Super Snaps ❤

Gather round dear readers because I have something super fun and colourful to share with you all today!

If you follow me on Instagram (and if you don't, then you really ought to) then you might have seen the cute giveaway I'm running with UK based Super Snaps

We've teamed up to give one lucky winner a pair of Candy Doll Club pins and some Girl Gang stickers (designed by yours truly of course) along with an exclusive set of one of a kind magnets and retro prints from Super Snaps, all featuring some of my colourful designs.

Just look at all those treats! Who wouldn't want to win that lot?!

 The magnets and prints feature 10 of my illustrations (the 10th one isn't shown in any of the photos, so I guess only the winner will get to see what it is). I tried to pick a range of colourful designs that I thought would look good, so here's hoping that whoever wins thinks they look good too.

The lovely folks at Super Snaps were also kind enough to send me a set of the magnets and retro prints as well, which is really BRILLIANT because I've never seen any of my work on magnets before, It's all rather exciting. They arrived super quickly and the packaging was simple but still very cute.

Super Snaps give you an easy peasy way to order your own Instagram shots or digital photos printed on magnets and prints, so if you've ever wanted to see your own face on a magnet, or your pet/child/handbag on prints stuck to your wall, then Super Snaps is definitely the place to get em' made. They can also produce stickers, greetings cards + framed prints of your photos or designs as well as magnets and mini prints.

cute and colourful magnets

The quality of the magnets is really nice, they're quite thin but they went onto the fridge door without any problems and they look great. I was actually going to share them with my friends but I think I'll have to keep them all now because they look really fantastic on the fridge and the colours are very vibrant and sharp.

some of the fun magnets YOU could win!

The retro prints Super Snaps sent me were actually a total surprise so I was delighted to receive them. Once again the colour quality is gorgeous and I love the classic polaroid style and size of the prints. As I work primarily digitally I rarely get to see my work actually printed out but these turned out so well, I really like them.

I also think that the retro prints would make great pocket portfolios for illustrators, designers, photographers and artists since they're small enough to carry around and they're such good quality they'd really help to show off your work.

I didn't send any photos for the magnets/prints since I'm an illustrator and the only photos I really have of my designs are product shots, but I'm definitely curious to see how photos would look on these retro prints. I bet they look great and I'm wondering whose birthday I could order some for this year. I'm already considering a set of fun magnets for my sister, so if you're reading this Nikki don't forget to act surprised on your Birthday.

This is a great prize, I'm sure you'll agree, and if you think you'd like to try and get your hands on these cute goodies, all you have to do is click this link for info on how to enter the Giveaway. You can also enter it over here on the Super Snaps IG page. But don't leave it too long because we'll be picking a winner on Friday 27th January.

Please be aware that it's an Instagram only giveaway so leaving a comment here or on facebook or twitter will not count as an entry.
 
If you can't wait until Friday to see if you've won and you just HAVE to get these pins and stickers, then you'll find them here in my SHOP

And if you fancy getting some magnets, retro prints or other goodies printed up with your own photos or designs, you can get them right HERE

and those superstars at Super Snaps have also set up an exclusive discount code for all you Candy Dolls out there! All you need to do is enter code: CDC15 (in caps because it is case sensitive) at the checkout to get 15% off at Super Snaps until April.

They offer fast and free shipping to UK customers + express International delivery for those of you around the world.

And on that note i'll say goodbye because I'm going off to raid the fridge for dinner and admire my new magnets as well.

bye for now!

The Handbag of Dreams ♥

Welcome to 2017

New Year, New You? or not, whatever.

It's a brand new year filled with brand new possibilities and opportunities. Or in my case, same old, same old...

Except for one little difference that is (so far).

If you missed my last post let me offer a quick recap. It was my annual Xmas wish list post and you can read/re-read it HERE should you so desire. As per usual it was filled with lots of lovely things I'll probably never own but as always, I had a lot of fun coming up with it.

Anyway, the very last item on the 2016 wish list was the handbag of dreams aka an Anya Hindmarch all-over-stickers Bathurst in black.

