Creative Café #28 ★

so i did it again didn't i, i vanished a for a few days and forgot that actually yes, i do run a blog from time to time. As per usual i have good excuses though, you can be sure of that!

anyway on with the post, today it's a Creative Café post which can mean only one thing...

time for the drill! so go, go now and get yourself a snack or beverage or something otherwise it takes the whole 'Café' part out of the Creative Café. i mean obviously if this were a real Café i'd be the one to go and fetch you a drink and a snack but this isn't a real café. it's a blog. so no such luck.

anyway, back to the post. today it's all about super talented designer, illustrator, evil mastermind and professional sneaker aficionado Tim Easley



i first discovered Tim's work some time last year via Twitter. i can't actually remember when it was i just know that it was through Twitter and that i really liked his style of illustration straight away.



i know i always say that when i do these posts but it was definitely true for Tim's work (it was true for the others as well i'm just trying to make a point here! i'll just give up shall i). i also won a little Xmas card and zombie moustache sticker off him last December and i can tell you now that i spent a very happy hour wandering around the house wearing my zombie moustache sticker when it arrived.

I could sit here and type up a heap of zany made up stuff about Tim but i thought it would make more sense to just borrow this from his website instead: "Tim Easley is a self taught designer & illustrator from London, who likes to work with hand drawn lettering, bright colours & bold lines. He creates work from uniquely imaginative concepts, matching seemingly unrelated subject matters in playful & explorative illustrations.

Having previously lived in Tokyo & Seattle, he is now based back in his home town, where he works in a variety of mediums, predominantly creating art for freelance projects & prints. His illustrations have been featured in a number of publications internationally, as well as being sold & exhibited worldwide.

Most days Tim can be found in his studio with some inappropriately placed pencils, daydreaming and doodling, surrounded by pretty ladies & piles of gold." 



all of that definitely sums him up better than i ever could! but the point is, he's a really talented guy and he creates all sorts of very groovy stuff using funky colours and nice bold outlines. his themes are often peculiar but brilliantly drafted to create wacky and wonderful scenes and characters. he also co-founded 'Crooked Tongues' which is apparently the place to go for anything sneaker related online. who knew!



i find Tim's work really inspiring, probably because we're both perfectionists and use similar bold outlines. but he's also full of great tips, useful criticism and advice for any and all creative types out there, and it's not just because Tim is older and wiser (he is though...) he just seems to have a great eye for what works and what doesn't when it comes to graphic design, typography and illustration making his own work a brilliant fusion of creative awesomeness that will make your brain go 'wow'.



that's why i wanted to feature his work on here, because i admire his stuff so much. oh and it's also because the other day i treated myself to one of Tim's rather fetching little tote bags (well i needed somewhere to store my impressive beach pebble collection...) and when it arrived he'd sent a stack of other papery goodies along with it which cheered me up no end

anyway there's probably a lot more that i could say about his work but my brain isn't cooperating fully today and i think i've rambled on for long enough now, so i'll leave you all to scroll through some more of Tim's work in your own sweet time, enjoy...

there you see, i told you it was all awesome! and i am usually always right...

ok time for some links now.


to see even more of Tim's work you can head on over to his website here - Tim Easley

he also has a great online shop selling rather lovely prints, stickers, postcards, totes, notebooks and other things that you might like to treat yourself or someone else to - Tim Easley | Store

you can also 'Like' Tim's work on Facebook - Tim Easley

and follow him on Twitter - @timeasley

he also has a Flickr page full of wonderful things for your eyes to feast on - Flickr


ok all that's left now is for me to say a whopping great 'thank you' to Tim for not telling me to go jump off a cliff when i asked him if i could run a blog post featuring some of his work. so thanks for that :)


All images featured in this post belong to Tim Easley © do not claim, use, distribute, reproduce of trace ANY of this work without his express written consent. All Rights Reserved.

* * *

in other news, i've been very busy this week, so busy in fact that i forgot to say a big THANK YOU to everyone that entered the Blog Birthday Giveaway!!!

my blog turned 3 years old on Wednesday, unfortunately i was working all morning and at a meeting all afternoon so i completely forget to celebrate this fact

the giveaway closed on Wednesday night at midnight, it was a great success and the 3 winners have now been notified but thank you thank you thank you to everyone that entered it!

the next giveaway will be held exclusively on Twitter to celebrate my finally having reached 1000 followers on there, but to be in with a chance of winning you MUST be following me on Twitter - @jadeboylan

anyway until next time, that's all folks... xX

scary times ★

hello dudes and dudettes, before i get on with todays post i have to ask a big favour of you all...

