Christmas in July - party set

While it is very much warm weather here, I was busy thinking about Christmas....

Many magazines are working on their December issues in Summer, 

and Etsy therefore organizes a Christmas in July.

I have made some paper goods sets to style your Christmas dinner, or any dinner party.

I always like to decorate the table when we have dinner guests 

and often choose a colour combination for this.

This inspired me to paint some thick paper in abstract patterns and make them into decorations.

You can re-use these and hang them in your Christmas tree, or make a garland with them or style a small corner on a table. You can find the different combinations in my Etsy-shop.

Using new materials

What to do with a pile of Novilon patches...? 

So easy to throw away, but didn't I want to practice printing? 

Okay, so I just started cutting shapes and testing the patterns, frontside, backside.

Fun results! Looking forward to see where this leads me to...

And another new one...

 In a newspaper I read such a lovely article, 

about a couple who decided to marry at 90 years old (!).

 This week I started to make a painting of them, this is how I began,

searching for right dimensions,

getting their heads into position,

sketching and searching...

And this is how it may end,

maybe some little details will be added,

not sure about that.

The painting is part of a series I am working on,

to be continued this summer.

New work in the studio

Had fun making something abstract and playing with colours and layers,

mixed technique on canvas, 60*80 cm.

Made by me last Saturday.

Some details:

Amsterdam Maker Festival

I joined the Amsterdam Maker Festival at a splendid location bij river IJ. 

Together with Jenn from ColornCream (another Dutch Etsy-shop with hook tutorials and accessories) 

we represented the Ka-Ching collective (some active Dutch Etsy-shops working together).

Because it was all about making, 

Jenn was hooking up a pillow and I was drawing small portraits to make a gallery. We had fun!

The making of a new product

A while ago I received a lot of small wooden panels from my husband, 

and after some thought I came up with a new idea: 

to make these into small text panels, as a nice gift/message. 

I like words, I like writing (my grandmother made me enthusiastic about calligraphy, so lovely...) 

and I like painting.

It took some work; sanding, priming, painting first layer, choosing the palette, painting the words,
putting on a hook and wrapping them all before I could take them with me to a fair.
These are some pictures of the process:

They are now for sale in my Etsy-shop for 19.50 euro.

The abundance of spring

We have got some warm and sunny days in the Netherlands

and it seems like spring is exploding with flowers and birds.

It is so nice to be outside now.

The region I live in is sometimes called

the Dutch watergarden

and here you can see why:

So this is where I take my bicycle for some nice rounds

and look for inspiration for paintings and drawings!