Lazy Days ♥

so if the title wasn't enough of a giveaway as to how my day's been... i've had an incredibly lazy day today and it has been SUBLIME!


i've basically spent the entire day sat on the sofa doing absolutely nothing apart from checking my facebook and twitter every so often + chatting to Mike on skype and making some new ad banners for my blog linking my fave shopping links and other various online creative pals.


i've spent this evening watching episodes of Futurama (genius) whilst attempting to make a new blog background. i've made one (as you can see) but i'm not too fond of it to be honest, i'll probably have another go tomorrow or something since i now have a delightful photoshop headache.


in light of this, Mike offered to make one and after about fifteen minutes of photoshopping i was sent this via skype... 

now i genuinely do appreciate Mike's noble efforts to create an original and visually stunning blog background for me, however... i'm not going to use this!

NOT because it states my love of lamps in general (how can you not love a good lamp after all) it's because my blog is a 3 column blog and if i used this you'd never actually be able to see the 'I Love Lamp' bit... which would of course defeat the whole point of it's beautiful magic.

so thank you Mike but... not this time. and as much as i truly do LOVE 'Anchorman' i just can't use this!

but what do you know, ten minutes later he sent me ANOTHER possible blog background and once again, his incredible photoshop skills did not disappoint... 

i think this one might be my favourite of the two mainly because it quotes 'Hot Fuzz' which is of course one of my favourite movies EVER!

but once again this lovely piece of artwork is marred by the fact that it wouldn't really show up on my blog... sorry Mike, thanks for the effort!

and just because he tried his best, here's a shameless plug on his behalf...

follow this link to see Mike's super duper photography blog - Point and Click

* * *

in other news, it's recently come to my attention that this blog has been receiving page views from countries all over the world, i finally checked out my International visitors map and was amazed to see where i was getting hits from! 

the exact list of countries (to date) is as as follows...

(NOTE: the countries are listed in order of page views)

Isle of Man, United Kingdom, United States, Montenegro, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Brazil, Italy, Poland, Argentina, Norway, India, Spain, Indonesia, Greece, Japan, Malaysia, Venezuela, Denmark, Portugal, Turkey, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Chile, Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, Russia, Switzerland, Finland, Austria, Thailand, New Zealand, South Africa, Belgium, Lithuania, Slovenia, Albania, Cyprus, Costa Rica, Philippines, Lebanon, Paraguay, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Estonia, Iceland, Israel, Uruguay, Hong Kong, Latvia, Singapore, Macedonia, Vietnam, Egypt, Croatia, Moldova, Brunei, Ecuador, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czeck Republic, Slovakia and last but not least, Puerto Rico.

it's quite incredible no?!?!

i can't quite believe that people all over the world are stopping by to have a skeet at my blog!!!

so in light of this i have decided to end each future blog post with a thank you + farewell in the native language of one of the countries on the list. 

i intend to do this until every country has been credited with it's own 'goodbye' so this is going to take me quite a while to accomplish...

that's ok, i always love a good challenge!

i'll do the 'goodbyes' following the same order as the list here so todays post will end with a farewell in Manx and the next one in English and so on and so forth...

should be fun ♥

* * *

and that's it for today, short but sweet i guess!

time for some tea now and perhaps a bit more 'Futurama'

that's all folks...

◕‿◕ ★ 

'Gura Mie Ayd as Slane Ihiat'

(that's 'thank you and goodbye' in Manx Gaelic on behalf of the Isle of Man)

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...

♥ ◕‿◕ ★ 

Giggles and Gravity ♥

So today at college I've spent the day sketching and fixing up my desk. It's looking pretty super now, I've slowly been filling up the board with pin-up pix + the desk is covered in all my other arty farty junk like books, canvases etc etc

i've tried to be good today and not use the internet too much (aka spend too much time online procrastinating) so I turned the 'airport' off on my macbook for a bit. However... I forgot to turn off the 'push notifications' on my iPod touch so every time I got a message on facebook it made a little noise telling me. 

Plan = FAIL!

I posted an envelope full of goodies to my friend mike today since the pin board in his halls room at uni is SOOOOO empty! He probably won't be very grateful though. What a gaylord. 

Ah, speaking of gaylord's... you would NOT believe what I found today whilst flicking through a big book of 40's advertisements (awesome book, I also have the 50's and 60's editions 'All American Ads' so SO good) I turned the page and BAM! This is what I saw...

now if you can't read that properly due to the crappy quality of the picture (I took it on my phone and bluetoothed it to the macbook... aren't I clever) it's an ad for a shaving kit called... GAYLORD!

Ok, I know i'm 19 and supposed to be a grown-up but COME ON! How could I not giggle at that?!

