Troll Magic ♥

hello darlings, I'm here to tell you about a very exciting project I worked on recently.

In October - November 2015 I collaborated with Pin Club: a UK based monthly subscription service offering limited edition enamel pins, featuring original artwork by various artists and illustrators.

I exclusively designed a super-dee-duper rainbow haired troll pin for the November subscription, limited to 200 pins and sold to customers all over the world.

and HERE IT IS!!!

Isn't it utterly glorious! This is the first time I've ever designed an enamel pin so I had NO idea how the illustration might work out, but they pins turned out perfect! Seriously the detail is amazing, and the colours are so bright.

The troll pin was the largest one produced by Pin Club to date, measuring 39mm and using 10 individual colours, manufactured using soft enamel and black nickel on an iron base including a rubber clutch back.

I'm also happy to say that almost 90% of the pins were sold out within the first week of availability! Usually each month there are 100 pins available but there were 200 of my design and people LOVED it! It's been so much fun seeing people post photos of their new pins on Instagram and leaving lovely comments about how much they like the cute troll design.

Look, I even made a funky troll pattern using the illustration I drew! I'm so pleased I took the time to message Pin Club and talk about the possibility of a collaboration after spotting their profile on Instagram. They were super enthusiastic about my work and after giving me a week to come up with something I ended up drawing the troll overnight, I was so excited at the thought of seeing one of my illustrations as an actual enamel pin people could wear!

The enamel pin game is something I've wanted to get into for a while, but pins aren't cheap to manufacture and there's always a risk that your design might not turn out the way you'd hoped. This was a great opportunity to get paid for a design while not having to worry about manufacturing or packaging costs. It was sort of like my print-on-demand deals with Society6 and RedBubble, I supply the artwork while they manufacture and ship the goods.

To be honest I think I was most excited about getting my free pins in the post! I was sent 5 of the troll pins including one ultra special and rare one with a tiny red gem on its tummy! These were limited to three pieces only so I feel super honoured to have one, plus red is my favourite colour so it was a double win!

Unfortunately for all of you lovely people, the troll pins have now SOLD OUT completely! But don't despair just yet because I'm giving one away in my Instagram Giveaway!

along with a heap of other neat stuff of course. But if you want to get your hands on this pin then you're going to have to follow me on Instagram + follow the rules of the giveaway to be in with a chance of winning!

the Giveaway closes TOMORROW NIGHT at midnight so you'd better get a move on!


Oh and if enamel pins aren't really your thing but you still want to express your love for trolls another way then behold... the sparkliest, cutest and most magical teeny tiny troll necklaces! 

That's right, i'm not just drawing trolls, i'm also turning them into necklaces and brooches! These tiny trolls come strung on silver plated curb chain, ready to complement your outfit in the kitschiest of ways!

But I also have slightly larger brooches and necklaces in another trio of tantalising colours. 

Why trolls you may ask?

Trolls were a big part of my childhood, I remember having dozens of them in all shapes and sizes littered about my room in little clusters of fluffy haired cuteness. I used to love brushing out their hair and dressing them up in cute outfits, then I would line them all up in a rainbow display. They're all in a box in the attic and i'd love to get some down to add to the collection of stuff (aka junk) on my desk, but I can't bring myself to go back up into the attic after I nearly fell from it last time (that's a story for another day I think!).

It's hard not to like these kitschy little trolls though isn't it, they have a kind of gormless look to them, it's very sweet and they're so friendly, then there's the magical fluffy hair! My point is that there's nothing terrifying about pudgy plastic trolls. At primary school a friend brought me a traditional Norwegian wooden troll back from her trip to Oslo and it was so sinister looking that it's been shoved away in a cupboard ever since!

My first shoplifting experience involved a troll. Now before you start calling the police I'd like to point out that I was only about fifteen-months-old at the time and safely strapped into my buggy. However this did not stop me from grabbing a pink haired troll in a white polka-dot dress off a shelf in a shop and quietly holding onto it for the rest of the day. By the time my mum eventually realised what i'd done, i'd been happily chewing on one of the trolls' feet and had slobbered all over the dress, so suffice it to say, we did not return the troll. The weirdest part of the whole thing was that the troll spoke Danish when you pressed it's tummy.

