Lovely Letters ♥

so today i woke up at stupid o'clock (well, 6:30am is stupid for me when i'm off college) for no real reason since i decided to stay at home today and work on some commissions 

look at what i made this morning though!

a new nautical themed 'anywhere clip' that you can clip to your bag, wear in your hair or pin to your outfit like a rosette, the button in the middle is an awesome old vintage one from the old tin of buttons my mum gave me (it's so old i found two ha'penny coins in the tin!)

i have a couple more of these anchor buttons left so i'll probably make a few more of these rosette anywhere clips if anyone would like one

the only downside is the total mess of ribbons that are heaped up on my bed, my desk is so pathetically small i use my bed as my desk when i'm at home, the only upside is that it's always a comfy desk!

* * *

so what else?!

well this afternoon a parcel arrived for me chock full of sheets of polka dot felt from wonderful my big sister Simone, who lives in Coventry

isn't it all gorrrgeous!

i got far too excited about it + as you can see i carefully laid it all out on my bedroom floor

i needed lots of polka dot felt for a project and seeing as NO-WHERE on the Isle of Man sells it (and because i couldn't find it on sale online) she bought a big stack of it for me from the massive Hobbycraft store in Coventry, i'm so lucky to have such a nice big sis!

but that's not all because along with the felt i also found two lovely letters from my little nieces Madison and Daisy

Daisy even drew me a 'Sweet' picture

+ there were soooooooo many kisses on Maddie's letter (and inside the envelope)

how lucky am i to have such lovely little nieces . . .

both letters say that i have to write back asap so i guess i know what i'll be doing after i write this blog post!

* * *

just quickly before i stop rambling and before i dash off to cook some food i wanted to share this amazing cross stitcher with you all, 

a friend of mine told me about her and i just fell in LOVE with the work on her website, it's so gorgeous!

her name is Emily Peacock and she hand stitches the most gorgeous cushions and tapestries

aren't they lovely! she sells awesome needlepoint kits as well on her website, if you're a bit of a sewing señorita then i suggest you check out her stuff - Emily Peacock

* * *

still not sure what's happening tomorrow, it's either back to college or off round the island with Jenny

the good news is that i made some headway today with my new logo commissions, it's been quite a productive day for me really so i can't complain . . .

until next time, that's all folks ◕‿◕ ★ xX

Terrific Tuesday ★

so i vanished for a few days again didn't I . . .

I'm really sorry I've just been pretty busy with sewing stuff + i got a new logo commission the other day that I've been working on + yesterday my big sister and her boyfriend came round to show us their holiday snaps from their 9 week 'around the world adventure' (of which i am insanely jealous!)

but that's no excuse for me to abandon you all i know so . . . "I'm sorry"

moving on

today is a Tuesday hence today's blog title . . . just in case you were wondering!

maybe i should theme all the days of the week?!

we could have 'Marvellous Monday', 'Terrific Tuesday', 'Wonderful Wednesday', 'Tremendous Thursday', 'Fabulous Friday', 'Splendid Saturday' and 'Super Sunday'

ok maybe not! (maybe i should shut up and write this post huh!)

anyway I've been hiding in my room for a few days sewing and THIS is what I've been making

here we have a little toadstool charm, a sprinkles covered ice cream charm + a bright little Bauhaus coloured Owl charm (you can take the girl out of the library but she'll always be an Art History nerd I'm afraid!!!)

these are part of the little handmade felt charm series i seem to be working on aaaaaall the time!

 here they all are hanging on my mirror (just ignore the psychedelic mess of stuff on my walls in the reflection)

so what else?! well this afternoon i popped into Ramsey for a 'sort of but not quite' business meeting (it's for the hush hush thing that i can't tell you about yet) 

anyway the 'meeting' was great, i think i'm meeting the super duper girly behind it all again tomorrow for another meeting type thing in the Alpine where we will probably end up eating cakes and talking about buttons such is our shared love for all things haberdashery related . . .

speaking of haberdashery, look at the gorrrrgeous ribbons i got today in Ramsey

aren't they divine! i just loved the colours, couldn't resist

i also got a little pack of felt sheets since you know . . . you can never have too much felt!

this is to add to the ever growing stack of felt i have on my desk

ah . . . felt glorious felt!

