XL-news & thank you's

I am excited to share my news with you:

- I have designed 2 new XL-angels - A3 size
- I have a new website (.com ánd .nl)
- and a real JM-logo!

Little Angels Grow Bigger!

Following the success of her ‘children’ (the little Sing angels), mother XL-Angel herself has now come down to make us smile! With her large shape and her pop-out dress – you can open up the berries on her dress – she is a striking presence. She loves to take centre stage at your dinner table, but will also smile cheerfully at you all year round from your sideboard or window ledge.  The XL-Angel is a striking, unique and affordable gift.

The easy pop-out XL-Angel is set in an A3 format card and comes in a bag with ‘handles’. The two colour themes available, blue-red and turquoise-ochre, are sold separately.

Recommended retail price per set: EUR 7.95
 

Thank you Amorim Design for the great job you have done with my new website! It took some time, but with your patience, perseverence, web-craftmanship and your sense of  beauty we reached our goal!

Thank you Peter (my husband), for 'filling' the website with web-photo's, texts, salespoint links etc. You have a precision I envy, sweetheart...thanks!

Thank you Tessa Kwee, for the wonderful logo! It was a kind of a quest and a rocky path to follow, but I have to say I am really, really happy with my JM. Thanks!

Not to forget: thanks Luc Biersteker (my partner in printwork) for coming up with the gorgeous idea of packaging the XL-angels in bags with a large 'handle'. It looks so cute!

reset and reload

In a few days I am going to reset and reload in France for a couple of weeks! Haven't been in our house there in three years, I am sure it needs a lot of cleaning, painting and cutting the weeds...

I am saying goodbye to you with the lovely and brandnew Map of France by Famille Summerbelle. They just launched it some days ago and it's available now.

I wish you all a great summer 

(or winter, depending on what side of the planet you are)

ps. Our old house is there were you see the shepherd and the sheep

my print on Engel-bags

Last Saturday I received a lovely package: 2 wonderful bags, a gift from Engel. Some years ago I designed this elephant-pattern for Engel-tablecloths.
Engel has used the pattern on bags now, and I love it!
By the way - as you can expect from Engel - the bags are real practical and made in a high quality. I am really happy with them!
Although neon has been banned from my personal color palette for a while now, the small neon one (which is much brighter in real than you can see here) is my favorite...
Thanks for the gift dear Sabien!

taking photo's without a camera

As a kid I was intrigued by cyanotype. It is a way of taking photo's without a camera, with help from the sun and some chemicals.
When my sons were little I bought a DIY sunprint kit. The fun thing was: after printing the key, the pair of scissors and some fern leaves my boys lost their interest but I couldn't stop! I remember going through my cupboards with a cyanotype view: fluffy yarn, nails, my grandmothers lace, every shape seemed interesting...
The cyanotype technique can be used on any material: Above you can see it applied on tiles by the UK/Dutch designers Glithero. Both the gun by Adam Ottavi (etsy shop) and the Jellyfish lace next to it by Rinne Allen are on paper and for sale. The beautiful dandelion print on fabric is created by Anna Laurent, you can find here TUTORIAL here.

final launch

Here's my Fleet!

These little paper ships can
- transport your wishes to the other end of the world
- carry treats on a birthday
- invite your guests to your party 
- and decorate your home, your plants or your gifts!

For this new Fleet I designed 4 tiny ships and I think they are so cute! So now there's 11 boats in the pack: three A4-size, four A5 size and four of those new A6 size little boats. A real Fleet!
Although there are 11 boats in the Fleet pack (in the first series it is 8 pcs) the price is the same as serie 1, only € 9,95.

Dear fellow bloggers... Of course I would be so happy if you would spread my good Fleet-news over the planet. I have taken many more photo's than I show you here, and you are very welcome to download them below for use on your blog. Don't forget to send me a link (email), so I can thank you...
Thanks big time!

High res images
Low res images

we showedUP last weekend!

left: photo taken from the showUP website

A couple of meters from my stand: the Stork restaurant for a healthy lunch!

The new ShowUP trade fair was beyond expectations! Good vibes, great collegues, lovely location, fantastic styling, enthusiastic visitors and even some orders (thanks guys!). This is what the professional home/gift world in the Netherlands needed.  
Enough reason to sign up for the second edtion in August!

sketches of a new fleet

Two weeks ago I planned to design something new to be launched on the Amsterdam ShowUP tradefair on the 3d of February.
I felt I had outgrown the style of my very first product, the 'little wishboats' (2008) a little, but I'm still in love with the concept, so I chose to restyle them (don't worry: the first fleet will keep on sailing!).

What a struggle it was last week finding the right feel, but yesterday I suddenly knew I was on the right track. I wanted to go deeper and wiser and still keep my customers happy...
I am scared stiff that you might think: 'She's gone nuts! Where are the nice clean graphic patterns, the fresh nordic colours, where's the white base?'
I can understand, but these ragged shibori-style prints, the simple graphic lines and the deep warm colours...this style came straight from my heart yesterday. Just like that. I can only hope my blogreaders and my customers can see, feel and appreciate it.
Thank you, heart, I can allways count on you!

free downloadable prints for danish paper stars!

