Pretty new illustration

I recently wrote about the slump i was in illustration wise. I knew i had to just make some time, sit down and start. Something would come out of it.
Now i can say this is actually working. Outcome of some late night focus yesterday is that i have a new pretty illustration plus i'm starting to feel inspired again. New ideas are forming and that makes me a very happy puppy!

Illustrator, i miss you

I have some illustration work waiting for me. I miss creating. But it feels like whenever i don't illustrate for awhile, it gets harder to get back into the swing of things. I miss it and the love is there, but where is the excitement? I sure hope i find some inspiration soon. I remember those nights that i didn't want to go to sleep, just wanted to finish something. Now i am glad if i actually start something! Maybe forcing myself to sit down and create is the way? Any tips?

I think this lady turned out pretty. I do think she should be included in another, more elaborate illustration or just on another background. But for now i'm already pleased something appeared on my screen after staring at the illustrator window for ever!

Pretty Fragile Labels

No i don't mean the labels are pretty fragile, they are pretty and say fragile.
Since i started listing more and more decorative vintage items in my etsy shop i had to think more and more about getting the items safely to their new owners when they sell. So i invested in a bunch of new shipping boxes and some bubble wrap. But still, you cross your fingers and hope the post office people are careful with your package just because you wrote 'fragile' on it with a thick sharpie!
Maybe these labels bring a smile to the faces of the postoffice people and maybe that will cause them to actually handle my packages with care! Pretty Please?

Ismoyo Wrappingpaper

Oh how i would love to have my own line of wrapping paper. Wouldn't that be wonderful?
For the time being i whipped up this pretty pink number to wrap my etsy orders in. Even though you might shopping for yourself, isn't it more of a treat when it arrives specially wrapped for you?

Embroidered Illustrations and 2nd Etsy shop!

Finally i'm starting to add items to my second Etsy Shop. My idea is to use that shop for my illustration services (baby announcement cards/baby portraits) and other items that include my illustrations in one way or another.
Like these little framed pieces.

I transferred some of my illustrations on to wool felt and embellished them with a bit of embroidery. I was very happy when i found the pink frames, they match so well!
I will be listing these pieces in the shop later today. In the shop now!

Oh, i'm also looking for sites/blogs to promote my design services for baby announcement cards and baby illustration portraits. Pls let me know if you know of any good baby/mommie sites i should check out!

Snapfish illustration book

Remember somewhere at the end of last year, i wrote about the Snapfish offer for a free picture book? I never showed the final result!

I choose to get a white leather cover with a small peephole in the middle which shows my ismoyo girl. The book has 20 full color pages, i'm just showing you a couple to give a feel of how it turned out.

Since the offer was valid for only a couple of days, i had to rush to compile a good variety of my work so far. Went back into my archives to see what i could use. The showgirl on the left got an updated background and the one on the right stayed as she was. (now that i go back to find original blog posts to link to, i realize i never showed the girl on the left before. How strange. I need to include her in my gallery pages too!)

Vive La Fashion is a crop from an illustration i did for a Tigerprint competition last year. (didn't win, but did get a nice write up on their blog!) The lady on the right just had to be included since she was one of the first ever illustrations i did. (she is in my gallery, but never got her own blogpost)

The final book looks very well made, the quality of the cover, the paper used and the prints is very good. There were a few illustrations that came out with some color differences from the original designs, but that's not their fault. I thought i checked all my colors, there are colors used for screen and colors used for printing. I think i overlooked one or two (like the background color for the canal houses, bottom left).

Overall i'm very happy with how it turned out. Especially for something you get for free!

Horse Play

Illustration of the day. Time to play!

Make your own Ismoyo NaniBird

Recently i did a design for a NaniBird. If you want to have your own Ismoyo "Cherry Love" NaniBird, you can download a template for free, print, and cut and fold it. The templates are very clear, but there are additional tips for making your birds on the site under 'info'. You will find lots more bird designs there too, you can make a whole birdy family! If you like, you can even add a photo of your bird to the NaniBird Flickr Pool.

Download Ismoyo NaniBird LTR size or A4 size.

Edit: I would love to see your finished Ismoyo NaniBirds, you can post them on Flickr, but i would love it if you would send me a picture too! contactATismoyo.com

Bird Print

I hadn't shown this illustration pattern here before. Sorry! I took the bird and the tree from the mini art appliques i made a while ago and added some flowers. Tada! You like?

