SALE!

   It's SALE time in my Etsy shop. 50% Discount on all the porcelain china from
   the previous servies. Check it out here. I also added two new plates! (not on sale)
   Happy queensday to all the dutchies!

   Update - only one of the above plates left. The one with the fox is already sold but, 
   I added more new items...

Cut magazine

  
   Before I became an Illustrator, I was working as a fashion designer and used to
   make a lot of my own clothes. Sometimes I dream of home made apparel again...
   Because I'm a bit lazy with sewing, I love the simple designs but not the ones in the
   regular sewing magazines that always look a bit 'not design like' to me (the
   disadvantage of being a visual person, sigh).
  
   But... Last week I came across this magazine, CUT, that made my day! Fresh
   modern stylish and simple designs! And not only that, great other DIY projects and
   good layout design too. The best thing about it all is that you can even order specially
   for CUT designed fabrics at www.stoffn.de, WOW! This even makes up for the fact that
   the whole zine is in german. Big hurray to the people at CUT Magazine for doing such
   a fab job! (Or should I say 'supertoll'?)

Sarah Clark

  
   I ordered this little guide to family first aid from Sarah Clark, an illustrator from
   the UK, and it came in today (very nicely wrapped by the way). Let me tell you,
   the illustrations are so funny and whimsical that I can only recommend you have
   a look in her Etsy shop too!

Easter weekend

    It was such a lovely easter weekend!
   1. lunch with family. My mum made lots of yummy things, like this bagel-with-egg
     (that she somehow keeps calling a 'beagel', I don't see a tail do you?)
   2. my plates at the exhibition at Gallery Tydeman
   3. little flowers at the windowsill at the exhibition
   4. easter cocktails (a bit of an experiment. I think we should have skipped
       the marshmellow chicks) and sushi in the park with friends.

   And in between all that, I restocked the shop...

Make

  
   Don't you think this looks great? You can make it yourself, see how on the Etsy blog.
  
   For those of you living in Holland: I'm showing my porcelain china and prints at
   Gallery Tydeman this weekend In Utrecht and may 1-8 in Eindhoven.
   Would love to see you there!
  
   Happy easter everyone!

Sketches

   A sneak preview... sketches for new illustrations on porcelain (china and brooches).
   The theme is 'the vegetable garden', perfect for summer, right?

Fred & Guus

   By coincidence, I discovered a new, fresh and young company called Fred&Guus.
   Their goal is to stimulate and promote creative talent in Utrecht (the Netherlands),
   and quess what... I'm all for that! You can find funny t-shirts, art and a
   post-it-project on their website (officially in business from april 23 on).

   Oh, and I like this.

In search for vintage...

   I'm on an ungoing hunt for vintage porcelain for my printed china.
   Today I went to Haarzuilens, a tiny town near Utrecht that has an
   enormous vintage shop. The weird thing was... I couldn't find anything!
   They had lots of china but not what I needed. I had to keep myself
   from buying things I didn't need though...

   The lovely Lisa of pobox607 did an interview with me on her blog.
   You can read it here.

Things from yesterday

      +  Busy with stock for Elle Aime, a new shop at ROTABS in Rotterdam that
          will sell my work (from may 15).
      +  Homemade rice cookies with sundried tomato paste for lunch... yum!

Personal

   I'd like to share a personal story with you... Once upon a time I was is a not so
   nice relationship (I won't go into details but believe me, it was a bit traumatizing).
   When I brooke up I hoped to finally leave everything behind but... I couldn't
   get it out of my mind.
   I wouldn't be me if I wasn't looking for a (creative) solution so... I created a little
   farewell-ritual and an envelope/ bag with:

   + a letter in which I wrote down every frustration I had about the whole thing
   + a gift that I once got from the ex
   + a paper handkerchief with tears.

   I went to the nearest canal, said goodbye,  dropped the envelope in the water
   (don't worry, there was nothing in there that could harm the environment)
   and looked at how everything just drifted away from me.

   Because I think more people could need this sort of thing, I'm now developing
   a farewell-kit for anyone out there who needs to get rid of things from the past.
   I can't show you so much right now, but I promess it'll be in my Etsy shop as
   soon as possible...

Gift wrap

  
   When people buy things from my shop, sometimes they'll ask me if I could gift
   wrap it... and as the good girl that I am, I happily oblige ;) Seriously, I really like
   doing this. It's so much better when you get a gift that's lovingly packaged, don't you
   think? Having that on my mind, while wrapping the little things I imagine
   someone receiving this gift and that makes me feel very satisfied.

Project... result!

   This is the result of the project process I and II I've been posting last week:
   A group of brooches inspired by barrel organ 'The bandit' for a book to
   promote Amsterdam, by Nienke Sinnema.

  The final stage was to make a package to keep the booches in. I made a
  folding sleeve with a little bucle in black cotton and white crochet lace.
  The lace because it reflects to the history of the dutch barrel organ and
  Black cotton with the bucle to refer to the slip-over cover of The Bandit.

  I'm quite happy with the result, it's been a really nice project to work on!

Mystery wall

   Some time ago, I was in New York and while being there I made a photo
   (by night unfortunately) of this lovely wall. I only remember it was somewhere
   in Long Island City but a little google solved the mystery...it's the entrance of:
   Recycle a bicycle. They not only promote every day bicycle use but they also
   have an art programm where you can make sculptures out of bicycle parts.
   As being dutch (and therefore alsmost born on a bicycle) I absolutely love
   this initiative and the lovely walldesign!

