So long 2011... ★

well, it's been a funny old year hasn't it! Some ups, some downs and as my blog will tell you, lots of colour!

I figured that a little look back over the year was in order, i don't normally fuss too much with New Years stuff but this year i'll be home alone, cooped up watching TV all night so i thought, might be fun to have a look back at it all!

2011 has been kind of a busy year for me, i've been working as a freelance illustrator and designer for just about 3 years now but 2011 has been my busiest year ever commission wise!

i've also altered my work style a little bit this year. this time last year i could barely scan an image to edit digitally and now almost everything i do is digitally edited/coloured/finished whether it's based on a scanned drawing or is drawn directly into photoshop or illustrator.

i'm still in college, which is evident from a lot of my posts, shots of my messy college desk and board frequently pop up over the year, but running the blog as a student helps me tick off units for my course as well as being able to share some of the more mundane parts of my day with you all!

i've always been a fan of all things cute, girly and kawaii, but in 2011 my work went to whole new levels of sweetness (i think it has anyway!) and everywhere you look on my blog there are sweets, cupcakes, princesses and lots of pinks, blues and reds!

other than college, it's been a quiet year for me! from time to time i do like to post about my family and friends but although this has always been first and foremost a personal blog, i try to keep family posts to a minimum, however i hope the ones i have posted haven't been too tedious for you all!

it's been a fab year networking wise as well and i'm fortunate enough to have made many creative new friends via Twitter (mostly!) as well as lots of new clients and contacts. oh and thanks for the kind words, emails, tweets and comments from all of YOU over the year as well! 

time for a list! i love lists and to try and cheer myself up i thought a sort of '2011 achievements' list might be a good idea!

so, this year I have...

• gotten some of my pieces and merch stocked in a local shop here on the Isle of Man

• been included in an exhibition at the Isle Gallery at Tynwald Mills, with my artwork hung up the rest of my HND class from college as well as alongside some of the islands best artists, sculptors and photographers.

• completely re-designed my website (along with the help of a local web designer) and set up an Etsy shop to sell my handmade stuff + merch

• designed a winning t-shirt design for 'All Tropical'

• set up POD shops on RedBubble, Artflakes and Society 6 and sold lots of stickers, prints and t-shirts + nearly 60 iPhone cases! i don't who's been buying them but thanks all the same!

• designed quite a few logos, flyer, poster, banner and advert designs for various clients both local and international

• built up my paid commissions portfolio (and subsequently spent most of my commission fees on business cards, postcards, prints and merchandise... i may be addicted!)

• learnt a lot more about 'professional practice' + how to gain new clients and network with artists, galleries, collectives and shops.

so what are my plans for 2012 I hear you cry?

Well next year I intend to...

• finish my HND and get a move on with my last year of the BA at college so i can finally achieve my degree in Fine Art

• produce more' fine art' so that i actually live up to my course guidelines!

• finalise the characters and story for a little children's picture book or maybe even FINALLY finish the pages for 'Where's Charlie?'

• get more merchandise items featuring my work produced to sell in my online shop, in local shops + at local craft fairs

• learn to use my bamboo tablet and further develop my digital illustration skills and techniques using photoshop and illustrator

• learn to drive! 

and i think that's about it! if there's anything else... i've forgotten it so oh well!

thank you for visiting the blog, whether you stop by to read about my artwork, my boring life or even if you just check in to see the pictures i post, i'm glad that you visit at all so THANK YOU!!!

all i have to do now is wish all of YOU + all of my friends and family a very HAPPY NEW YEAR 

may 2012 bring you everything you wish for!

so until next year, i guess that's all folks... ◕‿◕ ★ xX

Mini Merch Giveaway ★ LAST CHANCE!!!

golly gosh! hardly any entries so far for the mini giveaway!!! ★ 

there's only ONE full day left to enter now to win a cute pocket mirror, 2 badges + a postcard featuring my illustrations! ♥ 

i'll post this out to anywhere so if you fancy getting some free merch then enter regardless of whereabouts in the world you are! ★ 

LIKE this post on facebook HERE 

RETWEET on Twitter HERE

or leave a comment on THIS HERE post that you are reading (or this one HERE ) to enter...

 Giveaway closes at midnight (UK time) tomorrow, Saturday 22nd October

so come on! what are you waiting for...

get those entires in!!!

if you don't want the merch for yourself you can maybe try to win it for a friend or family member

go on... you know you want it!

here are SOME of the things YOU could win...

(check out the original blog post to see the full range - Blog)

of course if you don't want to wait and see if you win... you can always just treat yourself to some badges or mirrors right now! - Jade's Etsy Shop

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in case you can't tell, i've not much else to blog about today! been a busy few days at college getting everything sorted before half-term + finishing reports and what not!

i had a business meeting at college today as well, the client had flown in from the UK so it was lovely to finally meet face to face

soooo sleepy now though! ready for a nice relaxing few days of half-term before i head off to Coventry to see my family next week

phew!

have a lovely weekend wherever you are + whatever you're up to

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

Marvellous Merchandise ★

so a verrrrrrry exciting parcel arrived in the post today! exciting because i've been waiting almost 3 weeks for it and the waiting was beginning to drive me insane (seriously... this morning i was THIS close to firebombing the post office, but they delivered so there's no need for any arson now!!!)

so basically... this exciting parcel was chock full of AWESOMENESS in the form of badges and mirrors featuring designs by ME ME ME

feat your eyes on their loveliness...

