★ ♥ Sweet Ginger ♥ ★

i know i KNOW i said i'd post last night but i didn't get home until 7ish and i was very tired, had a bad headache and was hungry so i just decided not to blog . . .

but that doesn't matter because i'm blogging NOW!

so at long last (and in case you hadn't already guessed) my handmade stuff + arty bits are being stocked in a gorrrgeous new shop here on the Isle of Man

for the past few weeks i've been sewing my arrrse off trying to make a bunch of necklaces in time for the shops Grand Opening . . . which was yesterday afternoon

the shop is called 'Sweet Ginger Emporium' and i'm not gonna lie... it's one of the coolest most colourful and generally awesome shops i've ever been in! 

i mean look . . . they sell buttons from jars like you're getting a bag of sweets!!! what's not to love! (+ check out that awesome Rob Ryan bunting)

it's like a retro/vintage haberdashery shop with loads of funky modern twists + it stocks all manner of incredible haberdashery goodies including gorrrrgeous fabrics and materials, criminally cute buttons, amazing ribbons 

+ they sell super duper DIY crafters kits, like the 'Pepe et Sophie Lapin' one they gave me to test out . . .

as you can see above, there's Pepe (patiently awaiting Sophie to join him) next to some of the awesome felt making kits + tapestry kits

the shop also stocks the most adorable embroidery and sewing stuff, like the French brand 'Maison Sajou' which was founded in 1828 and has the most beautiful old fashioned packaging

not to mention that Sweet Ginger is one of only 2 shops in the UK to stock Emily Peacock tapestry kits 

the only other shop selling them being Liberty of London . . .

apart from that though it just has this really great vibe, they stock all this sumptuous fabric and ribbon from India + the most wonderful patterned fabrics

+ there are all these amazing handmade garments, bags and accessories dotted around the shop

it's a veritable treasure trove of eccentric accessories and cute little gifts + everything you could ever want/need to have a go at making your own stuff

i mean look at these pretty bags! 

and these cute head bands 

they also stock all these really cute handmade bits and pieces from Curious Key (aka Danielle Stowell) 

their maker shelves are one of the first things you see when you walk in the door . . .

oh and what's that along the top row. . . could it be?! MY STUFF

it sure is folks . . . it sure is!

i spent a good hour and a half yesterday morning just setting it all up and trying to make it a little candy coloured corner of fun

now there are certain items here that are 'by order only' (like the dolls, the lollipops and the fawns) so technically not everything is on sale but all of the necklaces are + the postcards and the greetings cards and who knows. . . maybe even soon the little canvases as well

and that's that really, i couldn't get pictures of everything yesterday morning because i had to leave in a hurry and i couldn't get pictures at the opening yesterday afternoon because it was just sooooo busy!

right, for those of you that live local, the shop is at 68a Parliament Street, Ramsey and if you like shops like 'Just Enough', 'the Tide' and 'Abode' then you'll love this. . . get yourselves there asap!

anyway, for more info on the shop go ahead and 'Like' the Facebook Page - Sweet Ginger Emporium

or feel free to follow the shop via Twitter - @SweetGingerShop

+ massive thanks to the lovely Ciara and Julie for asking me to be a part of it all in the first place xX

* * *

in other news . . . 

it's the first time in weeks that i haven't absolutely HAD to spend every waking moment sewing stuff and i'm struggling to cope! well . . . not really

i'm attempting to finish my college essay today (in between episodes of 'Supernatural' + copious amounts of strawberry milk) and i'm still getting over the fact that my hands and fingers aren't sore for once!

hhhm perhaps i'm a little bit addicted to sewing though! i wonder what i could make next?!

also in other news, i woke up this morning to find a super duper awesome thing

the artist/illustrator/designer and all round general genius Mr Jon Burgerman (who some of you may know i am a huuuuge fan of) recently started a group on facebook in which you can submit a photo of yourself which, if he gets time, he will do a little drawing of it

well myself + two of my college friends, Kyren and Jeni are all big BIG fans of Jon's work so we all submitted photos of ourselves to be 'Burgered' and at last . . . he drew us!!!

here's Kyren's

here's Jeni's

and here's mine . . .

aren't they great! i think they are completely and utterly hilarious!!! yet still totally awesome! even if he did make my eyes brown . . . they're green Jon GREEN!!!

to get 'Burgered' yourself, request to join the group here - Burgered

and to check out some of Jon's awesome art, head over to his website - Burgerplex

* * *

pretty sure that's all for today, ah well if i've forgotten anything i'll add it tomorrow or another day!

that's all folks . . . ◕‿◕ ★

ps - i'm in the mood for another little giveaway, head on over to the Facebook page now and check out the poll i made, who knows . . . i might just have to giveaway some cute goodies again soon!

