★ Jade's Wish List - 2011 ★

It's getting to be that time of year again, the time when you can't leave the house without a scarf, hat and gloves, when winter boots and multiple pairs of socks are the only thing that will keep your toes warm, the time when shops begin to fill with fancy gifts and sparkly lights and festive tunes start to fill the air, in my opinion it's THE best time of year, i'm talking, of course about the Wintery weather and the thought of Christmas, just around the corner!

Winter has always been my favourite season and when people ask me why i'm never really able to give them much of a proper reason! 

There's just something about it that I love. I look forward to it in fact + the chance to wear winter coats, boots, gloves and hats, and getting to mooch around town shopping for fabulous presents for my friends and family. 

Pretty wrapping paper, ribbons and tags, boxes stacked up waiting to be opened, it's all so much fun + it's amazing waking up and opening the curtains to see fresh snow covering everything like a layer of pristine icing, glittering ever so slightly. 

I love the darker nights and the cold weather when all you want to do is curl up in a big blanket and sip sweet tea while reading a really good book or watching old Xmas movies. It's all heaven to me!

right i've rambled on for long enough I think, maybe...

anyway, since Christmas is coming I thought now might be the time to draw up a little Xmas Wish List just in case Father Christmas is reading this! I mean, i'm sure he reads my blog anyway... right?!

So here it is, my Dream Wish List for 2011 + reasons as to why i want/need each item 

and yes, I am serious and no, I don't expect to wake up on Christmas morning to find all of these goodies waiting underneath the tree but hey, a girl can dream...

Jade's Dream Christmas Wish List 2011 - the TOP 10 (aka 'things Santa will never bring her, not in a million years no matter how nice and well behaved she is')

1. my name spelt out in these very cute tote shoppers from the fabulous Alphabet Bags (because, well look at them... do i really need to give a proper reason! they're brilliant)

2. a red papercut of 'I Miss Being a Small Girl' by the very awesome Rob Ryan (because i am a HUGE fan of his work and this is probably my favourite piece he's ever done!)

3. a gorgeous little Origami Crane necklace from Botica (because i like to fold paper cranes when i'm thinking and this necklace is just too lovely) 

4. a 'Miss Lanvin' doll figurine from Lanvin (because i am a sucker for anything 'Lanvin' and i just adore these fabulous little Lanvin dolls!) 

5. the full set of 'Clothbound Classics' Hardback Books from Penguin Books (because they are all so darn beautiful i can't pick just one + imagine how great it would be to have them all to pick from and read whenever/wherever!) 

6. a 'lipstick red' Lips clutch bag by Lulu Guinness (because i LOVE to wear red lipstick and this bag would always match my lipstick to perfection!)

7. a Guccioli 'Oliver' Pug keyring from Gucci (because i think it would look perfect on my black Gucci Indy bag + I just luuuurve Pugs!)

8. a truly brilliant Pashley 'Britannia' bicycle (in red of course!) from Adeline Adeline (because i sold my bike a few years ago and i really miss it! and because i've always wanted a bike JUST like this one)

9. a super duper pretty 'Floating Flock' dress from BHLDN (because let's face it, that is one cute dress!)

10. a pair of truly divine 'Big Stack' pumps with 120mm/5” high heels by Christian Louboutin (aka the God of shoes) i want these because... well other than the fact that they are AMAZING, they would totally match that BHLDN dress AND the Lulu Guinness lips clutch would match the red of the soles... perfect outfit sorted!!!

and there you have it, top 10 wish list for Xmas 2011... DONE!

a dream list of items that i will probably never own... or at least, will never get for Xmas, amassing a collective price tag of just under £3,150 

i think i did rather well with it actually, i could have gone a bit more down the hedonism route but i tried to keep it quite reasonable and realistic, what do you think? will Santa finally pull through this year and leave all of this under my tree?!

probably not...

but it was fun nonetheless! 

Either way I urge you ALL to have a go at one of these dream wish list type things, they are ridiculously fun to draw up even if I did get a bit carried away with mine, it seems to get a little more decadent as the list goes on but oh well! 

like i said, i could have gone a bit crazier with it, i mean i could have asked Santa for a yacht, an Aston Martin V12 Vantage, an apartment in Monaco and a shopping spree around Harrods... but i didn't because i'm sensible... obviously

anyway that's all for now, i'm off to post my list to Santa just to make double sure that he gets it in time for Christmas! i'd hate for him to miss it and send me something else, after all, we wouldn't want that to happen would we...

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i've got a new Creative Café post to pop up tomorrow evening so be sure to look out for that faithful readers!

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

Super Sunday #1 ♥

So I had a little idea this morning, since my Sundays are usually so quiet (aka boring) and seeing as I literally NEVER leave the house on a Sunday (unless i'm going to the Groudle Glen Railway) I have decided to dedicate a blog post each Sunday to something I consider to be 'Super' hence the term 'Super Sunday'

from now on, unless something extraordinarily fun and exciting happens to me on a Sunday (not very likely) I shall do a post entitled 'Super Sunday' and fill it with some of my favourite things. 

These Super Sunday's will also be numbered to avoid any future confusion (see... I thought of everything!)

so let's kick off the first ever Super Sunday shall we!

this weeks theme is... the wonderful genius that is, Lulu Guinness

now for those of you that have never heard of Lulu Guinness (seriously... have you been living under a rock?!) she is a truly super duper handbag and accessories designer.

