Feeling Festive ♥

so it's that time of year again, the time when shops suddenly fill with shiny new things, the time when fairy lights appear to be strung from everywhere and the weather turns freeeezing (depending on where you live, if you live here... it's bloody cold!) it's time to pull on your hats, gloves and scarves and wrap up warm...

winter is here and that means... CHRISTMAS!!!!!

it's no secret that Winter is my favourite season (not just because of Christmas... honest) i love the snow and the frost and the freezing cold wind (not so much the rain but living on the Isle of Man you learn to live with it) i love any excuse to wear my big winter coat and my winter boots

winter, winter, winter... i LOVE it!

and obviously it's late November now which means Christmas isn't too far off!

so because i'm off to Coventry and Birmingham tomorrow for a few days to see my family for, i had lots and LOTS of presents to wrap and loads of cards to write

and i mean LOTS! i have a massive family and it literally took me about 6 hours (with breaks, lots of them) to wrap all the gifts!

my wrapping skills aren't that great but i try my best! 

i make a hell of a lot of mess as well when i wrap stuff... as you can see!

but my macbook kept me company the whole time playing a constant stream of lovely Christmas songs for me to sing along VERRRY loudly to as i wrapped

i didn't have half as much stuff to wrap as my mum did though! i popped into the Dining Room (aka Present HQ) to ask for some ribbon and the entire room was filled with presents!

the table was full and the rest were all bagged up, ready to go to Coventry tomorrow...

i'm so excited to be going away though! i haven't left the island since early September for the wedding in Montenegro (read about that here - Montenegro Times) so it'll be nice to get away for a few days

i packed my case earlier this evening, thought i'd share this snap with you...

good to see i'm getting my priorities right?! 

only joking... yes the Zombieland DVD is for me to watch at the hotel but the Mika DVD's are for my sister to lend 

contrary to popular belief i don't take them everywhere with me... honest!

my big sister is a Mika fan as well and she's never seen him live so i thought she'd like to see these

i can't WAIT to go away!!!!!

i'm hoping to do a few posts while i'm away as well, my macbook is coming with me and i'm pretty sure the hotel we're going to has wi-fi available = good times!

plus... on Tuesday i'm spending the day in Birmingham City Centre with my mum and my Auntie and i CANNOT WAIT!!!!

several reasons why i'm so excited about the day trip and the places i plan to visit...

1: i LOVE Birmingham

2: the Bullring Shopping centre... complete with Selfridges

3: Harvey Nichols in 'the Mailbox' building

4: the Christmas Markets in Victoria Square

5: the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery

6: Birmingham = awesomeness

that's about it i guess, oh AND 

i go on the 23rd and that just so happens to be the day that the latest H&M collection is launched!

that's right... the Lanvin collaboration (fangirl squeal) 

yay yay yay

i'll probably come back 'Lanvin-less' due to the hordes of people cramming into H&M but a girl can dream right?!

i'm already in love with most of the pieces in the collection but i have my eye on this dress in particular... 

although after spending £90 on my plane ticket home the chances of me getting this dress are now very slim indeed! 

saying that, i'd quite like one of these handbags as well... or both of them!

and maybe some of the shoes as well...

OH MY GOD it's going to be a nightmare!

i want it ALL but i can probably only afford one or two pieces tops!

i may have to BEG for some Lanvin-esque thing for Christmas but i doubt i'll even be able to get near the shop let alone get my hands on some stuff!

i've just looked it up on the H&M website (HERE) and apparently the Bullring branch of H&M will be open from 9:00am til 8:00pm so... maybe i can sneak back in in the evening and fight off some other Lanvin lovers to claim a piece!

sharpen your elbows girls...

to be honest though i'd rather come home penniless and laden with Lanvin loveliness that to get home empty handed!

why WHY Lanvin... why must you create such beautiful dresses!

Alber Elbaz you have a LOT to answer for do you hear me! i don't care if you're best friends with Mika, your designs are so pretty it's almost criminal!!!

end of rant

* * *

in other news...

look what arrived today all the way from Austin, Texas!!!

that's right folks... it's the ORIGINAL copy of my 'free crappy portrait'

the lovely and utterly super duper and fabulous Anne Genung who created the masterpiece 'Bluebird Cupcakes' based on a photo of me having a baking day 

(for more info check out the Baking Times post) 

anyway she got in touch with me after i posted all about the genius of the FCP site (read the 'my free crappy portrait' post and all shall be explained) and kindly offered to send me the original copy of the drawing!!!

how could i refuse!

i couldn't...

anyway it arrived today in a tube with a little note off Anne 

how awesome is that!

i can't believe she sent it to me! i am so soooo grateful i really am!

in light of that, here is an utterly shameless plug for Anne's gorgeous website

Anne Genung

seriously... check it out, her artwork is amazing! her paintings are so beautiful, really stunning work!

also Anne has a super blog full of arty fun times and she even did a post all about MY blog post about the FCP... how fabulous!

she said this about my post

"Isn't that just the loveliest response ever? I should draw more crappy portraits. And I do hope that she appreciates having the original."

well Anne i can tell you that i DO appreciate it

i LOVE it!

you can check out her blog here and scroll down to see the post about my FCP - Anjanung

so thank you Anne, you are officially AWESOME!!!