you may (or may not) have noticed the little 'tick' boxes at the bottom of my blog posts

they invite you to 'tick' whether you find my posts 'funny', 'interesting' or 'super duper'

now i love watching the 'ticks' build up on these but i've noticed that lately the 'ticks' seem to go up when i first submit the post and then mysteriously go down by the next day...

seeing as there isn't a 'lame' or 'boring' box to tick i'm guessing that some of you lovely people are visiting my blog more than once and 'ticking' the boxes again to help boost the numbers

however... when you do this it actually DELETES your original tick and the numbers go down!

my mum worked this one out when she tried to repeatedly 'tick' the 'super duper' box on a post (bless her) and the ticks went from 8 to 3 in a matter of seconds and i nearly cried!!!

so the favour is this...

if you're sweet enough to visit my blog and you think a post deserves a few ticks that's GREAT

but if you happen to visit it again or are just flicking through the posts, do not (repeat DO NOT) tick a post you've already 'ticked' because it will just cancel out your original tick and i will get very sad and have to raid the freezer for the ice cream to cheer myself up!

does that make sense?

don't click the 'tick' if you've already clicked it once...

anyways thanks for your time... on with the post!

* * * * *

so i drew another Pinup/Burlesque Girl today!

as promised i said i'd draw a 'raven haired sister' for the 3 Girls i've already drawn this week

so...

we've had a blonde, a brunette and a redhead!

i like to mix my 'Girls' hair colours about so that all parties are represented!

but what about all those girls out there with gloriously inky, devilishly dark, ebony curls!

well...

the only problem is! i'm struggling to come up with a name for her!!!

for the time being i've decided on 'see anything you like?'

but i don't know... i think it's a bit of a lame name!

if anyone can come up with a better one, let me know and i'll put it to a public vote!

i don't know why i'm even asking! no-one bothers to comment half the time...

anyway, there's four of them now.

four very different girls each with a nice happy coloured background

here's the full set in one image...

i'm back in college tomorrow so we'll see what my tutors will make of these!

fingers crossed it's good news...

* * *

i've been talking to Mike for the past few hours, he was at the big Tuition Fees protests earlier today in Central London although luckily he left before it all turned ugly!

we've both been watching BBC news 24 since about 4pm and it's just scary to see how much the protests escalated outside the Conservative Party HQ, 30 Millbank!!!

the videos and photos of protesters smashing in all the reception windows is really shocking! 

some people set fire to their placards and built a bonfire in the Tower courtyard. it's scary stuff indeed! 

i don't agree with the Tuition Fee Cuts but i don't see how violence like this is the answer!

whether or not the students themselves are to blame, todays events at Millbank won't be the answer!

saying all that though, and as serious and as un-funny a situation as it is...

i think 'tweet' of the day (regarding the events) goes to 'SimonNRicketts' for this gem:

I picture David Cameron coming home, looking at the state of Millbank and saying to Nick Clegg: "I told you NO parties. You're grounded."

 i now it was a scary thing to happen but come on... that is kind of funny! it made me giggle anyway and God knows i could do with a laugh after watching the news for so long!

also...

Mike happily informed me that THESE signs were made by his friends and that he was with them during the early afternoons calm marching times! very good signs...

* * *

ok i'm going to make a cup of tea and put on some sort of soothing film (Disney maybe)

i think i've been watching these demonstrations on the news for too long, it's really getting me down!

apologies for all the political palaver as well, i know that's not why you read my blog but this was important so i wanted to include it.

that's all folks...

 ♥

oh and don't forget to click the 'ticks' only ONCE each... cheers m'dears!

'thanks and goodbye'

(yep... it's another English speaking country! so thanks for the page views Australia)

Friends and Fashion ♥

Before I get on with the rest of the blog I just want to tell you all about a really great 'shout out' I got earlier today off a certain delightful 'Ms Arscott'. She sent me an email with a link to a blog post and I was surprised to see that the post was all about... me!

'Every now and then I like to call out fellow global bloggers who make my heart soar when I come across their site. This morning I found Jade. 

Based in the UK, Jade is "...a 19-year old aspiring fashion and picture book illustrator/blogger/writer studying for a Higher National Diploma in Art and Design at college..."

I love her - passion and energy shines through. I hope to work with her someday in the future.'

isn't that lovely! It really cheered me up! She put a couple of my illustrations with it as well, you can read the actual post here - http://msarscott.blogspot.com/2010/09/blogger-series-jade.html

what a nice thing to do. I was grateful for the 'cheer up' as well. It's been a bit grim lately what with being ill all the time and having to go back to college while all my best friends move away to uni. But i'm starting to come to terms with it all now. I had an epic skype convo with my friend Mike last night and i've already spoken to Kyren and Jenny a bit as well.

