Candy Girl

Hello dearhearts! If you read the last post then you'll know i've been away for a week. I actually got back last Wednesday evening but i've been verrrrrry busy trying to organize my room (and my life) as well as attempting a massive clear-out of old stuff I no longer need!

Anyway it's taken me since then to think up a new blog post + to conjure up another new member of the Candy Doll Club... sort of

here she is

i know, i know... she's tooth achingly sweet! What did you expect?!

now when I say 'new' what I mean is 'reworked', since this one is technically a re-working of an old Xmas Candy Doll illustration I completed last December.

Back when I drew the lineart (and yes, I did DRAW most of this one on paper first) I couldn't think of a theme or colour palette for her so I ended up coming up with the Candy Cane polka dotted madness that you can see above.

So yesterday evening I was scrolling through some old illustrations and I thought about how much I liked the pose so wouldn't it be fun to turn her into a proper CANDY girl?!

So I did.

For this radical redesign, I was actually inspired by v brilliant French Blogger and style maven extraordinaire Katia aka LazyKat

I've followed (in a non stalkerish sense) most of her online profiles for a few years now (her Instagram is particularly epic - iamlazykat) and i'm always amazed by and insanely jealous of her pastel pretty style and very gorgeous (and highly enviable) wardrobe of clothes and accessories!

She always posts fabulously put together outfits and she's basically a real live human version of a 'Candy Doll'!

As well as being an all round Pastel Babe, Kat also has heaps of candy cute tattoos including a few My Little Pony ones, hence why the latest illustrated member of the Candy Doll Club has her two fave Ponies on her arms + another on her shirt.

And i chose My Little Pony because come on... who doesn't love some classic My Little Pony?!i grew up with stacks of the toys (i've probably got some up in the attic still) and i used to love watching the cartoons on TV.

so BIG thanks for the pastel inspiration Kat! merci beaucoup, tu es magnifique!

* * *

in other slightly less colourful news, i had a WONDERFUL time away visiting family in Coventry, a really lovely week which included a particularly laughter filled visit to Leamington with my two darling nieces Madison and Daisy

i managed to snap this pic of them in a Fancy Dress shop, they always cheer me up no matter what!

and... i can't think of anything else to talk about so that'll have to do for now!

so until next time, whenever that may be, cheerio and thanks for reading!

Little Lollipops ♥

super short but sweet post today folks

sweet being the operative word here since i've literally spent the day sewing up a set of five little plushie lollipops (while watching/listening to all of my Mighty Boosh DVD's)

they're for a lady in South Carolina who wanted a little set of girly lollipops to go in a vase in her daughters room

well they're all done now, would you like to see them?

of course you would . . .

she wanted them in all different shades of pink but the Island's few craft shops only seem to stock 3 colours so i had to use these purply ones as well

they're a little different to the usual lollies i make, mainly because i used satin ribbon for the stripes this time as well as embroidery floss

i hope they're ok, i mean i hope the customer who ordered them will be happy with them! hopefully i'll be able to post them out tomorrow

they were fun to make though, i love making these since i always get to use lots of girly colours and ribbons (and you all know how much i love ribbon)

anyway i'd be happy to sew together a new one for anyone out there that wants to get one (or two . . . or five!)

they're available individually or in sets of five from my little esty shop - The Candy Cove

i actually made another little lollipop a few weeks ago, a friend commissioned one as a gift for his mum for Mother's Day

now the photo is awful quality i know but i used big pink ric-rac and tiny ric-rac for the stripes + added a little matching tag

i have to make a start on a new mini plushie cupcake charm necklace tonight for a friend at College who really wants one 

i didn't think people were that bothered about them but if anyone else wants one, let me know and i'll list them on the shop

i also need to get cracking on another little Fawn plushie for a Twitter friend who wants a pink/lilac one for her baby daughter's room

i'm going to add a felt flower to the ear (maybe) instead of a weird necklace thing + a little gingham bow on the front, hopefully i'll be able to make this one less flawed! 

i'm using thicker, better felt so fingers crossed it'll look fab when it's done

* * *

nothing else for today, 

tomorrow i'm heading out to celebrate my mum's Birthday, we're going to have lunch at the Alpine (for a change) and mooch around the shops so she can spend all of her Birthday gift vouchers

that's all folks . . .

◕‿◕ ★ xX 

★ Fabulous Friday ★

So apologies for not posting yesterday, those of you that follow me on facebook or twitter might have noticed that I posted up a new website link...

I spent about 7 and a half hours straight working on a new website layout yesterday and it finally went live last night at about 9pm (massive thanks to the lovely Miss Danni Tatu for all of her amazing help, check out her awesomely gorgeous website here – doodlesbydanni) 

the new site is much easier to navigate than my old one was + it has clearer buttons, links and a bigger gallery

it took me a ridiculous amount of time to sort out (mainly because I suck at anything flash or html related) but it's finally up and running now! (thanks also to Joe for checking the site for bugs + other crazy technical things and for putting up with me ranting on about photoshop headaches all afternoon)

i should warn you all though... the site is a total cacophony of girlyness with pink everywhere + candy colours, sweeties and other girly stuff (also thanks to Mike for being the first guy to visit the site, he thought it was insanely gay... i did warn him though!)

i apologize to my male readers/fans... it had to be girly though! (it matches the artwork after all)

anyway you can now visit my 'official' website here 

www.jadeboylan.com

oh and fyi it's a 'flash' site so it will NOT load on iPhones or iPads

and if it still won't load for you on a computer or laptop then check your adobe flash player...

