Santa Trains and Sienna ★

so yesterday i got up bright an early (ish...) to head into town to pick up my darling little cousin Sienna for the day

she was all dressed up and ready to go in her candy coloured winter outfit + sweetie patterned welly boots! 

we had a nice little mooch around the shops first though, she helped me pick out a few last minute xmas prezzies for some people so i treated her to a little Hello Kitty necklace for being such a sweetheart!

and she even got to meet Santa outside the local shopping centre!

but then it was time to take her on our annual day out to the fabulous Santa Trains at the local Groudle Glen Railway

we took her last year and had a brilliant day out despite the chilly weather! so we were all looking forward to heading to the glen again this year for another trip on the trains. here she is with my mum aka her 'Auntie Joy'

it was pretty cold when we got to the Lime Kiln Halt so we did some dancing about to the Xmas music to try and keep warm while we waited for the train...

but then at long last, we heard the all too familiar 'choo-choo' of the train as it came chugging around the corner to collect us

then it was on to the Lhen Coan Station to get some mulled wine, a mince pie, and then go and meet Father Christmas!

the Station looked very festive, all decorated for Christmas as the train kept heading back and forth to collect and drop off more visitors

we had a fabulously festive and fun day and i'm sure we'll be visiting the Groudle Glen Railway again next year to take Sienna to the Easter Bunny and Teddy Bears Picnic Trains

for more information about the Railway line be sure to check out the official GGR website here - Groudle Glen Railway

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after the Trains, we popped out for some lunch where Sienna decided to open the little gift Santa gave her at the station 

turns out it was a very VERY awesome little wooden marionette puppet

Sienna eventually decided to name him 'Lenny' and i'm not gonna lie, we had a LOT of fun making him walk and dance about on the table top!

unfortunately we had to drop little Miss Sienna off after that because today she got the boat over to the UK to visit her family for Christmas!

but we had a great day, it's always a fun day when Sienna is around :) x

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in other news, i got a lovely little surprise in the post yesterday as well!

the very lovely Astrid from 'Schwarzie Design' had sent me a cute little bundle of mini print cards and a little note via 'snail mail' all the way from South Africa!

it really made my already lovely day that extra bit awesome so big thanks to her for that!

her artwork are very gorgeous, i'm sure i'll have to run a post about her and her sister's designs on here in the New Year, but until then i recommend you check out her website here - Schwarzie Design

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and i think that's it for now! not many plans this week, i've finished buying and wrapping ALL of my Xmas presents to i'm a bit unsure of how to spend my time other than reading, watching old movies or editing drawings!

but i have something super duper sweet to share with you all tomorrow evening so be sure to look out for that!

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

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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

Freedom at last ♥

so i'm sorry i didn't post last night, i truly meant to but i didn't get home until about 6:30pm and i was shattered!

i finished my first year of the HND yesterday at college and after a business meeting at the college concerning some logos i walked into town to meet my mum, my Godmother Kath, her daughter Zoe, Zoe's son Isaac, my mum's friend Beth and my cousin Mandy for lunch (phew)

it was a lovely afternoon and while we were having lunch at the Alpine i got a phonecall from my Art History tutor telling me that i'd been graded full Distinctions for my Picture Book essay (yaaaaaaaay) 

while i was in the Alpine i also sorted out the tattoo commission for the lovely Melanie and got paid for it (another yaaay) THEN i bumped into two of my best friends Mike and Quinn who attacked me in the street with a double hug... so all in all it was a really great day and a great way to end the term! 

i'm now free until September!!!!!! 

then as if all that wasn't awesome enough already i head into Ramsey to drop off some snazzy new business cards at the Sweet Ginger Emporium

pretty nifty right! Ciara asked me to use the photoshoot by Phil Kneen + add the shops logo and info, it was nice to design cards for someone else for a change!!!

anyway, it was a nice afternoon so myself + my lovely mother went for a little wander around the shops in Ramsey and since i couldn't find a book to treat myself to, i ended up buying this gorgeous vintage china teacup and saucer set from 'the Tide' 

i honestly haven't a clue what i'll use it for, maybe i'll keep my earrings in it! it's so pretty though! look at those gorgeous red patterns all over it!

