Bicycles and a (mini) Giveaway ★

hey folks, i've been at home all day (poorly) so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to work on my entry for the 'Ohh Deer' comp 'Stuck on Repeat'

i actually had this design in mind when i first drew my bicycles a week or two ago but today i finally got chance to finish it! i wanted to use the bicycles but make it sort of colourful as well

the comp closes in a few days but i couldn't wait until the 1st of Feb to submit it so i did it early. you can see it on the Ohh Deer site at the moment in the gallery along with looooooads of other entries. 

+ you can see it here and give it a 'Like' if you want to! - Jade's design

i can't wait to see all the entries submitted on the 1st but there are some really awesome designs in there already

* * *

so last Friday i was having a smashing day! i was all settled in at my College desk + having a generally nice sort of time editing stuff while chatting to my Classmates Jennie and Jenna (we all sit together to try and confuse the teachers since all our names begin with 'J')

unfortunately i got a call in the afternoon giving me some bad news and i had to leave college to rush to the hospital to see a family member, this is why i ended up NOT running a blog post that night or any of the subsequent nights following.

so basically, last week my desk-mate Jennie turned 21 so i brought her Birthday present in on the Friday

i got her a sparkly pen + notebook + a pack of Plasticine because let's face it, you're NEVER too old to play with Plasticine! check out the adorable pink elephant Jennie made...

 * * *

so in other news, over the past week or so my follower count on Twitter has been yo-yoing back and forth near to the 1000 mark and as a sort of thank you/incentive to my followers i've decided to do a little impromptu giveaway EXCLUSIVE to Twitter

here's what's up for grabs...

basically we have here a truly darling little hot air balloon charm + a cute necklace with a tiny gift charm + a sweet gingham bow & a gorgeous interwoven bracelet peppered with little charms (my favourite is the koi carp one!) all from 'Accessorize'

ALL of these goodies could be yours and ALL you have to do is 'follow' me on Twitter!

so if you're on Twitter already or you think it's about time you joined, head on over and give me a follow NOW - @jadeboylan

as soon as i reach 1000 followers i'll be drawing a lucky winner out of about 200 or so followers so you know... get following!

* * *

i think that's it for now, i've a few pieces to work on this weekend for college, commissions + various other things so i'm sure i'll be posting caps of some of them next week!

so until then, that's all folks... ◕‿◕ ★  xX

Creative Café #26 ★

hello there folks, firstly a big ol' sorry from me for not having posted in a while! all sorts of crazy things have been going on but i'm here now so lets get on with todays blog post shall we!

it's time for another Creative Café post and i should warn you, today's is a little different to what's usually on display for a CC post, however it is very VERY awesome and i'm sure you'll love it all regardless!

you know the drill (and if you don't, here it is - the Creative Café drill)

today it's all about the very fabulous Amy Williams

Amy is an artist and apprentice tattooist for 'Tenacious Tattoo' based in Sheffield in the UK + she uses a dip pen, India ink and watercolour to create her highly detailed original designs

i personally have a HUGE phobia of needles but tattoo art has always fascinated me and i find Amy's beautiful vintage and retro inspired designs particularly intriguing and refreshing

her work has this perfect mix of sweet delicacy mixed with darker often macabre undertones, lots of pretty flowers overlaying more sinister themes and messages, it's a wonderful mixture and a balance that i think she gets just right in her designs

as somebody who has only recently been asked to design a few tattoos for local clients, i find her work incredibly inspirational and just incredible to look at! 

everything from the colours she uses to the way she drafts and shades her designs is enthralling

on paper or skin her designs are sublime, bursting with intricate details, enchanting characters all drafted with her signature flourishes of line and style 

i think i've rambled on for long enough now so i'll leave you to look through some more of her work in your own sweet time, enjoy...

isn't it all just glorious!

right time for some links now

to see even more of Amy's work, you can 'Like' her Facebook page here - Amy Williams Tattoo

you can also see the progress of some of her tattoos via - Tenacious Tattoo

she also has an Etsy shop selling prints of her designs - Amybird

and of course if you'd like to commission Amy to design a tattoo for yourself then you can contact her via facebook - Amy Williams

all that's left now is for me to say a massive THANKS to Amy for saying yes about the feature! 

i'm not sure if I'll ever be able to pluck up the courage to get a tattoo done but if i ever do, i'm pretty sure i want Amy to design/tattoo it! thanks again :) x

All images featured in this post belong to Amy Williams © do not claim, use, distribute, reproduce or trace ANY of her work without her express written consent. All Rights Reserved.

