summer sketchbookpages and syncronicity

Me and my moleskine (watercolour) sketchbook really found eachother this summer. I found myself in a very happy and 'flowy' mood while sketching these mostly on my balcony. I'm very thankful we have a beautiful summer so far here in the netherlands.

The moment I wanted to sketch something, not sure what yet, I was going through a magazine and my eye was caught by a beautiful picture of a colourful hot-air balloon. I instantly knew I wanted to draw this. The most remarkable thing happened to me. While drawing the balloon, I took a look at instagram and I saw Heidi posted a picture of a stamp-hot-air-balloon she was working on. Coincidence? Later that evening I was watching television and I saw a colourful hot-air balloon like the one I was drawing coming by in a commercial. ?!? The next day I turned on the radio and I heard the day before that (about the time I was working on my balloon) an incident happenend with a hot-air balloon in the netherlands. Coincidence once more. four in a row. I like to call it synchronicity. 

Carl Jung said this : " Synchronicity is an ever present reality for those who have eyes to see."

Did you ever notice these kind of synchrone things happening in your life? I would love to hear them!

I like to think that being able to notice these things, feeling present, in the here and now, means I'm on a good way....

Household scenery

Not only in my drawings, but also in my house, I love to try to create pretty looking scenes. How about you? As you can see, I like things with a vintage feeling to it. Do you recognize the vintage items on the shelves in my kitchen?

Moleskine pages

When I start a new sketchbook, there's always an idea I have about what I want use this sketchbook for.  Ideas about perfect drawings, perfect sketchbooks....the kind of drawings I want to make in it; 'I want to make this one all about flowers'. Along the way, the sketchbook turns in to something else, because I don't feel like doing flowers all the time, get bored of it, want to try something else. Plus it feels good just to draw and make something, just having fun. Not to try to make a 'perfect' drawing and don't think about it to much, but just do it. Without any goal in mind. Even when I do start a drawing with an idea in my mind, often, along the way of making it, it turns into something I didn't expect. Serendipity. Sometimes with a drawing I'm happy with as a result, sometimes with a drawing that didn't particularly turn out great. But who says  what's great? I just want to draw and sometimes things work, sometimes they don't. These are the things I say to myself at good days ;-). At more insecure days I'm not so sure anything I'm doing has any purpose and is any special. Still I just have to draw. I just know and feel that. I  feel  I'm myself when I do it. And happy. Here are a few of yesterday's 'playing around' pages of my Moleskine watercolour sketchbook. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a good, joyful day! 

cards en more cards

Hi people! How are you all?

The past months I've been experimenting with designing businesscards and postcards with some of my illustrations on it. It's all been a learning process to figure everything out about how to edit my illustrations in photoshop to get them look the best on a card, how to choose and edit cards and choosing an online printing-service. Trial and error a lot! I started wth trying Vistaprint. At first, the text on my delivered cards was too small: oops...my own fault... Next, reordered, tried again, was a bit happier with the results but not quite completely happy because I noticed some things not being perfect in the outlining, placement of the images, text etc. Even though I ordered a sample through e-mail, (which you have to pay for at Vistaprint), I wasn't completely satisfied with the results, part of it due to my own inexperience in this matter, part of it because I felt Vistaprint wasn't completely customer-friendly in the ordering and designing process.

And then, I discovered Moo! I love Moo!  I ordered several things, from postcards to business cards and small business cards too. At Moo, you can order smaller amounts (50 cards instead of the 200 at vistaprint) and upload several designs within the 50, so you get several different cards. And I absolutely love the customer-friendly and beautiful site and the way everything works smoothly. Plus you can upload a sample of your design for free. Oh, and they deliver accurate and in nice-looking packages and boxes for your cards.

It might be a bit more expensive when you calculate the price per item, but it's absolutely worth your money I think. The paper is thick and smooth and the cards look really beautiful. With the mini-cards (half of the regular business-card size) I ordered a cute felted card-holder. I love it!!

Still, I learned things I would do a little better at my next order, but like I said, I love the way the products I ordered at Moo look and feel like. And no, I'm not a secret sales-person at Moo :-). But I could be....;-).

My plan is to order more (post) cards at Moo with several designs and to start an Etsy-shop, to sell them. Also, a quality-printer is on my wish-list, to be able to make beautiful prints for the Etsy-shop at home.

Now I have to get the courage to give my cards to more people, besides friends and family.....:-D
The feeling I have is I want to pay attention to some networking in the town and area I live in. I made connections, have a lot of ideas, now I have to and want to take some steps and already took some bay-steps. I pray for the bravery to take more and more steps. ;-)