dipped

It is so funny to see lots of designers use 'dipping' as a new technique. Must be in the air somehow.
From above: DIY- neon dip dye egg, find the tutorial at: Oh Joy. Dipped pendant hanger from Heuteschmidt on Etsy, so simple! There are even designers that 'dip' one material in the other. As you can see at the awesome baskets above by Cordula Kehrer from Germany.

new elements

My poor house: It has been ages that I gave it some attention! I have no spare time for styling, painting, sewing or to go treasure hunting in thrift stores.

Since there will be a photo shoot this Wednesday I got a little nervous...how does my house look through the eyes of people who don't live in it? Sian Williams and Brent Darby come all the way from London, for my house that is so tiny and furnished practically....

Well, we gave our house some love last week: my husband finally finished tiling the bathroom (after 10 years, no kidding!), I hung new roller blinds in the bedroom and I went on several nightly treasure hunts on the internet.

I had bought the paper lampshade already some time ago and last week we placed it in our bedroom. The lovely sixties glass lamps I found at Lamplord (I just checked, they still have 2 pcs, look under 'lampenkappen'!)

 

Bought these awesome HAY-cushions at BijzonderMOOI* last week. Fell in love with them from the first minute I saw them last winter. The Kvadrat fabric is wonderful, the shape is great and I love the fabric buttons!

If you've been here before you might know the cottage houses by Ontwerpduo, I wrote about them in this post last year. I was actually looking for the right pot and the right plant to go with this little paper-village.
I found a large vintage plant-bowl and the right plant to go with it: our new green pet, a carnivorous plant!

my new pop-up posters: WIN a set!

Today my new pop-up posters are ready and for sale. I am so happy that I can finally share them with you!

 It is an honour that both Irene from Bloesem and Sandra from BijzonderMOOI were willing to publish the very first photo's. They even organised a great GIVE-AWAY: Check out Bloesem Blogs to read all about it!

 Pop-up posters - Tree - Fish - Landscape

These graphic artworks appear understated……but see what happens when you take these few simple steps!

Open the fish and the leaves of the trees, open the landscape and the sunshine. Choose a background colour to suit the mood of the picture. You can use one of the colours provided or perhaps something completely different.

The posters are printed on traditional Rives paper (220 gsm) and then pre-cut. Each poster includes a double-sided background sheet printed in two plain colours.

The A4 posters are sold individually and packaged flat with a stiff cardboard liner in a transparent A4 bag, rrp € 11,95 per piece. The A3-size landscape comes in a sturdy, triangular white cardboard tube with a handle, rrp € 17,95.

All my products are eco-friendly.  The paper carries the FSC-logo, and is acid- and chlorine-free.  The Vega-Fast ink is a Dutch developed printing ink based on vegetable oils.  The plastic-looking bags are actually made from cornflour and are bio-degradable.

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...