* * *

and that's it for today i think, sorry for the rantings and the ravings, can't be helped...

so tomorrow morning i get the boat to Liverpool then it's off to Coventry

i'll be posting tomorrow evening probably, i'm so SO excited about the hotel we're staying at so i will DEFINITELY want to share this one with you all!

see you then

that's all folks...

◕‿◕ ★ xX

'vielen dank und auf wiedersehen'

(that's thank you and goodbye in German, big thanks to all those German people out there checking out my blog, danke ♥)

Manic Monday ★

so today i woke up at 5am (ish) feeling really ill! this = bad times since i actually planned on doing some college work today... at college

however, the whole being ill factor ruined that plan so i stayed at home and did college work instead (yay... thumbs up) 

also noticed that the blog hit 10,000 page views overnight...

wow and wowy wow W O W

thank you to everyone that has come to have a skeet at my weird and slightly colourful little world

i'm quite literally beaming hugs to you all as i type this...

* * *

anyway back to the post, i drew a couple of new Pinup Illustrations and then what do you know...

i decided to RE-DRAW some old ones as well

as much extra time and effort as it is, i secretly love re-drawing my old illustrations, especially if the originals weren't very good, it gives me the chance to try and fix them

like my 'Bubbly Burlesque Girl' (as she was originally known). when i first drew her, her face was all messed up (it was... really) and the cocktail glass i drew for her was just awful (well and truly rubbish) so i sat down with my fineliners and drew her out again from scratch and THIS time she isn't half as bad as she was

still not maybe 100% perfecto but hey... i AM a perfectionist! i'll let you make up your own mind about little Miss 'Shaken not Stirred' ... 

ah i don't know, i'll probably re-draw her again next year and start hating this version! anyway moving on...

the next one i had a go at re-doing was my old Betty Boop fan art piece 'Pretty in Pink'

the original was cute but i guess the massive Betty Boop head kind of distracted you from the little 50's style outfit, so i had another go and this was the result, 

little Miss 'Dreaming of You' (because of the wind swept hair, the dreamy look in her eyes and the heart in her hands)

once again, i'll probably hate her this time next year!

what about the coloured backgrounds though? are we liking these or loathing them...

i just fancied a change seeing as i almost ALWAYS submit my pinup girls with plain white backgrounds (BORING) and in pinup photography, if it's not a location shoot they usually use brightly coloured lit backdrops like these so... tah-dah

if everyone hates them i'll stop using them but for now... voila!

also... are we liking the new blog background???

i added a few little 'snapshot' type pictures of a few of my own illustrations + a few tiny snippets from my picture book 'Where's Charlie?'

i thought the background needed brightening up a bit so... let me know what you think!

* * *

in other news... i got a message a while ago off Mike, he was glad to let me know that his FCP has arrived!

those of you that are regular readers of my blog will know all about the wonders of the FCP site but in case you're new here, just check out this old post and all shall be revealed - my Free Crappy Portrait ♥

basically, after my super FCP arrived, Mike got all jealous (he did... ) and sent off for one as well

now... i'm a big fan of the ol' 'free crappy portraits' off the FCP site but come on!!! 

MY portrait took over a month to arrive and he got his after about 2 weeks... grumble, moan, sulk!

ah i can forgive it, just this once!

anyway i'm pleased to report that his FCP is actually rather super duper, i shall explain it on his behalf

basically... Mike is a MASSIVE 'Doctor Who' fan (if you don't know what Doctor Who is... go and bang your head against a wall, then get your bum to a computer and learn to Google fast!) 

i mean he loves Doctor Who more than life itself (he really does... he'll never admit it but it's true) so the picture he sent in was one of him leaning out of a red telephone box brandishing a sonic screwdriver (once again if you have no idea what that is... go and google it) and that is exactly what his FCP delivered...

and look... a Sphinx, a half built Pyramid AND Ancient Egyptians too! this drawing has everything!

and in case you're wondering if it's a good likeness of Mike... i can tell you that it is

yes, his hair REALLY is that tall... no joke!

good times

* * *

and that's it for tonight dear dudes and dudettes, 

apparently it's snowing somewhere here on the Island but i've yet to see any snow...

oh and i just heard a loud beeping from somewhere in the room which i think means i've received a text so i'm off to try and retrieve my phone from the pile of junk it's apparently buried in!

that's all folks...

