Vintage Gift Tags

I was visiting my parents last weekend and searched through an old box of family pictures. Besides some great photos from back in the day i also found these three non-used vintage gift tags!

They look like Hollie Hobby / Sarah Kay illustrations, but the tags say "Muva 936". I have no clue what that means, is it the makers brand, or a series name? The past keeps its mysteries..

Ordered free Ismoyo Noodle bowl

I just love ordering free personalized items you can save coupons for when doing your groceries!
For these Honig noodle bowls you had to collect 4 coupons and send them in.
Ofcourse I ordered one with Ismoyo on it!
The card you had to fill in stated the delivery time would be 6 weeks, but I just checked the website and there they say it can be up to 9 weeks! Wow, my patience will be tested...

I will post a picture when i do receive my bowl!

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.

Felt Chihuahua Journal

I've already showed the felt hippo journal, now I can finally show the chihuahua version because I gave it to my friend yesterday. So no risk at ruining the surprise by posting it on my blog!


And on another note, thanks to all the sweet ladies at Craftster for commenting on my vintage fabric bags!

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?)

Limited Edition Engraving

I received this limited edition engraving by Luis Perez Calvo from my Spanish friends at Blank Magazine.

It's number 60 in a range of 100 printed engravings.
I can't say it's my typical cute, but i like it still and will give it a special place somewhere around my craft area.

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

Hippo Journal

I mentioned making something with a hippo and something with a chihuahua a while back already.

I wanted to make something for two friends of mine, but I was procastinating. Well, just couldn't find the time to squeeze it in between other projects. But now I really had a reason to say THANK YOU to them, so I gave making these gifts a much higher priority.

I can only show pictures of the Hippo version currently, since I still have to give the other gift and I don't want her to see it on here before she receives it.



I have never tried journal making before. And I didn't make the journal from scratch. It started out as an ordinary composition notebook.

The pink felt gives it an extra soft touch. The elastic band keeps the journal closed.
I made the hippo application by using transfer paper and sewing it on the felt before I put it around the notebook.

Links: Earlier related blog post

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

Pink & Yellow Ipod Cozy

Double layered felt with a lucky cat for good fortune!

Tamago Panda

I know that there are people reading my blog, so i'm not alone. But to keep me company while updating my blog i've adopted a Tamago Panda to sit on the side of my blog. I think she's just TOO CUTE!
Giving her attention and playing with her makes her show different emotions. It's kinda like a tamagotchi, but called Tamago Virtual Panda.

Food for Funk

I know this blog is about my creative adventures, but i think it's okay if i also show off some creativeness of my man and some friends.
Last January 17th, the Food for Funk CD "Wake Up" was released during a great party in Paradiso, Amsterdam. The public was treated to a high energy 2-hour live show. I was dancing the whole night!
A friend of mine plays guitar in the band and an other connection is that my man has written the inlay text for the cd! I'm so proud of his talent.

New Illustration added to Gallery

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