In fact I giggled so much I sent all of my pencil crayons and sketching pencils flying everywhere. Gravity obviously hates me since they all ended up clattering to the floor and the lead is most likely broken to bits now...

stupid gravity!

the ad itself says: 

'For a King on his day! (in reference to father's day)

Give dad GAYLORD for his shaving and after shaving requirements. GAYLORD is the choice of virile, immaculate men for that fit, fresh feeling. A tingling, stimulating tang - a distinctive, masculine fragrance. In dramatic, burgundy-bright horsehead containers.

GAYLORD for good grooming'

that is EXACTLY what it says! i swear...

Anyway, i've had a great day flicking through the add books. You can see the little sketch I did this morning below. It's not great but I tried my best (+ my daft iPod kept distracting me with notifications)

it's from an old Jantzen swimsuits ad. Now i'm not much of a swimmer but my golly gosh... Jantzen just made the most adorable swimwear! It's not even funny how awesome their stuff was! And their ads were even better. These were two of my particular faves from the book. I didn't attempt to photograph them on my phone so these copies are off an awesome website (one I just adore) called Plan 59. 

Plan 59 is a fabulous site chock full of mid-century ads and works like a facebook photo gallery, so you click on the image to see the next one etc. I love it, I spent about half-an-hour flicking through the files this afternoon, so great. They don't make ads like that anymore...

Check out the site here - http://www.plan59.com/main.htm

and naturally all this though of ads got me thinking about the glorious genius that is 'Mad Men'. I shan't ramble on about it too much (today...) but if you watch the show you'll understand why looking at books filled with 40's/50's/60's advertisements would make me think of 'Mad Men'

and look... a token shot of the AWESOME cast for your viewing pleasure!

and that's it i guess. i am ruddy starving since i've barely left my desk all day + still feeling a bit off.

oh oh i almost forgot... i won a bouquet of flowers last night off a show on Manx Radio!!!

i didn't even know my mum had entered me into the draw to win them... until it was announced on the air that i'd won! 

what a super mum i have! ♥

i won them off Ashlea Tracey's Sunday night connections show. check out her super duper facebook page here - Connections with Ashlea Tracey

she said they should arrive my mid-week so i'll definitely be posting a photo of them on here when they do!

better do some work now...

so... that's all folks!

 ★ ◕‿◕ ♥ xX

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

Pin-ups and Printers ♥

It is officially Pin-up day here at college. Well, it is at my desk in the HND cave anyway! The printer is finally working for me again so my desk is now quite literally covered in pictures, paintings and photos of Pin-up girls! It's awesome and very super duper. And yes... I brought my laptop in with me again, but only because I had so much research to print off!

I had a go at sorting a few more of the keyrings this morning as well. They're looking pretty nifty I must say, but it's given me loooads of ideas for other keyring designs and badges, mirrors etc etc blah blah blah. I won't bore you with my merch daydreams!

Oh I also spent some time this morning on THIS (don't worry the image below should be linked to the page as well) It's a totally fabby and marvy Pin-up girl maker 'paper doll' (or digi-doll since it's all online) by one of my fave artists, Kei Phillips also known as 'Kinkei'. Check out her super blog here – Kinkei's Blog

here's a folder she made on deviantART chock full of her awesome and totally gorgeous Pin-up Girls - FOLDER

If you love all things Pin-up have a go on the digital paper doll, it is sooooo much fun! I could have spent hours on it creating pin-up girls. As it was I had to stop playing with the doll to talk to my tutor Helen about my project ideas. She also seemed to like the Pin-up idea so... success so far!

Anyway, I managed to grab a screen cap of these four little lovelies before I had to stop...

See, instant Pin-up's and hours of fun...

right i have to go now because it's nearly time for me to 'sign-on' at college. no i'm not going on the dole, it just means i'm being officially signed on as a student. for the third year in a row!

happy Friday btw, TGIF and all that jazz. i got some bad news last night/this morning but thankfully i'm at college all day so it's doing a smashing job of taking my mind off everything!

have a great weekend

that's all folks...

◕‿◕ ♥ xX

Sparkly snow and Super cool times!

soooo it snowed again last night, here's hoping for another 'Snow Day' for tomorrow as opposed to just going back to College like normal!

anyway, a few days ago i sent two of my illustrations in a little email to a lovely New York girl named Jasmin Ridriguez whom i admire very much, and last night i got a series of charming emails back from her AND... a rather super duper post on her fabulous fashion blog 'Vintage Vandalizm'

these are the two images i sent her, they are each based on photos of Jasmin that i found on her blog, i think she really liked them, well if her email was anything to go by... she definitely did!

'Omg I love your illustrations! Of course you can post them, can I post them on my site as well?Thank you so much for the love and support and I am so happy that I inspire you. Your drawings are great!

xoxo
Jasmin'

anyway, the illustrations are on the front page of her blog RIGHT NOW so hurry along and see them asap!

lots of wintery love to you all :-D xX