Psst... only this weekend: 20% discount on everything in the shop, except custom orders/made to order items (the items listed here in the made to order section).

Use the coupon code LOVESALE at checkout!

Another poster came from the printing office this week, that means another introduction offer! This A3 sized Mushrooms poster sells for only EUR 10 (instead of the normal price of EUR 16) all through the month of February (and of course through this last bit of January... ;)).

And psst... Shipping costs are only EUR 2.50 for the Netherlands and EUR 4 worldwide! You can buy the poster here, but if you live in the Netherlands or Belgium, you can also send me an email if you want to order from me directly.

By the way this poster came into existence in a funny way... When I'm crafting with Rosa, somehow I always get lots of ideas and feel tempted to do some drawing and doodling for myself. Of course she never lets me: so far she doesn't seem to get carried away by her own creativity yet, but always wants me to sit with her and make things for her. So when we're drawing or cutting and pasting together, I always secretly try to sneak in some quick cut/draw moments for myself when Rosa isn't paying attention for a split second. This often results in really quick 10-second-sketches and very rudimentary shapes cut from scraps of paper. And some of those rudimentary shapes became the starting point of this poster...

Lately I find myself being very much attracted to black. I guess it all started here, with the black chalkboard wall in the nursery in our previous apartment...

Then there was the black wall in our current living room, some more black wall in Rosa's new room, and right now there's also a lot of black in the things I make. I particularly love the way other colors pop up so brightly when being combined with black.

It always fascinates me how tastes and styles develop and change, and how trends work. I've never considered myself much of a trend follower or someone obsessed with the latest fashions, and I think throughout the years what I like has been very much a steady thing: I like color, I like patterns, I like vintage, I like bold graphics and I've never been quite the minimalist type.

On the other hand I follow quite a few blogs, and I'm an avid pinterest user, and I think from checking pinterest often you can very much distill what people like here and now. So though I may feel my own taste doesn't change that much, I guess I'm more or less aware of 'the latest styles'. I have no pretentions to be some sort of Li Edelkoort, but you don't have to be to see that there's obviously been a shift from the very girly, feminine, floral and colorful vintage/brocante style that was all over the place a few years ago towards a more graphic style: the black and white, the geometry, the simple graphic triangle, harlequin and diamond shapes. No crazy mix of bright colors, but a softer mix of ochre, grey, coral and mint.

And I think I'm fooling myself when I say it doesn't influence me. That my taste still is the same as five years ago. And who cares, really? It's good not to be stuck in the same thing forever. It doesn't make you more sincere or authentic when you always keep surrounding yourself with the same stuff. We don't have to stick to 1970s orange and green only because we once liked it ;).

But still it sometimes leaves me puzzled. Is this really me liking this, or is it just some sort of Zeitgeist thing that we eventually all fall for? If you keep seeing it, will you love it in the end? Is there something wrong now with the things we loved five years ago? Is it inevitable that we get bored and must move on to something else eventually?

I think these questions pop up in particular when it comes to the things you create yourself. Is this really mine? Am I still working from my own perspective, my own source of ideas and aesthetics, or am I being influenced too much by other people's espressions and ideas?

Well, I still like bright colors, even though people say we can't right now because we're in the middle of a crisis ;). With a bit of ochre... and lots of black.

It took me a little while, but now I can finally properly introduce this new poster here! This is an offset printed poster (size A3: 29,7 x 42 cm or 11.8" x 16.6") of my 'You are so so easy to love' print, printed on beautiful 170 grams paper. The paper is heavy, but not as heavy as the fine art paper that I normally use for my fine art prints, which means that it can be sent in a cardboard mail tube through normal mail, so the (international) shipping costs will be much lower than when it has to be shipped as a small parcel.

As an introduction offer, this poster will sell for only EUR 10 (instead of the normal price of EUR 16) all through the month of December. You can order it here (If you live in the Netherlands or Belgium, you can also send me an email if you want to order from me directly).

