transformers

Funny....this is me, with Blom. In an interview published in Ariadne At Home two weeks ago (august issue). Blom didn't need any makeup and I was transformed into a real At Home-woman, fitting in the format. Which needed a flowery dress, lots of make-up and big hair! Things you'll not catch me in in daily life. Nevertheless the picture turned out to be real nice, I think!
The journalist who interviewed me did a great job. It appeared to be someone I knew already: one of my neighbours! I like the way she combined the facts, quotes, inspirations and characteristics in this story.

back in bussum!

Back from a lovely holiday in France and a short stay in Switzerland.

We came across rusty brocante stuff,


we saw churches and


lots of dear friends and some small medieval towns with


colourful details!


The view from our house: never a dull moment!


Going back to Switzerland - was one of my wishes for a long time!


As my ancestors were 'Matters' that lived near the Matterhorn in the Mattervalley I wanted to see the swiss Giant myself.


After driving for seven hours, spending bags full of swiss franks for taxes, trains and open lifts (or 'gondels' like we call them - which were VERY 007 according to my sons), all my family-mountain was willing to show us upthere was the tiny top of his head. The rest he kept covered in clouds!


But we played in the snow, near the gletscher next to the snowboarders and we had a great uplanned hike back to Zermatt. And then - I must admit - after 2 very large swiss beers, we looked up in the direction of the mountain and yes... there it was, allmost without clouds: My Matterhorn!

holiday!

Spain won from Holland with 1-0. Time to leave the country, ha, ha!

I haven't been in our house in France for over a year, so there will be lots of things to do (cleaning, gardening, painting), friends to visit, wine to drink, lots of books to read and food to eat.
Have a great summer!

Jurianne

orange

Tomorrow is 'our' big day! Holland is playing in the finals against Spain. The last name of our Queen is 'Orange', the soccer team plays in orange, all the football fans are dressed and painted in orange. In Holland orange has a meaning. If I would wear an orange skirt without any reason, people would ask me if I had forgotten to change after the finals or after Queensday...
My sons (11 and 12 years old) went completely nuts when 'we' won the last match that brought us this far. Today my eldest son found a lucky bird (orange!!!) amongst a whole bunch of sweet, very special origami birds that recently flew in (I will tell you about them later). He put it in the soccer field behind our house and took this nice picture. I promissed to post it on my blog to bring good luck to 'our' boys in SA!

I haven't been a real soccer fan up untill now, but I must admit: the orange feever is a bit contagious... HUP HOLLAND HUP!

shop at envelop

It was again Irene from Bloesem who reveiled something new and exciting to me. Envelop is a fabric design goldmine! They sell household textiles designed by real pattern artists for a reasonable price. Next to that Envelop offers pattern designers a very easy way to have their fabrics produced and sold.
I bought this cushion cover with graphic hills, designed by the dutch Jessica Nielsen, who's beautiful work you can see on her own website too. It reminds me somehow of midcentury modern Finnish Marimekko-type textile. The pillow cover came today - in an Envelop of course - and I am really happy with it!

in labour

Yesterday we started giving birth to my second series of angels.
I never got used to this part of my work, it is too exciting! When the first samples come out, it allways gives me the shivers. The reason is: I used to print in process (CMYK) colours. This process needs balancing the four colours, which is a hell of a job for my work. I have spent days and days next to the machines, trying to get the colours right. So stressful!
But this time it was different: I have worked with solid Pantone colours! It basically means that you choose colours in your chart and exactly that colours come out on the samples. No endless balancing, checking samples, being puzzled about too much black or blue in the red and the yellow. Solid colours mean: what you see is what you get. Hurray!
Ok, the process is more expensive, but it saves me 20 wrinkles, 35 stress nots and at least 1 migraine attack per new article... From now on: solid colours it will be!

fresh finds

In the last weeks I was dying for a visit at the local second hand store. Really got fed up with the 'solitary-confinement-part' of my (design) job! So I went there last Wednesday for 30 minutes and apparently it was my lucky day!

The folkloric girl is completely handcrafted out of fabric (except for the head, that is made of paper maché with a varnish). She had a worried but sweet look on her face and I simply had to take this little woman home at once.

The pitcher, with the round stopper, looks a bit scandinavian and is great for my bedroom glass collection!

The glass-bird survived the seventies and the rest of the last century and I hope it will survive me and my family as well.

And I bought a bowl and a mini vase for rescued flowers.

In short: Happy for only EUR 7,50!

In Holland it is finally SUMMER! Have a nice weekend!