Spooky Babe ♥

hello chums! I'm back again and it's only been just over a week... see I TOLD you I was going to try harder!

anyway I want to share some Halloween goodies with you all. If you're a regular reader then you probably know how much I LOVE Halloween, it's one of my favourite times of year because how can you not love a holiday that celebrates all things creepy and spooky!

every year I usually draw a Candy Doll illustration for Halloween, last year it was THIS and also THIS.

but this year I ended up creating a pattern instead.

Spooky Babe pattern

 As you can see it's perfect for a pastel witch, or the modern girl-gang/coven with lots of cute but creepy symbols so that every day can be Halloween!

so why a pattern you might wonder?! Well It's been a while since I last designed one and I kind of love making patterns, there's something really satisfying about the moment you first test out how seamless it is and then turn it into REALLY COOL stuff!

products from Society6 and RedBubble

 I have a few print-on-demand stores but by far my two favourites are Society6 and RedBubble. They offer a brilliant range of products and unlike a lot of other POD sites, their prices are fairly reasonable considering you're getting something that has been printed and made JUST FOR YOU! Excitingly at the moment, Society6 are also offering FREE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING until midnight on October 11th, so go treat yo self HERE

products from Society6 and RedBubble

 recently both sites have added even more products and now there's a whole bunch of lovely stuff that you can buy with my illustrations on! In case you're wondering about the quality of the products, I've bought a few of them myself over the years (because i'm a big saddo who loves to see her own work on stuff!). I can personally vouch for the printed tees, the iphone cases, vinyl stickers, cushions, tote bags and prints. And lately i've been hankering after a printed scarf or notebook.

all over print tees - Society6

 but the Halloween fun doesn't end there, oh no... there's also heaps of spoopy (no that's not a typo, click here to learn why) goodies available in my Etsy Shop

 this year we have lots of sparkly Halloween glitter brooches featuring teen tiny ghosties and other spooky critters! There are lots of designs to choose from + some one-of-a-kind brooches in the shop.

OOAK brooches - once they're gone, they're gone!

as if that weren't brilliant enough, as an added sweetener, i'm also throwing in free trick or treat sweeties with every brooch or necklace order this month! Why yes, those ARE Ghostbusters sweeties!!! 

Spooky brooches + sweeties = Happy Halloween

I've already posted a few Halloween brooches off the the UK, USA and Finland, so if you want yours in time for the spookiest of days, then get to the shop and pick out a treat! And if the Halloween brooches aren't your thing, then maybe you'd prefer a candy cute Troll doll pin or necklace instead!

yes I did inadvertently create a troll summoning circle while trying to take a photo of them all! Each tiny gem is hand applied by me to add to the general air of magic and kitschy cuteness that these mini trolls give off!

and now I can't think of anything else to say so i'm going to sign off before I start rambling again.

before I go, do YOU like Halloween or not? Is it called something different where you live like it is here (Hop-Tu-Naa for us Manxies) or do you not celebrate it at all? let me know in the comments below. I always reply because I spend my entire life online.

and on that note, bye for now! Thanks for reading.

Paper Dress-Up

Hello there, yes back again, not blathering on about the Glen again this time, although i DID visit it last Sunday with three of my friends, we picked a few blackberries and had far too much fun spinning around on the rope swing in the middle of the Glen and hurling conkers and sticks at one-another. But that's a tale for another time, maybe.

Anyway, you might have noticed that we're already into October now! That means a few things, 1) I can now wear boots, hats, gloves, scarves and coats in public WITHOUT getting weird looks from people, 2) the nights are getting darker, it's colder and leaves are all turning orange and falling off the trees and most importantly 3) it's Halloween this month!!!

so... LET'S GET SPOOKY!

oh they look a bit familiar right?! Well you remember those paper people cuties Little Aalish and Little Illiam, well what better way to celebrate Halloween (or Hop-Tu-Naa as it's known here on the Isle of Man) than with a super special spooktacular dress-up sheet!

So, that's just what i did, and I'm rather happy because the clothes sheets got delivered today which means I spent the past half-hour snipping out the costumes and playing dress-up with the little paper people.

i had a lot of fun designing this sheet and even more fun actually testing it out on the dolls. What makes this sheet so fun is that every single costume on it is interchangeable for both paper dolls, so that means you don't have to get a sheet for each doll, they can share!

Don't get me wrong, I had a whole brain full of wondrous outfits specifically suited to each character, including a fancy Witch and a Sailor costume for Aalish

but then I thought it would be more fun to make the costumes suitable for both Aalish AND Illiam, saving on paper and snipping costs!

