plushies and stuff ★

so over the past few days i've been jumping back and forth between commissions and college work, so far it's not been going too much to plan since i keep going back to my commissions! (well... college doesn't pay me to draw does it!!!)

anyway, i've also been extra EXTRA distracted by some stuff that arrived in the post.

i've decided that when i make and sell my little handmade plushie necklace charms, i want to send them off to their new owners in as sweet a way as possible so i've invested in some little sparkly gift pouches + funky tags featuring my illustrations

and voila! these are the ones i had a go at today at college, (we had a great lecture from Juan Moore this afternoon but i did these in the break)

i chose purple for the bags since it's girly and bright + most of what i make is pink so pink bags might have been overkill! and as for the tags... well they're just a candy coloured rainbow of fun!

+ i think they work quite well with the little bags, the organza pouches are sheer enough for you to see the colours of the cupcake charms so the tags help spread the colourfulness!

* * *

lately i've been having a go at a little bit of sewing. however it seems that i really need to practice getting back into it because i can't seem to make anything properly anymore!

here are my 3 latest creations...

and for some inexplicable reason, in the small hours of Tuesday morning i made these 3 little palm sized creatures....

 there's a bunny, a cat and a dog... although whether they actually look like the animals they're supposed to be is debatable...

they kind of suck... i'm still not very good on the sewing machine! for some reason i can only make stuff neatly when i stitch it all by hand!

* * *

i promised i'd share a picture of my college work space so here you go

this is how my desk board is looking so far this year...

a bit different from last years pinup fest but colourful nonetheless! 


there's some local inspiration up there as well though, with postcards and business cards featuring the work of Manx artists Adam Berry, Karen Tomlinson and Juan Moore + stuff from some of my fave British illustrators, Lauren Child, John Tenniel and Sarah McIntyre.

* * *

not much else to report on for now my lovelies, but i have a funky new creative café feature to run at some point over the weekend so look out for that!

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

PS - have you spotted the new 'grab code' banners yet??? there's 2 to pick from at the moment and they're in the sidebar up near the top underneath my 'about me' section, so feel free to pick one and add it to your blog reel or sidebar :D

★ ♥ August Giveaway ♥ ★

wait what... a giveaway... really?!

YES!!!!

i promised you all an August Giveaway to say thank you for getting me to 100 blog followers

so... without any further ado! let's have a look at what YOU could win this time!!!

oh my look at all that pretty stuff! please allow me to 'break it down' for you...

up for grabs we have, three gorrrrgeous British Summertime themed necklaces: an ice cream one, a mini ceramic teapot one + a diddy wellington boot  + tartan bow one + a pair of ridiculously cute polka dot bow earrings (from 'Accessorize' and Douglas, Isle of Man)

there's also a super duper awesome Hello Kitty embroidered luggage tag, possibly THE best luggage tag ever... fact (from 'Funny Love' Douglas, Isle of Man)

add to that four adorable pouting lips magnets, a charming little metal 'with love' tag (both from 'Curphey's' Douglas, Isle of Man) + a lovely embroidered felt lavender heart (handmade by me!!!) 

i'm also giving away one of my limited 'Let them eat cake' Postcards + 2 brilliant vinyl stickers featuring my 'sugar skull' and 'lollipops' designs (postcards available via - etsy shop and stickers available via - redbubble)

and last but certainly not least... since everyone LOVED the poodle necklace from the last giveaway (see original post here - Blog Birthday Giveaway) i decided to put another poodle necklace in THIS giveaway!!! 

+ i'm all adding an equally as adorable and gorgeous little bunny necklace (both from fabulous kawaii shop 'Funny Love' in Douglas, Isle of Man)

there's also this cute little fairtrade handmade mini notebook from Peacock & Ruby in Cork, Ireland

and a sheet of candy coloured kawaii bubble stickers from Accessorize in Cork

and last but not least... a yummy little rainbow swirl lollipop

pretty amazing and downright gorrrrgeous stuff right!!! 

and who knows... i'm off to Ireland on Sunday so there might even be a few more little bits and bobs added to the bundle!!!

♥ ♥ ♥

alrighty then on to the MOST important part! how can YOU enter to win it all . . .

oh and remember i don't care if you're on the other side of the planet, if you win the giveaway i will post this stuff out to you, no problem!

i know i have a lot of international followers and i don't want any of you to think that you can't enter!

YOU CAN (in fact, please do!!! the last giveaway winner was from Canada and the one before that was from the USA and those countries are soooo far away from where i live yet i posted it all out no bother! so i am happy to post these goodies out no matter where the winner lives!)

also, the competition is open to both BOYS and GIRLS! i know the stuff i giveaway is kind of cute and girly but lads, if you take a fancy to any of the giveaway goodies don't be shy, feel free to take part and enter the giveaway...

maybe you'd like to try and win the stuff for your girlfriend/wife, your sister, a family member or friend... 

GO FOR IT!

ok so to enter all you have to do is comment on THIS here post right here on this here page right here that you are reading... here just scroll down and leave a comment HERE

(even if it's just a word, leave a comment and you'll automatically be entered)

alternately, if you follow me on Twitter @jadeboylan you can retweet to enter or send me an '@' reply/mention saying that you want to be entered in the giveaway. just put 'count me in' or something to that effect maybe put 'gimme the prizes' or something :)

leaving a comment here is simple but if you don't have a blogger account you can send an email to this address telling me that you want to enter - info@jadeboylan.com

and you can also "like' or leave a comment on the Facebook Fan Page scroll down until you find a post mentioning the giveaway or just leave me a little wall post saying that you'd like to enter

it's  really T H A T  simple!

to gain extra entries you can also reblog me once or twice on tumblr - jadeboylan

i'll reblog about the giveaway at least once a day so just scroll my page until you find it or check my archive to find it quicker

(i had a surprisingly high amount of tumblr entries last time i did a giveaway in fact the winner was a tumblr girl so if you have a tumblr account i'd DEFINITELY recommend entering there as well) 

oh and for an extra EXTRA entry you can mention this giveaway in a blog post but if you do this then please PLEASE leave a comment linking it or send me a link so that i can see the post and count your entry

in fact one of the last Giveaway winners mentioned my giveaway on her blog so you know. . . get blogging dudes and dudettes!

♥ ♥ ♥

maximum of 6 entries per person

(that gives you a comment here/email, like/comment on facebook, retweet/mention on twitter, a blog mention or a couple of tumblr reblogs or multiple likes/comments/retweets if you don't use tumblr. also, if you do reblog it on tumblr please know that i'll only count up to two or three reblogs as separate entries, any more and you'll only be doing me a favour... they won't be counted!)

the giveaway is running until Midnight (UK time) on Wednesday the 31st of August 2011

so... you have 20 days to enter!!!

i will draw a winner on the Thursday morning (1st of September) using a random number generator

i'll post the results later that same day (the Thursday) and the winner will be notified via email, facebook, tumblr or twitter accordingly

so go NOW and enter the giveaway

DON'T sit there and pretend you wouldn't like to get send this little bundle of loveliness in the post... because i KNOW that you want it!

SCROLL DOWN THE BLOG ENTRY, LEAVE YOUR COMMENT AND ENTER THE GIVEAWAY NOW!!!

* * *

yay giveaway times again! i LOVE doing these little giveaways, i always spend a big chunk of cash on the prizes and i know it might seem daft for me to just give it all away to a stranger but i luuuuurve holding giveaways on my blog :)

i've been busy this week working on commissions + sewing some stuff, yesterday i had a lovely day with family + a trip to the theatre but i'll have to tell you about that another day!

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