As is the Custom is now up on the Lamley Customs Blog...

No, it isn't Sunday.  Hopefully it doesn't throw your calendar off too much.

As is the Custom for this week posted late Sunday, and this edition is so epic we wanted to make sure everyone saw it.  So we are posting the link today.

You can find it here:

As is the Custom at Lamley Customs

We wish we could just transfer all of the photos here, as they are all so good, but a few are below.  Just make sure you follow the link.  You won't be disappointed.

As always, send your customs in to lamleycustoms@gmail.com, and also let us know about sites you like to use for customs.  We want all the best work to get credit here.  The talent gets better and better and better.

This week's As is the Custom is now up on Lamley Customs...

Just a quick heads up that our streak of posting As is the Custom every Sunday is still intact.  Chris was off helping a friend most of the day and still got the post up.  These guys have busy lives, and we have told them to put "As is" at the bottom of their priorities, yet it still got done.  If one day or week is missed, we hope you can cut them some slack.  You sure did to me when I missed...what...four months in a row?

Anyway, you can see the whole post here:

Lamley Customs' As is the Custom for June 7th

Enjoy.  This is a particularly good week...

This week's As is the Custom is now up at Lamley Customs...

Are you happy to have As is the Custom back?  We sure are.

The latest version is now up on the Lamley Customs Blog, and as always there is a wide variety of creations.  Congrats to all who made the post.  You can find it here:

As is the Custom for May 31

And be sure to check out the customs blog for other features from our Custom editors, including Artist of the Week, Custom of the Day, and an upcoming how-to series.  We will also see some guest writers sharing their knowledge.

Remember to submit your work to lamleycustoms@gmail.com, or tag us #lamleycustoms on Instagram.

This week's As is the Custom is now up on the Lamley Customs Blog...

So, would you agree that the first month of the Lamley Customs Blog has been a rousing success?  We think it has.

Seth, Luke, and Chris have done a magnificent job rounding up the best for each week's As is the Custom, and even better they have added some fantastic new features, like Artist of the Week and a compilation of their Instagram custom contest, Friday Night Likes.

The bread and butter of the new blog is now up, and you can see it here:

As is the Custom on the Lamley Customs Blog

From what I have heard, you can now look forward to a full "How-to" series coming up, covering the very basic to highly complicated customizing methods.  Many have asked for that in the past, and now we have the folks who can make it happen.

And also many thanks to all of you for A) submitting your customs if you have them, and B) going and reading the Lamley Customs Blog.

One note: Earlier this week we found out that some customs we were featuring were being credited to the wrong person.  These images, possibly unknowingly because of a language barrier, were submitted to us in a way that made us think they were created by the submitter.  It has since been removed, but we want to make sure to let everyone know that crediting the proper artist is very important to us.  If you see that we have made a mistake, please let us know and we will correct it immediately.  If we are asking to show a custom that you have featured on your IG or Facebook page, but it is not yours, we ask that you let us know who the proper artist is.  We try to do our due diligence, but the things are we can't turn over every stone.

The most important part of showcasing customs is crediting the artist.  We hope you can all help us do that properly.

This week's As is the Custom is now up at the Lamley Customs Blog...

3 weeks in a row!  Bringing on this new group of editors, Chris, Seth, and Luke has been exactly what we hoped.

Time was limited for me, but with so many good artists out there, their work deserves to be seen, and the new guys are making sure that happens.  Chris handled the duties this week, and there are some amazing pieces he selected.  You can see them all on the Lamley Customs Blog:

As is the Custom at Lamley Customs

There is also another feature over at the new blog that gaining traction.  Every Wednesday the four of us select an Artist of the Week, and feature all of that person's work.  Last Wednesday it was the creative @alinhelga from the UK, and the feature shouldn't be missed.  You can find it here:

Artist of the Week: Alinhelga

More and more content will continue to pop up on the Lamley Customs Blog, so keep checking back...

This week's As is the Custom is now up on the Lamley Customs Blog...

We are now a week in, and all seems to be going great with the new Lamley Customs Blog.  We are so thankful for the positive comments from all of you, and are really happy to have our custom coverage back.

Our Custom Editors Seth and Chris did a fantastic job with As Is last week, and have already added two new features to the blog.  Look for an "Artist of the Week" feature every Wednesday, where one customizer will be featured, and the "Friday Night Likes" feature on Friday (duh), which is an expansion on a custom contest Seth and Chris have been managing on Instagram.

We have also added one more to the team.  Luke Baumstark (@lukeshotwheels on Instagram), a master customizer himself, has joined Seth and Chris to help create content for the Lamley Customs weekly features.  Be sure to look for him on Instagram and Facebook, and if he, like Seth, Chris, or me for that matter, ask you to send in photos of your work, we suggest you do.

