the Satchel, the Lionheart & the Anchor ★

so it's been a funny old week! those of you that follow me via Facebook or Twitter might have seen me raving on about my College assessment, well long story short the Art Dept printer broke down meaning i couldn't print ANYTHING off for assessment!

though it didn't actually matter in the end, my tutors were fine with me showing all my work on my macbook and the assessment went really well (i think...) they normally last about 20 mins for me but this one was almost an hour-and-a-half + i got lots of units ticked off which is a good thing!

anyway, in light of the assessment and the fact that leading up to it i pretty much didn't sleep more than 4 hours a night, i decided to take the rest of the day off on Wednesday, so my friend Jenny came to collect me from college and we had a fab afternoon mooching around Douglas

i believe in rewarding people when they've done well so i decided to treat myself to some yummy chocolates from Thorntons + i spotted this gorrrrrrgeous satchel bag in Curphey's in town

and well... i sort of HAD to have it! i mean look at it! it's so lovely + my macbook/kawaii case fits in it PERFECTLY along with the charger + my wacom tablet and a notebook

in short, the bag is perfect :)

another thing that fits into the bag is my fab copy of BRAND NEW 'Lionheart Magazine' 

i've been hearing about the magazine on Twitter for the past few months so once the Magazine launched i knew i'd have to treat myself to a copy of it!

it's absolutely gorgeous inside and out, filled from cover to cover with beautiful illustrations, fab photos and interesting articles all sourced and pulled together by genius editor and creator Helen Martin

i had a lovely time flicking through it and although i haven't had chance to read all of the articles so far, i snapped some photos of it as i looked through...

get your own copy right here - Lionheart Magazine

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in other news, this pretty little necklace arrived in the post for me the other day!

it's a necklace by Razorblade Mermaid that i won it in a little giveaway comp via Betty Bee Towers

a truly brilliant blog that i love to visit after a long day of college, it's full of fabulous crafty ideas, gorgeous rockabilly and Pin-up style stuff and all manner of other loveliness

isn't the necklace cute though! i'm very chuffed that i won it, it's very 'me' i think! pearly beads, a cute anchor, red and pink + that little birdy charm that matches my fave birdy dress to perfection!

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right, tomorrow i'm looking after little miss Sienna so we will probably be baking some cupcakes at some point or drawing some felt tip masterpieces!

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

Marvellous Merchandise ★

so a verrrrrrry exciting parcel arrived in the post today! exciting because i've been waiting almost 3 weeks for it and the waiting was beginning to drive me insane (seriously... this morning i was THIS close to firebombing the post office, but they delivered so there's no need for any arson now!!!)

so basically... this exciting parcel was chock full of AWESOMENESS in the form of badges and mirrors featuring designs by ME ME ME

feat your eyes on their loveliness...

obviously i didn't just order 3 things though... this is an example of the stuff i got!

the box was FULL of bits and bobs! (cue me jumping about excitedly and clapping like a seal)

so just what is there i hear you cry!!! well ignoring the truly atrocious quality of the photos (thanks to my godawful camera...) we have... BADGES!!!!!

and we have... POCKET MIRRORS!!!

aaaaggghhhhhh isn't it exciting!!! i can't handle how exciting this all is!!!

oh and as you saw in the first picture,  there are diddy little cupcake badges as well

here you can see how everything measures up...

yaaaaaaayyyyyyyy!!!!!!

right so you know what this means don't you my lovelies... it means that all of these pretty little merch pieces are now available to buy in my etsy shop!!!

badges will be posted out in double envelopes and mirrors will be posted in mini jiffy bags to ensure that they don't arrive broken + of course, i'll post to anywhere in the whole wide world...

the diddy little cupcake badges come in little clear bags and are £0.75 each (badges measure: 25mm)

the bigger badges come on their lovely stripey backing card and are £1.25 each (badges measure: 38mm)

and the pretty little mirrors each come in a cute pouch to keep it safe and scratch free and are £4.00 (mirrors measure 58mm) 

super duper stuff! perfect as a little treat for yourself or someone else!

