Paper Dress-Up

Hello there, yes back again, not blathering on about the Glen again this time, although i DID visit it last Sunday with three of my friends, we picked a few blackberries and had far too much fun spinning around on the rope swing in the middle of the Glen and hurling conkers and sticks at one-another. But that's a tale for another time, maybe.

Anyway, you might have noticed that we're already into October now! That means a few things, 1) I can now wear boots, hats, gloves, scarves and coats in public WITHOUT getting weird looks from people, 2) the nights are getting darker, it's colder and leaves are all turning orange and falling off the trees and most importantly 3) it's Halloween this month!!!

so... LET'S GET SPOOKY!

oh they look a bit familiar right?! Well you remember those paper people cuties Little Aalish and Little Illiam, well what better way to celebrate Halloween (or Hop-Tu-Naa as it's known here on the Isle of Man) than with a super special spooktacular dress-up sheet!

So, that's just what i did, and I'm rather happy because the clothes sheets got delivered today which means I spent the past half-hour snipping out the costumes and playing dress-up with the little paper people.

i had a lot of fun designing this sheet and even more fun actually testing it out on the dolls. What makes this sheet so fun is that every single costume on it is interchangeable for both paper dolls, so that means you don't have to get a sheet for each doll, they can share!

Don't get me wrong, I had a whole brain full of wondrous outfits specifically suited to each character, including a fancy Witch and a Sailor costume for Aalish

but then I thought it would be more fun to make the costumes suitable for both Aalish AND Illiam, saving on paper and snipping costs!

I also didn't want to make gender specific sheets of clothes. I know there's nothing wrong with being girly and feminine but I don't like the way most costumes for little girls and women nowadays are overtly sexualized in comparison with the nice normal sensible boys ones. Case in point, here's a Ghostbusters costume for boys vs the one for girls.

 and yeah, ok so it's not as terrible as some out there but still, it's hardly as practical as the boys one is it! You might be thinking, 'it's just for kids, it doesn't matter' but what about when they grow up, look at the Adult versions for men and women! er... I don't think so. WHERE am I supposed to keep my PKE meter and hook my ghost trap while i'm chasing after spooks in a getup like that!

i'll shut up ranting. So yeah, gender neutral costumes were the main agenda for this sheet! And that way there's none of this 'is it for boys or girls?' nonsense, because it's for EVERYONE! yay!

I love Halloween and i'm sure most of you do as well, but I remember when I was a kid (who am I kidding, I basically still AM a kid!) every Halloween I would dress up in generic creepy witch costumes, or a bin-bag monster (thanks mum) with a cheap plastic frankenstein/devil/ghost/werewolf mask and some glow in the dark vampire teeth from the local newsagents. My point is that it wasn't about being girly or pretty, it was about being scary or at least a little bit spooky! BOO!

so that's what this sheet is all about. And in case you're wondering what that thing in Aalish's hand is, it's a TURNIP lantern instead of a pumpkin, because for Hop-Tu-Naa Manx children carry little carved turnip lanterns around as they go trick or treating and singing Hop-Tu-Naa songs to collect their sweeties and treats.

Once again these lovely dress-up sheets are available to buy exclusively via Sweet Ginger Emporium in Ramsey, hence why the sheet is titled 'Hop-Tu-Naa' and not 'Halloween'

so if you want to get your hands on a set, you'd better head to Ramsey or Laxey!

and on that pumpkin themed note, i'll head off. Expect more Halloween stuff later in the month, but for now that's all folks!

Happy Hop Tu Naa

what's this... a blog post?! surely not :O

yeah it sure has been a while since i last posted huh! i'm not sure why but this year all of my blogging 'get up and go' has just leapt out the window without a goodbye or an explanation!

also, for those of you not in the know, this September i started my FINAL year at college, so in just over 6 months time i will (hopefully!) graduate with a BA in Fine Art

this means that i have even less time than i had before to try and whip up the occasional blog post. yeeeks! i will try though. even if it's just one a month O.o

anyway, today is Halloween! or, if you're from the Isle of Man (like me!) it's Hop Tu Naa

but wherever you are + whatever you're up to today, have a nice day ok :D

so since it is Halloween and all that jazz, here's a little Halloween inspired illustration + some close up details of bits n' bobs, enjoy...

after all, what would Halloween be without stripey witch socks and bright orange converse!

and big helium filled balloons covered in spiders

 

oh and don't forget your book of magical spells! 

 or a skull-tastic pirate dress!

 and since i made the pic of the girls into a cover photo for my Facebook Fan Page, this little guy needed a quick makeover to match as well

so what else?! well, i STILL don't have an iPhone but i do have a swish new iPod touch so i'm now on instagram! yay! so if any of you fancy witnessing even more of my daily insanity follow @jade_boylan

so what do i post pictures of?! well i'm glad you asked...

some of you may remember that around this time last year i took my two darling nieces to see Ghostbusters on the big screen at a cinema in Coventry, (if not, check out the old post HERE)

well... much to my fangirl delight, this year it was on at a local cinema here on the Isle of Man so i got to go and see it again :D IT WAS BRILLIANT! obviously. so of course everything had to be Ghostbusters themed for the days leading up to it :)

also, the day i went to see it, the local council was encouraging people to dress up for Halloween, so naturally i spent the day wearing these!

i also recently posted this sneaky peek of some newly packaged items that might be going on sale soon. watch this space!

i'm also very pleased to announce that some of my designs, merch and handmade goods are now for sale at Mostly Manx in Douglas :)

oh and one final thing before i go...