Oh I know, this is one of those things that you can spend way too much time on while you shouldn't... Etsy has this tool called 'rearrange your shop', and you can use it to arrange the display of all your shop listings. And since I can't stand it when there isn't a 'right balance' in the display of images in my shop (as you can see below, I prefer an 'open-close' image structure ;)), I often find myself moving images from one place to the other till it finally feels right. As you can imagine I always feel a little disturbed when an item (or more than one... the horror!) gets sold... Though it's always a nice opportunity to start rearranging again ;).

By the way the postcard sets are on sale right now: nine postcards (but in fact there are even ten in each package, there's always a mystery card added!) for EUR 7 instead of 10... and there's a nice new offer coming up later!

(Oh and for those of you who share my little obsession: no worries, what you see in line seven and eight didn't just slip my mind, in the shop there's a page break inbetween! ;))

I've added a lot of new art prints and larger (A3 sized) art prints/posters to the shop these last few days. First of all there's the You are so so easy to love print, printed on very beautiful heavy textured fine art paper, that comes both in A3 and A4 size.

Then there's the patches print, available in A4 size in this colorway...

... and another one.

Then there's the Love print, that's also available in both A3 and A4 size.

This print Village under the tree is available in blue...

... and also in pink.

Then there's the Rise and shine print, available in both A3 and A4 size... 

And here you can find the new red version of the l'amour toujours print.

Some love, anyone? ;)

Still in the middle of this whole process... The more Autumn starts to surround me, the more colors pop into the designs. I guess I'm not really this kind of person who makes her home 'winter ready' by putting some 'warm neutrals and soft, natural materials' into her home, like you're supposed to do according to all the decorating magazines... ;) Bright colors for winter I say!

I haven't quite chosen any kind of official career path, and when people ask me what I do I never know what to call myself. Periods of satisfaction and happiness about what I do are regularly alternated with periods of doubt, in which I feel that all of this isn't really leading anywhere. Then all the good things that happened so far seem a stroke of luck that I don't know how to continue with.

I often experience such a period of doubt after I've been 'absent' for a while. I felt this way when I started working again after my maternity leave from Rosa, and now after this long period of Julie's maternity leave and the months in which we were busy moving house I feel it again. There's this mix of lots of ideas on the one hand yet on the other hand not knowing if they're good ones and how to get started with them. The feeling that I should improve and renew, invest or take big steps, but not exactly knowing how.

And then in the middle of such a period the most beautiful book arrives on my doorstep: Print & pattern kids, this huge and gorgeous children's print, pattern and illustration bible by Print & Pattern's Bowie Style. With some pages showing my designs inbetween pages featuring the work of illustration, print and design icons such as Alain Gree, Marimekko, Orla Kiely and Cath Kidston, and many other great designers and illustrators. Yikes! Must have done something right somehow ;).

The book is crazily inspiring, so many different styles of print and illustration, you just want to immediately grab your pencils and start drawing. I suppose that's a warning ;).

This saturday it's time again for one of the nicest handmade, craft & design blog events of the year: the Yvestown fair. Please come and visit us in Lommel, Belgium if you have the chance! Here you can find all the information about this year's fair and look back at the lovely one last year. I already look forward to get inspired again by all the beautiful handmade items and designs. For me this last year has been very much about having another baby and particularly about all the fuss that comes with moving house, and I have missed making things and being surrounded and inspired by the things that other people make. So I can't wait to be part of the Yvestown fair again, hope to meet you there!

When speaking to people from Japan, they often tell me how much they love European art & design, and that they want to buy and have 'everything European'. I always find that remarkable to hear, because I feel exactly the same way for Japanese art and design. I always feel so inspired when I see the work of Japanese illustrators, and when I found the work of the super talented Mizuki Goto my heart really jumped. You know, in such a 'I-want-to-have-this-all, please-tell-me-there's-a-webshop!' way. Unfortunately I haven't found one though...

The good news is that Mizuki Goto's amazing work can be viewed extensively on her website's gallery, it's quite a treat! And hopefully I can soon find a way to order at least a print or so...