Muddy Boots ★

so today it was the Royal Manx Agriculture Show here on the Isle of Man, the show is held every year for 2 days and is a brilliant day out for any Manxie (or visitor!!!) 

ever since i was about eleven-years-old i've been going to the show to help/hang out with my friend Chantal in the trophy tent where her + her lovely mum Lorraine work every year

sadly i missed the show last year since i was in Ireland but this year... i was here for it!!!

unfortunately though this year the weather wasn't up to it's usual sunny August standard so it was a little gloomy, not cold, just a bit cloudy and rainy, unfortunately my old wellington's don't fit me so i had to wear my glen walking boots instead!  and since we all know i tend to live in dresses/skirts, today was no exception despite the adverse weather conditions!!! (i'm insane... clearly) i even took my Gucci Indy along for the day!!!

in fact the only problem was that THIS year they'd moved the location of the show so it meant leaving the house at 8am to get there for the opening! my lovely dad chauffeured me there and back (ta dad), here he is posing by one of the many massive tractors on the showground

and here i am... also posing by a tractor, a big RED one! :)

eventually, after wandering around for a while, i spotted the trophy tent and rushed inside to find Chantal and Lorraine (whom i hadn't seen in aaaaaages!!!)

the trophy tent is fabulous though, i love sitting in there every year + helping to hand out the trophies!

we wandered around the showground for a bit as well though, and of course myself + Shiny (Chantal) couldn't resist stopping to pose with this lovely 'cow'

milkshake in hand as well! oh well! Shiny practiced her pinup pose when it was her turn...

so chic!  even in wellington boots...

there were lots of real animals there as well though obviously! including some very real cows...

we also looked after Shiny's little brother Cameron, her sister Lizzie and their little cousins Jess and Lewis, visiting from Glasgow with their lovely mum. there are dozens of brilliant games and stalls dotted about the showground + loads of bouncy castles, so there was plenty to keep them occupied!

we had a mooch around the craft tent for a bit then Jess spotted a 'glitter tattoo' stall where she got a sparkly mermaid on her arm, then Shiny decided that she wanted a little Henna tattoo so got this awesome, custom '3 legs of mann' tattoo on her wrist!

it was our turn to watch the tent after that though so we settled down for a while, which gave lovely little Jess the chance to draw some amazing pictures for us! she gave me these two to keep

and this one of myself + Shiny as mermaids!

gorgeous drawings! i love them :) Jessica is a very super duper little doodler for sure!

we all happily nattered and chattered away, it was great to catch up with Shiny as well after so long!

but alas, we all had to be quiet then because we spotted local radio presenters Alex and Ash from Manx Radio, recording live on the air right outside our trophy tent

it wasn't easy though! we all got the giggles and had to try and behave!!! Alex and Ash had certainly come prepared with wellington's and coats, they didn't look to overjoyed to be wandering around in the rain though! 

anyway to pass the time, myself + Shiny had a go at taking some daft pictures but truth be told most of them were so awful Shiny made me swear not to post them on here!!!

so i'll just post the 'ott pouting one' instead...

i really did have the most brilliant day though! i always enjoy the show and i'm super glad that i went today! 

for all the Manxies out there reading this, the show is on again tomorrow and don't forget it's being held at Patrick this year instead of Sulby

* * *

in other news, i forgot to tell you about this the other day but i won some stickers in a mini facebook page giveaway held by the very awesome and groovy Pete Bessent aka Purple Cactus

i got to pick out 6 gorgeous sticker designs for myself from his redbubble shop

so i picked... these ones

 to see the rest of Pete's epic sticker designs, follow this link - stickers

i won't go in to too much about Pete's artwork right now since i'll hopefully be doing a Creative Café feature on his work soon enough, but to see more of his stuff be sure to visit his Facebook fan page - Purple Cactus Design

anyway, thanks for the stickers! i LOVE them!!!

* * *

not much else for today, i can't go to the second day of the show tomorrow since i'm going to be pretty busy, but i WILL be posting a blog tomorrow night so look out for that!

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

ps - a dozen or so entries for the giveaway so far, you have 19 days left to enter - August Giveaway

things that begin with 'S' ★

sunshine, strawberries, scrumptious, sweets, sauce, sprinkles, social, stalls, super stuff and Sienna

all things that begin with 'S'

(it will all become clear don't worry!) 

right so today i went to the 'on your doorstep' exhibition at the Villa Marina with my mum + my little cousin Sienna to have a skeet at all the lovely Manx things on display

one of the main things i was excited to see was the 'Cupcake Creations' stall

i've visited their website lots of times before + spoken to them on Twitter (@CCIOM) but it was nice to actually meet Sarah and see all the yummy cupcakes for real

here's Sarah posing with one of her 'cupcake creations'

the display was amazing and the cupcakes looked truly scrumptious, they had a DIY cupcake decorating option as well and since little Miss Sienna is so fussy with cakes, i let her pick her own toppings

in the end she went with heaps of chocolate sauce, chocolate mini eggs, smarties and a mini jammy dodger...

i picked one too only mine was covered in vanilla frosting tinted with pink and covered in glittery bits

i can tell you now that it was indeed... delicious!!!