I also didn't want to make gender specific sheets of clothes. I know there's nothing wrong with being girly and feminine but I don't like the way most costumes for little girls and women nowadays are overtly sexualized in comparison with the nice normal sensible boys ones. Case in point, here's a Ghostbusters costume for boys vs the one for girls.

 and yeah, ok so it's not as terrible as some out there but still, it's hardly as practical as the boys one is it! You might be thinking, 'it's just for kids, it doesn't matter' but what about when they grow up, look at the Adult versions for men and women! er... I don't think so. WHERE am I supposed to keep my PKE meter and hook my ghost trap while i'm chasing after spooks in a getup like that!

i'll shut up ranting. So yeah, gender neutral costumes were the main agenda for this sheet! And that way there's none of this 'is it for boys or girls?' nonsense, because it's for EVERYONE! yay!

I love Halloween and i'm sure most of you do as well, but I remember when I was a kid (who am I kidding, I basically still AM a kid!) every Halloween I would dress up in generic creepy witch costumes, or a bin-bag monster (thanks mum) with a cheap plastic frankenstein/devil/ghost/werewolf mask and some glow in the dark vampire teeth from the local newsagents. My point is that it wasn't about being girly or pretty, it was about being scary or at least a little bit spooky! BOO!

so that's what this sheet is all about. And in case you're wondering what that thing in Aalish's hand is, it's a TURNIP lantern instead of a pumpkin, because for Hop-Tu-Naa Manx children carry little carved turnip lanterns around as they go trick or treating and singing Hop-Tu-Naa songs to collect their sweeties and treats.

Once again these lovely dress-up sheets are available to buy exclusively via Sweet Ginger Emporium in Ramsey, hence why the sheet is titled 'Hop-Tu-Naa' and not 'Halloween'

so if you want to get your hands on a set, you'd better head to Ramsey or Laxey!

and on that pumpkin themed note, i'll head off. Expect more Halloween stuff later in the month, but for now that's all folks!

Sweets and Zombies ★

so did you enjoy the lovely Creative Café features this week???

well today is just a short post so you don't think i've vanished again, i've been busy this week working on commissions AND a few new pieces for college that i (maybe...) intend to have a go at painting.

so i thought i'd share some of my new work with you all

(Copyright © Jade Boylan 2011. All Rights Reserved)

anyway, first up there's a super yummy Ice Cream Sundae!!!

totally delish!

i'm still working on another ice cream one but it's not quite finished yet! i still need to work out some chocolate chips/fruity bits! but oh well... here's a peek anyway!

there's also a pair of donuts but i don't really like these, not sure why... just not too fond of them for some reason!

oh AND since it's the end of September and everyone is getting excited for Halloween, i thought i'd let you see this years Halloween Pinup a little earlier than usual...

so this year it's all about Zombie Pinups! yaaaaay, zombie pinup girl = automatic creepy awesome times!

last year we had 2 (sort of...) the Midnight Burlesque girl and the Tattooed Lady (see below)

and of course the year before that there was the Zombie Ninja Panda Bear... so NOT a pinup but still delightfully creepy!

so who knows, i might have a go at another pinup or spooky themed creation during October, not sure yet!!!

oh and fyi, the Zombie Pinup is currently being featured in the annual ArtWanted Halloween Showcase aka the 'Haunted House'

now last time i checked they had the zombie pinup and my sugar skull on the front page (click thumbnails) but it might have vamoosed by now, not sure, you can check out all the groovy spooky work here anyway - Haunted House

* * *

and that's that!

i've been listening to Seth MacFarlane's album 'Music Is Better Than Words' on repeat all week since it's so super duper! for more info about Seth + to hear him sing, you can check out this old feature i did here - Super Sunday #3

there'll be no blog tomorrow night since i'm heading out to the Gaiety Theatre to watch my cousin's dance schools annual show + my little god-daughter Bonnie is performing in it!

should be nice, i always love a trip to the Theatre! any excuse!

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

♥ ★ Happy Halloween ★ ♥

so Happy Halloween at last!

in case you haven't already guessed it... that's right, i haven't done ANY more Halloween Pinup Girl illustrations... or any new Halloween illustrations of any kind!

like i said in the previous post, i intend to make up for this by doing several Christmas themed ones over the next 2 months leading up to Xmas day, a fair deal i'm sure you'll agree...

anyway, back to Halloween... or should i refer to it as Hop-tu-Naa??? i don't know, never mind...

ok so last night my little 4-year-old cousin Sienna came to stay for a 'girly night' which included...

 dancing around to 'Lollipop' by Mika many MANY times, 

sitting applying gems to Cinderella's dress (Cinderella is a doll, i should point out), 

enjoying far too many chocolate coins and kinder eggs, 

watching lots of lovely Studio Ghibli films which i'm glad to say Sienna really enjoyed (Ponyo, Spirited Away and My Neighbour Totoro) 

having a yummy dinner of 'dippy egg', apricot yoghurt and sliced apple,

and also... a Halloween themed 'makeover'


look at the actual makeover CARNAGE on my dressing table! oh and there's 'cinderella' as well...