Terrific Tuesday ★

so i vanished for a few days again didn't I . . .

I'm really sorry I've just been pretty busy with sewing stuff + i got a new logo commission the other day that I've been working on + yesterday my big sister and her boyfriend came round to show us their holiday snaps from their 9 week 'around the world adventure' (of which i am insanely jealous!)

but that's no excuse for me to abandon you all i know so . . . "I'm sorry"

moving on

today is a Tuesday hence today's blog title . . . just in case you were wondering!

maybe i should theme all the days of the week?!

we could have 'Marvellous Monday', 'Terrific Tuesday', 'Wonderful Wednesday', 'Tremendous Thursday', 'Fabulous Friday', 'Splendid Saturday' and 'Super Sunday'

ok maybe not! (maybe i should shut up and write this post huh!)

anyway I've been hiding in my room for a few days sewing and THIS is what I've been making

here we have a little toadstool charm, a sprinkles covered ice cream charm + a bright little Bauhaus coloured Owl charm (you can take the girl out of the library but she'll always be an Art History nerd I'm afraid!!!)

these are part of the little handmade felt charm series i seem to be working on aaaaaall the time!

 here they all are hanging on my mirror (just ignore the psychedelic mess of stuff on my walls in the reflection)

so what else?! well this afternoon i popped into Ramsey for a 'sort of but not quite' business meeting (it's for the hush hush thing that i can't tell you about yet) 

anyway the 'meeting' was great, i think i'm meeting the super duper girly behind it all again tomorrow for another meeting type thing in the Alpine where we will probably end up eating cakes and talking about buttons such is our shared love for all things haberdashery related . . .

speaking of haberdashery, look at the gorrrrgeous ribbons i got today in Ramsey

aren't they divine! i just loved the colours, couldn't resist

i also got a little pack of felt sheets since you know . . . you can never have too much felt!

this is to add to the ever growing stack of felt i have on my desk

ah . . . felt glorious felt!

oh while i was in Ramsey i bumped into my old friend Jeni from College as well, she's studying for a BA in design at University in Liverpool, check out her arty blog here - Jeni Grose

* * *

in other news . . .

i just HAD to share this with you!

look at the view outside my bedroom window at the moment

so looking past my garland of handmade origami cranes, my Manx Fairy charm + my bamboo wind chime and can you see that gorgeous cherry blossom tree!!!

most of the cherry blossom i've seen out around the island is beginning to flutter to the ground now leaving swirls of pink confetti-like petals on the pavements and roads but our tree is just coming into its blossom

isn't it pretty! every morning i open my curtains and it makes me smile to see those pretty pink petals brightening up the garden

* * *

right so nothing else to report on . . . i think!

tonight i need to draw stuff for this new commission + whip up a new polka dot pinup girl illustration for aforementioned super secret business type thing

so I'll bid you adieu my dears, until next time

that's all folks ◕‿◕ ★ xX 

Flowers and Raindrops ♥

ok so we won't talk about yesterday, yesterday was not a great day! Yesterday involved a lot of frantic phone calls, emails and text messages. Yesterday involved a lot of rain and some rather annoying news + a total cock-up concerning a planned trip.

Let's talk about today. today it's raining... again! however, today when I got into college i had to go down to reception to pick up the beautiful big bouquet of flowers that had been delivered for me. They are now sitting on my desk making everything seem so much brighter and happier. I was so chuffed that there were some pink gerbera daisies in the bunch along with some gorgeous pink/red roses. I adore gerberas, red ones are my favourites but whatever their colour they're always pretty. Here's they all are prettifying up my desk space...

so today i've also been doing some more research into old ads. Had a great chat all about 'Mad Men' and 'Dick Tracy' and 'Metropolis' (the Dick Tracy/Metropolis stuff is for a commission i'm currently working on) with my tutor Ian. He's a massive 'Mad Men' fan as well so he seems to like my research so far. I also got on with some more drawings in my logbook.

