Happy Kingsday Dutchies // Veel plezier deze Koningsdag!

In about five days' time the entire country will turn orange while Dutch people celebrate Kingsday. On the 27th of April Holland celebrates the birthday of our King. All show windows, supermarked candy and fashion boutiques show off their orange collection this week. Slowly everything will turn into orange. If you are visiting Holland during this period for the first time make sure you know what to do, how to behave and what to wear.

Fleamarkeds and under age street musicians
Kingsday is the day to get rid of old junk. It is the only day of the year where you can get rid of old toys and worn down clothes and actually make money. Street musicians are everywhere sometimes 5 year old kids are playing in the street earn a little something and small games and activities are created to bring in some change to spend on candy the next day. During Kingsday most of the shops are closed. It is the biggest and most celebrated holiday of the country so businesses are shut down so everyone can celebrate this quirky day. Even the entire Royal family is out in the town to celebrate, have a drink and take part in typical Dutch games.

Beer & Orange
If you decide to celebrate Kingsday make sure you don't walk the streets on a empty stomach. Beer is served everywhere but you can see groups of people in the streets and parks drink from their own stash too, they will offer you drinks and before you know it you are struggling to stay on your feet even though it's only 2 in the afternoon.
If you like to be ridiculed on the street you should not wear orange. You will be the joke of town. Make sure you add something orange to your wardrobe. Groups of drunk Dutchies can be very enjoying when they decide you are not wearing enough of this national color. Spray paint your hair, add some orange lipstick or get yourself a cheap orange t-shirt that can be bought in every single clothing shop in the days leading to this party. If it is not over the top orange, it is not good enough!

Where to go?
Kingsday is celebrated in every city and every small town. If you are up to big parties do celebrate this day in Amsterdam. One huge mass of people will turn the city into one giant party. If you like a party but want a little escape go celebrate Kingsday in the South, Brabant. My all time favorite place in Breda. The city center turns into a dance party around noon and if you like to escape the people you can walk to the city park, do some vintage (junk) shopping and grab a drink just outside of the city center where terraces are a little more quiet.
Not good with masses of people? Go visit a small town and see how locals entertain themselves with typical Dutch games and activities on the street. Here are some very typical and interesting activities you might bump into.



Koekhappen - Cookie biting game
Your hands will be tied on your back and without any help you will have to eat and finish this traditional dutch baked cookie that is hanging on a rope just above your head. If you win, finish the cookie first, well, it is all about the honor...

Spijkerpoepen - Nail pooping game
As a kid this was my favorite game. A string holding a nail will be tied around your waist. The nail will be hanging from your back in between your legs. You will have to try and get the nail into the narrow neck of a bottle. It sounds easy but it's hard work!

Zaklopen - Walking the bag
This game is very popular among kids. You will have to crawl into an empty potato bag and run track. Walking in a bag is not easy and can be very painful and I won't recommend it. I sure don't want to break a leg during Kingsday but if you want to take the challenge, I did warn you!

The man that made me follow my dream and inspired me to do what I am doing today // A short story about an amazing illustrator // Dick Bruna (89) you will be missed

Today we have to say goodbye to the greatest illustrator in Dutch history. To celebrate his life I am posting this old piece about Dick Bruna. Meeting my biggest inspiration. I hereby want to send my condolences to his family and friends. Dick Bruna you will be missed!




I wanted to write about this man for ages but never got around to do so. This summer Dick Bruna decided to stop illustrating and enjoy retirement after 61 years of creating whimsical illustrations. And with his birthday today I thought this would be a great day do drop something about this warm Mister.

For those of you that do not know this man, a little introduction: Dick bruna was the creator of Miffy, the little adventurous bunny little toddlers all over the world get to know during their bedtime stories. But he has also made numerous other books and stories and started his career as a graphic designer.

During my Graphic Design studies we had to interview someone we looked up to. I knew that mister Bruna has had worldwide success with his great Miffy books but I also loved where he came from. A history in book publishing, designing book covers for years, yes I wanted to meet this man.

I wrote him a long letter about how awesome I thought he was. Yes, I felt like a teenage groupie going on 22 back then and I never expected a letter in return. He welcomed me to visit him in his Studio in Utrecht. So I prepared some questions, packed my camera and took a train to his hometown Utrecht to meet him.