* * *

in other news...

Today my new postcards and stickers arrived!!!

I was beyond excited to open these and they did not disappoint

the quality is lush with lovely glossy finishes + my little logo on the back 

lollipop + rococo cupcake postcards are now available to buy individually or in little bundles on the etsy shop - the Candy Cove

* * *

anyway on with the most IMPORTANT thing...

today is the last day you can enter the Giveaway!!!

there are less than 6 hours left to get your entries in to win...

this adorable acrylic pink poodle necklace

this little diddy hello kitty notebook

this set of super kawaii food badges/buttons

these tasty kawaii bubble stickers

this sweet (blank) cupcake card + detachable squishy cupcake magnet

as well as a FREE 'Sensationally Sweet' lollipop postcard (yes free)

and a liquorice allsorts keyring (not for sale anywhere on the web yet... anywhere)

AND a sheet of mini stickers that aren't available ANYWHERE else full stop!!!

not even to buy... these stickers are for me only so a sheet of them in the giveaway loot bundle is quite a big deal...

so yeah... lotsa goooooodies!

so what are you waiting for! get entering...

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

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

YOU CAN (in fact, please do)

ok so to enter all you have to do is comment on THIS here post right here that you are reading NOW right here... 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 you can retweet to enter or send me an '@' reply/mention

or if you don't have a blogger account you can send an email to this address telling me that you want to enter - jadeboylanblog@gmail.com

and you can leave a comment on the facebook fan page

it's THAT simple!

to gain extra entries you can reblog me on tumblr - the-jaded-one

and for an extra EXTRA entry you can mention this giveaway in a blog post (if you do this then please leave or send me a link so i can see the post)

♥ ♥ ♥

maximum of 6 entries per person

the giveaway is running until Midnight (UK time) on Friday the 11th of March, so there's not THAT much time left to enter...

i will draw a winner tomorrow morning using a random number generator

i'll post the results on Saturday the 12th of March and the winner will be notified via email, facebook, tumblr or twitter accordingly

so go now and enter the giveaway

look at all the cute stuff you can win!

you won't believe this but i've already started picking up goodies for the NEXT giveaway so don't be too disheartened if you don't win this one

gosh i do spoil you guys...

◕‿◕ ♥ xX

ps – i'm really not much of a praying girl but right now all the prayers in my heart are going out to those affected by the devastating Earthquake and Tsunami that hit Japan + affected most of the Pacific basin. if you live in any of the countries or islands affected, keep safe + please be alright xX

Sunshine and Stuff ★

so not that much to report today really, I still feel ill, finished reading my new book today, watched a movie or two...

i've also been writing my picture book related essay all day like a good little art student!

i'm still stuck at home although i have to say, the weather today has been divine!!

in fact it was so nice today it even lured me outside for a little walk around the garden, i mean just look at that cloudless blue sky...

it was still ruddy cold though! look, this pond had even iced over! 

apart from that it was genuinely nice to see some sunshine

and for once, there was virtually no wind! and trust me, normally it's almost always blowing a gale here on the Isle of Man!!!

there was barely even enough breeze to stir the Manx Flag!!!

anyway on with the actual point of today's post...

I have some new business cards!!!

these little lovelies arrived while I was away in Coventry so I was delighted to find them waiting for me when I got home on Saturday night

aren't they adorable! I still adore my old business cards (see below) but these are just so swishy and super

there's only a dozen of them seeing as they're more of an experiment really, i just wanted to see what they'd look like but the quality is gorgeous with a lovely silky finish! you can see how the old one and the new ones compare here as well

I picked my picture book pages for the designs so that whoever I pass them along to can have a teeny tiny little bit of pretty picture book fabulousness in their pocket

i'll be throwing one of these new business cards in with the giveaway bundle + a niiiiice quality A5 sized 'lollipop' print of the winners choice (from this selection... oh and the A5 print won't have the signature in the corner either)

that means that the winner of the giveaway will be the first person in the whole wide world to receive one of these limited little business cards!!!

obviously there are some 'proper' prizes up for grabs as well! 

there's been precisely 26 entries so far so it's not like you'd be up against an awful lot of people if you entered now... (added incentive!!!)

There are precisely 10 days left to enter so you know... get entering!!! - 

♥ Giveaway ♥

* * *

also on a slightly random note, i added a pair of angel wings to one of my pinup girls...

don't ask! i watched 'Dogma' last night for the first time in ages (it's one of my fave 90's films) so i wondered what one of my pinup's would look like as an angel

and yes i know... she looks weird!

end of random post!

* * *

that's it for today, i'm now going to head off and write a little more for my essay + maybe start reading a new book

who knows!

that's all folks...

◕‿◕ ♥ xX

ps - no-one told me which country i have to do a farewell to next so for now the multilingual farewells are on hold! any suggestions would be awesome x