oh while i was in Ramsey i bumped into my old friend Jeni from College as well, she's studying for a BA in design at University in Liverpool, check out her arty blog here - Jeni Grose

* * *

in other news . . .

i just HAD to share this with you!

look at the view outside my bedroom window at the moment

so looking past my garland of handmade origami cranes, my Manx Fairy charm + my bamboo wind chime and can you see that gorgeous cherry blossom tree!!!

most of the cherry blossom i've seen out around the island is beginning to flutter to the ground now leaving swirls of pink confetti-like petals on the pavements and roads but our tree is just coming into its blossom

isn't it pretty! every morning i open my curtains and it makes me smile to see those pretty pink petals brightening up the garden

* * *

right so nothing else to report on . . . i think!

tonight i need to draw stuff for this new commission + whip up a new polka dot pinup girl illustration for aforementioned super secret business type thing

so I'll bid you adieu my dears, until next time

that's all folks ◕‿◕ ★ xX 

Train Times

so once again i find myself apologizing for the lack of posts, i genuinely meant to write a post yesterday night but i ended up playing on the Wii so i forgot... i'm sorry!

i had a gorgeous day today though, met my mum and my godmother for lunch + ended up hanging out with my cousin Mandy, my big sister Nikki + her boyfriend Boris as well, in my fave cafe 'the alpine' (of course!!!)

i also bumped into some old friends from college which was nice since it's been aaaages since i last saw them!

anyway that all doesn't matter nor does the fact that i've been absent for a few days because i'm posting NOW which is the main thing

so on Wednesday i got up bright and early, caught a lift into Douglas with my dear mama then walked through town towards the train station because i went on the steam train to Port Erin!!!!

i'll start from the beginning . . .

it was a truly gorgeous day, the sun was shining, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and for once it wasn't even windy or blustery which is practically unheard of for the Isle of Man!

i'd arranged to meet my friend Jenny for the day since she's home from University at the moment but she had a hair appointment in Port Erin so i thought, 'why not get catch the train down to meet her'

yeah like i need an excuse to go on the train!!!

it was such a nice day though, on my way to the station i walked right along the Harbour and took a few snaps of the pretty boats and the gorgeous blue sky/sea

since the weather was so lovely the train was quite busy so i shared a carriage with an old local man who was on his way home to Port Erin + a lady from England, visiting the island with her little grand-daughter on their way to Port Erin beach for a picnic

the little girls name was Hannah and she pretty much became my best friend for the entire train ride! she was so sweet, she liked to say the phrase 'super duper' a lot (you can see why we got on!) and her favourite colour is pink! she really was a total little sweetie, here she is posing in her snazzy pink sunglasses (note the entirely pink outfit also)

we had great fun counting the sheep, cows, horses, ducks, pheasants and donkey's we saw in the fields as the train carried us southwards towards Castletown and eventually on to Port Erin

i really love this time of year, everything is so green and lush, it was great seeing so much of the beautiful Manx country side

when we pulled into Port Soderick we stopped next to the other train running that day, on its way back towards Douglas

so naturally . . . i took a few more pictures from my carriage window

it was a gorgeous engine, gleaming and utterly super duper + i've always love the IOM railway company logo/emblem

after that we carried on to Port Erin where i said my goodbyes to my fellow passengers + the lovely little Miss Hannah (who gave me a big hug, bless) before heading off to say hi to my other friend Sarah who runs a hair salon called 'cuts both ways'

it's been months since i last saw her so it was nice to hang out for a bit, before we left for her lunch break i snapped a shot of her gorgeous salon, it's full of antique furniture, pretty wallpaper, little chandeliers and baroque style mirrors! love it . . .

Jenny was still getting her hair done in another salon so i tagged along with Sarah to the beach where she was meeting another friend + her three lovely little kids

the sea was just so blue! it was beautiful, i've always liked Port Erin as a town but i really loved visiting it on Wednesday, it was so sublime 

we sat on the beach for a while and i could not get over how busy it was! the place was packed . . . well, it was 'packed' for a Manx beach anyway!

