Who Ya Gonna Call?

Hello there my dears, I failed spectacuarly last week by somehow managing NOT to post a blog at all. For this I apologize, it wasn't a great week and every time I though 'ooh I should probably go do a blog' I found that I had absolutely nothing to talk about.

So naturally I just didn't push it. I mean I could have made stuff up and told you a fantastical tale plucked straight from the dizzying depths of my overactive imagination. But I didn't.

Anyway, i'm here now and guess what?! I DREW something again! Big news, I know.

If you're a regular reader of my inane ramblings then by now it probably goes without saying that I am a massive geek and a total fangirl (I declare this with pride, I feel no shame for my lifelong obsessions with books/movies/tv shows etc) so when I popped Netflix on in the background and sat down with my pencils and paper thinking 'hhm I think i'll draw a new Candy Doll type girl today' the result ended up turning into something completely different but nonetheless still kind of girly and eventually kind of awesome.

Despite having seen it at least 100 times (probably) and owning more than one copy of it on DVD, for some reason I once again opted to watch 'Ghostbusters' on Netflix.

So this is what I ended up drawing...

Now you're probably sitting there thinking... why? And that is a very good question which I will try to answer for you now.

Firstly, because GHOSTBUSTERS and secondly because, GHOSTBUSTERS.

Come on give me a break it's my favourite movie and this is the first time i've attempted to draw myself a proper Ghostbuster (I drew the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man once, and of course my Adventure Time crossover HERE) and since I can never seem to pick a fave from the Movie and I was never sure of all the characters in the cartoon, I invented my own fearsome redheaded (busty) buster ready to kick some supernatural ass!

She's a Rookie buster, still in training, learning how to catch ghosts without burning faces off or destroying buildings. Although she might have got a bit more than she bargained for with Slimer, I think he's taken a bit of a shine to her!

The blog upload kind of massacres the colour quality but it really pops, I tried to post it on my Tumblr blog but to no avail as apparently the wifi router at home hates me today with a vile burning passion because it took me about 2 flipping hours to upload everything for this post. I'll be quiet now.

So as well as the movie (obviously) I was also inspired by some of the brilliantly amazing GB Pinup girl shoots I saw over on Ghostbusters News so I thought it could be fun to have a go at one myself. So she had to be sexy (of course) but still dressed in the proper Ghostbusters gear ready to wrangle some ghosties! 

I had to wriggle a few things around (the patch on her arm is on the wrong side I think, but it's an illustration not a 100% accurate representation, so please calm down Ghostbusters fans, i'm sorry!) but she was still tonnes of fun to draw. 

here are a few of the shots that inspired the illustration, each one is linked to the corresponding post over on Ghostbusters News with full info about the photographers and models and so on.

And that's just a few examples from some of the shoots on the site, aren't they brilliant! I have a feeling that my next cosplay project might have to be a Ghostbusters costume, as authentic as possible, or maybe I can drag in my current cosplay alter ego and form some sort of Mary Poppins Ghostbusters hybrid?! we shall see...

So yeah that's it, a new drawing, at last. It's been a while since I drew a girl not covered with tattoos or multicoloured rainbow mermaid hair. Not that there's anything wrong with any of those things (obviously!) but it was fun to draw and colour something a little less pastel princess and more ghostbustin' goddess! 

Anyway that's all I wanted to share with y'all today since I have nothing else to tell you about.

I read some more books and marathon-watched a few shows online, which was about as exciting as it sounds.

So on that delightful note i'll sign off, see you all next time, hopefully!

Cheerio folks

Paper People

Hello chums! Back again. As per usual I can't think of anything terribly clever or witty to start off today's post with, so i'm just going prattle on for a few lines then crack on with posting some photos instead.

So I haven't done much art lately. That sounds like the best way to sum up my total lack of creativity since the tail end of last year. I barely draw, I barely edit stuff on my macbook, other than the occasional bit of graphic design, I don't really do anything remotely creative.

But over the past few weeks i've been trying to shuffle-clamber out of my creativity-less malaise so i've been working on something new. It's been a bit of an agonisingly slow process but bit by minsucle bit the designs have begun to grow and develop into something actually printable.

So I thought, why don't I actually get some printed?!

And well, I did, and this is the result.

So without any further ado please allow me to introduce you to my newest creations, Aalish and Illiam...

In case you haven't figured it out yet, Aalish and Illiam are 'paper dolls' or to be more neutral 'paper people' (since Illiam has nothing against playing with dolls, he just isn't sure that he wants to be one. Aalish doesn't really mind either way, as long as there's chocolate cake available afterwards. There is cake isn't there?).

