Bin-B-Q

So a few years back I bought one of those little bucket BBQs, anyone who has used one of these to cook for more than one and a half people knows how crap there really are. But it does the job for when it's just the two of us.
Having recently move into a new house we have decided to have a house warming BBQ in early September, weather dependent. So we looked at getting a new BBQ for the garden that could accommodate for the masses, I was thinking one of those half barrel ones. Now, has anyone actually looked at the price of them? £70 for a good sized one, so to the workshop we go.
Me being the hoarder I am had an old pedal bin that had stopped responding, instantly I thought 'There's my BBQ'.

With a little help from an old BBQ and a broom handle we now have a suitable BBQ for the house warming, costing pretty much nothing! Well once upon a time the bin probably cost me £20 or so... But that's why it's good to keep old things, as I will always find a use for them!.... Natasha.
Check it out. Will post some action photos when it's up and running.

Playing with fire

Now we have all be told that playing with fire will get you burnt, but it still doesn’t stop us doing it! A few years back I was experimenting with long exposure photography on my friends farm when we discovered the amazing effects that could be produced by spinning a ball of flaming wire wool around. I decided to have another little go at it in the dungeon of my parents house and ended up producing some pretty amazing effects.

New handle for the hacker

Whilst visiting The Malvern hills over the bank holiday weekend I thought I would pop down to the flea market at the Three Counties Show Ground to see if I could bag myself a bargain.
Call it an impulse buy if you will, but I spotted a tool that looked like it could be of some use when I am out in the forest collecting wood, clearing bushes... as you do! £40 she wanted for it, 12" super sharp blade with a new handle on it, which I was told the new handle alone would cost me £20. With only a tenner in my pocket (that I wanted to spend) I kept on walking to see if I could find a cheaper one, prehaps one with out the new handle and super shape blade.
Surely enough I came across a bucket of them. All were blunt and in various battered states. Some had handles missing, split or big dents in the blade. I picked one with a good blade and a split handle "£10" he said, which was fine with me but I thought i would try my luck "It's gona cost me £20 to get a new handle on it, how about £8?"
So £8, an old wooden chair leg and a few hours whittling later
here it is:

New handle and sharpened blade

The unfortunately named Matt Crack wins work of the year at the RAD Awards

http://www.radawards.com/radawards2011/winners-2011

A successful night at the RAD awards, I managed to scoop another few awards to add to the collection including Work of the year! For those of you that don't Work of the year at the RAD awards is the best award you can win in Recruitment Advertising, so pretty chuffed with that.

Check out some of the other winners here - http://www.radawards.com/radawards2011/winners-2011

Wasn’t so chuffed with the ripping I got from Omid Djalili (Mr Money Supermarket) and Peter Dickson (the voice of X-factor) for being “The unfortunately name Matt Crack” But I did see the funny side - “ Another one for the Crack, Sac and Back won’t be to happy….” At least I am getting my name out there.

Was a great night though, Omid Djalili is a very funny guy, got a few pics with him, will post them when they are on the website. Too much champagne and too little sleep, Friday was a productive day at work!

Mechanical fingers - Prototype

When boredom strikes most people stick on a film or play a video game, not me. I like to make things out of useful bits and pieces (junk) I have collected over the years.  My latest project is extra long mechanical fingers, why? Who knows! Perhaps I will use it for a costume or something… Anyway take a look at the video, it’s a prototype so not yet perfect, minus a thumb, but it works pretty well.

The Jewellery Box

Christmas presents.... being the money savvy tight arse I am, I'm always looking for ways to save a buck of two. So when my girlfriend points out a £300 Vintage Jewellery Box in one of the trendy shops in East Dulwich I was pretty quick to say '£300 for a beaten in wooden box, I could make that for nothing!' She challenged me on this so I told her to wait and see what Santa brings. And here it is:

Not bad for a first attempt!
OK I didn’t make it for free, I bought the wood from B&Q along with the draw knobs, you’d be amazed at what you can find in the bargain bin at B&Q. A sheet of fancy wrapping paper to line the draws. And of course all my free time for about a week!

New years resolution!

I WILL POST MORE ON MY BLOG!

To kick the new year off I have a new video I directed and stared in, see if you can spot me..

What do you want to be? - Recruitment video By Tribal for Thames Valley Police from Tribal Resourcing on Vimeo.