 

So yeah, I suppose you could say that I like trolls. So i'm super glad I got the opportunity to design a cute rainbow haired one to be made into neat little pins. 

And i'll shut up about it now and say goodbye!

do come back again soon...

Spooky Babe ♥

hello chums! I'm back again and it's only been just over a week... see I TOLD you I was going to try harder!

anyway I want to share some Halloween goodies with you all. If you're a regular reader then you probably know how much I LOVE Halloween, it's one of my favourite times of year because how can you not love a holiday that celebrates all things creepy and spooky!

every year I usually draw a Candy Doll illustration for Halloween, last year it was THIS and also THIS.

but this year I ended up creating a pattern instead.

Spooky Babe pattern

 As you can see it's perfect for a pastel witch, or the modern girl-gang/coven with lots of cute but creepy symbols so that every day can be Halloween!

so why a pattern you might wonder?! Well It's been a while since I last designed one and I kind of love making patterns, there's something really satisfying about the moment you first test out how seamless it is and then turn it into REALLY COOL stuff!

products from Society6 and RedBubble

 I have a few print-on-demand stores but by far my two favourites are Society6 and RedBubble. They offer a brilliant range of products and unlike a lot of other POD sites, their prices are fairly reasonable considering you're getting something that has been printed and made JUST FOR YOU! Excitingly at the moment, Society6 are also offering FREE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING until midnight on October 11th, so go treat yo self HERE

products from Society6 and RedBubble

 recently both sites have added even more products and now there's a whole bunch of lovely stuff that you can buy with my illustrations on! In case you're wondering about the quality of the products, I've bought a few of them myself over the years (because i'm a big saddo who loves to see her own work on stuff!). I can personally vouch for the printed tees, the iphone cases, vinyl stickers, cushions, tote bags and prints. And lately i've been hankering after a printed scarf or notebook.

all over print tees - Society6

 but the Halloween fun doesn't end there, oh no... there's also heaps of spoopy (no that's not a typo, click here to learn why) goodies available in my Etsy Shop

 this year we have lots of sparkly Halloween glitter brooches featuring teen tiny ghosties and other spooky critters! There are lots of designs to choose from + some one-of-a-kind brooches in the shop.

OOAK brooches - once they're gone, they're gone!

as if that weren't brilliant enough, as an added sweetener, i'm also throwing in free trick or treat sweeties with every brooch or necklace order this month! Why yes, those ARE Ghostbusters sweeties!!! 

Spooky brooches + sweeties = Happy Halloween

I've already posted a few Halloween brooches off the the UK, USA and Finland, so if you want yours in time for the spookiest of days, then get to the shop and pick out a treat! And if the Halloween brooches aren't your thing, then maybe you'd prefer a candy cute Troll doll pin or necklace instead!

yes I did inadvertently create a troll summoning circle while trying to take a photo of them all! Each tiny gem is hand applied by me to add to the general air of magic and kitschy cuteness that these mini trolls give off!

and now I can't think of anything else to say so i'm going to sign off before I start rambling again.

before I go, do YOU like Halloween or not? Is it called something different where you live like it is here (Hop-Tu-Naa for us Manxies) or do you not celebrate it at all? let me know in the comments below. I always reply because I spend my entire life online.

and on that note, bye for now! Thanks for reading.

Marvellous Merch ❤️

hello dearhearts! It's been a fortnight since I got back from my holidays in Ireland and I have been SUPER busy since I got home.

I'm having a stall at the local Vintage Fashion Fair this weekend and have been working hard every day to get new products ready + sorting out existing goodies to take to the fair!

so I thought I might give you all a sneak peek at some of the tasty new treats i'll be selling at my stall!

if you follow me on Instagram (and by now, you really should if you don't already!) then you'll probably have seen snaps of my new products but for those of you that haven't, here are some of the candy cute items i'll have of offer on Saturday...

first up we have some luuurrrvely new Candy Doll Club postcards! it's been a good while since I last got any new postcards printed so I thought it was about time I got some of my more recent illustrations made up. There are six new Candy Doll designs to choose from.

