Almost there... christmas

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Hi everyone! Our house is almost ready for christmas... The tree is in the house, the poinsettia is flowering only I'm not there yet...
Due to the insane christmas madness in the shop the past few weeks (stressssss!), I've decided to take a blog break till the beginning of the new year.

The shop is still open but will close from december 20th till january 3rd in the new year.
Happy holidays to you and your loved ones and see you in the new year!


greeting cards for Enormous Champion

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Somewhere in May this year, Brooklyn based stationary company Enormous Champion asked me if I would like to design a set of greeting cards for their collection (ehm... YES!!).
This week the printed postcards came in and now that I see them in real life I feel so super proud!

Originally the idea was to design four but I got the hang of it and the lovely people at EC asked me if I could do more. So, here's now a mini collection of eight cards for various occasions like: birth, birthdays, christmas, weddings, thank you and saying hi.

The cards are available for wholesale at the Enormous Champion website (and soon in their Etsy Shop).

ps The three in the bottom picture are my fave, which one(s) do you like best?

MATS course by Lilla Rogers

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This year I've been working so hard on commission and products for the shop, I felt I deserved a treat, just for me ;-) Something that would be fun, inspiring and new. So, when Lilla Rogers offered a 50% discount on her Make Art That Sells Courses it was not hard te decide what to do.

Right now (with christmas rush in the webshop and all) I cannot by far keep up with the pace of 5 weeks for the whole MATS A course, I'm taking my time with the assignments. I very much enjoy making things not for sale or commission but just for my own amusement. And it's so comfortable to not have to come up with assignments myself but just do what Lilla says! ;-)
Isn't being a student just great at any time in your life?

For the sketches, I've experimented with drawing, an ink pen and cutting paper (the green elements in the first photo). I gave my own students an assignment with papercutting in it and was so enthousiastic about what they made that I felt like giving it a go myself too!



Winter illustration for Uitkrant Amsterdam

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Although I'm not a big ice skating fan (to cold), a few weeks ago I enjoyed myself very much with making a winter illustration for Uitkrant Amsterdam. They asked me to make a map with good ice skating spots of the greater area of Amsterdam. I also made the illustration for the cover of the magazine and now I come to think of it... that is my first magazine cover! ;-)


handdrawn | computer

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I'm a passionate advocate of all things handdrawn, including handdrawn illustrations over computer made. The fear of having a look that's too 'smooth', too much 'computer like' made me choose to always use handmade textures, lines and fills in my work (and then use the computer for assembling only).
My way of working is fun but very time consuming though and sometimes, expecially with clients who present a very very thight deadline, I feel these handmade rules I've set for myself are working against me.

Therefor, I'm carefully and mindfully going a bit towards a somewhat more quick and computer made alterative. I've found an amazing set of photoshop brushes by Kyle T Webster that looks like it might be the perfect compromise between handdrawn (or painted) and computer made. In the above picture some quick scribbles with a few of the brushes but the collection (I bought several in a package) is much bigger.

For more about Kyle Webster's brushes, see this website.



Maps by my illustration students

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Anouk: on the left the paper cuttings, on the right the finished map

 Maaike
 Lorenza

Sanneke

These maps are the result of an assignment in the illustration & digital course I teach. They made maps of their favorite places (imaginary or real) using paper cutting and painted structures.

Poor Edwards Etsy shop

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A good friend started a screenprint brand named Poor Edward.
He just opened his Etsy shop, filled with shirts and tote bags with quirky prints. The focus is on eco friendly materials and printing method combined with a premium quality.
I've already got myself the tote bag with 'half woman | half hipster' print, which I find very funny ;-).
It made of a beautiful heavy weight cotton, perfectly printed, an overall very good quality bag I can say!

So, still looking for the perfect holidays gift for a nerdy brother or hip sister?
This is the place: pooredwards.etsy.com .

A Winter Comfort Box

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Ok, this is the final Instant Comfort Pocket Box design I made for christmas (or winter): a little snowman in a snow globe winter wonderland.
Together with the 'stars in a jar' and 'happy tree' boxes they form a modest but (hopefully) wonderful holiday collection, enjoy!

Thanks to everyone who responded (on the blog and on Instagram) to my question about what text to add to this box, wonderful it is!

Week against child abuse - Week tegen kindermishandeling

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Next week - 16 to 21 november 2015 - is the week against child abuse (in dutch: week tegen kindermishandeling). I designed a postcard for it that will be spread throughout the country to call attention to the theme of child abuse.
In the Netherlands 119 000 children (also the amount of cards that will be spread) are abused annually. That's an average of one child per class!

