we are hiring ;-)

I have a dream for the future....an online platform like Instagram, that will keep one simple pledge: Never ever ever ever to interfere with the way content is shown to its users and stay algorithm-free.

We are all grown-ups, we can make our own decisions, and we really don't need anyone (or anything) to tell us which photo is more important or relevant than the other.

I am dreaming of an app for independent people, an app without threats of interference, a platform made and run by persons who respect their users. To download this app I am willing to pay a few dollars, of course. And maybe the other 400 million Instagram users are willing to pay for their freedom too... 

So, we - a community of 400 million people -are hiring!  ;-)

What we are looking for is a skilled app designer with moral standards (!!!) who wants to make a buck (like a couple of million of 'em).

What we offer is a strong and growing community of happy free people that love to share their photo's. 

Until this dream comes true please let Instagram know that following the algorithm plague from Facebook and Pinterest is NOT a good idea. Please sign the petition HERE. Thank you!

insta winter

My winter pics on Instagram show that I am a winter child really. Especially trees in winter I find intriguing: their silhouettes, leafless, sleeping their winter sleep...I love them!

I had a busy winter: I designed many things (some didn't reach the production phase), sold piles of small and large paper angels, started to do my own photography and styling again and we opened our first consumer WEBSHOP!
That was a hell of a job, but worth it big time. It is so nice to be more in touch with what we (in wholesale land) call: 'end-consumers' or our target group. It reminds me of who I am designing for and I am thankful for and I feel honoured with every small (and big) order that comes in...

our apartment in paris

Because I booked my stand at the international Maison & Objet trade fair for september 2016 already, I thought I'd better check the lovely apartment we rented last year and book that right away. What a disappointment, it was booked already for September! I understand it, it was a popular location (Les Halles): a nice, spacious, quiet and clean place in the bumping heart of Paris. 

Fortunately I immediately found something else (at AirBnB, like always). See photo's above. The apartment looks  real nice and is located is on 200 meters from the subway station and from the entrance of the gorgeous Jardin du Luxembourg! Quartier Latin is around the corner and on the other side there's the Sorbonne University, where my grandmother studied back in the 1920's. (Note to self: ask dad what she did there, where she lived etc...)

Well, at the moment I am picturing my co worker Kim and me - after a hard days work at the huge and busy fair - with our take-away sushi in a lovely real French Fermob chair in the parc...

new designs!

BLATT - flowers & leaves
MAYPOLE - greeting cards

My new designs are in stock! Deep colours, simple patterns...

Above you see the new bunch of everlasting paper flowers called Blatt (= Leaf).
This time I was very much in to full colours and more mature patterns than when I designed the Blom flowers 6 years ago. They still have the same kind of nordic look, but it's 2.0 (or 2016 if you want)!

Blatt contains 19 easy pop-out flowers, leaves and bean pods. Oh, and of course this set contains florist wire too to make a nice floral arrangement!
The retailprice is € 10.50. You can buy them in my webshop HERE.
ps. don't worry, I still have plenty of Blom flowers too!

And also available: my little bonus design for this spring, Maypole greeting cards. Abstract little trees, inspired by folkloric maypoles as I saw them in small villages in Germany. Prints in deep pastels on thick matte Olin paper (400 gsm).  
Retailprice is € 1.95 per card. You can buy them HERE. 

If you have a shop and you would like to buy my new designs for wholesale prices, just drop me a line. I would love to welcome you as my new salespoint!

 

urban spring collection - wrapping paper

 

Last week Ompak giftwrap company launched their new collection called Urban Spring, which I designed for them. Like always it was such a pleasure designing together with and for Ompak. I remember driving to their head quarters, with a moodboard and dozens of sketches in the back, singing along loud with the radio and feeling so utterly happy with the job I have... 

This time we wanted to create a cool and urban collection, based on materials like wood, stone and  marble and based on construction elements like floors, tiles, bricks and iron gates.

Butterfly Gate is a black and white print and pattern Brick comes in three colours. I even 'designed' a real looking white/gray marble gift paper and a 'birch veneer' gift tag!

The lovely photo's above were taken by stylists/photographers Stylecookie. They even had a hipster male model to complete our sturdy look!

spring showUP - februari 7 & 8

 

As one of the handful ShowUP trade fair pioneers from the very first beginning I will of course be there again presenting my new designs! 

There are 250 stands these days. Founders Maya and Daan know how to make small events big, keeping an eye on the quality in the meantime! So next to the trade aspect of this fair, they see to it that it is full of inspiration, there's room for work from design talents. The overall styling is wonderful, and there is good food and interesting workshops! The entry of this trade show is free for professionals, you can sign up on the website.

And please drop by at stand 37, to meet me or Peter and Kim, who will be there to assist me. I would love to tell you about my new designs! And of course show you the collection I designed for my trade fair neighbour Ompak!

Don't miss it!

ps: Photo's taken by ShowUP at the last issue in August 2015.

designs from the pressure cooker

In 10 days I will present my new and old stuff at the ShowUP trade fair here in the Netherlands again. It feels like being in a pressure cooker at the moment.

Last week I decided to skip one of my new designs because of the costs: a beautiful tray, made in Sweden (see photo of a sample together with my Ode cup). Reason: the consumer price would become too high for my target group! 

So I needed a back-up plan.

My friend Linda Lammerts recently mentioned in passing that good old simple greeting cards would be such a nice match with my designs. So funny, although I am 'Mrs Paper', the idea of designing greeting cards never occurred to me! Thanks Lin, for waking me up!

I started last Friday, worked all weekend, and I just sent the greeting card files to the printer's. On the above photo the sketch looks a little pink, but in reality it's more camel. It's going to be printed on beautiful 400 gr. Olin paper, one of my favorites!

In short: I will still be rather busy the coming weeks, but for now I can let some steam out!