As well as three cute fanart designs as well. I picked three of my fave ladies from Japanese Pop Culture and created some fun illustrations inspired by them.

next up we have one of my favourite new products, glitter heart brooches!
All of these funky brooches are handmade (by yours truly) using top quality glitter fabric (that doesn't shed glitter!), laser cut wooden hearts, nickel-free brooch backs and a collection of cute hand-painted resin charms! There are lost of different designs to choose from and i'll have some of each with me on Saturday, so stop by the stall and treat yourself to a sparkly treat!

 if glitter isn't really your thing, I also have some lovely wooden Kokeshi Doll brooches. Each one has been carefully hand decorated using satin ribbon and teeny tiny gems and pearls, a very sweet addition to any outfit i'm sure you will agree!



I will also have BRAND NEW dapper fox brooches + rainbow elephants and a whole host of other random and one-of-a-kind designs!

onto my brilliant new Girl Gang sticker sheets! each sheet contains 12 different stickers in vibrant candy colours, a must have for any wannabe Candy Doll or aspiring Girl Gang leader!

as well as all of this lovely stuff, i'll also be be bringing some Special Offer items including MEGA Mystery Goodie Boxes and Candy Doll Club Membership Packs, sticker packs, greetings cards, prints, zines, cushions, tote bags and even a few original paintings!

so you know what to do, if you're a local then get yourself to Braddan Church Hall on Saturday and snap up some sweet treats!

and don't worry if you can't make it or if you live far away, most of the goodies are available to purchase in my Etsy Shop!

that's all I have for now! i'm working on a new Candy Doll illustration so y'all can expect to see that over the next week or so.

so until next time, thanks for stopping by! hope to see you here again soon...

Marvellous Mail ❤

hello again! Today I want to talk a bit about that most marvellous and magnificent of doodahs that is... POST! 

I man Post is amazing isn't it! You can send stuff ALL over the world and get nice stuff back no bother, it's like magic. You're probably thinking, 'but Jade, the internet lets us do that instantly' and yes, it does, but it's not quite the same as getting a letter in the post is it. To sum it up better, i'm going to need to use a Terry Pratchett quote from his brilliant book Going Postal. In this particular case let's pretend the 'clacks' is an email and you'll get the point!

"I dare say the clacks is wonderful if you wish to know the prawn market figures from Genua. But can you write S.W.A.L.K. on a clacks? Can you seal it with a loving kiss? Can you cry tears on to a clacks, can you smell it, can you enclose a pressed flower? A letter is more than just a message." 

Now let's be honest, we ALL love getting stuff in the mail don't we! No i'm not talking about bills and boring nonsense like that, i'm talking about birthday cards, letters, invitations, postcards and... PRESENTS!

Not quite as magical as surprise gifts in the post but still WAY up there with general mail excitement is ordering things! You know how it is, it's 2am on a Sunday, you can't sleep, so you inevitably end up on Ebay and buy a bunch of random stuff then forget about it...
no, is that just me then?!

anyway, you order something nice for yourself then forget (like me) or wait excitedly for it to arrive and when it does, doesn't it make a WORLD of difference when what you've ordered turns up in pretty packaging?!

now some of you might be thinking, 'meh, I don't really care how it's packaged as long as it arrives!' but that probably means you've never received something parceled up so beautifully that you couldn't quite bring yourself to open it straightaway until you'd fully appreciated how MAGICAL it looked!

This happens to me occasionally, usually when I've ordered something from another artist or maker, they'll send my order in a pretty box or envelope, peppered with cute stickers, bakers twine or doodles.

One of the best things I have ever received in the post was a parcel sent all the way from Portland, WA in America. It arrived wrapped like a parcel you might see in a period film or show, with thick brown parcel paper and carefully tied twine. Inside was a handmade book bound in vintage silk tied with a length of white lace trim, along with a beautifully handwritten letter artfully folded and sealed with a stamp of dark blue sealing wax...

It was so beautiful that it took me THREE WHOLE DAYS to bring myself to open it!!! Why? because I literally couldn't bear to spoil the wax seal, even though I knew there was a lovely letter waiting inside, I just couldn't do it straightaway.

