Tasmanian Devils, Poker and Wanelo

Dear reader, cast your mind back to mid October and you may recall a minor story about the medicinal qualities of the milk of Australia's largest carnivorous marsupial, the Tasmanian devil:

BBC - Tasmanian Devil Milk Fights Superbugs

Yes, apparently for their young to thrive in a dirty environment, devils may have adapted to fight infections that would poleaxe your average mollycoddled human. Inspired by this miracle of nature, I decided to immortalise the devil on a selection of random merchandise.

Lucky Devil

I wanted a secondary theme and was considering 'handsome devil', a Tasmanian devil in smoking jacket and cravat, with pencil moustache and elegant cigarette holder; but 'lucky devil' conjured slightly more dynamic and less lung-damaging images to mind, and Zazzle sells poker chips and playing cards.

Wanelo

In tenuously related news, I recently created a profile on product sharing website Wanelo (Wa-ne-lo, a sort of contraction of Want Need Love), a Pinterest type site but for keen shoppers. There are no referral fees for items sold through Wanelo, but it's another platform for a Zazzle designer to introduce the world to their products, essential if you want to earn from your efforts.

I may be having some beginner's problems though, in that Wanelo hasn't associated this blog with my Wanelo profile, which is necessary to create a Wanelo store. This may be because this blog is a uk domain featuring products from Zazzle's uk domain, whereas I've shared products on Wanelo from the Zazzle '.com' domain to cater for American buyers.

The upshot is that I'm going to try posting some new 'Lucky Devil' products below but from the '.com' domain, Hopefully that will indicate to Wanelo that I am who I say I am, while visitors clicking the links will be redirected to their local domain. With fingers crossed, goodbye!

Boom! Tasmanian Devil Royal Flush Poker Cartoon Badge
by NoodleWings

Lucky Tasmanian Devil Royal Flush Poker Cartoon Playing Cards
by NoodleWings

Cute Tasmanian Devil Royal Flush Poker Cartoon Mouse Mat
by NoodleWings

Bushbabies and Tagging Issues

I'm usually a bit last minute when it comes to Christmas, so doing Christmas designs in October is a new experience. I've also had a bit of artist's block, but here's Christmas drawing number one at last. I picked an animal which I thought would be least likely to enjoy pulling a cracker.

I now have an unexpected problem; Zazzle doesn't like the word 'cracker' due to the alternative redneck meaning, so I have to list products featuring this harmless bushbaby as a PG, and submit it for review to reduce the age rating, which could take a while. So do I submit it now, or after Christmas, or does it even matter?

On top of this, I also have a bauble design from last year, but can't add tags relating to tree decorations, because Zazzle sells tree decorations and thinks I'm including a product type unnecessarily, which it then removes. Will anyone find any of my Christmas products? We shall see.

Cute Xmas Bushbaby Christmas Jumper & Hat Cartoon Acrylic Tray
by NoodleWings

Cute Xmas Bush Baby Christmas Cartoon T-Shirt
by NoodleWings

Cute Xmas Bushbaby Christmas Cartoon Contour Sticker
by NoodleWings

Fixing My Printer After The Windows 10 Anniversary Update

I've been going in circles for hours, spanning a couple of days, trying to get my old printer working again after Windows 10 suggested I 'update and shut down' a couple of days ago. My original, full upgrade to Windows 10 also caused a printer failure, to which I eventually found a solution; it's almost as if Windows didn't like the fact that I fixed it, so they broke it more thoroughly with an update. Rather than feel that my last few hours have been entirely wasted, I thought I'd blog the solution.

My printer is an Epson Stylus CX6600 (printer, scanner and card reader). Switching it on after the anniversary update prompted Windows to list a generic 'MFP' (Multi Function Printer) with a 'no driver available' message below, and no printing capability. Note that I was also fairly confident that I *did have* a working driver after fixing the previous failure. The following steps worked for me, and might work for you if your situation sounds similar:

My Solution

1. Once your PC is on and Windows is loaded, switch on your printer.
2. On the desktop, click the Windows icon (bottom left corner), and click 'Settings' (the 'cog' symbol). Choose 'Devices' in the 'Settings' window.
3. The 'Devices' window shows the list 'Printers & scanners', where the generic and non functioning 'MFP' printer should be listed. Ignore that for now, and instead scroll down the page and open the 'Device Manager'. My Device Manager showed an entry for 'Other Devices', where my printer was listed by it's real name: Epson Stylus CX6600 (M). Right-click the name, and choose 'Update Driver Software'.
4. In the 'Update Driver Software' window, click 'Browse my computer for driver software'. Next, click 'Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer'. In my case I was then offered a choice of two drivers for the Epson Stylus CX6600 (M). The older of the two drivers installed successfully (the newer one failed).