Jenny turned up eventually so we chilled on the beach some more only with the added bonus of delicious Italian ice creams, the weather was perfect and i could have happily spent all day relaxing on that beach (and i'm so not a beach person!)

anyway, we actually spent the rest of the day mooching around cute shops in Castletown + Tynwald but unfortunately my piece of **** camera decided to give up on life while on the beach and it is now completely and utterly 100% broken!

i did NOT drop it in the sea or in fact drop it anywhere at all but despite this and despite 2 years of careful treatment it has decided to give up on me at last!

the good news is this means i get to buy a flashy new camera

the bad news is . . . i can't really afford to get one!

so this means that for the immediate future i'll have to take all my photos using my rubbish phone so apologies for the 'even crappier than usual' quality of the photos in posts to come!

* * *

in other news . . .

Easter times ahoy!

this afternoon my mum called me into the kitchen where i found this delightful little display waiting for me on the kitchen table

these are my yummy Easter treats, an egg from my cousin Mandy, an pretty 'princess' egg, a bag of my fave chocolates + the gorgeous 'Bernie' Bear from my mum

love them all! i haven't eaten any chocolate since January so i look forward to scoffing these goodies on Sunday

* * *

i also had a 'business meeting' today, now i can't really go into details about it (yet) but i can tell you that it's super duper exciting news for me + my arty stuff

the only problem is it's going to create soooooo much work for me i think i'm going to need an assistant!

hhhmm . . . too bad i can't afford to hire one! anyone fancy being my assistant for free?!

anyway it's fun times ahead so stay tuned dudes and dudettes!

ok i'm off to cook some food now, goodbye my lovelies, hope you enjoy your weekend wherever + whatever you're up to

that's all folks . . .

◕‿◕ ★ xX

Cute Cakes and Pretty Princesses ♥

sorry for having vanished over the past few days, i intended to write a post yesterday about my new illustrations but i didn't get them finished in time!

you see, i spent all of Sunday afternoon drawing and sketching away in my room trying to come up with more candy themed designs but they took me so long to edit i forgot to write a blog post!

however . . .

they're finished today!

so sit back and enjoy a sugary little treat, after all, these sweet little designs are 100% calorie free!

what's on the menu for today then?

well, why not start with a tasty little macaroon, colourful, pretty and oh so delicious . . .

then maybe a yummy cupcake, with pink icing (of course) and a cherry on top

maybe you'd prefer something a little sweeter? try one of these little peppermint sticks or a strawberry swirl lollipop

fancy something with a bit more 'crunch'? then try one of these little lovelies! here we have cookies crammed with chocolate chunks, delicately iced biscuits and jam filled ones too

still hungry? then maybe you'd like to try a slice of this black forest gateaux, chocolate and cherry heaven in every bite

time to cool off, maybe you should have a yummy ice cream, take your pick from vanilla or strawberry whippy, with a chocolate flake on top 

craving something a little creamier? try one of these delectable red velvet cupcakes, guaranteed to satisfy your sweet tooth

don't worry if you can't finish it all, i'll pop it in a bag for you and tie it up with a pretty bow

come on now . . . don't pretend you're not hungry!

they were so much fun to draw though! you all know how much i adore anything candy or cake related so you'll know i'm serious about how fun it was to edit so many sugary sweet things

* * *

so what else i hear you cry?!

well remember the little Cupcake Princess??? remember her big sister?

well now i'd like you to meet their mother, the Cupcake Queen . . .

(don't worry, the hair colour will all make sense eventually!) i've been meaning to draw her for a while now, still struggling to draw the Cupcake King but the Queen appeared quite easily for some inexplicable reason

since i was drawing dresses i decided to draw in the rest of the big sisters dress as well because when i drew out this little 'let them eat cake' illustration (available as a postcard print here - etsy) i left the dress unfinished, just cut her off at the hips, with no pretty gown or anything!

so i decided to have a little go at finishing her dress as well

i know it's kind of similar to the Queen's (+ they really look alike i know) but i wanted it to be that way, i want you to be able to tell that they're related but not entirely the same 

+ i wanted the Queen's dress to be more decadent and detailed than her daughters

+ you can see where the patterns on the little Princess' dress come from, 

don't they make a sweet family though, Sprinkles the dog is there as well! (just click on the image for a slightly bigger view)

* * *

not much else to tell today, as you may have gathered, i haven't left the house in quite a few days although hopefully i'll be meeting a friend tomorrow and actually get to see the outside world for once!

hope you've enjoyed this candy coloured post

that's all folks . . .

◕‿◕ ★ xX