 since it's Halloween, i'm currently offering 20% off all orders in my Etsy Shop! no tricks, just treats…

just use code TREAT31 at the checkout :)

so that's it, for now! farewell dearhearts xX

♥ ★ Happy Halloween ★ ♥

so Happy Halloween at last!

in case you haven't already guessed it... that's right, i haven't done ANY more Halloween Pinup Girl illustrations... or any new Halloween illustrations of any kind!

like i said in the previous post, i intend to make up for this by doing several Christmas themed ones over the next 2 months leading up to Xmas day, a fair deal i'm sure you'll agree...

anyway, back to Halloween... or should i refer to it as Hop-tu-Naa??? i don't know, never mind...

ok so last night my little 4-year-old cousin Sienna came to stay for a 'girly night' which included...

 dancing around to 'Lollipop' by Mika many MANY times, 

sitting applying gems to Cinderella's dress (Cinderella is a doll, i should point out), 

enjoying far too many chocolate coins and kinder eggs, 

watching lots of lovely Studio Ghibli films which i'm glad to say Sienna really enjoyed (Ponyo, Spirited Away and My Neighbour Totoro) 

having a yummy dinner of 'dippy egg', apricot yoghurt and sliced apple,

and also... a Halloween themed 'makeover'


look at the actual makeover CARNAGE on my dressing table! oh and there's 'cinderella' as well...

this was the overall result of the makeover since i didn't have a costume but Sienna did

you can't really see it but she's covered in luminous sparkly silver shimmery stuff and she has electric blue and hot pink eyeshadow on as well to match her dress... genius

anyway back to the question, should i say that today is Halloween or Hop-tu-Naa?

now you're probably wondering... what's the contest here, Halloween is celebrated (almost) universally whereas Hop-tu-Naa isn't...

however, i live in the Isle of Man so i'm afraid that here it's pretty much Hop-tu-Naa all the way!

(oh and in case you were wondering... it's pronounced hop-chew-nay)

so what is it exactly...

well let me enlighten you dear readers...

Hop-tu-Naa is a Celtic festival celebrated in the Isle of Man on 31 October. Predating Halloween. For modern Hop-tu-Naa, children dress up and go from house to house with the hope of being given sweeties or money (just like Halloween traditions)

However, for Hop-tu-Naa the children carry carved turnip lanterns rather than pumpkins and sing Hop-tu-Naa songs. Here's an example of a rather creepy looking Hop-tu-Naa turnip lantern...




Hop-tu-Naa is still celebrated widely on the Isle of Man, although most of the old Hop-tu-Naa traditions aren't practiced much any more, like the making and eating of a 'dumb cake', an old form of Manx divination that supposedly, if done correctly would reveal to a girl, who her future husband would be in a dream or vision. 

However there is still a Hop-tu-Naa pentagram (available to buy) that is supposedly based on the original one worn by the old Manx Witches that would fly out on Hop-tu-Naa to wreak magic and mischief. (NOTE: i don't want ANY complaints about the pentagram please! pentagrams are NOT evil! upside down ones are... normal ones are a-ok and if you thought otherwise then that makes you a fool i'm afraid so... yeah, stop being a fool and ssshhh)




The differences between Hop-tu-Naa and Halloween are barely apparent any more, on the 31st of October Manx children dress up in spooky costumes with face paints and 'trick or treat' bags just like children all over the world. Even the carrying of turnips is something that not all Manx children partake in, preferring to carry a little plastic torch or a small pumpkin instead.




One of the differences that still sometimes remains is that nowadays most Manx children are still taught some of the traditional old Hop-tu-Naa songs to sing on the 31st during their trick or treating.




The original songs are all in Manx Gaelic and the English translations don't always make sense but there's a modern 'Manx English' song that i remember from my own childhood, it's called 'Jinnie the Witch' and goes a little something like this... 




Hop-tu-Naa

My mother's gone away

And she won't be back until the morning

Jinnie the Witch flew over the house

To fetch the stick to lather the mouse

Hop-tu-Naa

My mother's gone away

And she won't be back until the morning

ok, there are other variations on the song but that's enough Hop-tu-Naa stuff... for more information, and a wonderful article on the celebration of Hop-tu-Naa check out this BBC Isle of Man page.

* * *

ok back to Halloween

i've been saving this for a while but, it's one of the old 60's American ads i found at college a few weeks ago (more on the awesome old American ads can be found HERE and HERE) 

so apologies for the massive crease down the middle but... it was a double page spread and i could sooooooo not be bothered to try and remove it on photoshop... sorry

* * *

i should explain that i am a big fan of all things Halloween and Hop-tu-Naa (i am a big kid after all) and that i usually do dress up as a witch every year (black suede heels, floaty Monsoon dress and an awesome embroidered witches hat) and that i was supposed to be spending my Halloween this year taking my little 5-year-old God-daughter Bonnie out trick or treating but...

she told me last week that she couldn't 'do' halloween because she was going to a party

ditched... by my own god-daughter!

so instead i intend to spend this evening watching scary films by myself...

now that IS a scary thought!

* * *

i shall leave you with my most Halloween friendly illustration to date, the charming, the creepalicious, the ever so slightly wrong... 'Zombie Ninja Panda Bear'

 i wish you all the Happiest of Halloweens (and Hop-tu-Naa's) and hope that you have a super spooky day/night, whatever you're up to or wherever you are in the world

that's all folks...

♥ ★ ◕‿◕ ★ ♥