this was the overall result of the makeover since i didn't have a costume but Sienna did

you can't really see it but she's covered in luminous sparkly silver shimmery stuff and she has electric blue and hot pink eyeshadow on as well to match her dress... genius

anyway back to the question, should i say that today is Halloween or Hop-tu-Naa?

now you're probably wondering... what's the contest here, Halloween is celebrated (almost) universally whereas Hop-tu-Naa isn't...

however, i live in the Isle of Man so i'm afraid that here it's pretty much Hop-tu-Naa all the way!

(oh and in case you were wondering... it's pronounced hop-chew-nay)

so what is it exactly...

well let me enlighten you dear readers...

Hop-tu-Naa is a Celtic festival celebrated in the Isle of Man on 31 October. Predating Halloween. For modern Hop-tu-Naa, children dress up and go from house to house with the hope of being given sweeties or money (just like Halloween traditions)

However, for Hop-tu-Naa the children carry carved turnip lanterns rather than pumpkins and sing Hop-tu-Naa songs. Here's an example of a rather creepy looking Hop-tu-Naa turnip lantern...




Hop-tu-Naa is still celebrated widely on the Isle of Man, although most of the old Hop-tu-Naa traditions aren't practiced much any more, like the making and eating of a 'dumb cake', an old form of Manx divination that supposedly, if done correctly would reveal to a girl, who her future husband would be in a dream or vision. 

However there is still a Hop-tu-Naa pentagram (available to buy) that is supposedly based on the original one worn by the old Manx Witches that would fly out on Hop-tu-Naa to wreak magic and mischief. (NOTE: i don't want ANY complaints about the pentagram please! pentagrams are NOT evil! upside down ones are... normal ones are a-ok and if you thought otherwise then that makes you a fool i'm afraid so... yeah, stop being a fool and ssshhh)




The differences between Hop-tu-Naa and Halloween are barely apparent any more, on the 31st of October Manx children dress up in spooky costumes with face paints and 'trick or treat' bags just like children all over the world. Even the carrying of turnips is something that not all Manx children partake in, preferring to carry a little plastic torch or a small pumpkin instead.




One of the differences that still sometimes remains is that nowadays most Manx children are still taught some of the traditional old Hop-tu-Naa songs to sing on the 31st during their trick or treating.




The original songs are all in Manx Gaelic and the English translations don't always make sense but there's a modern 'Manx English' song that i remember from my own childhood, it's called 'Jinnie the Witch' and goes a little something like this... 




Hop-tu-Naa

My mother's gone away

And she won't be back until the morning

Jinnie the Witch flew over the house

To fetch the stick to lather the mouse

Hop-tu-Naa

My mother's gone away

And she won't be back until the morning

ok, there are other variations on the song but that's enough Hop-tu-Naa stuff... for more information, and a wonderful article on the celebration of Hop-tu-Naa check out this BBC Isle of Man page.

* * *

ok back to Halloween

i've been saving this for a while but, it's one of the old 60's American ads i found at college a few weeks ago (more on the awesome old American ads can be found HERE and HERE) 

so apologies for the massive crease down the middle but... it was a double page spread and i could sooooooo not be bothered to try and remove it on photoshop... sorry

* * *

i should explain that i am a big fan of all things Halloween and Hop-tu-Naa (i am a big kid after all) and that i usually do dress up as a witch every year (black suede heels, floaty Monsoon dress and an awesome embroidered witches hat) and that i was supposed to be spending my Halloween this year taking my little 5-year-old God-daughter Bonnie out trick or treating but...

she told me last week that she couldn't 'do' halloween because she was going to a party

ditched... by my own god-daughter!

so instead i intend to spend this evening watching scary films by myself...

now that IS a scary thought!

* * *

i shall leave you with my most Halloween friendly illustration to date, the charming, the creepalicious, the ever so slightly wrong... 'Zombie Ninja Panda Bear'

 i wish you all the Happiest of Halloweens (and Hop-tu-Naa's) and hope that you have a super spooky day/night, whatever you're up to or wherever you are in the world

that's all folks...