When I rang the bell and Dick Bruna opened the door I remembered my first thought was; what a sweet smile, his eyes were twinkling and his mustache made his smile look even bigger. He welcomed me with a big hug and offered to make me some tea. While he was preparing our drinks in his studio kitchen he told me he loved interviews, because inviting people over would give him a good excuse to buy some of his favorite cookies. But why they were all so interested in his story he could not figure out. " I am just a man that has made some books, I am not any more special that a guy on the street."

"If someone takes the effort to sit down and write me a letter, sending a response is the least I can do."

We sat down for a chat and I was caught up in his stories right away. He talked about his daily drawings for his wife before leaving home, how he took his bike to the studio every single day and I loved how he spoke about his fans. Little kids from all around the world sent him little artworks and drawings. Mister Bruna made room in his studio to save each and every single piece that came by mail and told me he sat down to answer all those expressions of admiration, letters, postcards, everyone got a personal thank you from his hand. After all these years, still making time to do so! I was so moved, a man would put so much effort into others.



He showed me his studio. With an impressive bookcase with all his Dutch children's books but also translations of the Miffy books, published all over the world. A little nook to sit in with cushions and kids artwork everywhere. He picked up some artwork "Look what amazing pieces of art. This stencil art was send by a little girl all the way from China, can you believe that?" He opened one of his cabinet drawers and showed me some folders and flyers, some logo designs and magazines that he had worked on. An entire very impressive portfolio was lying there, right in front of me. With his typical colorful illustrations and clean crisp typography. And then I saw his drawing table. His glasses, pencils and a large sketchbook. He told me drawing was not as easy anymore. His hands sometimes were too shaky and it took much more time to drawn clear clean lines like he used to. "But now it is up for your generation, nowadays the industry is much more competitive it must be a lot harder to make ends meet with doing what I do. But remember this, it is possible. If a small man from Utrecht can do it, you definitely can do it too."

It has been a great ride: 120 children's books and a respectable age of 87. Mister Bruna, please enjoy your well deserved retirement. Your work will influence many generations to come. And you have inspired me to follow my heart and take the risk to do what I love. I find myself working in my own studio, just doing what I love and people happen to pick up on my work. Thank you mister Bruna! You are an inspirational man.



If you ever visit Utrecht you can also visit the Miffy Museum: The Dick Bruna House, which is very close to Centraal Museum. It is a great place to visit with kids.

Made with Little Smilemakers Studio Fabric // April 2016

It is so exciting to see a finished project after working hard on a new collection or a series of illustrations for our clients. But with finished fabric designs it is even a bigger surprise to see what customers create. To see how final products evolve when people put their own creative energy in there is amazing.

If you browse around on Etsy for some kids fashion you are very likely to stumble upon some Little Smilemakers prints. Most creatives with small home based businesses sell their projects via internet and tag us via Instagram. So we see some amazing things in our feed every month. We love how Little Smilemakers creations are the foundation for other creatives all around the world to work with. So here is our monthly blog post that features some creative results from the USA, UK, France and Poland. This month we selected a whole bunch of adventurous boys themes. Take a look and see if there is something for your little one too. This is our top 5 for April.

Hen House Apparel
Nicole is a mother of two boys living in sunny California who runs a small etsy shop with organic materials and unique prints. You can find a small selection of our designs in her shop, mermaids, guitars, polar bears and our cool umbrella rain design. With our umbrella print she has made some cute boys leggings and these are also available in her shop in different sizes. Take a look and enjoy her fun collection of leggings, shorts, head bands and more.

Sew Kuddly
A few weeks ago some cute lions popped up in our Instagram feed. Jasmin is based in Hertfordshire, UK and handmakes boys and girls clothing using cute, fun and trendy patterns. For this months 'made with' we selected her adorable lion leggings, one of our favorite designs exclusively made for Hemmers/Itex Germany. Jasmin also has some of our other baby animals in her shop. Curious? Take a look and get your little one a pair of these!



Madkouch
We have been working with Morgane for a little while now. Morgane is the driving force behind
Madkouch Boutik a colorful French webshop for kids clothing. She had licensed our tropical tucan, hot air balloons and inky texture cactus design. For this post we selected this cute cactus baby romper from the boys western collection. This cactus fabric is also available as harem pants, leggings, shirt and for adventurous girls: there is also a dress available! If you are looking for girls clothes, do check out the tropical toucan collection. We are so in love with this range too! Take a look into her shop, and check out all products.

