spring trade fair

A mini report from the Spring Trade Fair in Utrecht last week: We had the same stand, as you can see in the previous post, with the same crew (Snor and Jurianne), but we had it painted in a different colour... You can get a glance of my latest product (the Pop-up Posters) which I will show next week, when I have had time to take some proper photo's!

Traditionally we organized dinner in the 'street' in front of our stands on Monday night. Wine, Thai food and good vibes! Joining us: Sabien and Aisa from Engel, Ingrid from Ingthings, Guusje and her partner from Breekwater, Bibi from Bl-ij, Brigitte from Miscellanious, Gemma from Milestone Cards, Wendy and Rianne from Gezinnig, our new friend Hera Bjørk from Iceland and many more...

pressure cooker

Working on my new products, moving the 'warehouse-handling-shipping part' of my company to another location and preparing the 'Voorjaarsbeurs', the Spring Trade Fair (March 4, 5 and 6)...

That's about what I am doing at this moment and my head sometimes feels like a pressure cooker.
I know though that once the Trade Fair starts I will relax and I'll have a huge smile on my face presenting my new 'Pop-up Posters' to the customers.

Uitgeverij Snor will be my 'room mate' on the Trade Fair again. We had great fun last september, and their books and my paperwork are a good match. The stand (number C341) location will be the same, the look will be different this time....

I wish I could show you my new posters right now! But I promissed myself this time not to reveal anything on the internet until a product is ready and for sale at my customers. Another good reason for you to come to Utrecht?
I hope to meet you there!

my DIY-free downloadable designs at Bloesem

Over the years I learned to say NO to people. But there's a few very special people I cannot refuse anything and one of them is Irene from Bloesem blogs. 
So, although my to-do-list is overflowing at the moment, I saw myself writing 'YES of course!' when she asked me if had some nice Valentine's DIY download stuff for her blog.

I designed a double sided a5 card with a matching gift wrap.
According to my 3 musketeers here the designs are 'men-proof' (no pink, not too girlie). So females can send it to their male-Valentines, they will love it!

It 's less than a few minutes work: go to Bloesem - download and print the pdf's (thick a4 paper for the card, thin for the wrapping paper), fold the card, write some sweet words in the heart, cut the heart on the dashed lines and fold it open a little.

Happy Valentine's Day!

ceramics class - jar

Isn't this a beautiful new place to stay for the small pieces of coloured glass I found in our river in France? I melted them in the lid of the new ceramic jar I made in class and I am so happy with it! I actually mixed them with a few coloured glass beads my mom kept from my childhood.

Sweet memories in a new piece of work!

It is striking: there is the retro touch again! Can't seem to get rid of it. And should I? My roots are in the seventies, feels like home...

spring 2 years ago

That's funny, I just stumbled apon a photo of my own living room on Pinterest! The source was rather strange (a website about cosmetics? huh?)...

The photo originally comes from a series of pictures I took as a part of a feature on Bloesem blogs two years ago. To keep it exclusive for Bloesem I never posted any of the photo's on my own blog. But I think it is ok by now to show some of them.

A lot of the decoration has changed, the basis is the same. My house is so small that there are only a few options for the sofa, the table and the cupboard...

one of a kind - iPhone case

When I blogged about the Leese Design iPhone cases (see blogpost here) last month I hoped my husband would read it. In the post I wrote that I would like to have a black one for my birthday ;-)
Well, he read it and made this small wish come true (thanks honey!), together with my dear, dear, talented friend Bjørke, she made the beautiful embroidery specially for me. How cool is that?

Don't you think it looks gorgeous: the graphic tree, the lovely birdies, the great pastels in the black background...aaaahhhh!


Thanks B (who is in Berlin at the moment), you are so sweet!

ps1: Just found a cross-stitch case in NL online at Lux Case
ps2: You can find other beautiful handmade stuff by Bjørke in her shop Bybjor!

fase 1 - vase 1

 

No, this is not my latest find from the thrift store! This vase is actually handmade by me in ceramics class and is one of my first pieces ever.
It looks very mid-century modern, it must be the shape, the colours and of course the shellac technique.

Shellac is a natural varnish that has been used by man for ages. You 'paint' with shellac on dry clay. Your 'shellac design' will resist on your object. After you have washed away a layer of clay with a sponge, the shellac parts will pop-out. The non-varnished parts get a real nice sturdy surface, a concrete look. The shellac itself burns out in the firing.

Just imagine, this is one of thousands of ceramic techniques to be explored. I am dreaming of a sabbatical...