It'll all be 'reet' as my friend (and old partner in crime) Hayley would say.

Right i'll get on with the post now.

So London Fashion Week has started at last. I watched the Topshop show yesterday (online... sadly) and have been doing my best to read up on all the shows so far. To be honest i'm more bothered about New York fashion week, which was last week. So far, between them, London and New York have served up the usual board of fare. There have been some disappointing collections (Ralph Lauren... what WERE you thinking! Wild west theme = bad times! and Hannah Marshall... is that much sheer black and nude REALLY necessary?!) and some inspired ones (Oscar De La Renta, I salute you! + Twenty8Twelve And Henry Holland... well done!) and then some in-between (PPQ, Preen, Sass & Bide, L 'Wren Scott, Topshop Unique) it's been a mixed old bunch so far, but hopefully next week will deliver some more fabby looks for S/S 2011.

so far one of my absolute fave looks has come from the London show of Twenty8Twelve, they served up a fabulous array of flirty, cute and totally girly looks. These are two of my top faves from the collection. Loving the lacy petticoats especially! i would happily wear either of these dresses...

watching some of the shows from the past few days I was beginning to lose faith in the fashion world. Then I watched the Oscar De La Renta spring 2011 show from New York and my faith was restored. (click on the pics for a better look) see for yourself...

The models breezed along the catwalk, each one sporting a more femininely gorgeous look than the last. It's just so good to see that ladylike, 50's/60's Mad Men-esque fashion will still be popular next year! here are some more of my fave looks from the show. so gorgeous!

it's definitely a bit more of a 60's theme this time. many of the collections have had a distinctly 60's-70's vibe about them. so far it seems to be either grown-up glamour or girly cuteness, but either way... it's brilliant!

Fashion just went girly again, and I am loving it!

in other news... i really need to get my arrrrrse in gear and get on with my new College project, painting Pin-up's is a tough job... but someone has to do it! 

ok i'm off to watch the rest of 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' now for the umpteenth time. nothing like a bit of Jessica Rabbit cartoon magic to inspire some Pin-up paintings methinks!

that's all folks...

◕‿◕ ♥ xX

vampires and video games

sooooo i got back from London town about 2 weeks ago (i know i'm terrible at blogging!) it was super duper. anyway, today i stayed at home due to another ruddy cold so i spent the day reading stuff and playing this addictive little 'unblock me' game on my ipod touch, oh and i decided to edit a load of photos to make family/friends/myself etc look like Volturi-esque vampires (i just re-read Breaking Dawn for the umpteenth time) and after watching New Moon the other night i am now totally Team Volturi, i know they're 'evil' but they're just so damn cool! especially Aro, oh heck, i'm Team Aro as well!

anyway... here is a little photo of me... vampire style!

happy December 1st btw, hope you all opened your advent calendars!

Volturi Vampire times!

London Calling... take 2

ok so i had quite possibly the BEST work assessment i've ever had yesterday! last week i recorded a hilarious interview on Manx Radio (one of our National Radio Stations) about the charity fashion show. and the actual show was utterly AMAZING btw! and as if this wasn't all super duper enough, i'm jetting off to London town on monday with 30 of my Art/Media buddies for a 4 day art/shopping/fun extravaganza! good times indeed. just thought i'd post this picture, it's an illustration of the 3 re-invented outfits i made for the fashion show.

lots o' luv to you all xxxxxx

Mika Madness and London Calling

so... i had a lovely birthday, lots of lovely prezzies (including a heavenly Chloé Paddington handbag!) but the highlight for me had to be going to see Mika in London on Monday! it was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! that really is the only word that can describe it! whether you are a fan of his music or not, no-one could deny just how good a show it was! mountains of glitter covered the stage and Mika entertained the crowd with his brilliant new songs (which are now permanently stuck in my head!) it also can't be denied that the boy has style, especially since he was wearing a pair of bespoke mens shoes by the shoe god (and my own personal idol) Christian Louboutin!

check out this shot of the crowd before the gig eagerly awaiting his arrival! 

the trip to and from london on the train was fun as well (my older sister came with so... good times) but now it is sadly my last night in Coventry, i have been quite good this time, spending my days out shopping or with my family, but spending my evenings doing lots of illustrations for my Hospital Art project. anyway, i'd better go, i'm watching Ghostbusters 2 with my darling little nieces, au revoir mes amies :-D x  ps: i also have a brand new online Portfolio (that's right... another one!) check it out here byeeee x