you can see all of the stuff right here in my etsy shop

Jade's Etsy Shop

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and no... i haven't decorated my pencil case with badges (yet...) or stuck pocket mirrors all over my wall, these bits and bobs are for all of YOU not for me

and so, with that in mind i've decided to hold a little impromptu giveaway

to celebrate all of this lovely merch turning up on my doorstep i'm going to give away ONE mini badge + ONE big badge and ONE pocket mirror (designs = of the winners choice)

all you have to do to enter is leave a comment on THIS HERE post (+ if you follow me on twitter/facebook i'll probably be doing little retweet/like posts as well, so be sure to look out for those)

the giveaway will only run until midnight Saturday 22nd October (yup it's a short giveaway this time, just a mini one...) so you have 5 whole days to enter!

maximum of 2 entries per person, that means ONE comment + ONE retweet or like

i'm sick of counting up dozens of entries for things and it makes my brain melt so it's a whole lot simpler this time for me AND for you!!!

so don't forget, 5 days to enter and to be in with a chance of getting your hands on these little bits for free (yes... FREE) just scroll down and leave a comment

that's it! super simple

i'll announce the winner on Sunday evening

so go on then... leave a comment! :D

oh and i'll probably throw in a nice postcard for the winner as well...

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phew! what a day, busy editing stuff then busy snapping pictures of all the lovely new badges and mirrors!

i'll probably post something tomorrow evening about my new princess pictures 

so until then... that's all folks ◕‿◕ ★ xX

Gifts and Goodies ★

so today i worked on some new stuff at college + managed to decorate most of my desk board (photos tomorrow) 

and then after college i popped to Just Enough in Laxey (you can read more about this amazing shop here - Just Enough) to pick up some haberdashery bits

the very lovely and super duper Justine was there and as we got chatting i noticed that the absolutely gooooorgeous little Betty Boop figurines she stocks, were in the sale!!!!

i am a MASSIVE Betty Boop fan/collector, my room is full of Betty stuff (and i used to wear Betty Boop t-shirts/pyjamas/socks/handbags etc aaaalll the time when i was younger!) so i always have a look at the Betty stuff in Just Enough every time i visit

however... today i couldn't resist treating myself to a lovely little Diner Girl figurine!

isn't she divine! aaaaahhh i love it! not sure where i'll fit it in my room full of stuff but i'm sure i'll find a spot for her! you can see her here with one of her 'sisters' a lovely Betty Boop statuette (that my sister Nicola got me for my thirteenth birthday!!!)

while i was in the shop i also spotted this gorrrgeous polka dot apron (made by Justine herself) and knew i'd have to have it as well! 

it's just so pretty and ruffled and that darling ric-rac trimmed heart pocket... so cute!

we all know what a sucker i am for red and white polka dots!!! i couldn't resist... and i know, i know... i already have two lovely cooking aprons (including the gorgeous polka dot one my friend Charlotte got me for Xmas last year, see below ) but i just HAD to have this one as well!!!

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anyway, once i got home it turned out there was an even bigger treat waiting for me!!!

my darling, wonderful, amazing Godmother Kath had sent me a little surprise...

a brand new Gucci Indy handbag!!! (squueeeeeeeeeeeee)

it is soooo beautiful!!! i love love LOVE it!

golly gosh she spoils me so much... 

those of you that follow the blog may remember the other Gucci Indy handbag she gave me on my last day of Summer term at college (read more here - Freedom at Last)

well i spent the whole summer with that bag on my arm so it looks like i'll be spending the Autumn/Winter using this new one!!!

this now brings my 'super duper bag' count to four! 

two Chloé Paddington's and two Gucci Indy's

oh what a lucky duck i am!

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in other news, i've been sewing stuff lately but i'll tell you all about that tomorrow! promise...

oh and i also set up a BRAND NEW deviantART page so if you're on DA be sure to go ahead and add me, i'll add you back of course! there aren't that many illustrations on there yet what with it being NEW and all but add me anyway you creative types- Jade Boylan on deviantART

right then, back tomorrow! so until then, that's all folks... ◕‿◕ ★ xX