Illustration "Green Tea"

Working on this illustration was kind of a struggle, since I started out with nothing. No idea of what I wanted to convey, no story I wanted to tell through the illustration. So after putting some items in it I was stuck and now I'll just leave it at this.
It reminds me of the first illustrations I ever made, one of my friends responded to them by saying that they looked good, but to her, were just static pictures, postcard like. Nothing wrong with that ofcourse, but the images weren't saying anything.
I will save this image, maybe one day in the future I figure out what to use it for.

Vintage Fabric Messenger Bags (3x !)

Three times original vintage fabric!
How happy was I with these great finds on the market the other day! I can hardly choose in the morning which bag I'm going to take with me for the day.

Pink goes with everything! The flower is on a pin, so it's removable and or replaceable.


I totally fell in love with this vintage fabric. You remember Sarah Kay and Holly Hobbie?
The birds and the bunnies are just too cute!


I especially get a lot of positive feedback on the strap I've put together.
The green works really well with the brown color of the bag.


I found a semi-large scrap of this thick fabric underneath a very large pile of raggedy scraps. It really does pay off to take a little bit of time and rummage through the pile. You might find something gorgeous!

I used plain black lining with fusible. Didn't want the lining to distract from the flowers, so i kept it simple like that.
At the same time i didn't want to feel overwhelmed by all the flowers coming at you all at once when looking at the bag. That's where the application came in. I used photoshop to make the words and printed it out on transfer paper. Ironed it on yellow colored felt and sewn that onto the front of the bag.

All bags have an additional cardboard bottom in between the outer fabric and the lining. This gives the bags more shape and strength.
I like my messengerbags to have straps which are a bit longer then they regularly are. These three have straps of approx. 100 cm. (40 inches or so?)

Illustration published; Het Indisch Huis Magazine

'Het Indisch Huis Magazine', a Dutch magazine from a foundation in Den Hague, which uses the motto "remembrance, carrying over & gathering" (in Dutch: herinnering, overdracht & ontmoeting) to keep the memory alive of the second world war in former Netherlands Indies.
That's what they've got on their website. I would say it's a beautiful stately home where people of Indonesian/Netherlands Indies heritage can come together and share stories, learn from each other and have a nice time. Everyone is welcome, so people who are just interested in the culture also come and visit. It feels like home, not only because most of the people working there and those who visit, almost all reind me of my own aunts, uncles and cousins, but the whole building has this warm vibe to it. I love the interior, the building is old and has a lot of beautiful authentic decorations. Plus the original Indonesian furniture and artworks. What also helps is that they have this little kitchen in the back by the garden, where you can get something to drink or a homemade Indonesian cake or snack. Yumm..

Anyway, what I wanted to share is that they have used one of my illustrations for their bi-monthly magazine.


The original illustration:

Links: Het Indisch Huis Magazine

Reconstructed NY A-Train T-Shirt

My first attempt on a T-Shirt reconstruction.

Before:


After:


I already loved the t-shirt before, just for the print it has. The A-train is the train I used to take to my Brooklyn home, so it brings back memories.
But... I hardly ever wore it since it the sleeves were just a tiny bit too tight and I'm not doing the 'naked-belly-button' thing anymore, so it also was too short.
With my reconstruction I fixed both points, so I guess I will be rockin' my shirt again!
Woohoo!

Links: Post on Craftster

New Illustration added to Gallery

Trying things out can lead to a nice looking new illustration!