If you want more info or want to know how you can help, go to: weektegenkindermishandeling.nl (in dutch).

The little snowman / new instant comfort box design

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I've been working on another new instant comfort pocket box design with a winter theme: a little snowman in a snowglobe.

What do you think, should I add the text 'you're just wonderful!' or 'you're amazing!' to this design?

Christmas... comfort box

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I know I know, it's only the beginning of november but... like last year, I know christmas orders will come in just after thanksgiving so I'd better be prepaired and started making christmas items for the webshop already.
This christmas tree instant comfort pocket box is back from last year and there's also a new christmas card design! Check it out here and here.

the cat in the box

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This post is about a new Instant comfort Pocket Box that was waiting to be designed for a while.
Most box designs contain animal drawings: a dog, a piglet, even a lobster but one was missing... a cat! Even though I had e few requests to make a cat design, I was a bit reluctant about it.

The thing is, I am not really a cat person, there, I've said it.
The animals I choose to draw are the ones I like. But, somehow this week I felt like drawing purring fellas. And, with this said, I'd like to introduce a little nerdy mr whiskers, I'm even smitten with!
Also some scatches (ok, sorry for the lame puns, can't help it now I'm getting comfortable with the cat world) of the process above ;-)

Of course the new cat box is available at Kim's Little Mosters Etsy shop.


Sketchbook pages

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Oh sketchbook, I do love our occasional meetings, even though it's not as often as we like ;-)

Ps: there are still a few spots left in the upcoming Illustration Workshops

Custom Workshops & Lessons

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On special request, I've added a new service to my bizz... custom workshops and lessons.
If you're looking for a specific thing to learn about illustration, drawing and technical skills, I'm your girl!

Today I teached, for example, (technical) fashion illustration to a student. She wanted to learn to feel more at ease drawing clothes and fashion details to be more comfortable in her new job in the fashion industry. I've designed three lessons, each of two hours, for her to work on drawing technique and
to help her gain more confidence in overall drawing skills . Today was the first and we focused on the basics of drawing a garnment and developing more skill in drawing 'free' lines (it's all about confindence, exercise and a few tricks!).

Is there anything you'd like to learn in illustration that you can't find in the other workshops or courses? Maybe how to draw people or animals? Or would you like to be more confident in drawing? Or what about starting your own illustration business, need some guidance with that?
For more information, see the workshop page on this blog!

Or try the online illustration workshop if you're not able to attend in person.

Workshop Indigo, Sashiko, Shibori & Sakiori at The Textiel Fabrique

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One sunday in oktober, me and my mother took the train to Rotterdam for a whole day of indigo dyeing, and japanese fabric techniques at the Textiel Fabrique.
(In my excitement I forgot to bring my camera so you'll have to do with these not to0 sharp iphone photos, sorry for that!)
In her cosy studio, Maaike showed our group of excited participants to make a pan full of indigo paint, and a variety of dye techniques, embroidery, weave and traditional japanese mending.
Amazing how much you can learn in one day! We went home with our own indigo dye scarf, a few fabric experiments and lots of inspiration.

I also took a little indigo-starter-kit to dye at home... now I only need to find the time :-)
That's the good thing about doing a workshop right? That by joining you make time to focus on a specific technique to learn, that you'd otherwise would not have (or make) time for in everyday busy life.

The Textiel Fabrique offers an exciting range of workshops from weaving to dyeing with natural material, indigo and much, much more!

Rotterdam lasercut by The Machinery + Strawberry Earth Fair

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After Amsterdam, Marc of The Machinery designed a brand new lasercut city: Rotterdam.
It holds all key features like the Erasmus Bridge, the zoo and more, in rich detail and sharp lasercut style with a harbor themed frame.
If Rotterdam is you fave city, the place you call home or a good holiday memory: this is a great wall piece!

It's available in 13 colors (+ rainbow if you dare!). For more info and pictures see: themachineryshop.etsy.com
By the way, the Amsterdam lasercut city map is now also available in rainbow color :-).

Want to see them live? The Machinery (and I) are selling wonderful designs at the Strawberry Earth Fair in Amsterdam this friday (tomorrow!).