Unfortunately, the only 'Lulu Guinness' thing in my life is my adorable little cosmetics bag that my Godmother bought me last year (it's pale blue and covered in tiny faces with big multicoloured floral hats... gorgeous)

i've been considering 'taking the plunge' and getting myself a proper Lulu Guinness bag for a while now but the problem is i find it so hard to choose just one from the multitude of wonderful designs her website offers!

But if I could pick ANYTHING at all from her collection, i think it would HAVE to one of her famous 'lip clutch handbags' preferably a bright red one because we all know what a sucker i am for anything red, especially red lipstick...

i'm a big fan of her handbag designs in general but there's just something about the lip bags that makes me seriously lust after owning one! 

they really are a thing of beauty i think! it's an iconic design that could be created in any colour, style or pattern and still be just as gorgeous to look at and to hold (yes i have held one, my mum had to physically drag me away from the Lulu Guinness stand during our trip to Dublin this summer)

so since i'm such a fan of the lip clutches (and a major nerd) i decided to include thumbnails of EVERY single lip clutch available off the Lulu Guinness online shop by making some montage/collage images of them!

and just to prove that i didn't cheat (and google ready made lip clutch images... if they exist) i grabbed this screencap of my desktop showing all 24 (yes... 24) individual lip bag images... 

now THAT is dedication! so anyway, with these 24 individual files i have carefully created 4 images that sum up the collection quite well i think...

first up we have the ultra awesome 'special' lip bags. these include Swarovski crystal encrusted lips, Union Jack + Stars and Stripes lips and even a very cool studded spiky lip clutch... 

next up we have the metallics collection (+ one Black perspex clutch because it wouldn't fit on the next image) i especially love the metallic red snakeskin clutch here, quite literally to die for i'm sure you'll agree!

and now we have the rest of the perspex lips collection. these are the cheapest of all the lip clutches at just £195 a pop (as opposed to £595 for a Swarovski encrusted one or £395 for a Union Jack one) and i actually really like them. they're so shiny and fun, like toy lips, so super duper and bright and happy! i bet it would be impossible to feel glum if you were carrying one of these...

and last but certainly not least, the 'normal' collection (if you can call any of these epic bags 'normal'). these bags are made of leather and feature some gorgeous colours including 'acid yellow', 'shocking pink' and 'vintage red'. so, soooo fabulous! 

all of her bags are just so gorgeous and girly and fun! whilst browsing on her site i also spotted this fabulous new tote handbag called the 'dolly bag' 

basically, the detail on the bag includes a little doll figure with press studs on her stomach and one under her hand, she's surrounded by lots of lovely outfits and accessories and the best part is... you can actually dress up the 'doll' and change her outfits to match your mood or the weather or whatever!

and the best part is that under every removable outfit there is a an embroidered version so that you never have to worry about any empty spaces on your bag. 

it's quite literally genius in handbag form!

to be honest i'm a little jealous of this though, i'm a huge 'paper doll' fan and have wondered for a long time what one of my 'girl' paper doll illustrations would look like on a handbag. 

this design is literally my dream idea for a 'Jade' illustrated bag but who knows... maybe one day there'll be a version of this with MY illustrations on, i can only hope so! fingers crossed...

 Lulu Guinness is definitely one of my 'Idols' though. her designs have inspired me for years, i still remember seeing one of her purse designs in a shop in London when i was younger, i was fascinated by the patterns on it, it was so unusual, so different to all the other bags and her style and use of colour and texture has stayed with me. 

those of you that have seen my illustrations will definitely see similarities with Lulu's designs, especially since we both use bold outlines (usually in black) in our work. that's just one of the ways her style has helped inspire and develop my own. 

she is a true style pioneer, her designs are timeless and always beautifully unique. the woman that carries a Lulu Guinness bag is rarely one that conforms to the typical fashion boundaries. she likes to show off her own style in a way that highlights her individuality, that showcases her differences, not her similarities. 

Lulu's designs give the wearer that sense, the knowledge that they are carrying something that is far from the ordinary. this is a rare quality to find in a handbag and one that when attained, will always make you smile no matter what...

Lulu is also an Idol of mine because of the way she actually came to be the design legend that she is today... 

"Despite her success Lulu has never had any formal design training apart from a year's foundation course at art school and a long-standing passion for design and fashion.  

In 1989, she left her job in video production to start her own business from the basement of the house in west London.

Lulu's strong personal style and her original ideas have played a large part in her success with her design inspiration springing partly from retro glamour and partly from modern chic"

you see, she really is ultra fabulous!

ok i think i've gushed enough now, all that's left for me to say is a great big thank you to the truly super duper Lulu Guinness for designing such drop dead gorgeous handbags, jewellery and accessories that make me squeal with happiness when i spot them in a shop (true story.. that actually happened at Brown Thomas in Cork, Ireland) 

Lulu Guinness, Thank you for being so fabulous... 

ps - oh and if you would like to check out Lulu's gorgeous website or blog please follow these links... 

Lulu Guinness

Lulu's Blog

pps - and if anyone would like to treat me to a red lip clutch of my very own... that would be super!!!

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and so concludes the first ever 'Super Sunday'

i think you'll get the general idea now of what sort of things each Sunday's post will entail...

it won't always be fashion themed though, it could be just about anything from some area of Art History, to a shop that i love, to a friend i cherish or a place i've visited... who knows! 

that's the fun of Super Sunday's

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ok, time for me to actually attempt to do some illustration work now!

enjoy the rest of your Sunday

that's all folks... 

♥ ◕‿◕ ★ xX

'Thank you and Goodbye'

(an easy one... farewell in English on behalf of the United Kingdom)