Picking an existing device driver

5. The successful driver installation should have three effects. Back in the Device Manager window, 'Other Devices' is now replaced by 'Printers', with the printer listed below. In the Devices window, the generic MFP Printer is renamed Epson Stylus CX6600 (M). Finally and most importantly, your printer should now work again.



'Printers' now appears in the Device Manager

Around The Houses

Before hitting upon the above correct combination of steps, I tried removing the offending 'MFP' printer from the 'Printers & scanners' list and adding my CX6600 manually. This resulted in a error when trying to print, which the Windows Troubleshooter recognised but could offer no suggestions for a fix - baffling when the eventual solution seems so simple. I also read several forum and support threads where people were struggling with similar issues after the update, I don't think I saw the above solution. Hope it helps somebody.

Rock and Roll Owl in a Jumpsuit

Travel back with me now, back through the mists of time to December 2015, and my first creations on Zazzle. Unfortunately, my early enthusiasm was met with a slapped wrist, as my owl design (above) was pulled for trading on the name of a certain celebrity. I thought I'd changed things enough to be safe; the celebrity was, after all, human and not an owl.

The original design also included a pun on a famous song title, and search terms referring to the celebrity in question. Rather than guess where the exact infringement was, I replaced all references to specific rock and roll stars with generic terms, and hopefully I'm now legit. New designers beware!

Rock and Roll Guitar Owl in Jumpsuit Cartoon Greeting Card
by NoodleWings

Rock and Roll Guitar Owl in Jumpsuit Cartoon Clock
by NoodleWings

Rock and Roll Guitar Owl in Jumpsuit Cartoon Mouse Pad
by NoodleWings

Trick Or Treating Werewolf

Drawing two of NoodleWings horror week in readiness for Halloween next month. After evil Chainsaw Clown I wanted to do something a bit softer, so I came up with a kid werewolf doing his best fierce pose. He's so focused on looking mean, he's dropped his sweets, including foam bananas, a jelly snake, marshmallow, and a Tunnocks Caramel Wafer well hidden at the back.

Fierce Little Werewolf Trick Or Treating Cartoon Paper Plate
by NoodleWings

Little Werewolf Halloween Trick Or Treat Cartoon Napkins
by NoodleWings

Little Werewolf Halloween Trick Or Treat Cartoon Glass
by NoodleWings

Chainsaw Clown

Halloween is not far away... well it is, but I'm making sure I get some horror designs up well in advance, so it's NoodleWings Horror Week! I might even treat myself to two horror weeks.

I thought I'd avoid the headline classic horror monsters at first (vampires, Frankenstein's monster etc), and have gone for a relatively modern monster - the psychotic clown. I'm channeling the worst clowns in history: Pennywise from 'IT', the scary toy clown from Poltergeist, Ronald McDonald. In fact, let's face it, all clowns are disturbing and wrong; and I've thrown in a chainsaw for the hell of it.

Chopping Time! Chainsaw Clown Halloween Cartoon Chopping Board
by NoodleWings

Colourful Chainsaw Clown Halloween Horror Cartoon Face Mask
by NoodleWings

Victims Welcome Chainsaw Clown Halloween Cartoon Doormat
by NoodleWings

Welsh Dragon

Another blast from the recent past; a Welsh dragon drawn when Wales were battling their way to the semi finals of Euro 2016. It would've been nice to have drawn an English lion too... are there any rugby tournaments coming up?

Rampant Little Welsh Baby Red Dragon Cartoon T-Shirt
by NoodleWings

Fierce But Cute Baby Welsh Red Dragon Cartoon Shot Glass
by NoodleWings

Welsh Territory Little Baby Red Dragon Cartoon Doormat
by NoodleWings

Excited Alien

Drawing two of NoodleWings Sci-fi Week, celebrating last month's story about a possible alien signal coming from a distant star which now seems to have been downgraded to terrestrial interference; oh well, at least we're not going to be farmed like cattle.

I've gone for something more friendly looking, with a simple, two handled scanner to detect life on other worlds and a backpack for when it's not in use. Blue is the new green when it comes to aliens these days; Star Trek has always liked a blue alien, and then there's the villains from Guardians Of The Galaxy... okay now I'm struggling, suggestions in the comments? Is anybody out there?

Curious Robot

This week is NoodleWings Sci-fi Week. At the end of August we had the discovery of an Earth-like planet, Proxima b, orbiting in the right place to prompt discussions about it's habitability for humans or to host alien life. Then came the detection of a possible signal from another civilisation more advanced than our own. All of which gives me the ideal excuse to design the robot we will use to investigate these new wonders; I'm thinking something non-threatening to make a good first impression.

