Good thoughts...

This year I kept our Christmas card design simple, with only a few branches and berries... and good thoughts of Peace, Love and Joy. Cause that's all we really need, isn't it? ❤

Yi ya yoga!

Ever since Laura from InBloei coaching asked me to make illustrations for her new kids yoga studio Bloesem kinderyoga, I've been learning a thing or two about yoga…

It was a joy for me to draw these kids in different yoga positions, and of course I couldn't fight the impulse to try them all out! That is… the tree, the lotus, the triangle, the bound angle, the bow, warrior II and the cobra pose. Yup, quite a few. ;-) With a pencil behind my ear and a brush between my teeth, obviously.

Oh, and while kids (or adults) are being so busy yogaing, they seriously need some watercolour confetti too, don't they? So there you go…

For all mindful, Dutch moms and their (highly) sensitive kids, please do check out Laura's lovely work as a mindful mommy coach, nutritionist, kids yoga instructor and child coach!

And... she's on social media too :-)
Instagram: Laura In Bloei
Twitter: Bloesem kind
Facebook: In Bloei Coaching

Miekes Baked

The past weeks I've been watching Heel Holland Bakt: the Dutch version of The Great British Bake Off. The bakers were very well matched this year. Last Sunday was the finale and in the end baker Annemarie won. She baked the prettiest things! This also means the Heel Holland Bakt drawing challenge I've participated in has come to an end. Along with other creatives on Instagram I've drawn and painted my weekly favourite bakings... Check HHB Challenge for an overview of all illustrated cakes and pastries.

 

The ones pictured here were "my bakings"... (oh, if only I could test them all out :-P )

 

 

 

The 100 doodles are done!

It's already been a week since I finished my 100 days project on instagram called #100daysofdoodlingthingsilove. It was the first time I did a project like this and I must say it has learned me quite a lot...

• About how making daily drawing time slowly but surely turns into a habit. I actually miss it now, even though I obviously enjoy my extra time too ;-).
• About how drawing often doesn't start with inspiration, but just with making time for it. Even, or maybe especially, when I don't feel like it. Somehow I've produced some of my most favourite sketches when I wasn't in the mood to draw. And also: drawing when I wasn't feeling like it (because of tiredness, lack of focus, a tight schedule or whatever), almost always made me feel better and gave me more energy in the end.
• About how my thoughts about a particular drawing (It's nice. It's crap.) are just thoughts... and other people often respond completely different to it. Which in itself is a lesson for me to be less judgemental about my own work, and just dare to put it out there... dispite of my own uncertainty and the flaws I see.
• About how persistently focussing on something happy-making day in day out, sets positive things into motion. It became easier for me to start drawing in the first place, without staring too long at the white piece of paper in front of me. I've started to feel more confident about my drawings (even the silly sketches). I've connected to many kind, creative people during these 100 days. And somehow I've gained over a 1000 new followers! (Huh? Say what??!) I certainly hadn't expect this to happen, but I'm happy and grateful people apparantly like my work enough that they want to tag along. Thanks to all of them! They are a big motivation for me to keep going.
• The topic I choose was quite personal and at first I thought: "Can I even come up with 100 things I love?". But the strangest thing happened: the further I came into the challenge, the easier it got to think up new drawing topics. I knew it already, but this challenge made it extra clear: you get more of what you focus on. So in this case I began to see "things I love" everywhere. This is why my project was also a daily gratitude practise... :)
• Most importantly I think these things I've learned are true in general for all I (or we) would like to focus on more. This gives confidence that whatever I choose to put my energy in on a regular basis, it will bring new insights and good things my way.

While working on mine, I loved following other 100 days projects on instagram as well. And it makes me curious of their, and other peoples, experiences too... Did you ever do a 100 (or other amount of) days project of any sort? How did it turn out? What did you learn from it? And are there any things we have in common? Or maybe you've experienced it completely different?

All in all I'm happy I've commited to this challenge 100 days ago! And I'll probably do it again in the future. Though maybe first a 30 days challenge to warm up a bit. ;-)

Doug & Mary's favourite things...

Recently I've finished a lovely personal commission. Instagram friend Ruth from Northern Ireland asked me to make a favourite things illustration for her parents, who both turn 75 this month. It turned out to be a collection of special moments, things Doug & Mary love to do and their family of course. I loved drawing all the little details...

So here's how the illustration eventually turned out...