Anyway, Luke handled this week's installment of As Is, and we think you will like it a lot.  You can find it here:

May 10th As is the Custom on Lamley Customs

Enjoy...

The inaugural As is the Custom is now up on the Lamley Customs Blog...

Just a heads up to our Lamley readers that the first As is the Custom is now up at its new home on the Lamley Customs Blog.

Our friends and new Lamley Customs editors Seth and Chris compiled our favorites and the feature is better than ever.  (Including another masterpiece from Blister Cards.)  You can find it here:

As is the Custom on Lamley Customs

The new blog will allow us to expand our custom coverage (and Seth and Chris already have many things in the works), so look for more features this week.  And as always, we welcome your submissions for consideration.  You can tag your photos #lamleycustoms on Instagram or email us at the new customs email address lamleycustoms@gmail.com.

It's baaaaack! As is the Custom returns to Lamley in a big way...

As we mentioned yesterday, the Lamley Group Blog turns 3 today.  

It seems like it has been around longer in some ways, and it seems like a blur in others.  Nonetheless, it has evolved quite a bit since its beginning, and it will continue to evolve.

Hopefully most of you approve of the evolution of the blog.  What we cover, what we don't cover, etc.  We try to keep it interesting, and something you enjoy reading every day.  Based on your feedback, we seem to do at least a decent job of that.  

Except in one area.

Customs.  When we were doing As is the Custom every week, there was no more popular post.  And we loved doing it.  The problem that as time became scarce, and our desire to take weekends off grew, it became near impossible to do it every week.  In fact, As is the Custom hasn't made an appearance on the blog in months.

And we have heard about it from a ton of you.  And I am glad we did.  To be honest, more than a few times I have crafted a post explaining why Lamley is ditching its custom coverage, only to delete it because it seemed such an integral part of what we do.  

So I have gone through what to do numerous times, and I think we have a solution.  I have asked two big shots in the Instagram custom community, Chris Huntley (@78toy4dr on Instagram) and Seth Mananquil (@mrsenctvt on Instagram) to help create and manage As is the Custom, once again making it a weekly feature.  We at Lamley will still pick our faves, but Chris and Seth will as well, and they will put it together.

And the other major change to our custom coverage?  It is going to have its own home.  We are pleased to introduce the Lamley Customs Blog:

This is the new home for As is the Custom, along with a variety of other custom coverage, including artist showcases, how-to posts, and possibly a Custom of the Day feature.  And we see things evolving from there.  Who knows where it could go...

Here is the address in case you want to bookmark it:

http://lamleycustoms.blogspot.com

We hope this will help scratch that custom itch that so many of us have, as well as allow the original Lamley Blog to move forward with all the plans we have slated for its evolution as well.  Ultimately we hope you all enjoy it...

So you over on the new blog...

Lamley Customs: Chris Huntley's Datsun 620 Pickup...

It is vacation time for me.

There are two reasons why I mention that.  First, vacation means I have no desire to take the time to go through all the custom submissions for As is the Custom.  That will come later.

Reason #2, Ms. Lamley and I have decided to spend our vacation time in Denver and Boulder, Colorado, looking at art.  We have spent time with Cartier and Matisse at the Denver Art Museum, Chiluly at the Denver Botanic, and Eames at Design Within Reach (not a museum, but a great place to visit until DWR decides to open in SLC).  Am I telling you that to up my uppity factor?  Yes.  But I am also telling you that because we have, as always, enjoyed understanding the signature talents of these artists - Cartier & Co. with Jewelry, Matisse with paint and color, Chiluly with glass, and Eames with furniture and function.

Which brings us to Chris Huntley, or as he is known in the Instagram universe, @78toy4dr.  Of all the extremely talented customizers we have featured over the years on Lamley, no one has developed a signature style like Chris.  Ask anyone on Instagram - you know when you come across a Chris Huntley custom just by looking at the pic.  The matte paint, the subdued colors, the cambered/hellaflush style, and the crisp and clean detail.  Add to that his wild imagination, which can morph a recognizable casting into something completely different, without changing the essence of the model.  The Dairy Delivery is still the Dairy Delivery, only a completely different take.

Are we comparing Chris to Matisse?  No, of course not.  But in a sea of amazing and emerging custom talent, Chris gets kudos for his signature style.  And we feel like we can say that, because it won't get to his head.  Having met Chris, I can sincerely say this is a guy who loves what he does, and always wants to get better.

And that is why we want to feature his Datsun 620, which somehow made its way to our abode after JCCS.  The signature style is there, and execution fantastic, and whether or not Chris ever wants it back, it is staying with us.

(Thanks Chris.)