No photo could do the thing justice because to me, right at that second, the experience was like being pulled back in time, and just for a moment I felt like a girl in a Jane Austen novel being handed a parcel from afar, all that was missing were the pretty regency gowns and handsome guys wandering around in fancy tail coats.

The parcel inspired me to get my hands on my own stamp and sealing wax (in green to match the ink in my fountain pen) so that I could send out some beautifully presented letters of my own to two friends in Maine.

Because even after i'd finally opened the parcel, unwrapped the book and broken the wax seal to read the letter, I kept thinking about how beautifully packaged it had all arrived and it got me thinking that surely ALL post should be as magical and heartwarming an experience.

Because you see, my dears... if there's one thing I love more than receiving pretty envelopes in the post, it's sending them out!

There's nothing more fun that packaging up an order and making it looks as cute and fun as possible! A lot of my customers are quite far away and sometimes have to wait weeks to receive their postcards or stickers, so I try to make it even more worth the wait by packaging up their order as prettily as I can.

This of course means rainbow hued envelopes, cute stickers and candy stripe bags to keep everything safe and sound as it flies across the world! And I don't just mean that I do this for international orders, EVERY order from my shop gets the same treatment, whether you live in Norfolk or New Zealand.



Every time someone orders something from me, I get a fizzy thrill knowing that they liked my stuff enough to want to buy it! I mostly sell stickers and postcards so I don't get many opportunities to crack out the bakers twine and parcel boxes unless someone orders a tote bag or a Mystery Bundle Box.

Extra special handmade treats going into the Mystery Bundle Boxes

I'm constantly working on new ways to update my packaging, making everything as pretty as possible, while still making sure orders arrive in perfect condition regardless of their destination. I spend an inordinate amount of time on Instagram and Pinterest gathering inspiration. One of my packaging idols (as it were) is Laura at I Love Crafty, she puts a lot of time and effort into her packaging and it really pays off so that every order looks completely gorgeous!

gorgeous packaging details for a Valentine's Order

 If you're lucky enough to have ever received something like this in the post then you know what a pleasure it is to open something so pretty! I mean sure it's great if you order a gift for someone and it arrives looking nice but why shouldn't it look as good if it's something you've ordered for yourself! After all, what's online shopping if not a way of gifting yourself glorious things every now and again, you know you gotta treat yo self!

Laura at I Love Crafty - packaging orders

I've followed Laura and her brilliant business online for a few years now and she's always inspired me to put in that extra bit of effort with my work, especially with the packaging. And if it means that one day my designs and products can be even half as lovely as hers, then it will be completely worth it!

pretty iridescent packaging for Unicorn brooches!

You see what at difference it makes to a plain white envelope or bubble mailer, isn't it heaps more FUN when things arrive wrapped in candy colours and cuteness?! You bet it is. And regardless of whether you spend £1 or £100 in my shop, I will wrap up your goodies in the sweetest way I can manage, and I have a whole side of my desk dedicated to cute packaging and sticker application (I take this very seriously).

Mystery Bundle Boxes, packed full of lovely stuff!

I could (and do) spend hours arranging my rainbow envelopes and preparing the mystery bundle boxes. I stick on spotify and crack out the stickers and it's so much fun I don't even notice the time flying. In fact, the only thing better than packaging up and sending out pastel pretty orders, is when a customer sends me a snap of their goodies letting me know that everything turned up safe and sound and that they LOVE it!

a few snaps posted on instagram from some of my lovely customers

if YOU have ever received something in the mail from me, whether it was an order or just some random thing I sent you, chances are it arrived looking like it had been parceled up by a rainbow unicorn! Which was of course my exact intention.

and if you've NEVER gotten anything in the post from me, then isn't it time you did! Treat yourself (or someone else) to something sweet, you'll find various candy coloured bits n' bobs in my Etsy Shop, my Depop Store and now also on Storenvy

go on then, go pick something nice and then I can pop it in a pretty envelope and COVER it with cute stickers before I post it to you!

and on that note, i'll say goodbye for now, thanks for visiting, see you again soon dearhearts...