Baby & Mother Poland
One of our favorite prints is our our dino palm tree design. A while ago we licensed this design to a company in Poland that has a whole bunch of Little Smilemakers designs available on fabric. if you are located in Eastern Europe this is a great shop to score some of our original design per meter. Take a look!

RoJo Apparel
Rose started her shop because she was having a hard time finding stylish things for her son Joshua (such a beautiful name!). She started out making bow ties but soon expanded her Etsy shop with clothing. For this monthly 'made with' post we selected her geometric dino t-shirts. We just simply fell in love with these cute little boys and had to have her in this April feature. Take a look at her shop for some stylish boys and girls clothes.

Sinterklaas // Dutch Holiday season start // Kleurplaat & Kijkdoos

So yes, for non-Dutchies this might be a little bit of a strange post. Each year we celebrate Sinterklaas the first week of December. It is quite similar to the well know Santa tradition but our old white bearded man comes from a typical Dutch heritage. He arrives on a boat with a dozen of helpers and turn the dark November month into a sweet candy filled mayhem.

Each year we try to create a cool freebie around this traditional Dutch holiday. This year we have a fun project to work on. A Sinterklaas and Zwarte Pier themed set of drawings your kids can color, cut and paste into their Sinterklaas paper Peepshow. Click on the image and save the file to your desktop. Don't forget to send us your results!

This crafting set was originally made around 10 years ago for H&M Holland when I was still working for a design company that was hired to do H&M's graphic design in The Netherlands.

Made with Little Smilemakers Studio Fabric // July 2015

It is so exciting to see a finished project after working hard on a new collection or a series of illustrations for our clients. But with finished fabric designs it is even a bigger surprise to see what customers create. To see how final products evolve when people put their own creative energy in there is amazing.

We love how Little Smilemakers creations are the foundation for other creatives all around the world to work with. So here is our monthly blog post that features some creative results from United Kingdom, Australia and United States. This is our new July selection. If you browse around on etsy for some kids fashion you are very likely to stumble upon some Little Smilemakers. Most creatives with small home based businesses sell their projects via Etsy. So take a look and see if there is something for your little one too.

Soft sole squirrel
These adorable soft sole baby shoes are made by Sharie who uses lot's of Little Smilemakers Studio designs in her Little Pitterpat Etsy shop. Some of these soft sole baby shoes even have matching hats. Adorable! All items are made by hand in Sharies studio in Montana. These cute shoes make a great baby shower present. So take a look into her shop if you want to have a pair of these. Or keep follow Little Pitterpat on Instagram. Right now she is having a well deserved break but don't worry, it is worth a little wait. She has over 200 items to choose from.

Baby Bandana's & Headbands from Down Under
Ollie & Coco is a small starting company from Australia and makes adorable baby bandana's and bibs. They bring you beautiful products made for your little ones, their nursery and your home. Ollie & Coco will also add a new range of products to their cute and fresh collection soon, even more reason to have a little look on their website and follow this fun brand on Instagram.

Summer season coat
It has been a while since the last Little Smilemakers collection for Veritas hit the shops. Sometimes we see finished products in magazines like Ottobre, Knippie and La Maison Victor and can not trace back to their origin. This cute coat was made by a Veritas customer. And what a great job. If you are the maker of this creation please contact us so we can give you some proper credit for your work.

Unicorn dream girly shorts
We love love love these little tiny shorts that were made by Isis that runs a cute shop with apparel and accessories for baby and toddlers. All items are hand made. Whatever legging, romper of pair of little shorts you pick, your girls will feel like a little princess. Go take a look and browse through her shop or follow her feed on Instagram for some fashionable inspiration for your little one.



Fun storage bags for your home
We are big fans of One Pennie, a little shop from Perth. These cute garlands are made with one of our most popular Spoonflower design: our plus sign fabric. We love the black and white style with a little hint of color here and there. These clever bags to store your pencils or keep your plants safe and pretty are available on their website.