5 parenting & terrible twos tips for handling your headstrong toddler

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As my life changed greatly when giving birth to my son James almost two years ago, I realised my blog also changed. Some kids topics and diy's sneaked into it and with this post I think it now definately becomes a creative-person-who-is-also-a-mum-blog. Sorry for those of you who do not relate to kids and kids life but this is who I am right now and I hope you can still find inspiration and joy in my other not kids-orientated posts. ;-)

Ok, I wanted to write about parenting. James is now 21 months and quickly approaching the two year mark. With this said  you might get were I'm going... the terrible twos. As James is pretty quick with things, unfortunately he also decided to start this 'NO' period a bit sooner than sceduled.
I'd like to share a few tips and tricks with you on how to handle a headstrong two year old.

Please note that I'm not a parenting expert but simply sharing my experiences with you.

Ok, here we go:


1. Iphones, apps and tablets

As a child of his era, James loves playing apps on our Iphones. Because I do not want a child that is behind a little screen all day long (or a broken Iphone) I do the following to keep the use restricted:
-Before I give him the Iphone, I tell him to go sit on the sofa or at the atble.
-I show him a timer and tell him that he can play with the phone but when the timer goes off, he needs to hand it over to me.
-then, when the timer goes off, remind him of the deal (James is so used to this that he doesn't need to be reminded anymore)

I found that the concept of 'you can do this but this are the rules/ is what will happen' works very well. I tried to imaging what it would be like if I was playing with something and someone whould come up to me and say 'ok stop, now it's enough' without any warning, I would be pissed and confused. As a child is a little person with feelings I suppose they would feel the same, right?


2. The same goes for watching TV/ going to bed/ and so on

- tell him/her in advance how many short kids shows he can see/ puzzles to play/ enz.
- let's say to told that is was two puzzles. When he's playing with the second puzzle, tell him 'this is the second puzzle, teh last one you can play with, after that we... (fill in: go outside, clean up, etc).
- when the second one is finished remember him/her of the deal. (James after askes: 'another one?" but when I remind him of what we agreed, he's ok with it).


3. food

James often has moments when at diner time he refuses to eat. Because I do not want to stress about if he get's enough veggies and such I do the following:

-At diner time he's often to tired to eat but at lunch time he's ok so at lunch time I give him diner!
One of my favorite ways to get him eat good things is to make a pancake with whole wheat flower or chickpea flower, grated carrot (or another vegetable) and (goat)milk or egg. In this pancake you can simply put everything you feel he/she needs. Spinache works well too, the pancakes turn green and I call them dino or crocodile pancakes.

So, healty meal: check! relaxed mum at diner: check!

- at diner time I let him eat with us and if he says he does not want to eat I tell him: 'you do not have to eat but you do need to sit with us at the table, that's what we do at diner time'. Then, after some grumbling (ignore screaming and yelling, just remind him/her of the rules) he starts eating anyway because he sees us eat. (Sometimes only a few bites but: no stress because he already got his nutrients at lunch time!).
- another thing that helps greatly is having James help me with cooking (putting sliced veggies in a pan and such), he loves that!


4. soother

We had some trouble with the soother. When James is theething he wants it all the time, but surprise: I do not htink this is a good idea! This is what we did:

- If he has sore theeth we give him a slice of cucumber or a small carrot (I'm not such a big fan of plastic bite toys and James is by now a bit too old for them anyway).
- We told James he can have the soother only in bed or in the car.
- we need to remind him now and than but the fact that he knows when he cannot and, more important can have it is mostly enough.


5. anger attacks 

Ok, I have to be frank here: anger attacks are just super exhausting and very tricky to deal with.
When at home I do the following:

- I tell James that he can be angry but that I will go do something else (read a book, cook, etc). We made a little area in the living room with a blanket and pillows where he can be angry and throw with the pillows (only with the pillows!!)
- when he's done screeming, and rolling and throwing (this can take a while) I'll go sit with him and read or do something else to calm him down some more ---> this way he learns that he does not get any attention when angry (but that there is room for his anger, everyone is entiteled to his moods I believe but within restrictions) but that he does when he's calm/ being nice again.