♥ ◕‿◕ ★ xX

Thank you and Goodbye

(no... i didn't get mixed up and repeat the farewell from yesterday's post! the next country on the list was the USA so... it's an English goodbye again, the NEXT post will have a different farewell though, promise)

my Free Crappy Portrait ♥

i know yesterday's uber boring 'garden' post didn't go down too well, so hopefully today's will be a little bit brighter!

so... last night while I was sat snuggled up in a blanket eating a ridiculously large bowl of ice cream (strawberry, chocolate and vanilla... in case you were wondering! in fact, stop wondering... you shouldn't be so nosy!) 

anyway, I was in the middle of watching a moooovie when I heard the little telltale 'ping' letting me know i'd received an email.

So I opened it up and...

THIS is what was in it!

That's right... it's a drawing of me making what are apparently 'Bluebird Cupcakes' (according to the wonderful 'Anne G' that created this masterpiece for me) 

the drawing was based on THIS photograph...

(explanation of the photo can be found in THIS post – Baking Day)

but that is beside the point

the point is... LOOK AT THE EPICNESS OF THAT DRAWING!!!!!

Now let me explain... a few weeks ago, while I was in Montenegro (read about my eventful trip here – Montenegro Times) I came across this super duper little site called 'free crappy portraits' (the discovery of this site was all thanks to the fabulous Mr Alex Mathers who posted about it on Twitter, check out his epic site here, and don't forget to sign up for his newsletter... he'll send you a super duper illustration if you do – Ape on the Moon)

so basically what the FCP site offers is... a 'free crappy portrait' based on pretty much whatever you want

you send them a photo (or two... or three) and tell them a bit about the picture, the people in it etc etc then one of the resident 'crappy artists' draws you a picture and sends it back... all for FREE

that's right folks... it doesn't cost you a penny... the site also has some of THE best hand drawn link banners i have ever seen...

so anyway, while I was away in Montenegro, all ill and felling verrrry sorry for myself, I decided to send them a photo in the hope that one day... I too would be the proud owner of my very own 'free crappy portrait'

so suffice to say... i'd long since forgotten about sending in my picture.

Yes I do visit their blog from time to time to marvel in awe and amazement at some of the FCP's they upload daily but I guess i'd pretty much given up all hope on ever getting my own special FCP

that was until I got an email from them during the ice cream/movie fest of my Friday night...

Hi Jade!

I just posted your portrait on our site and have attached it in this email. I hope you enjoy it! It was done by a guest artist who is way better at drawing than any of us. 

After looking at your fun illustrations, I would love to convince you to be a guest artist! You don't even have to draw at our crappy level since you are an actual artist.

Let me know if you're interested!

Love,

FCP

that's right... you read it correctly!

Not ONLY did they send me a truly amazing FCP... they also invited me to be a guest artist!

So naturally I accepted STRAIGHT AWAY!!!

I am a bit busy at the moment but hopefully in the near future I too will join the lofty ranks of the truly genius FCP guest artists!

big thanks to Alyssa, RJ and Sarah who are the 'artists in residence' and ruling overlords of FCP (the drawings are usually completed by these 3 or one of the Guest Artists) 

I am soooooooo excited!

And did I mention that I LOVE my FCP!!!! because I do... I L-O-V-E it!!!

you can read the original post on their fabby blog riiiiight HERE - Bluebird Cupcakes

and if you're interested in getting hold of your very own Free Crappy Portrait (as i'm sure many of you will now be desperate for one as well... and quite rightly too since they are so EPIC) then all you have to do is send them a photo + some info, all you need to know is right here - Get Yours

i know for a fact that my friend Mike (see his photography blog here - Point and Click) has already sent them a picture as words literally cannot begin to desrcibe how insanely jealous he was of my FCP when i linked him to it last night... right Mike?!

i can already think of a few other people that will probably send in for one of these as well... i wish you all luck in your quest for an FCP and give this advice... just be patient! 

the site gets a LOT of FCP requests so don't get annoyed f it takes weeks, months or even years for you to get sent an FCP

* * *

ok it's the Manx Radio Dreamcatcher appeal 'Big Shout' today so... i'm off to the Villa Marina here in the Isle of Man to show my support and give some dosh to charity and generally have a splendiferous time...

good times all round!

have a super weekend, whatever you're up to!

that's all folks...

♥ ◕‿◕ ★