Well my first illustration of 2017 is a 'handbag portrait' aka an illustration of a handbag flat lay, and it should tell you all you need to know... (disclaimer, unless you love handbags you're proabbly gonna find this post pretty boring so abandon ship now if you want)

That's right friends, all of my handbag dreams have come true because this babe of a handbag is now MIIIIINNNNEEEE!!!!!!!

So naturally I'm now going to blather on about it for a few minutes because honestly how can I not and also because my blog, my rules.

And before you start speculating over who I know that would get me such a magnificent gift, the answer is Me. I would get myself such a magnificent gift, so I did. TREAT YO SELF

Unsurprisingly the bag is perfect. It's everything I hoped for and more, and it smells incredible! And it's soooooooo pretty I LOVE IT! It's so good aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! 

First of all it arrived in a snazzy striped bag (I will forever love black and white stripes) tied with a red ribbon and a cute fried egg tag. I won't lie, I did a little happy dance around the room when it arrived and I might have squealed. Once. Maybe. Or a few times, who knows.

The 'stickers' design on the bag is even better in person and the detail is amazing. Check out that stripy bungee handle as well! Too lovely.  It also comes with a full length leather strap and you can customize it lots of different ways. Brilliant.

It also arrived all bundled in a cute cotton dust bag/tote bag along with the cutest stationery featuring a sunny smiley face and one of my favourite Oscar Wilde quotes. Just when I thought it all couldn't get any more perfect my new handbag arrived with a card saying "I can resist everything except temptation." (I thought the quote was 'anything' instead of everything but I could be wrong. Either way, I still love it and it was a nice touch).

So why did I draw it you might ask?! Well on January 1st I was sorting out the cluttered cupboard in my room and I came across some of my old art college logbooks and found this Nathalie Lecroc inspired 'Handbag Portrait' from 2010. It's definitely not my best work but I vaguely remember having a lot of fun drawing it with my trusty felt tip pens. Don't get me wrong, I loved working on stuff like this back then but I'm sure glad I know how to use Photoshop now ^_^

To be honest not an awful lot has changed except now I don't need to carry around a digital camera, an iPod, an iPod touch AND a Nokia mobile phone! Now I just need my iPhone.

I also always carry a little case of my business cards with me, because you never know who you might bump into and I like having cards on hand to offer prospective clients and customers.

Also how fun is my new googly eyes purse from Superdrug?! Red is my favourite colour so I had to get this purse and the matching make-up pouch. My best friend Hayley also got me the purse in blue and it matches my blue Lulu Guinness bag perfectly. She knows me so well because I'd get this purse in EVERY colour if I could :)

I always carry a notebook with me as well, for ideas and doodles. My mum gave me this neat little notebook and my dad gave me the lovely fountain pen last Christmas. I personally don't really like using biros to write with. When I was 7 my teacher encouraged the class to use fountain pens and I've used one ever since. 

And a boring ventolin inhaler because like many people, in the winter the cold air can affect my lungs so I keep this handy in case I suddenly find it difficult to breathe. You know, normal winter stuff.

The matching googly eyes pouch is where I keep my contact lense spray (so exciting, I know!), my paracetamol, lipbalm, compact and my forever disappearing collection of bobbypins. If you know me at all then you'll know that I wear red lipstick almost every time I leave the house. 

At the moment I'm addicted to Mac Cosmetics Ruby Woo. I bought a tube for my youngest niece's 16th Birthday and it looked so good on her that I had to get a tube for myself as well! And Daisy, if you're reading this, the lisptick really does look amazing on you and I can only hope that it looks half as good on me!

So in summary, if you're still here reading and you haven't already slipped into a coma out of sheer boredom from my inane ramblings, I LOVE THIS BAG AND IT IS THE BEST FOREVER AND EVER.

THE END.

and on that note you'll be delighted to know that I'll shut up now and stop talking about my new handbag because there are far more important things in life than material possessions but I never leave my house and I'm too scared to go anywhere and actually do anything so for now, material possessions like this sublime handbag are all I really have in life. 

and while that may be pathetic, I don't care and I still love it.

bye!