Curious Robot Sees His First Butterfly Cartoon Large Clock
by NoodleWings

Curious Robot Sees His First Butterfly Cartoon Medium Gift Bag
by NoodleWings

Curious Robot Sees His First Butterfly Cartoon Card
by NoodleWings

Jet Pack Tortoise

Here's one I forgot to post earlier. A daredevil tortoise wearing a jet pack, because why not. I've taken to coming up with ideas and just going for it, rather than checking what's been done before; I checked this one afterwards though, and low and behold, at least two tortoises strapped to rockets, but hopefully there's room for one more in the world.

In other news, I've added five new lines to my Zazzle store this week, with daredevil tortoises now available on water bottles, glass cutting boards, messenger bags (below right), doormats and serving trays.

The Only Way Is Up! Daredevil Tortoise Cartoon
by NoodleWings

Daredevil Flying Tortoise with a Jet Pack Cartoon Glass
by NoodleWings

Daredevil Flying Tortoise with a Jet Pack Cartoon Keychain
by NoodleWings

Change Your Huion Lead!

My Huion H610 Pro tablet has finally given up after two years service, but before I launch it out of my window like a frisbee, I thought I would share some information which might prevent the same thing from happening to yours (so that my tablet's death won't be completely in vain and all that).

It's a simple recommendation. The mini USB port gradually broke away from the circuit board inside the tablet (there was even a fun period where the connection came and went depending on how I held the tablet). This is because there's too much strain on the lead and port, which can get pulled and knocked left and right when moved around.

If you look at the market leading Wacom tablets, they have angled leads, which fit snugly next to their tablet and are subject to less physical strain. Handily, you can currently pick up 'USB to USB Mini' angled leads (left, right, or downward) to fit your Huion H610 Pro on Amazon UK for as little as £1.89 (see picture above).

In my case, I found that minimum charges for repairs weren't worth it for the price of the tablet, so I had a go at fixing it myself, and optimistically ordered a left angled cable which I couldn't cancel when my efforts failed. So I thought I'd stick the better cable, old stylus and spare nibs on Ebay. Here's a link to the page if you're interested:

Huion Spares Ebay Listing

The Huion H610 Pro still seems to be a popular budget option (see mostly positive Amazon reviews) and I got on well enough with it while it lasted, so hopefully this post will be useful to somebody.

Jonesy's Revenge

I'm a big fan of the first two Alien movies, so here, as part two of NoodleWings Action Cat Week, I've imagined Ripley's cat Jonesy as a badass colonial marine out for revenge. I think this represents my first piece of fan art.

Mean Sci-fi Marine Ginger Cat Firing Gun Cartoon T-Shirt
by NoodleWings

Mean Sci-fi Marine Ginger Cat Firing Gun Cartoon Coffee Mug
by NoodleWings

Mean Sci-fi Marine Ginger Cat Firing Gun Cartoon Kitchen Towel
by NoodleWings

Black Cat Ninja Attack

Last week was Action Cat Week at NoodleWings. Action cat number one is a black cat ninja, to remind people that black cats are cool for Black Cat Appreciation Day: one day a year (17th August... I'm presuming it's fixed there?) to remind people that black cats tend to get passed over for adoption due to silly superstitions and not standing out in the crowd.

The cat is my pet of choice. My most consistent best friend as a child was a cat, but these days I'm tragically prevented from getting one due to accommodation suitability issues.

Surprise! Black Cat Ninja Flying Kick Cartoon Card
by NoodleWings

Black Cat Ninja Katana Swords Flying Kick Cartoon Keychain
by NoodleWings

Hairy Ninjas Black Cat Flying Kick Cartoon T-Shirt
by NoodleWings

Soccer Gecko

Way back through the mists of time, before Wimbledon, before the Rio Olympics, there was a thing called Euro 2016. People in England have been trying to forget all about it, but it happened. What's less well known is that it was also the beginning of NoodleWings sports week! I've already posted drawing number two from that week, the tricky tennis pine marten. Things are slightly out of order around here at the moment, above is drawing number one.

Drawn in dedication to Portugal's win and in fear of Zazzle copyright issues, I went for an invented shirt logo and no references to Ronaldo. I've never been to Portugal, but I have been to Spain, where I was always delighted when geckos came to visit the villa. I read that they're also common visitors to Portuguese homes, so it's a gecko footballer. Gecknaldo.

Happy Soccer Star Gecko Kicking Football Cartoon Magnet
by NoodleWings

Happy Soccer Star Gecko Kicking Football Cartoon Keychain
by NoodleWings

Happy Soccer Star Gecko Kicking Football Cartoon Large Clock
by NoodleWings

Anteater On A Bicycle

Olympic week drawing number two is an anteater on a bike. This story about Tammy the friendly but short sighted tree anteater was a good visual reference:

Brazilian Tree Anteater Riding A Bicycle Cartoon Tea Towel
by NoodleWings

Brazilian Tree Anteater Riding A Bicycle Cartoon Button
by NoodleWings

Brazilian Tree Anteater Riding A Bicycle Cartoon Fleece Blanket
by NoodleWings