Project process II

 
   Ok, here's the update on the previous project process post (so many p's!).

   After making the blank brooches, it's time to get started on the prints. First I made
   some sketches.  Then made the ones I liked agian with fine liner and scanned them.
   I added and changed the colours on the computer and printed it on ceramic transfer
   paper.
   Now my favorite part: sticking the transfers onto the porcelain brooches!I first cut
   out every illustration, then soaked it in water. After about 30 seconds, took it out an
   put in onto the brooche and carefully slided off the back paper and made sure the
   surface is smooth without air or water under the transfer.
   Put it into the oven and here we are... printed brooches!

   But.. I'm not done yet... Because it's all about barrel organs I'd like to add some
   coins too, in this case old dutch money (before the euro we had the guilder).
   Did you know that during world war two it was forbidden to own a picture of the
   dutch queen? Therefore people made jewelry out of coins because her image was on
   it and that was the only way to show your loyalty!
   To add the coins, I made small eyelets (with a soldering iron) onto the coins, and
   attatched them to the brooches using a short piece of jewelry chain.

   The final thing is to make a nice case to put the brooches in.
   I'll show you the result soon...

New knobs

   I have a thing for cute dressers and cabinets. With that comes a thing for knobs, so
   why not try to make some myself? This is what I was thinking a few weeks ago and
   now... here they are: the first two porcelain knobs printed by me! I'm so happy with
   how they turned out, I hope you like them too, and of course they're listed in
   my shop!

And the winner is...

 
   Julie Adore! If you email me your address, the postcards will come your way!

Five questions to... Ashkan Honarvar

   Ashkan Honarvar is an illustrator from the Netherlands who, after a career with lots
   of commisioned work now focuses mainly on his own wonderful projects. His
   work almost has as certain creepy beauty to it that is very facinating to me as it
   is so different from my own style and therefore even more inspiring. Apart
   from all that, I can tell you that he's also a very nice and lovely person, even
   more reason to ask him these five questions:

   You seem to specialize in collages, how and when was the first time you 
   discovered that this is the medium for you? 
   I remember when I was 15 years old I saw an old collage in a history book from 
   John Heartfield. He made lots of anti Hitler collages for the magazine he worked 
   for during the war.

   What do you do to get inspired and do you have specific topics you feel 
   drawn to? 
   The human body plays a big role in my work. I’m really fascinated by it’s 
   flexibility to bend and to reflect. I’m always searching through books and other 
   printed mediums for new and original collage material. I always use original 
   materials for my work, never using images from the Internet. That way the chance 
   someone else uses the image gets smaller.

   What is your ideal as far as your work goes, anything you'd still like to 
   achieve or do?
   Been able to go on with art until I’m dead and never get bored of it.

   What is you biggest fear? 
   Not having a freedom of speech.

   What is, according to you, the best way to get your work out there? 
   Never stop believing in your self and don’t take no for an answer. 

   Thank you Ashkan for your time!
   For more of his illustrations and collages:  www.ashkanhonarvar.com

   
   Don't forget to sign up for the Postcard Give Away... one day left!

Project process...

   I'd like to show you a bit of the process of my current assignment: making an accessory
   to a story about Amsterdam for the project Your mug is mosquito by Nienke Sinnema
   to promote the identity of the city of Amsterdam. The project will contain a book with 
   70 quotes, 10 themes and handmade products based on 6 stories of the city. The story
   I got is about the typical dutch barrel organs on the streets of Amsterdam and in
   particular about The Bandit.

   Because these organs are beautifully decorated (almost museum pieces), mostly
   handmade and something from the 'old days' I wanted to use a material that has a
   simular history and delicacy, porcelain. I'm making a group of brooches to wear
   together with illustrations on them that roughly show the story behind the barrel
   organs.

   First I made flat round and oval piece out of porcelain molding clay (thanks to
   Willemijn for the clay and advice!). I experimented a bit with imprints of lace and
   vintage keys. After baking those I glaced them and baked that again. Today I'm
   starting on the illustrations and experimenting with transferring those onto the
   brooches... Keep you posted!

   Don't forget to sign up for the postcard give away! 

Catching up

  
   One of my good friends moved to Tel Aviv last year. She travels a lot for work
   and now she's back home for a short periode so we absolutely had to meet up for
   lunch. We went to one of our favorites, Het Paradijs, a restaurant in Utrecht with
   to most delicious authentic chinese food. I planed to make a photo of the dim sum
   we had but I totally forgot as we were to busy catching up... Now, I only made a
   picture of her shoes (which are really nice don't you think? I also like how she
   rolled her socks).
   Everytime she's here I realize how much I miss her. But fortunately she invited
   me to come to Israel in the fall!

Postcard Give Away

   What I really enjoy about blogging is the interaction with all of you out there.
   I receive so many nice comments on my work, discover all sorts of interesting
   blogs (I always take a peek at my followers blogs, I'm curious about who you
   are...) and just enjoy the inspiration and global interaction. So once in a while
   I'd like to do something back... All you need to do is leave a comment and
   maybe you'll win this postcard set of three from the porcelain series!
   The winner will be announced on april 8th.