Those of you that have kept up with my work for a while might remember the Pinup Paper Doll I designed 2 years ago for local craft heaven and haberdashery treasure trove Sweet Ginger Emporium.

Well in many ways Aalish and Illiam are a small continuation of where 'Sweet Ginger' left off (who knows, maybe they're her children?!) and unsurprisingly they've been designed and created with the Sweet Ginger shop in mind.

They're a nice size for little hands, each 'doll' (sorry Illiam!) comes printed on a neat A4 sheet with a teeny tiny little matching button badge with their face on!

And they already have lots of nice clothes to choose from + some fun dressing up costumes! At the moment there are 2 sheets available for each doll (but I have so many more outfit sheets planned and in development!)

First up there's a Dressing Up sheet for Aalish + a Fancy Dress sheet for Illiam

And also a more casual Summer sheet for Aalish and a general Everyday sheet for Illiam, with LOTS of nice outfits to pick from each sheet.

I've wanted to design a paper doll aimed at both girls and boys, and although all of Aalish's clothes might be a tad too girly for Illiam (he doesn't much like it when I make him try on a dress, but Aalish thinks it's hilarious) ALL of Illiam's clothes will fit Aalish perfectly, they're completely swappable, so that she can have a go at being an astronaut or a dinosaur as well, should she want to (which she definitely does) but sometimes Aalish just borrows some of Illiam's normal clothes.

That's why there's a Pirate costume on each dress-up sheet. Most of Aalish's costumes are on the girly side, (because who wouldn't want to dress up as a mermaid or a princess?!) but that certainly doesn't mean that she doesn't like to dress up as a swashbuckling Pirate captain and run around with a sword every once in a while. Or all the time. Sometimes they both dress up as Pirates and go off in search of buried treasure! But so far all they've succeeded in doing is making a mess of my desk...

Sometimes when Illiam puts on the Dino costume, he pretends he's a fire-breathing dragon instead, but Aalish doesn't mind, she just acts like a fearsome Princess ready to defend her kingdom from any and all perils!

Other times they just put on their Superhero costumes and fly off to save the world, you know, just a typical day really. But they're always home in time for tea, especially if there are fizzy sweets for pudding (those are Illiam's favourites!)

 Ahem. You can probably tell that I had a LOT of fun designing the clothes and costumes! Aalish's were kind of a doddle but Illiam's were particularly challenging since I never ever really seem to draw anything for boys, so coming up with nifty little outfits for him was tonnes of fun.

Probably one of the most fun parts of the entire process was coming up with all the colours and fiddly little details for each outfit, like the pirate medallion on Illiam's costume + the treasure map. I got a bit carried away sometimes but it was worth it when I opened the box of prints and saw how fun they looked!

Although they're maybe a bit fiddly for very little hands to snip out (looks like mummy and daddy are the lucky ones to get to wield the scissors) once they've been freed from their paper confines, Aalish and Illiam are a perfect treat for little kids and big kids alike. (I for one am most definitely a big kid and i've had heaps of fun dressing them up on my desk!)

And at the end of the day they can peg up their lovely clothes and pick something new to wear on their next big adventure! 

So there you have it, Aalish and Illiam, two brilliant little people, i've no doubt that you'll be seeing an awful lot of them in the future (keep an eye out around Halloween and Christmas in particular!) since they're definitely the coolest kids around!

Hopefully the Doll and Clothing sheets will soon be available from Sweet Ginger in Ramsey here in the Isle of Man. I don't have any immediate plans to try and sell the sheets via my Etsy shop (although it's full of lots of other nice things you CAN buy) but if anyone was particularly interested in getting their hands on a set I could probably be persuaded.

And on that note i'll draw this post to a close. I'll no doubt be back at some point next week to tell you about the other little creative things i've been working on (spoiler alert: I may or may not have attempted a small painting) and whatever else, if anything, happens between now and then.


So it's goodbye from me, and goodbye from Aalish and Illiam!

