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

Moustaches and Matryoshkas ★

so i've had a fun day at college today, local artist/menace Juan Moore came in to teach us HNDers all about Book Binding and what not and by the end of the class we'd all successfully made our own little hardback postcard books!

genius stuff, even if mine did turn out so wobbly and messed up (damn PVA...) that i can't possibly show you a picture! it was a joyous afternoon regardless

also... i've been wearing my new Moustache necklace all day!

since it's Movember, and because i just hate to be left out of anything, i stitched this little beauty together yesterday afternoon at college and have pretty much had it on ever since! 

+ today i also wore my awesome Bow Tire necklace (from Plastic Bat) so it was double hit of coolness for sure!

i attached it to a small ball-link chain so that i can wear it ALL THE TIME! it's hand free you see... i'm not holding it up here, i was attempting (and failing...) to fix my hair! here's the finished necklace being modeled by my little teapot (a teapot that i actually made in my first year of college... yes really!)

because Movember is the perfect time to sport a fancy moustache and i don't see why boys should get to have all the moustache fun!

* * *

also...

look at what arrived today in the post!!!

really awesome and groovy Matryoshka prints! yes indeedy. 

each print measures 6x8" and comes with a one inch border in white meaning the final size is 7x9". sadly, they DON'T come mounted and cello wrapped... 

only one is mounted/wrapped and that's because it's going to be an xmas gift for a family member of mine. if you ABSOLUTELY one want mounted/wrapped, email me and i'll see what i can do.

this is a limited run of just 10 gorgeous quality Giclée prints featuring my little Matryoshka design + each one is numbered, signed and stamped on the back, printed on premium grade 308gsm Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Paper . un-framed

and who knows... they might be worth something one day ;)

to get yours or to treat someone else to one (for xmas maybe...) head on over to my Etsy shop - Jade's Shop

all prints will be tissue wrapped and sent out in hardened cardboard envelopes to ensure they arrive in perfect condition. 

* * *

another lovely thing arrived in the post today as well, a super duper postcard + 3 lovely stickers from the very fabulous Harriet Gray

i'm a huge fan of Harriet's work so i was delighted when i found out i'd won a little mini lucky dip giveaway on her blog. 

her work is just divine! to see more of it, be sure to visit her website here - Harriet Gray

* * *

in other news, believe it or not but this year at college i actually have a logbook! (gasp... shock horror!) here it is in all it's fabulous stickery glory...

to be honest i'm still not all that great at the actual content but it sure is colourful this year!

and i am trying... honestly!

that's just a sneak peek for now anyway, there's just under 30 pages filled in so far... a long way to go now though!

* * *

and that's it i think! tomorrow i'm heading in to town to collect my little cousin Sienna for a day of Xmas shopping... + i need to gather some more items to go into the Xmas giveaway bundle for the grand Christmas Giveaway Extravaganza... coming soon!

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

plushies and stuff ★

so over the past few days i've been jumping back and forth between commissions and college work, so far it's not been going too much to plan since i keep going back to my commissions! (well... college doesn't pay me to draw does it!!!)

anyway, i've also been extra EXTRA distracted by some stuff that arrived in the post.

i've decided that when i make and sell my little handmade plushie necklace charms, i want to send them off to their new owners in as sweet a way as possible so i've invested in some little sparkly gift pouches + funky tags featuring my illustrations

and voila! these are the ones i had a go at today at college, (we had a great lecture from Juan Moore this afternoon but i did these in the break)

i chose purple for the bags since it's girly and bright + most of what i make is pink so pink bags might have been overkill! and as for the tags... well they're just a candy coloured rainbow of fun!

+ i think they work quite well with the little bags, the organza pouches are sheer enough for you to see the colours of the cupcake charms so the tags help spread the colourfulness!

* * *

lately i've been having a go at a little bit of sewing. however it seems that i really need to practice getting back into it because i can't seem to make anything properly anymore!

here are my 3 latest creations...

and for some inexplicable reason, in the small hours of Tuesday morning i made these 3 little palm sized creatures....

 there's a bunny, a cat and a dog... although whether they actually look like the animals they're supposed to be is debatable...

they kind of suck... i'm still not very good on the sewing machine! for some reason i can only make stuff neatly when i stitch it all by hand!

* * *

i promised i'd share a picture of my college work space so here you go

this is how my desk board is looking so far this year...

a bit different from last years pinup fest but colourful nonetheless! 


there's some local inspiration up there as well though, with postcards and business cards featuring the work of Manx artists Adam Berry, Karen Tomlinson and Juan Moore + stuff from some of my fave British illustrators, Lauren Child, John Tenniel and Sarah McIntyre.

* * *

not much else to report on for now my lovelies, but i have a funky new creative café feature to run at some point over the weekend so look out for that!

and until then, i guess that's all folks... ◕‿◕ ★ xX

PS - have you spotted the new 'grab code' banners yet??? there's 2 to pick from at the moment and they're in the sidebar up near the top underneath my 'about me' section, so feel free to pick one and add it to your blog reel or sidebar :D

Polka Dot Love ♥

so yesterday afternoon for no particular reason other than the fact i was a little bit bored, i sat down at my desk and started sewing!

not entirely sure why but who cares! i ended up making 3 pretty little lavender hearts using polka dot felt, lots of embroidery floss, some ribbon and looooooads of dried lavender!

they're all hand stitched with the word 'love' (in my own handwriting) and blanket stitched but i whizzed them through the sewing machine as well to make sure none of the lavender will spill out! 

i messed up the lettering on the first one though so it's whip stitched while the other two are just stitched normally.

the only problem now is that my room absolutely stinks of lavender!!!

they're kind of cute though right! well i enjoyed making them so that's what counts i guess, they're all hanging from my wardrobe doors at the moment

not really sure what to do with them! should i gift them or make some more and sell them?!

who knows!

* * *

in other news, i got kind of bored again today so in between working on commission files i ended up having a go at some weird little text manips using photos and magazine scans and craft knife cut out letters smoothed out on my macbook

 i made about 10 altogether but these were my favourites, using some quotes from song lyrics, Shakespeare's Macbeth and a quote from Mary Poppins. 

not sure why i made them! boredom clearly does crazy things to my mind!

* * *

that's it for today i think, i'm heading out this weekend to pick up a few more goodies for the giveaway bundle but apart from that, no exciting plans going on in my world!!!

that's all folks... ★ ◕‿◕ xX