And then I received the wonderful picture below. The best Thank You ever :-)

Congratulations dear Doug & Mary! I wish you many more wonderful years together. 💕

Tiny House Magazine

For my 100 days drawing challenge I drew a cute tiny house made by Wind River tiny homes.
Andrew Odom, managing editor of Tiny House Magazine and co-founder of Tiny r(E)volution, noticed my drawing on Instragram. He loved it and asked if he could use my illustration in the July issue of Tiny House Magazine as their “The Last Call”; which is a parting shot of the tiny house world on the last page of their magazine. But of course, and thanks for asking Adrew. I love the magazine you make, and to now be a tiny part of it!

The 100 days challenge...

Since last month I'm taking part in the 100 day project from @elleluna. As a personal theme I chose: #100daysofdoodlingthingsilove Basically it means I make a daily (and often tiny) doodle of something I love. Apart from drawing more often, it's also a daily little gratitude practise...

I love the proces, but it does take up quite some time and needs planning too. Sometimes I have to make a few drawings upfront, when I know I won't be able to draw in the days to come. I'm now NEARLY half-way the challenge... Somewhere in July I must reach my 100 days!

Oh Creative Lady

A little while back the lovely Australian mom, teacher and creative blogger Shannon from
Oh Creative Day asked me if I could make her an image for a new interview series she wanted to start, named: Oh Creative Lady.

In this series she will interview creative friends that she has met through blogging and Instagram. And she wanted to interview me too! Wow. *Blush* I was pretty excited to answer her questions... And now my interview went online too!

By the way... Shannons first interview was with the kind and inspiring Agnes from Hello Wonderful. Very much worth reading!

Brothers

It's raining baby boys lately... Simon is born!

In 2014 I was happy to design big brother Thomas birth announcement. And recently parents Niels and Anneliese asked me to make Simons card too. :-) They also had an illustrated story in mind...

At the front of the card they wanted Simon and his toys to arrive by hot air balloon. We played with the idea to make him arrive by airplane too, but the hot air balloon idea won. 
On the inside you see Simon in his crib, safely at home and cosily asleep.
And at the back of the card the two brothers are out to explore the world together...

Congratulations sweet family! 

 

Hello baby boy!

Yay, Otto is born! Six months ago his then pregnant mother Lisa from Puur Pippa baked our delicious wedding cupcakes. Later she asked me if I could make Otto's birth announcement. It turned out to be a sweet and simple design with watercolour dots.

I've just received a pretty printed version, along with the blue and white confetti... So fun! :-)

Congratulations to dear Lisa, Sjoerd & big sister Filippa!

 

Oh Creative Blog

Instagram brings such lovely and creative people into my life. Like sweet, Australian lady Shannon from Oh Creative Day. We connected via #4ThingsILove (a hashtag made up by Shannon, aka @ohcreativeday, and her friend Hazel, aka @hidden_egg).

I love Shannons happy making instagram feed and blog, full of inspiring creative ideas. Please do check them out :) She has a great eye for finding beauty in everyday things and I just adore the way she creates precious memories and learning experiences with her kids through art, craft & picture books.

Of course I was super excited when she asked me to make her a new blog header! She had a clear vision of the colouring and shapes she liked, so I could start working on it pretty much straight away... Di-da-doodle time followed:

Aaand here's how it turned out...

So happy she's chuffed with the result :) 

P.S. This was actually my first experience making someone (other than myself) a header. Super fun! Thanks for your trust and enthusiasm Shannon. xx

Happy new month everyone!

Congratulations and celebrations

It's nearly my mom and dads 40th wedding anniversary! Also: my mum will turn 70 soon, and my dad 81. They celebrate these festive facts with an intimate lunch in a nice restaurant.

It was of course a lovely job to make their invitation. Don't they look super cute and 70s in this picture:

P.S. Can you guess my parents hobbies? ;-)

Congratulations dear mom & dad! Cheers to many more happy years together. <3 

February is here!

Cheers to 50 years!

Close friends of my parents recently asked me to design their 50^th wedding anniversary invitation. What a wonderful request! I’ve known Tineke & Aad all my life and they are like an aunt & uncle to me, which made this a lovely personal commission.

Below are the first sketches I made for them. I wanted to either make a design with words that were meaningful to them, or a design with illustrations of meaningful things and situations.

After a family brainstorm (including a delicious homemade dinner) they decided on the illustrated version. I loved painting all the little details...

And here's the end result...

There are so many things they enjoy, as you can see! Never a dull moment for them. ;-) On the inside I painted a branch that's part of a beloved painting they own..

And this tiny cheese cube car is on the back... 

What's up with all the cheese, you might wonder? Well, the golden wedding couple used to be cheesemongers. They owned a very nice store, and yes: they also drove in this super fun cheese cube car! They have a great sense of humour. :-D

Happy 50th wedding anniversary dear Tineke & Aad! May many joy filled years follow!