* * *

in other news, i've been busy with commission + college work lately and it's been a bit of a muddled weekend due to some family stuff but i shan't bore you all with that on here!

anyway, i have some fun new stuff to share with you this week + a v exciting Mini Giveaway that's coming up soon via Twitter!

so stay tuned for all of that

until next time, that's all folks... 

◕‿◕ ★ xX

some new designs ★

so lately i've been a bit quiet again, i've been working on new stuff for college


(All images featured in this post belong to Jade Boylan© do not claim, use, distribute, reproduce or trace ANY of her work without her express written consent. All Rights Reserved.)

these new designs are a bit of a mixed bunch! including...

some candy coloured bicycles!

i sold my bike a few years ago and kind of miss it, a lot! i always found bikes particularly tricky to draw when i was younger so i thought i'd have a new go at one or two ones now!

and somehow i ended up producing some funky 'his n hers' bikes

as well as those, i've also been working on two candy character pieces, featuring the Cupcake Princess

 and the Candy Floss Princess

i spotted an amazing Steampunk book in town the other day so after my somewhat failed Steampunk girls (see this post - News and Stuff ) i had a little go at a simple pocket watch instead

and then for some inexplicable reason, i drew a cuckoo clock and created this piece as well

unsurprisingly though, the clock was a lot of fun to draw! 

also, most of these designs are now available on iPhone cases via my Society6 shop 

* * *

in other news, my lovely little cousin Sienna came to stay over the weekend

as you can see, she got her face painted while we were out! it was painted by the lovely Torie at Imagination Station

anyway, once we got home we did lots of drawing and writing, Sienna also gave me a lovely biro tattoo...

other than that, we filled in colouring pages + a Hello Kitty sticker book, we even found some xmas crackers left over from Christmas!

and then there were the wigs... myself, my mum and Sienna spent a while trying them on and listening to music in the kitchen, here's the embarrassing proof!

obviously dyeing my hair blonde or pink permanently is the way forward! :D

* * *

that's it for now, i'm in college for the rest of the week but i have a very awesome Creative Café post to run so keep your eyes peeled for that!

also, in case you were wondering what had happened to the New Year giveaway, i'm saving it for the blogs 3rd birthday next month!

however, i'm only 20 followers away from reaching 1k on twitter! AND when i reach 1000, i'll be holding a special little 'EXCLUSIVE to Twitter' giveaway!!! you can 'follow' me here - @jadeboylan

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

the Satchel, the Lionheart & the Anchor ★

so it's been a funny old week! those of you that follow me via Facebook or Twitter might have seen me raving on about my College assessment, well long story short the Art Dept printer broke down meaning i couldn't print ANYTHING off for assessment!

though it didn't actually matter in the end, my tutors were fine with me showing all my work on my macbook and the assessment went really well (i think...) they normally last about 20 mins for me but this one was almost an hour-and-a-half + i got lots of units ticked off which is a good thing!

anyway, in light of the assessment and the fact that leading up to it i pretty much didn't sleep more than 4 hours a night, i decided to take the rest of the day off on Wednesday, so my friend Jenny came to collect me from college and we had a fab afternoon mooching around Douglas

i believe in rewarding people when they've done well so i decided to treat myself to some yummy chocolates from Thorntons + i spotted this gorrrrrrgeous satchel bag in Curphey's in town

and well... i sort of HAD to have it! i mean look at it! it's so lovely + my macbook/kawaii case fits in it PERFECTLY along with the charger + my wacom tablet and a notebook

in short, the bag is perfect :)

another thing that fits into the bag is my fab copy of BRAND NEW 'Lionheart Magazine' 

i've been hearing about the magazine on Twitter for the past few months so once the Magazine launched i knew i'd have to treat myself to a copy of it!

it's absolutely gorgeous inside and out, filled from cover to cover with beautiful illustrations, fab photos and interesting articles all sourced and pulled together by genius editor and creator Helen Martin

i had a lovely time flicking through it and although i haven't had chance to read all of the articles so far, i snapped some photos of it as i looked through...

get your own copy right here - Lionheart Magazine

* * *

in other news, this pretty little necklace arrived in the post for me the other day!

it's a necklace by Razorblade Mermaid that i won it in a little giveaway comp via Betty Bee Towers

a truly brilliant blog that i love to visit after a long day of college, it's full of fabulous crafty ideas, gorgeous rockabilly and Pin-up style stuff and all manner of other loveliness

isn't the necklace cute though! i'm very chuffed that i won it, it's very 'me' i think! pearly beads, a cute anchor, red and pink + that little birdy charm that matches my fave birdy dress to perfection!

* * *

right, tomorrow i'm looking after little miss Sienna so we will probably be baking some cupcakes at some point or drawing some felt tip masterpieces!

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