 

 

 

It is already two years ago that I blogged about my 'conquest': learning to fold Danish (or German/Moravian) paper stars! I had found a great TUTORIAL and after hours of practicing, trying (and swearing) I knew I had learned something I would never forget.
Since then, as soon as I have my hands free in December (when finally my business goes down a bit after the 20st of December) I start folding stars to get my head empty and my heart cheerful!

Of course I always design my own paper star prints (see stars above). And this year I would love to share those prints with you. You can download the prints HERE (5 Mb)


If you are having a hard time folding the stars: you can use my prints as A4-size wrapping paper as well!

Merry Christmas to you all!

give away - Bloesem/Jurianne - Christmas box!

Bloesem Kids has organised the last pinterest give-away of this year, featuring 5 of my designs.
Just go to Bloesem's Give-away Pinterest board repin and react (question is: what's your favorite Christmas song?).
A random name will be drawn by Bloesem on December 21st and a box filled with the designs above - Sing Angels, Classic Lanterns, Shine Lanterns, Circles and Little Tree (ok, ánd some stars, handmade by me) - could be yours!

unstationary

What a privileged life I live! Yesterday I recieved a large envelope with the brandnew and brilliant 'Unstationary' collection by my friends from Ontwerpduo. On all of this soft coloured stationery there is a print of graph paper, pulled open like curtains, with a fascinating effect.

Bijzondermooi is selling Unstationary in the Netherlands. I hope a lot of international shops will fill their shelves with these paper cases, note pads, writing paper, envelopes, tags and little cards as well!

By the way, it is all ecofriendly produced by 'my' printer (the man who produces my work already for almost 5 years!).

The orange 'house' is a mini-block of page-markers by Suck UK, I bought in London (V&A) last week. The wooden bird-shaped tape holder has been on my blog before, you can buy it here.

my magazine angel

Buitenleven is a lovely dutch magazine (one of the few I actually READ), a hip lifestyle & nature magazine. The editors and I have always been working great together and every time they publish one of my new designs it looks wonderful. Some months ago they asked me to design a Christmas give-away for all their readers, you can imagine how honoured I felt!
When I came home from London last Thursday, the Christmas issue with the angel fell on my doormat.
So here she is: my Buitenleven ("Bowtenlivven") angel!

ps. Sorry: available in Holland (maybe Belgium?) only!

tidy up art

 

There's a trend going on: designers try to get hold of life by mapping social behaviour, everyday life or even emotions in graphic statistics.
Swiss artist Ursus Wehrly is doing the same with daily materials and scenes. I am intrigued by this concept: simplifiying the world, making it well-ordered like a Swiss watch. Must be my Matterhorn roots!

off to Paris

this is the april/paris page from the lovely new 2013 calender by Rifle paper

Tomorrow morning I'll leave for Paris for a couple of days - Maison & Objet trade fair -  together with my collegue/friend Gemma Broekhuis from Milestone Babycards. Promoting my Circles (which means folding and talking at the same time - both of my 'talents' combined!!), looking at the latest trends, meeting business associates and hoping to find a distributor for the USA!
I am looking for a good (matching!) distributor that represents my work in the US, that attends fairs and takes care of the logistics etc. I would be so happy with that. There's a pile of US-orders waiting for them already...If you have any ideas/advice concerning this, please do contact me!

Planning to go to Paris too? I would love to meet you! I'll be mostly at the booth of  
&K Amsterdam - hal 6, L86, who is my distributor for Europe.
Au revoir!

sneak preview: product in progress

Working hard (in the weekends and at night) to get my new product to the printer's next week.
I am not fond of showing half-products and sketches, but I can't resist today. On my work table there is this 'carpet' full of printed and hand cut circles, it looks so lovely, I simply had to share it!

The photo is a bit vague on purpose because it is a product in process and I have to keep you in suspense a little longer.
The new product will be presented at the New York Gift Fair in August and in the meantime I'll keep you posted here of course.

very pinteresting

 

Although first of all I am my own personal source, recently I was influenced more and more by images from other designers I collected on my Pinterest-boards. Pinterest makes getting inspired so easy!
To be honest, after a while my head starts spinning from all the Pinterest pictures. And to get myself working (in stead of collecting more and more inspirational images) I sometimes have to put myself on a Pinterest-diet.

In the process of designing the pop-up posters  for example, I think I was influenced by a lovely print designed by Andrew Holder, by a mascara package from Topshop and by the reflected inkblots on Isabelle Foirest's plates.

Ameland

On our way to the island of Ameland in the north of the Netherlands we stayed in Leeuwarden and visited some beautiful towns, museums and some of my Frysian customers!
One of them - the lovely Gerrie Tiemersma from hairsalon 't Kapperszaakje in Franeker bought me this little gift in the local thrift store. Beautiful vintage montessori school supplies! Very inspiring for the future tiles collection I am dreaming of...If you are in the neighbourhood - even if you don't need a haircut - you should visit her salon on the Dijkstraat number 60. It has an extraordinairy, crafty and nice atmosphere, my designs feel at home there! 
And don't forget to drive to Sneek and visit Elles and Maaike in their new and huge store Nio & Elva (they sell Hay, Muuto, Ferm, Marimekko and my Blom flowers).

And then we went to Ameland for a couple of days, to breath some sea air, get some salt in our hair, sand in our shoes and study fishing net structures