 Today i'm listening to some Tchaikovsky, some French Opera (stuff from Carmen mostly, habanera, Seguedilla etc) + a bit of Vivaldi (i like classical stuff when sketching... go figure!)whilst working on some studies of pieces by Angelique Houtkamp who I spoke a little more about + posted some pictures by, in this post last week - 'Blog... à la college ♥'

so here's what i've been working on today...

it's actually finished now. i snapped this early this morning but her hair + tattoos are all drawn in now as well. it's taken me bloody ages to do! i didn't intend on drawing the tattoos but once i'd started i couldn't stop!

this photo also shows the original 1950's magazine cover that Angelique based her piece on. the pose is identical but she's really made it her own. it's one of my favourite pieces by her, so much detail in it, just gorgeous!

so yesterday... yeah it wasn't too good! the only GREAT thing about it was that my friend Jeni popped by to visit me and to collect the print of her 'Jeni in Penguinland' illustration 

(follow the link to see it if you haven't already) + a little postcard i got her during my trip to Cork over the summer. i also got the owl one for my friend Kyren. i don't know what it was about the one i chose for Jeni, it just reminded me of her for some reason and i just knew she'd find it funny.

 the owl one explains itself really + Kyren (or Kyrowl as he is more commonly known) really likes owls. inexplicably... 

anyway, the postcards are from Paperchase which is without a doubt my absolute most very favourite (thank you Charlie and Lola for reminding me how to describe things...) stationary shop in the world! especially the massive one in London! there's also a fab one in Selfridges in Birmingham which i try to go to every year. I fully love love love paperchase! 

ok dokes i'll stop rambling on and on and on now...

it's lunch time so i don't have to feel guilty about blogging today = good times

however it's nearly 1pm which is when lunch time ends = bad times

so on that happy note i'll finish this up

if you're reading this then i hope you have a truly super duper day

that's all folks...

★ ◕‿◕ ♥ xX

♥ Penguins Galore

I was woken up this morning at 7:50am by a text message. normally this would have ended with me hurling the phone off my bedside table towards the window or the wall but on this occasion i didn't mind too much. must have been a mellow morning mood or something.

anyway, i've stayed in all day today since it was the last day that Sienna, Emma and Mandy were all staying here. Sienna finally got her nails painted sparkly pink (by yours truly) this morning as well, since i was bad and spent most of last night on my computer editing illustrations! sorry Sienna x

anyway since i have no new news (no new news, try saying that quickly 5 times) to share i thought i'd post my latest illustration instead

it's the very special one i was on about the other day, 'a very special illustration requested by my super duper friend Jeni who is going off to Uni soon'

this is the finished result, it's called 'Jeni in Penguinland'

shall i explain the craziness of this picture?! ok dokes here goes...

well, her fave colour is Blue and she luuurves Penguins so somehow i came up with this

i thought blue dress for sure + penguinland...

something to do with Alice in Wonderland maybe...

so it was basically a chance to have another go at an Alice in Wonderland style girl, whilst also attempting to make her look like Jeni AND bringing the penguins into it as well.

she's seen it already and seems to like it so i'm going to print out a nice neat copy of it for her once i'm back at college since the whole point of the illustration request was so that she'd have something to put on the wall of her new room at uni.

and that's it really.

i reached 700 followers today on Twitter which was cause for a mini celebration (i put on my 6-inch heels and had a little dance around my room to Peggy Lee songs)

to be honest i spent most of the day sat on my own listening to Manx Radio (i finally sorted it so i can listen to it on my macbook), editing photos and writing stuff on my laptop.

i got some exciting news today though via email so stay tuned for something ultra suuuuper happening soon.

i hope you all had a great Bank Holiday Monday

i know it may seem like i wasted mine but since i'm off away in a few days i figured a day of doing absolutely nothing was exactly what i needed before the hustle and bustle of airports and rent-a-cars takes over on Wednesday!

enjoy the rest of your Bank Holiday,

hope you all have a super duper day tomorrow

♥ ◕‿◕ ♥ xX