Desk Life ♥

hello chums, just thought i'd throw together a quick blog post before I head off on my annual travels through the UK to France and on to Andorra and Spain. I don't leave until Thursday but i'll be super busy tomorrow packing and stuff (or more likely reading all night and then packing at the last minute!) so I'll do a blog tonight instead.

i've mentioned it before on here a few times but last year I FINALLY bought myself a proper desk so that I have a place to work and also to display some of the random colourful junk i've collected over the years. You might be thinking 'who cares about a stupid desk' but it's my blog and I really like my desk so I'm gonna talk about it a bit and post some photos so if you're dead inside and hate anything fun, then you don't have to stay here...

 

So back to the desk. As an artist i'm quite a visual person (wow there's a surprise!) and I like to have lots of inspiring things near or around me when I work to help give me ideas or just to brighten things up a bit. I'm fortunate enough to have a retired painter and decorator for a dad which means the wallpaper in my room is utterly hideous and won't be replaced any time soon. So I long ago resolved to cover every available inch of it with as much random crap as I can muster. Hence the walls full of stuff!

 

I tend to keep a mix of items around my desk, you'll notice quite a bit of my own work pinned up along with designs from other artists I admire or just general bits n' bobs people have sent me or i've collected on my travels. Although I have a separate space to paint in (which sadly has walls i'm NOT allowed to decorate with cool stuff!) my desk is where I come up with most of my ideas for designs and products. It is for all intents and purposes, precisely where the magic happens.



I know i'm not the only artist that works this way, in fact most of my arty/illustrator/designer friends have similar desks or studio spaces chock full of items they've acquired over the years. I'm not sure about them but I know that I find it really helpful to have a heap of cool stuff in front of me while i'm working on a design or making something.



I'm lucky enough to have some very generous creative friends who've sent me all sorts of nice stuff like fun prints, postcards and groovy stickers! I stick most of this stuff up next to my desk to help with colour palettes and you know, because it looks pretty! And if YOU had hideous skin disease wallpaper then you'd probably slather pictures all over your walls as well.

I'm a big kid at heart and i'll probably never really grow up, so you'll also spot plenty of daft toys on my desk, like my trio of Monster High girls and my mini popobe bear collection. There's quite a lot of Geeky stuff as well, like fanart and other homages to various fandoms. I also keep my 'thinking crown' handy for those times when creative block strikes, I pop on the glitter crown and issues usually resolve themselves. And if they don't, who cares, i'm wearing a crown, nothing matters.

The desk is also home to my beloved Pullip doll and a whole host of other critters including Catbug, Puppycat, Paddy the gnome, my Lego Ghostbusters set, Moomin family, Sailor Moon, Toothless the dragon, Maurice the monkey, Arale, Jack the giant Popobe bear, Tofu Dolls, Dunny figures, oh and a Tardis because why not?!

it might look like a cluttered nightmare but it's surprisingly well organized (for me!) and I have quick access to all of the bits I need to create stuff and if I can't find something then I just shuffle through it all and swear profusely until I can. It's a very successful if entirely inelegant system of organization, typical to most artists. 



you might also spot Tom Hiddleston's face lurking on the desk as well, this was a recent gift from my friend Lorna as sadly the real Tom Hiddleston wasn't available, apparently. You might ask 'but Jade, why so much stuff everywhere?' and all I can say is that as far as i'm concerned, if it's not teeming with stacks of random stuff then it's not a real desk!

you might also think that i'm not left with much space after all that junk, and i'd like to take a moment to ask why on earth you're so judgmental but instead I will tell you that despite the clutter I manage just fine...

Now onto the other reason I wanted to do a post tonight, yes that's right, I lured you here under false pretences only to ambush you with something else entirely! As I mentioned at the start, i'm off on my holibobs this week which means i'll be closing the shop for a bit. However, i'm going to the post office in the morning so if you've been hankering for a treat or need to buy a present for someone, this is your last chance until the end of the month!

And as a special sweetener, i'm throwing in a FREE Girl Gang sticker with every order + EVERY purchase gets a 20% off voucher for their next order!So i'm not sure what you're waiting for, go buy something cute! SHOP NOW

and on that happy and colourful note i'll say goodbye, I won't have proper internet access while i'm away but i'll do my best to post stuff over on my Instagram page so if you want to see what I get up to on my holiday, then maybe you should follow me on there!

so until next time, that's all folks! speak to you all again soon...