Until next time, cheerio folks!

cupcakes and postcards ★

so i've been busy, busy, busy again today working away on commissions stuff! (which i'll tell you more about in a moment) but first i want to share a recent logo design with you all...

it's for a very groooovy Cupcake Business in Coventry... run by my lovely big sister Simone!

i did various logo, banner and blog designs for her before i popped over to Coventry the other week

she really does make truly scrumptious cakes and treats! 

anyway, while i was there i ran up a design for some business cards! she sent me a few in the post so i can put some in my logbook for college

don't they look fab! i'm very proud of her for doing all this and she's soooo good at baking delicious cakes and sweets that i've always said she should be selling/making them professionally!

you can see more of her cakes on the Facebook Page - Foxy's Fancies

+ be sure to check out the blog too - Foxy's Blog

there's also a Twitter page - @foxysfancies

* * *

something else arrived in the post as well, some brand new promotional postcards for me to hand out at craft fairs and the like

these aren't to sell though obviously, the idea is that if anyone buys anything from my etsy shop, they get a nice sugar skull sticker + one of these with their order, so that's the ONLY way to get hold of one! :)

anyway back to commissions, last week i was asked to design an Irish Pin-up girl tattoo for a lovely local client

it was great to get back to drawing a Pin-up and was especially awesome since she had to be Irish themed!

this is the finished (coloured) design for the tattoo artist to work from. i can't wait to see what it looks like tattooed properly!

* * *

a separate commission has had me drawing all manner or vintage type things recently as well, here are some caps of how the flyer is currently progressing...

shame i STILL can't seem to draw guys! but oh well!

* * *

i can't think of anything else to tell you all, i'm back at college tomorrow morning then i have a business meeting in the afternoon so lots to be getting on with i guess!

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

Sweet Ginger Strips ★

so yesterday was quite possibly one of the nicest, warmest and sunniest days i've experienced in a long time! i was supposed to spend the day in college essay writing but when i stepped outside i knew i couldn't stay cooped up indoors all day so i spent the day wandering around Douglas town centre instead!

you should know that the weather here in the Isle of Man is almost typically windy/rainy/kind of gloomy, true some years we get lucky and are blessed with smashing summers and lots of sunshine, some years. . . we're not so lucky!

but yesterday. . . it was just sublime!

but unfortunately i left my camera in the car so i couldn't take any pictures of how pretty it was!!!!!!

anyway, do you remember this lil' lady???

well yesterday afternoon i popped up to Sweet Ginger to say hi to Julie and Ciara and i was delighted to see that they'd put up the 'Sweet Ginger Strips' posters 

there's a big ol' poster behind the shop counter and another one in the shop window!!!

but that's not all because they'd also set out all of the 'Sweet Ginger Strips' bags as well!

these are little bags chock full of gorgeous fabric strips that you can use to make whatever the hell you want! 

for example. . . you could plait them together and make cute bracelets or a hair tie, you could stitch them together and make a funky rag purse or scarf, you could sew them into ruffles or roses for handmade rosettes or charms in fact. . . you could use them to make all manner of super duper things!

anyway these bags are super duper awesome and super duper cheap (if you ask me!) so if you live local and fancy a little TT race week project or just fancy some little strips of fabric, head up to the shop and get yourself a bag or two! and just think. . . you'll get your very own 'Sweet Ginger Strips' tag featuring my artwork as well!

oh there are also 'Sweet Ginger Strips' and 'Polka Dots' greetings cards as well :)

i gotta tell you though, it's crazy seeing my drawings printed up on tags and posters in a shop! there are actually 3 posters in all though seeing as the lovely Julie and Ciara also got me a poster of my very own!!!

she's already pinned up in my room (helping to cover up some more of the hideous 'skin disease' wallpaper!!!)

* * *

oh i snapped this pic of Pepe and Sophie as well, they're now happily cooped up in one of the shelves on display in the shop

* * *

while i was in 'Sweet Ginger' i also decided to treat myself to a set of Moomin badges!

i've wanted these badges since i first visited the shop back when Ciara and Julie were still unpacking all the lovely stock, i figured it was about time i got a set, the only thing i have to do now is figure out where i'm going to pin them!

does anyone else remember the Moomins from their childhood?! i know that myself + my friend Courtney have spent countless afternoons attempting to draw them and reminiscing about how cute and slightly scary they were!

most of the people i know that remember the show only seem to remember being freaked out by some of it's characters but i used to love watching the Moomins animation when i was little!

i remember there was a Tove Jansson Moomin comic/story book in the library when i was at primary school and i used to read it over and over again

i know that they recently made a new Moomins film but i've yet to see it, if any of you have seen it let me know what it's like!

and now i'm going to stop going on about the Moomins and go and make some tea!!!

* * *

that's it for today i think, tomorrow i plan to blog about some awesome new artists i've just been told about by an old college student, i think you might like their stuff as much as i do!

bye for now, that's all folks . . . ◕‿◕ ★ xX