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

Bunnies and Bunting ♥

so i stayed in AAALLLL day yesterday to crack on with mastering the sewing machine, it was a miserable day outside so i didn't miss much! 

anyway i got bored of practicing stitches all afternoon so i decided to have a go at making 'Sophie Lapin'

remember Pepe Lapin??? (from THIS post - ribbon rosettes and Pepe Lapin) 

well that's Pepe with the button on his tummy and Sophie with the strawberry on her tummy is his little bunny gilrfriend (i'm guessing. . .) but i didn't have enough time to make her and Pepe at the same time from the kit Julie and Ciara gave me to test, so she's been a bit late turning up for their date!

well she's here now, but while Pepe is entirely hand stitched with a needle and thread (and a LOT of hours spent listening to 'the Freelance Whales' while sewing) 

Sophie is almost entirely machine sewn!!! it's probably a good thing though because i imagine that not everyone that buys the kit would own a sewing machine so they'd have to sew them by hand, or alternately they'd prefer NOT to sew them by hand and use a machine instead! well now there's one of each! i just need to drop her off at the shop so that she can be reunited with Pepe

she was machine sewn though which would explain the slight messiness to her, what can i say, only i would be mad enough to sew neater by hand than on a machine!!!

saying that though, have a look at what i made this morning before lunch

my very own candy coloured bunting! 

i've wanted some 'proper' fabric bunting for ages but every time i see some in a shop (usually 'the Tide' or the Cath Kidston section at 'Selfridges') i get this insane makers guilt, i.e. i love the ready made strings of bunting but when i see them i can't help but think 'i could make that' and so i end up not buying any pretty bunting at all!!!

well, now i have a sewing machine i figured it was time to have a go at some DIY bunting and voila! + it was a great chance to use some of the awesome cupcake printed fabric i got from 'Just Enough' weeks ago

there are 4 flags for each fabric, the pale pink heart spotted fabric, the cupcake printed fabric + the cute pink gingham i bought when we picked up my sewing machine

my seams are a little off on the ribbon but weirdly the seams for the flags are perfect, each flag is also double sided so it doesn't matter which way you put up the bunting, it will always look the same

it was great fun to make and providing i can get hold of some pink bias binding i could easily neaten this design up and make a couple more to sell via etsy or in the Sweet Ginger Emporium

* * *

speaking of etsy. . .

i totally forgot to tell you all that my shop is open again!

if you follow me on facebook or twitter you'll probably have seen me posting links to the shop but if not, it's officially open again now

i've taken a few things out (for now) + added in a whole bundle of plushie necklaces + the new greetings cards

head on over and have a skeet at what's on offer - the Candy Cove on etsy

* * *

not much else to report today, tomorrow i'm off to college to work on my essay + raid the graphics room printer again 

i also have some groovy new illustration stuff to edit and it's NOT anything to do with the cupcake princess, it's something new. . . sort of!

until then, that's all folks . . . ◕‿◕ ★ 

p.s. - have you entered the May Giveaway yet??? in honour of my Birthday at the end of this month i've decided to hold a little giveaway again, there's a bundle of cute prizes up for grabs and you have until my Birthday, the 31st of May, to get your entries in -

 ENTER THE GIVEAWAY NOW

Don't Panic ★

so i've got a new desktop wallpaper i wanted to show you all . . .

for those not in the know, it's a quote from my favourite book 'The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy' by Douglas Adams

i saw it while browsing on Louie Mantia's website and knew i had to have it as my new background! it makes me smile every time i open my macbook + i think it's working . . . i haven't panicked about a thing since i picked it!

anyway, i was back at college today and after hanging out with my friends Quinn and Chris at their FMP desks for a bit, i nipped upstairs and rediscovered a bag of paper cranes i made last summer for a girl in the year below me at college

she asked me to make 100 paper cranes as decorations for a party she was having, so i managed to make 70 cranes in my last week of FMP but she ended up not using them, they've sat in the tutors study for a whole year undisturbed so i thought it was about time i claimed them back!

aren't they fun! i've been making cranes since i was about 11 when a teacher at school taught us how to make little origami boxes, most of my friends weren't too fussed but i was fascinated with learning different techniques to turn a plain piece of paper into a wonderful little 3D shape or object so i went out and bought a big book on Origami and i've been making stuff ever since!

i also hang garlands of paper cranes around my room since they are a symbol of peace + i think they brighten up the place

anyway i decided to give the bag of cranes to Ciara and Julie at 'Sweet Ginger' so they can scatter them around the shop in little colourful displays

speaking of Sweet Ginger . . .

check out the extra special felt fawn plushie i made for them on Wednesday/Thursday

isn't she a cutie!

red with white polka dots is 'the shops trademark style so i thought a polka dot fawn was in order + obviously it needed 'Sweet Ginger' on there somewhere as well!

now some people have told me it looks like a giraffe because of the dots but i want to point out that it is in fact just a pretty crazy awesome gorgeous funky dotty little fawn

here she is hanging out with 'Amelia' before i send 'Sweet Ginger' to her namesake shop and post 'Amelia' off to the Birthday girl she was made for

 anyway i actually dropped the new polka dot fawn in at the shop this afternoon and Ciara and Julie absolutely LOVED IT!!!

they danced about excitedly before popping her in the window display for all the world to see . . .

they also handed over a Birthday gift for me, i'm FORBIDDEN to open in before my birthday but i wanted to snap a photo of the gorgeous 'Sweet Ginger Emporium' gift bag it came in

so cute!

yay!

* * *

speaking of Birthday gifts however, check out what i got this afternoon . . .

that's right folks, i now own a sewing machine! at long last!!! it's actually off my dad for my Birthday but because i sew so much he's let me open it early, how grooooovy eh!

here's hoping i can actually work out how to use it. . .

* * *

this afternoon after visiting 'Sweet Ginger' i also popped into 'the Tide' to have a quick skeet, glad i went in because i found these 2 cute little ceramic bucket pots reduced because they're chipped, chips don't bother me though! i'm always in need of more funky pots for my desk so i can stash buttons and pens and be all organized

* * *

also, look what had arrived in the post when i got home this evening!!!

moooooore stickers!

but ultra awesome ones this time because i got 2 sticker books full of nothing but my logo. . .

yaaay sticky stickers ahoy!!!

* * *

in other news, i've come up with a fun new project to work on but i'm a little conflicted because i honestly haven't a clue whether or not i'm supposed to exhibit work this June at the college exhibition or not?!

if not then there's no problem, i cam crack on with my new idea

if yes. . . well that complicates things a bit since my exhibition will end up a big messy mish mash of candy coloured digitally designed girly stuff

oh what to do!

when i figure it out i'll let you know!

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

p.s. - have you entered the May Giveaway yet??? in honour of my Birthday at the end of this month i've decided to hold a little giveaway again, there's a bundle of cute prizes up for grabs and you have until my Birthday, the 31st of May, to get your entries in -

 ENTER THE GIVEAWAY NOW