Candy Pop and the Candy Dolls

Hello darlings! It's been a while since my last post, but if you follow me via facebook or twitter you may have noticed that for the past few weeks i've been working furiously to sort everything for my end of year exhibition at college

if you've followed the blog for a while you also might have noticed a serious decline in the amount of personal work posts since last year. The truth is that i've had plenty of work to share with you all, I just haven't chosen to post it on here like i usually do.

for example, in regard to my most recent project, i wanted to keep everything TOP SECRET and hidden until my actual exhibition :)

anyway, the exhibition opened on Thursday night so now i see no reason to keep the stuff under wraps, so on that note, i'd like you all to meet... the Candy Dolls

Love Is The Drug

Pretty In Pink

You Should Be Dancing

Just Can't Get Enough

In The Summertime

Sweeter Than Candy

Go Chasing Rabbits

I Put A Spell On You

Where Is My Mind

there are nine of them altogether and in case you couldn't guess from the cryptic titles, they're all based on various song lyrics.

the new term at college required me to set a new project brief for myself. i knew that i wanted to do something bright and colourful but very girly and maybe a little edgier than my usual work.

i'd been toying with the idea of producing a set of kawaii inspired figurative illustrations for a while, then a few months ago Ballad Of magazine set their new issue theme which just happened to be 'Candy Pop'. i'd long since begun sketching out a few girls so the timing seemed perfect. working towards the submissions brief gave me the chance to create a set of work for my college portfolio as well as a possible opportunity to get the work published.

anyway, i submitted 5 very basic girls, the early stages of the 'dolls' i guess and kept my fingers crossed bit unfortunately none of my illustrations made the final cut due to being deemed too sweet. i only found that out about a week and a half ago so in the time since i sent the early versions the 'dolls' have changed and developed quite a bit.

for starters, most of them now sport a serious amount of ink! tattoo art has always fascinated me but i have a massive phobia of needles so since covering myself with tattoos was out of the question, i covered my illustrations with them instead.

and inspired by the candy pop culture, i ended up fusing a bit of Kawaii with a bit of Rockabilly to create a bunch of pastel haired, pin-up style lovelies :)

 there's a lot more to them than initially meets the eye but i'll save all that rambling for the next post.

tomorrow night i'll be posting pics of the actual exhibition + the little paintings i did to accompany the digital designs, but in the meantime you can check out prints, postcards and booklets featuring the Candy Dolls, currently on sale in my BigCartel Store and my Etsy Shop

so until tomorrow (hopefully!), that's all folks... xX

All images featured in this post belong to Jade Boylan © do not claim, use, distribute, reproduce or copy ANY of my work without my express written consent (or else i will find you!!!) . All Rights Reserved.

Creative Café #28 ★

so i did it again didn't i, i vanished a for a few days and forgot that actually yes, i do run a blog from time to time. As per usual i have good excuses though, you can be sure of that!

anyway on with the post, today it's a Creative Café post which can mean only one thing...

time for the drill! so go, go now and get yourself a snack or beverage or something otherwise it takes the whole 'Café' part out of the Creative Café. i mean obviously if this were a real Café i'd be the one to go and fetch you a drink and a snack but this isn't a real café. it's a blog. so no such luck.

anyway, back to the post. today it's all about super talented designer, illustrator, evil mastermind and professional sneaker aficionado Tim Easley



i first discovered Tim's work some time last year via Twitter. i can't actually remember when it was i just know that it was through Twitter and that i really liked his style of illustration straight away.



i know i always say that when i do these posts but it was definitely true for Tim's work (it was true for the others as well i'm just trying to make a point here! i'll just give up shall i). i also won a little Xmas card and zombie moustache sticker off him last December and i can tell you now that i spent a very happy hour wandering around the house wearing my zombie moustache sticker when it arrived.

I could sit here and type up a heap of zany made up stuff about Tim but i thought it would make more sense to just borrow this from his website instead: "Tim Easley is a self taught designer & illustrator from London, who likes to work with hand drawn lettering, bright colours & bold lines. He creates work from uniquely imaginative concepts, matching seemingly unrelated subject matters in playful & explorative illustrations.

Having previously lived in Tokyo & Seattle, he is now based back in his home town, where he works in a variety of mediums, predominantly creating art for freelance projects & prints. His illustrations have been featured in a number of publications internationally, as well as being sold & exhibited worldwide.

