That time of year again

Honestly, I couldn't care less about Valentine's day. Sending cute cards or sweet texts is all fine by me, but please do it without the red hearts and all the ugly crap that comes with Valentine's day. Any day is fine, just not February 14th.

Having said that, I do have some cute cards to tell your crush/girfriend/boyfriend/husband/wife/colleague/neighbor/whoever that you want to hug the air out of them. And if you really have to, you can send them on Valentine's day. But I suggest that you don't. Wait a week or a month. A little out of the blue makes a much bigger impression than a corny red-hearted Valentine's card on Valentine's day.

Here are some alternatives, for sale at Stoffer + Blik.

Tin Love

Tin cans are the best. First you eat what's inside: yay! And then reuse them. Yay for nature, yay for creativity and yay for pretty things on a budget! You can use them for gifts: filled with home made cookies or muesli. Or put a little plant in it. So cute.

I used the most gorgeous tin cans from Harney & Sons (teas) for my herbs outside on the balcony. In the summer it looked wonderful, but sadly now they are all rusty and not in the good Berlin-rustic-oeh-nice-stylish way.. So this one I'll keep high and dry.

#4. Flowers in Illustrator

I have been working on a project for a client for the last couple of days, it's a coloring page for a magazine, with a bunch of Dutch flowers and some insects. Those jobs are the best. Here is a little detail of it.

#4. Flowers in Illustrator

#3. Good morning!

#3. Ascaso coffee machine / Good morning

The coffee machine is hand drawn with ink and a dip pen, then I added the color in Photoshop with watercolor brushes.

The word coffee is a scan of a handwritten word with a calligraphy pen.

#2. Calligraphy Words

Another new thing I have been wanting to try is calligraphy. I thought about joining a class or doing a workshop, but decided to do a little research, get the right materials and just get started. First few sheets were a big mess of ugly words and big drops of ink. Pinterest really helped with the inspiration and the possibilities of the more modern calligraphy. Plus I needed to add a little patience, so I did.

I say not too bad for a second try. This might actually go somewhere.

#2. Calligraphy Words.

While we're on the subject... I can't help thinking of these Outlandish lyrics (Sakeena)

We be tight like
2 perfectly matching calligraphy lines
What drew us together
Doesn't conform to the laws of nature
It is written 

Testing. 1. 2. 3.

So this is not a 30-days-of-this and definitely not a 365-days-of-that project. But I do like series and I feel like drawing and testing out materials. So you might find a couple of experiments here. A drawing, a little painting or just a handwritten word or a sentence I like... it could be anything and it could be anytime.

Experiment one of the day was a topinambour (or sunroot) soup. Experiment two was this drawing I made of it. First I sketched with a pencil, then colored it in with watercolor and finally drew the outlines with a fineliner. 

Voila. The start of a series. What it will be a serie of, only time can tell...

#1 - Sunroot, basil and onion

It's nice, that.

About a month ago I got an email from Gezond Eten magazine. They had seen my illustrated recipes and were wondering if I would like to be in their magazine. Would I? Uh... let me think....uh, hell yeah! So I sent them a little info about what I do and selected some nice illustrations and then the waiting began... Last day of the year I found the magazine in my mailbox. *jumps up and down, grinning like a mad person* They had written the nicest thing about my work.

About 2 days later I got my first Dutch custom recipe order. As much as I love to make the illustrations for US customers, it feels really nice to finally make some Dutch ones as well! What a lovely start of the new year...

The recipes are all hand drawn and custom made, in any language you like. You can order yours here.