for more info about these tasty little freshly baked homemade cupcakes for every occasion, check out the Cupcake Creations website here - IOM Cupcake Creations

i should point out as well that Sienna actually ate all of hers, to the point where she was licking the crumbs and sauce off the cake case!

oh i'll show you my nails as well, in keeping with the little strawberry necklace i made last week, i painted my nails to match...

so what else? well to be honest i didn't get the chance to take many photos of the exhibition stalls, the place was absolutely packed and it was tricky making your way around all of the displays let alone snapping photos of them all!

i did manage to get a photo of the Groudle Glen Railway stall though, and Alex (or 'the train man' as Sienna calls him) pulled his very best model pose while i took a quick shot of the display

we'll probably be taking Sienna to the Easter trains next month which should be super fun as always, 

in case you'd like to book yourself some tickets or find out more about getting involved with the railway, here's the website - GGR

and for my previous posts about the charming little Groudle Glen Railway check out these links - Super Duper Train Times & Super Sunday #4

* * *

one of the other main reasons i actually left the house today was to meet my friend Joseph at the villa because he had a truly awesome amazing and ruddy fantastical present for me!!!

since i'm not much of a 'gamer' anymore he's given me my very own purple gamecube to play on and even managed to get me a copy of my favourite old gamecuve game 'Pikmin'

i can't even begin to tell you how excited i am to be playing this again! this used to be my favourite game console and game to play on and i can't believe he has given me this!!!!

thank you thank you thank you!!!

Joseph... you are a star!

* * *

it's been a really super day to be honest, i've met with quite a few lovely new friends and caught up with lots of old ones + i saw my big sister Nikki for a bit as well which was nice

i guess i should actually bother to leave the house more if i want to catch up with people like i did today!

i got to pop in and see the new David Maddrell exhibition at the Sayle Gallery as well. big thanks to Joseph for coming with me since i don't really like to visit the gallery by myself (don't ask). and of course for carting the awesome gamecube all the way down into town for me!

* * *

oh i thought i'd share these pics of Sienna's doodles for you all to see, 

she got this great notebook from the Manx National Heritage stall and it didn't take her long to start sketching away in it

these two show a giraffe with a shark on it's head and a picture of me scared of the 'shiraffe'

and these two are both drawings of me

she's clearly inherited my artistic skills!

* * *

and that's it, enjoy the rest of your weekend wherever you are

nothing else to say, 

that's all folks...

★ ◕‿◕

Magical Monday ♥

so it's the start of another week, if i recall correctly i promised to show you my brand new Pin-up style Girl illustrations

well i'd hate to break a promise so...

meet Violet and Rose (click for full view)

so basically i was browsing on 'pinupgirlclothing.com' the other night and i spotted a few gorgeous frocks and thought... yeah i think i'll draw them

this was the result

in my mind, they're sisters, their names are Violet and Rose... 

but don't let their similarities fool you!

these sisters couldn't be more different...

the only thing they share is their lovely blonde hair and their bright green eyes, that and a mutual love of Vintage fashion!

Violet is the eldest (and the tallest), she feels very protective of her younger sister! her favourite colour is pale Lavender, she loves to listen to classical music, she is a writer and an avid reader, she spends most of her spare time playing the piano or gardening.

Rose is the youngest... but she's never let that hold her back! her favourite colour is red (the brighter the better!), she enjoys pretty much any kind of music so long as it has a good beat and she can dance to it, she is an accessories designer and spends almost all of her spare time shopping!

...

do you see what happens when i get snowed in and can't leave the house for days on end?!

i go loopy and start making up back stories for my 2D Illustrations...

moving on!

here's the other one i finished yesterday...

BUT... i didn't really like her pedal pushers (trousers) so i had another go...

yay... flowery dress times!

so her name, or title is... 'it might as well be Spring'

why?!

well, you may remember in yesterdays post i mentioned that i'm a HUGE fan of 'Musicals' (go and read the post if you don't believe me - Super Sunday #3) 

well, i watched 'State Fair' yesterday morning and there's a lovely song in it called 'it might as well be Spring' and when i started to colour this Girl, that song was in my head so...

this was the result

i honestly haven't a clue why all the illustrations i've done lately have ended up with a Spring/Summer vibe to them! it makes NO sense

Winter is my favourite season so... i can't explain why these Girls are so light and sunny!

* * *

in other news...

i found out today that there's a photo of me + my Little Lego Christmas Tree in 'the Examiner' (a local newspaper) which is rather super duper news to be honest

i haven't seen it yet but i'll be sure to post a link or a scan or whatever, when i get hold of a copy

as if that wasn't enough, i also finished another commission today

AND i won a free Pizza off Manx Radio this afternoon!

what a day... lucky times for me i guess!

every day a Pizza is given away on the 'Alex in the Afternoon' radio show, you have to answer a question correctly and then they draw a name and that person wins a pizza

well... i don't normally enter but today the question was Formula 1 related so, how could i resist!

anyway, i won = GOOD times!

* * *

and that's it i think,

i also finished a little gouache painting today, it's on an A3 canvas and i shall post info + photos about it tomorrow... i promise!

that's all folks...

◕‿◕ ★ xX

Dziękuję i do widzenia 

(that's thank you and goodbye in Polish on behalf of Poland, i've never been to Poland but thank you all the same x)