Making Faces

Making (cute) faces today.

I miss Amsterdam

I love living in New York, but there are times i miss my old city. Maybe it has something to do with the holiday season that makes the missing even more. I miss Amsterdam with it's lovely canals and those gorgeous canal houses. I wish i could buzz myself over and have an afternoon with friends, drinking coffee, chatting away and walking through the city. Thinking about that gave me the inspiration to make some illustrations of those wonderful canal houses.

Baby Announcement Cards

I think i have talked about it before, i am working on setting up a little venue (probably through Etsy and my site) to offer custom and customized baby announcement cards. I design, you print. That type of thing. So i'm very busy getting some samples done. Like these here. I will obviously also make boy versions and set up a basic inside design for each card. I would love to hear what you think and which one is your favorite! So please share!

Kokeshi Patterns

Having fun with Kokeshi doll illustrations.
I love them all, what is your favorite?

New Plans and Patterns

It looks like i'm finding my groove again illustration wise. Spending time on a couple small custom design projects, freestyle pattern designing and long overdue promised illustrations brought some exciting new ideas to mind.

First of all, i'm going to set up an etsy shop for custom illustrations. I have already claimed ismoyoart.etsy.com, you can look, but there is nothing there yet. The whole idea needs to take shape first. I'm thinking of offering wedding (invitations and save the date cards) and baby announcement cards, standard designs that can be personalized with the appropriate names/dates and also custom designs of course. There will also be the option to order vector portraits, cute for newborn babies or wedding couples.

Another, totally different new idea, has to do with the upcoming release of my first craft book. Since my publisher is located in London, most of my friends are living in Amsterdam and my online supporters are all over the world, there won't be a real book release party. Unfortunately. But it is such a big event that i don't want to let it go by unnoticed. It deserves to get some of my special attention. So i'm thinking about hosting a virtual book release party! I've been seeing virtual baby showers on several blogs, so why not a virtual release? For now i have no idea what it will entail, except of course there will be a giveaway of a copy of my book. And maybe some virtual cocktails and cupcakes? It will be good. More info will follow in due time, since the US release is scheduled for December 9th, i still have a bit of time to think about it. Hope you all want to be a part of my party!

New business cards

My new businesscards arrived from the printer! My old cards are almost all gone and this new design matches my current website layout much better. I'm happy how they came out.

New layout. Long overdue.

How many times haven't i thought i should really need to put up a new site layout, but just didn't seems to get it on top of the priority list? Too many times.

Now it's just long overdue and finally ready. (i even updated my gallery pages too) Hope you'll like it and enjoy your stay here even more.

Sweet and shy

Working on a new girl illustration. I really want to update my website and blog layout in the near future. It has been the same for such a long time already. Allthough i have no idea when an update will actually happen, I'm thinking this girl will be the new star of the show.

Honored

I'm very honored. Got a very kind write up over at the Tigerprint blog. Tigerprint is the UK design studio who does all the designs for Marks & Spencer. They often have illustration competitions which i always keep an eye on. Currently there is a fashion illustration competition to design a fashion postcard. I'm definitely not thinking that i am a fashion illustrator, i wish. But i do make illustrations and some are fashionable. So i sent in something. Not with the illusion of winning, just to get the creative juices flowing. I used an illustration which i drafted awhile ago, thinking to use it for a new blog layout (that never happened..). I think it turned out pretty nice. And the people over at Tigerprint liked it enough to check out my site and write about it. Thank you! I really appreciate it!

Cherry on top

I'm working on a new personal project and finally taking some time again to work on some illustrating work too. Oh how i missed it.

More babies

A while ago i did this baby illustration for a friend of mine. I got a lot of great responses to it and now i'm thinking i should offer vector baby illustrations as a design service. So i'm making a couple more to add to my portfolio and to use to promote the service. I'll probably have to print some promo-cards, maybe place them at babystores or something. This whole idea hasn't crystallized yet, but i think it could work. The most important thing is that i love doing these illustrations. Hope it shows!

Think Green

New illustration. "Think Green"

New item on my to-do list: Update my gallery pages.

On another note, today i discovered there is a Save-a-thon fabric and craft store in walking distance of my new crib! Another reason to love my new home.