+ i also got a lovely laser cute felt and wooden Butterfly, to replace a glass one i had hanging in my room, one i also accidentally broke a few weeks ago!

also, because i truly am a big kid that will NEVER grow up, i bought 3 more little lalaloopsy dolls to add to my collection!

i know i knooooow... i'm so uncool! but they're so cute and they look so pretty dotted about my room!

these new additions now bring my collection up to a total of eight lovely little lalaloopsy girls

look at them though! they're soooooooo super duper cute!

 i really will never truly grow up, you all know that... 

anyway... then as if the day hadn't already been amazing, i got home to find that my Godmother had given me a brand new black leather Gucci Indy handbag!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it is sooooo gorgeous! i just love it! thanks to her my handbag collection has become home to 2 divine Chloé Paddingtons and now a Gucci Indy! she really is the best Godmother in the world! 

i actually LOVE this bag!

* * *

that's it really, this afternoon i 'test drove' the bag around Tesco while food shopping and then i came home and wrote this post!

short but sweet...

i have a new princess illustration design thing to share with you all tomorrow so stay tuned for that, oh and if any of you are on Google + search for me and add me because i'm on there now :)

right, off to make some tea now, ciao my lovelies!

that's all folks... ★ ◕‿◕ xX

Cute Cupcakes ★

so. . . i failed to mention this yesterday or earlier because i had other stuff to post about but on Friday afternoon i came home to find a belated Birthday present waiting for me by the gates!!!

it was off my best friend Courtney and inside the pink tissue paper wrapped bundle i found a cupcake maker!

yes you read that right, she got me my very own mini cupcake maker!!!

a cupcake maker that allows you to make cute mini cupcakes in minutes!

i'm not gonna lie, i fully squealed when i realised what the present was! i'm not the world's best baker and to be honest i often struggle just to make decent cupcakes so this is a real god-send!

it's kind of like a little toastie or waffle maker except you pour cupcake mix in instead

according to the instructions, it's not necessary to use cupcake cases but i'd seen a few blogs and sites online showing people using cases with their makers, and luckily my cousin Mandy bought me a lovely little cupcake making kit for my birthday that i have been dying to try out!

the cases fit perfectly, so now all i needed were the ingredients!

like i said. . . not the best baker! i didn't trust myself with completely raw ingredients (measuring wise i really suck) so my dear mama got me some simple 'just add eggs/water' kits instead.

the maker itself is actually really awesome, once i'd mixed the batter and heated up the little maker it cooked the cupcakes up in no time!

+ it was an absolute doddle to clean (as you can see i spilt some of the batter) and super easy to use!

i actually cooked up 15 mini cakes altogether and then of course, came the fun part. . . decorating them!

i mixed up a bowl of buttercream icing with a dash of strawberry milkshake powder. ok so i failed to buy any proper vanilla essence or flavourings but the milkshake powder actually worked really well! it made the icing a sort of blushed peachy pink and it piped out really easily onto the cakes

even if my piping skills aren't quite as good!!! i threw on some sprinkles for good measure though

before promptly running out of buttercream icing!!! luckily my star of a mother whipped up a batch of chocolate icing for me to use

so i ended up with some strange sort of marbled iced cakes as well

but at the end of the day the proof is in the taste and these taste delicious! even if i do say so myself . . . and i do!

a mini cupcake success i think!!!

thanks to Courtney for the amazing gift, thank you deary xX

* * *

in other news, i've spent the afternoon writing and editing my digital logbook ahead of assessment next week, 

planning on watching a movie or something now but to be honest i've been at a bit of a loose end since i finished my re-watch marathon of 'Supernatural' which means i now have nothing to watch!!!

any suggestions for a show i could maybe get into and watch/re-watch would be greatly appreciated!

i was thinking maybe 'True Blood' or 'Misfits' but i'd quite like a new show to watch

anyway, enough rambling! enjoy the rest of your Sunday

that's all folks . . . ★ ◕‿◕ xX