♥ ★ ◕‿◕ ★ ♥ 

Halloween Pinup Girls ★

so it's almost that time of year again, the most spooktacular and creepalicious of days... all Hallows eve aka Halloween or Samhain or Hop Tu Naa etc etc...


anyway in light of this, since i literally never do anything for Halloween i thought i'd have a go at a few more Halloween Pin-up Girl illustrations.


so... thus far i've completed the Tattooed Pin-up Girl and the Midnight Burlesque Girl (follow the links if you haven't seen them already)


i haven't actually finished any more of them yet but i HAVE been trying to gather a pinch of research and a sprinkling of inspiration from some of these gorrrrgeous classic Pin-up paintings...


we'll start off with a little bit of Gil Elvgren magic...

swiftly followed by... some more Gil Elvgren spookiness

followed by this super duper Pin-up Witch, by Bill Layne (1966)

and 'This Trick's a Treat' by Freeman Elliot (1950) 

then on to... George Petty's 'Salem Witch' (1945) 

and after that, here's the rather fabulous 'Lady is a Witch' novel cover by Earle Bergy (1950)

and we'll finish with my personal favourite... some more classic Gil Elvgren sparkle... 

'Riding High' (1959)

and that's pretty much all of my research so far... just thought i'd share these rather darling little vintage lovelies with you all...

ok i'm off to have a go at some more of my own Halloween Pin-up Girls now!

i'd also like to point out that almost all of the pictures used in today's post were sourced from the utterly fabulous and super duper Sexy Witch blog which (witch...) you can go and visit riiiiight HERE - Sexy Witch

actually... now it's time for some lunch so i'll start on the pin-up stuff after!

that's all folks...

◕‿◕ ♥ xX

Pills and Photoshop ♥

So it's been a funny couple of days, I didn't go into college on Monday (ill ill ill) and I get Tuesdays and Wednesdays of so... did someone say 5 day weekend!!!

today is set aside for college work, but to be honest... i've spent the past two days making these banner/ad things for my friends website. He helps run the Groudle Glen Railway here in the Isle of Man (for more info on the GGR check out THIS post from the summer - Super Duper Train Times)

anyway he asked me for an 'arty favour' and despite the fact I STILL have commissions to finsh not to mention a growing pile of college work... I agreed! why?! because i am a nice person... and an idiot. clearly!

Ah I don't mind helping out, I really like the railway and the more I learn about it the more I love it! Anyway, they're all done now (near enough) and are already up on the site. There's a Christmas one for the santa trains, a volunteer one... for volunteers and a general 'keep up to date' type one. 

Don't ask... they were all his ideas, I just did as I was told!

anyway you can check the website out here - GGR there you can learn more about the railway and book tickets for the Santa and Mince Pie trains etc etc

i really didn't mind making these, since it gave me a chance to play round a bit with photoshop (i still suck... but i'm learning) which i really need to practice using!

in other news... i'm anxiously awaiting my test results today from the Docs. i've been holed up in my dad's study all day (with my laptop... obviously) waiting for them to call. it's a nervous room right now, but the Glen Miller is blaring and slowly making me feel a bit better! 

edit: ok docs have JUST rung, all is well... some daft prescription for some pills that probably won't do anything! i wasted 5 capsules of blood for that... REALLY?! wtf...

i don't really have much to update you with really... i made looooads more banners for this blog (as you can see by scrolling... and scrolling) which is always a fun way to while away a Sunday! 

ok to make up for the lack on funalicious goodness... here's another artist i'd like to feature

her name is Aleksandra Marchocka and she is a totally awesome and incredibly talented  Polish graphic artist

i've been a fan of the work of Aleksandra Marchocka for quite a while. since i first joined deviantART in fact (all that time ago) and spotted one of her amazing pieces. (instantly FAVED) here it is...

isn't it adorable?! there's something so cute about her work and yet the themes she brings into it are almost always slightly dark and sinister. 

you don't always notice it at first because of the sugary candy colours and the girlyness, but then you look closer... and start to spot the darker details (like the skull sprinkles on the bunny donut above). it's really fabulous!

This is another one of my faves. Once again, it's girly and cute yet slightly disturbing! Wonderful work! she also has one of the best blog/shop headers i've seen in a long time.

i LOVE this header! the colours, the icing (or is it pink blood...) covered skull with the cherry on top, the creepy little pinup girls! everything about it is awesome! full view it and look carefully, if you think those pinups were twins... you're wrong! 

Her work is soooo amazing, and I could literally spend all day just going on and on about it but I think i've filled up this post more than enough!

here is her website (in case you missed it earlier) - Aleksandra Marchocka

I'm off to start preparing a spot of lunch now and then I genuinely do intend to get some college work done.

Whether i'll actually manage that task or not remains to be seen! But at least the sentiment is there... sort of!

That's all folks...

★ ◕‿◕ ♥ xX

ps – don't forget to leave a comment... you know, if you really want to...  

oh and if you're not a 'follower' of this blog and it just so happens that you particularly enjoyed your time on it today... 

go ahead and become a 'follower' and i will beam either a hug or a cupcake to you... 

your choice x