Most days Tim can be found in his studio with some inappropriately placed pencils, daydreaming and doodling, surrounded by pretty ladies & piles of gold." 



all of that definitely sums him up better than i ever could! but the point is, he's a really talented guy and he creates all sorts of very groovy stuff using funky colours and nice bold outlines. his themes are often peculiar but brilliantly drafted to create wacky and wonderful scenes and characters. he also co-founded 'Crooked Tongues' which is apparently the place to go for anything sneaker related online. who knew!



i find Tim's work really inspiring, probably because we're both perfectionists and use similar bold outlines. but he's also full of great tips, useful criticism and advice for any and all creative types out there, and it's not just because Tim is older and wiser (he is though...) he just seems to have a great eye for what works and what doesn't when it comes to graphic design, typography and illustration making his own work a brilliant fusion of creative awesomeness that will make your brain go 'wow'.



that's why i wanted to feature his work on here, because i admire his stuff so much. oh and it's also because the other day i treated myself to one of Tim's rather fetching little tote bags (well i needed somewhere to store my impressive beach pebble collection...) and when it arrived he'd sent a stack of other papery goodies along with it which cheered me up no end

anyway there's probably a lot more that i could say about his work but my brain isn't cooperating fully today and i think i've rambled on for long enough now, so i'll leave you all to scroll through some more of Tim's work in your own sweet time, enjoy...

there you see, i told you it was all awesome! and i am usually always right...

ok time for some links now.


to see even more of Tim's work you can head on over to his website here - Tim Easley

he also has a great online shop selling rather lovely prints, stickers, postcards, totes, notebooks and other things that you might like to treat yourself or someone else to - Tim Easley | Store

you can also 'Like' Tim's work on Facebook - Tim Easley

and follow him on Twitter - @timeasley

he also has a Flickr page full of wonderful things for your eyes to feast on - Flickr


ok all that's left now is for me to say a whopping great 'thank you' to Tim for not telling me to go jump off a cliff when i asked him if i could run a blog post featuring some of his work. so thanks for that :)


All images featured in this post belong to Tim Easley © do not claim, use, distribute, reproduce of trace ANY of this work without his express written consent. All Rights Reserved.

* * *

in other news, i've been very busy this week, so busy in fact that i forgot to say a big THANK YOU to everyone that entered the Blog Birthday Giveaway!!!

my blog turned 3 years old on Wednesday, unfortunately i was working all morning and at a meeting all afternoon so i completely forget to celebrate this fact

the giveaway closed on Wednesday night at midnight, it was a great success and the 3 winners have now been notified but thank you thank you thank you to everyone that entered it!

the next giveaway will be held exclusively on Twitter to celebrate my finally having reached 1000 followers on there, but to be in with a chance of winning you MUST be following me on Twitter - @jadeboylan

anyway until next time, that's all folks... xX

Galleries and Gingerbread ★

so yesterday, before i headed off to the gallery times (more about that soon) i spent some time stitching and sewing at my college desk, so here's a snap of what i've been working on lately...

yaaay Gingerbread plushies! now it really must be nearly Christmas!!!

i spent my day at college making them. it was lovely to get back to some stitching! i think i've missed it!

even if my desk was a mess of felt, ribbon, embroidery floss and buttons all day...

some of these are already available in my Etsy Shop (on a made to order basis)

so i also realised yesterday that i'd completely forgotten about the 'Xmas Giveaway' i promised you all! i've just been so busy lately i honestly haven't had chance to gather up some goodies for it! (i haven't even started my Xmas gift shopping yet either!!!) so i've decided to postpone the giveaway for a while...

instead, i'll be holding a mahoosive NEW YEAR Giveaway Extravaganza! i promise!!! so keep your eyes peeled in early 2012 for some fun giveaway times!

so to make up for this (sort of... i hope!) + because today is Thanksgiving and tomorrow is 'Black Friday' i'm offering 15% off EVERYTHING in my Etsy Shop until the 15th of December 

all you have to do is type in the coupon code FESTIVEFUN when you make your order

so you know... Merry Christmas :)

* * *

right so, as i mentioned in my last post, some of my work is currently on display in a groovy group exhibition at a little local Gallery in Tynwald, and last night was the exhibition preview night!

 it was a fab exhibition but it was kind of weird to me, getting to display my work alongside some of the islands top artists and photographers! weird but brilliant :)

my best pal Courtney tagged along to keep me company and we had a laugh wandering around the gallery + the Tynwald café and shops all night

all together i had 7 pieces in the show. my 4 sweet canvases...

2 lovely framed giclée prints of the sugar skull and matryoshka

(+ some pretty mounted/bagged prints for sale as well...) 

and my 'un-domestic Goddess' canvas which miraculously... is the piece that sold :)

i didn't manage to snap too many photos but it was a brilliant night! and best of all, like i said... i actually sold something!!!

crazy awesome times! thanks to all those that popped along to have a little peek at all the work! the Exhibition will be running right through Xmas so if you live local and head to Tynwald to do any Xmas shopping, be sure to pop in and have a look!

* * *

so not much else to tell really, here are a few of the fun colouring/maze pages i've been working on recently for a lovely local commission

these have been sooooo much fun to work on! i can't wait to do some more stuff for 'Imagination Station' in the New Year

to find out more about Imagination Station + to download your own copies of the colouring sheets, check out the official Facebook page here - Imagination Station

and on that note, i'll say goodbye for now!

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