We have already seen a lot of awesome sewing projects made by Little Smilemakers fabric customers. We made a little selection out of the dozen photographs that were sent to us or that we were tagged in. Cute home decor items. Personalized bedding, scarfs, leggings and head bands. So much to choose from! If you'd like to be featured in on of our monthly "made with..." posts. Please send us your images.

Orange // Spring in Holland // Celebrating Kingsday // How to survive as a tourist? // Here are some tips:

In about five days' time the entire country will turn orange while Dutch people celebrate Kingsday. On the 27th of April Holland celebrates the birthday of our King. All show windows, supermarked candy and fashion boutiques show off their orange collection this week. Slowly everything will turn into orange. If you are visiting Holland during this period for the first time make sure you know what to do, how to behave and what to wear.

Fleamarkeds and under age street musicians
Kingsday is the day to get rid of old junk. It is the only day of the year where you can get rid of old toys and worn down clothes and actually make money. Street musicians are everywhere sometimes 5 year old kids are playing in the street earn a little something and small games and activities are created to bring in some change to spend on candy the next day. During Kingsday most of the shops are closed. It is the biggest and most celebrated holiday of the country so businesses are shut down so everyone can celebrate this quirky day. Even the entire Royal family is out in the town to celebrate, have a drink and take part in typical Dutch games.

Beer & Orange
If you decide to celebrate Kingsday make sure you don't walk the streets on a empty stomach. Beer is served everywhere but you can see groups of people in the streets and parks drink from their own stash too, they will offer you drinks and before you know it you are struggling to stay on your feet even though it's only 2 in the afternoon.
If you like to be ridiculed on the street you should not wear orange. You will be the joke of town. Make sure you add something orange to your wardrobe. Groups of drunk Dutchies can be very enjoying when they decide you are not wearing enough of this national color. Spray paint your hair, add some orange lipstick or get yourself a cheap orange t-shirt that can be bought in every single clothing shop in the days leading to this party. If it is not over the top orange, it is not good enough!

Where to go?
Kingsday is celebrated in every city and every small town. If you are up to big parties do celebrate this day in Amsterdam. One huge mass of people will turn the city into one giant party. If you like a party but want a little escape go celebrate Kingsday in the South, Brabant. My all time favorite place in Breda. The city center turns into a dance party around noon and if you like to escape the people you can walk to the city park, do some vintage (junk) shopping and grab a drink just outside of the city center where terraces are a little more quiet.
Not good with masses of people? Go visit a small town and see how locals entertain themselves with typical Dutch games and activities on the street. Here are some very typical and interesting activities you might bump into.

Koekhappen - Cookie biting game
Your hands will be tied on your back and without any help you will have to eat and finish this traditional dutch baked cookie that is hanging on a rope just above your head. If you win, finish the cookie first, well, it is all about the honor...

Spijkerpoepen - Nail pooping game
As a kid this was my favorite game. A string holding a nail will be tied around your waist. The nail will be hanging from your back in between your legs. You will have to try and get the nail into the narrow neck of a bottle. It sounds easy but it's hard work!

Zaklopen - Walking the bag
This game is very popular among kids. You will have to crawl into an empty potato bag and run track. Walking in a bag is not easy and can be very painful and I won't recommend it. I sure don't want to break a leg during Kingsday but if you want to take the challenge, I did warn you!

Hup Holland Hup // Cool Dutch Fifa World Cup illustrations & patterns

Yes, time for Dutch to go crazy over the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. I am not a big socces fan myself but after seeing all these awesfull ugly orange merch I decided it was about time to add some fun Holland designs to my portfolio. What do you think aof this cute little Dutch Lion? Illustration is also available via Kaartje2Go.

> Amsterdam Holland doodle pattern | on fabric & wallpaper

If I am a typical Dutch designer is for you to decide. Maybe the clean shapes and white background is typically Dutch. I am not sure. I let myself get inspired by the world and even though I am located in The Hague, Holland, most of my artwork is about my trips and travels around the world. After getting many requests ('please, make more Dutch designs') I decided it was about time to dedicate some time to creating something typically Dutch. Hopefully you will enjoy these Bicycle and Amsterdam designs.

> Let's have one awesome queensday dutchies!

This year we celebrate the crowning of a new king, and we say goodbye to our lovely queen. It is time to celebrate!