Outdoors I find anger attacks very difficult to handle (especially because there can be an audience) but I do my best to do the following:

- Ignore the audience! You know you child best, dispite the 'meant well' advise and comments people make.
- say:  'Oh, are so angry? Well I'm going... [fill in] are you coming with?'
- if NO (most common) I can do two things:
  1. pick him up and tell him he can be angry but that we need to... (fill in) or he cannot lay on
      the street/ ground/ etc.
  2. if it's safe to let him do his thing, I just go do something else (in the supermarket, go a bit
      futher up the lane, where you can still see him/her but also ignore him/her a bit).
      While doing so I say things like 'oh, such a shame James cannot help me with this yummy
      peanut butter/ bread/ etc. Oh, what a yummy cookies/ bread/ nuts. The basket is so heavy I
      wish James came to help me with it.'
  3. again, only if it's safe: I walk on while saying 'bye James', and keep an eye on him from
      a spot here he can not see me. Most of the time he'll come after me when he can't see me
      anymore. (If he does, I say 'Hi James, I'm so happy you're coming with me, well done!')
  4. distract your child with something else (not a cookie or buying toys and such but point things
      out like birds, trees, cars, and so on)

- singing can work great with my son too. I have this 'are you angry...' song (made up) that will most of the time make him smile. If not, I go back to the other steps.
- sometimes James is so angry he get's stuck in it and all other things do not work. Then I let him rage for a few minutes, then pick him up and hold him untill he calmes down (saying  things like; are you so angry, it will be ok, shhhh, shhhh)

I think key with this is that you do not feel ashamed or judged by other people and do what you feel is best and DO NOT admit to his/her bad behavior (not give that cookie he's nagging about for example).

then a few other things I always keep in mind:
- never yell or shout, be calm in the way you say things
- if I feel too frustrated and angry myself I leave the room (if possible and safe) for a few minutes to calm down. If needed I call someone to talk about how frustrated I feel.
- never say things like ' you're horrible, I hate you, be normal (what is normal anyway?), don't be so...
- accept things are not always going the way you wish they would. It can't always be paradise.
- be patient, everything passes!

I hope this is helpful! Happy parenting ;-)








Prints for Kids for Menudos Cuadros

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Remember these sneek peaks? I can finally show you more!

Menudos Cuadros asked me to design four prints for kids' rooms and I choose four animals, each with a different theme and colors.

You can find them at menudoscuadros.com. All prints are available in a variety of sizes from A4 to poster size. If you like, you can even order them framed in a frame of your choice!

photos by Menudos Cuadros

Uitkrant Amsterdam

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A quick post while I'm in bed with food poisoning... (going out for diner wasn't such a good thing last sunday... :-o )

My agent (Saltystock) send me this picture of the printed illustration I made for the Amsterdam Uitkrant kid's calender! They'll have an quaterly edition for every season, the first: autumn!

Autumn DIY for kids

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Leafs are falling, colors are changing... time for an autumn DIY!
I've posted this on instagram this week but thought it would be nice to explain how it was made ;-)


You'll need:
- flower press or large book
- sheets of newspaper or toilet paper
- paint (acrylic or goach) + paintbrush
- something to protect the table + an apron to project your kids clothes
- thread ( I used extra thick sewing thread)
- scissors

1.
I collected leafs and a small branch with James in the little parc close to our home
(great way to secretly learn you kid about different shapes, trees and nature).

2.
We cleaned the leafs and put them in a flower press for about a week (this is important, if dried to short, the leafs will curl). Lay the leafs in the press (or in a heavy book) inbetween newspaper sheets or toilet paper sheets.

3.
James painted the leafs and branch with acrylic paint (which is waterproof).
You can also do this with goache but I find acrylic paint easier to apply to the leafs (be careful with clothes though, it's very hard to clean this paint out of fabric). Let it dry.

4.
Now the only thing you have to do is attach the leafs to the branch with thread (I used white but autumn colors would be fun too!), make sure you hang them unevenly to create a pretty mobile.
Now also attach a peice of thread between the two ends of the branch so you can hang your mobile.

Done!

A bunny portrait...

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There's a new kid... ehm bunny... on the block! A portrait of a friendly litte fella with ocre yellow nose cheers 'you're just wonderful!' in this new Instant Comfort Pocket Box.
You can find it, of course, in my Etsy Shop, Kim's Little Monsters.

We're back home!

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Hi everyone! Did you have a good summer with plenty of sunshine and outdoor picknicks (the ultimate summer thing to do right?)?

We're back from Greece, Bali on Crete to be exact. With super warm beach days and strolling around cute villages I've seen plenty of inspiring scenes and had a good share of sun to prep for autumn (and oh boy does autumn hit hard here in the Netherlands...).

Here's a (very) small selection of the things we've seen and enjoyed on this colorful and friendly island.
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