obviously i didn't just order 3 things though... this is an example of the stuff i got!

the box was FULL of bits and bobs! (cue me jumping about excitedly and clapping like a seal)

so just what is there i hear you cry!!! well ignoring the truly atrocious quality of the photos (thanks to my godawful camera...) we have... BADGES!!!!!

and we have... POCKET MIRRORS!!!

aaaaggghhhhhh isn't it exciting!!! i can't handle how exciting this all is!!!

oh and as you saw in the first picture,  there are diddy little cupcake badges as well

here you can see how everything measures up...

yaaaaaaayyyyyyyy!!!!!!

right so you know what this means don't you my lovelies... it means that all of these pretty little merch pieces are now available to buy in my etsy shop!!!

badges will be posted out in double envelopes and mirrors will be posted in mini jiffy bags to ensure that they don't arrive broken + of course, i'll post to anywhere in the whole wide world...

the diddy little cupcake badges come in little clear bags and are £0.75 each (badges measure: 25mm)

the bigger badges come on their lovely stripey backing card and are £1.25 each (badges measure: 38mm)

and the pretty little mirrors each come in a cute pouch to keep it safe and scratch free and are £4.00 (mirrors measure 58mm) 

super duper stuff! perfect as a little treat for yourself or someone else!

you can see all of the stuff right here in my etsy shop

Jade's Etsy Shop

* * *

and no... i haven't decorated my pencil case with badges (yet...) or stuck pocket mirrors all over my wall, these bits and bobs are for all of YOU not for me

and so, with that in mind i've decided to hold a little impromptu giveaway

to celebrate all of this lovely merch turning up on my doorstep i'm going to give away ONE mini badge + ONE big badge and ONE pocket mirror (designs = of the winners choice)

all you have to do to enter is leave a comment on THIS HERE post (+ if you follow me on twitter/facebook i'll probably be doing little retweet/like posts as well, so be sure to look out for those)

the giveaway will only run until midnight Saturday 22nd October (yup it's a short giveaway this time, just a mini one...) so you have 5 whole days to enter!

maximum of 2 entries per person, that means ONE comment + ONE retweet or like

i'm sick of counting up dozens of entries for things and it makes my brain melt so it's a whole lot simpler this time for me AND for you!!!

so don't forget, 5 days to enter and to be in with a chance of getting your hands on these little bits for free (yes... FREE) just scroll down and leave a comment

that's it! super simple

i'll announce the winner on Sunday evening

so go on then... leave a comment! :D

oh and i'll probably throw in a nice postcard for the winner as well...

* * *

phew! what a day, busy editing stuff then busy snapping pictures of all the lovely new badges and mirrors!

i'll probably post something tomorrow evening about my new princess pictures 

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

Creative Café #8 ★

another Monday, another week...

let's kick off August with a lovely new Creative Café post shall we!!!

ok dudes and dudettes you know the drill, go now and get some tea or some coffee or some fizzy pop, grab a biscuit or a cake (or in my case some popcorn!) and settle down for some super duper creative loveliness!

today it's focusing on the truly gorgeous artwork of the fabulous Amariah Rauscher 

i first discovered Amariah's beautiful paintings and sketches one day a while ago while randomly trawling through etsy, i thought it was about time i featured her here! :)

Amariah is an artist living in Springfield Illinois, USA. 

she creates delicate and whimsical pieces using charcoal, pencils and watercolours and her style is just divine!

her little characters are so sweet and the colours she paints with are so pretty! i just love everything she does!

she also paints lots of little books into her pieces, her characters seem to enjoy reading and writing (oh i wonder why i like her paintings so much... ) 

anyway, you know me, i'll start rambling and gushing now so instead... enjoy this beautiful, colourful stream of Amariah's amazing work

 

totally gorgeous right! i know, i know, it's all just so sweet and lovely!

but she also creates the most fabulously detailed drawings and portraits! check these out...

incredible stuff! 

Amariah is also represented by Prospect Agency in New York, you can see her full Illustrator profile here - Amariah Rauscher

soooooo so pretty! love love LOVE it all!

she also sells prints, magnets and bookmarks featuring her work in her etsy shop - the Extent of Silence

i'm verrrry tempted to get myself a print (or two) since they're all so cute!

to see more of Amariah's work, check out her website here - Amariah's Studio

or head over to her Flickr photostream - Amariah Rauscher

you can also 'Like' her work on her Facebook fan page - Amariah Rauscher

and follow her on Twitter - @amariahrauscher

plus, be sure to check out her blog - Amariah Rauscher

massive MASSIVE thanks to the lovely Amariah for letting me feature her work on here :)

All images featured in this post belong to Amariah Rauscher © do not claim, use, distribute, reproduce or trace ANY of her work without her written consent. All Rights Reserved.

* * *

not much else for today my dears!

a new delivery of postcards arrived earlier featuring some new designs but there's only a very limited number of each design so if you fancy one... get it quick!

 

you can see them all here + the bundles they are also available in, get yours here - Jade's Etsy Shop

but apart from all that, i've not really anything else to tell you!

so i guess that's all folks... ★ ◕‿◕ xX

ps - i KNOW i said i'd kick off the new Giveaway on the 1st but... well i haven't actually left the house in over a week so i haven't been able to get any more stuff to add to the bundle!!! i'll open it for entries in a couple of days, just stay tuned my lovelies! x