly.

 Of course our fields grow grass a little quicker and the stadiums are built by a smaller more manageable team ... probably because the kitchen is in the next room :)

As the aerial shot shows, the stands are already filling up. Somehow we'll just need to get the players off the field at some point so that we can put down lines.

Even if they are mischievous, they seem pretty willing to work with me :) Stay tuned for some actual action soon!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

In Amongst the Chaos of Construction ...

Dear Reader,

The last week or so our little apartment has been turned into a hub of construction. We've spilled over into the carport where carefully custom-engineered shelves now dry lids because ...

the living room is bursting at the brim with all manner of action.

If you look carefully though, sitting there in a little pool of light ...

Here, peeking through my yarn balling machine you can catch a better glimpse.

She's busy at work too. In a world of her own, happily chirping away as she crafts another squirrel!!

It warms my heart just how much kids love doing what they're doing and the other world that a little imagination transports them too :)

Have a great weekend everyone and enjoy some special time with your kids!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Spring Planting

Dear Reader,

The other day I caught a little footage of some industrious squirrels preparing for spring with a little planting. Here's a couple of images of the action as it was being recorded ...

Stay tuned for the clip itself some time in the next couple of weeks. Watching the squirrels get carried away after an initial setback should give you a nice smile :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Getting Better All the Time

Dear Reader,

Yesterday I crafted two more squirrels.

Nothing so new about that really, as most of you know I'm constantly crafting squirrels, but these two were special. In a couple of short months their evolution from yarn, pipe cleaners and googlie eyes to fully formed furry balls of mischief will be available for all to see. That's right, we've refined our instructions!

After the crafting of hundreds of squirrels a couple of tiny refinements emerged and I feel compelled to share them with future squirrel crafters :)

In the interim, with the whitebox set up I think I might have to  shoot a couple of fun little things to share in the next week or so ... stay tuned.

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Crazy Costumes

Dear Reader,

Apropos nothing in particular, I just have share this recent burst of domestic creativity.

Sometimes it's important to dress up and celebrate the colors in your wardrobe. In this instance the self-imposed challenge was "craziest costume".

I love where my darlings took this and even more how they embraced the personalities of their respective outfits :)

Here's to silly fun every day of the week!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Suspended Submarine Shack

Dear Reader,

There's some really exciting things happening behind the scenes right now, and while I can't quite yet share the exact details with you yet, I can say that your squirrels will soon have some options for housing :)

Let's just say for now that these wonderfully whimsical images from Erik Pirolt have inspired me.

Of course in the world of The Squirrel King, we're going to give our own take on this beautiful crafting. Just know for now that things are in the work!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Dotting the "i"

Dear Reader,

It's been a while since I mentioned the series that started the world of The Squirrel King, and I wanted to assure you that we haven't forgotten it.

In fact in the background we've been quietly working on various elements, including a title sequence which we hope to share very soon :)

Yesterday I literally dotted the "i".

We just need to add a little sound and score and you can see how our squirrels constructed the title sequence (there's a lot more than the glimpse of it in our Kickstarter video from late last year). So stay tuned!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims