Top 5 Hot Sellers // Love inspired fabric for Valentine’s Day

We are half-way January and blue Monday has come and gone so it is time to focus on the year’s best holiday: Valentine’s Day is around the corner an our loooooove sales are going well. I think everyone is excited to spread some love and we see some new cool Love themes come up in our trend overview. So here is a little top 5 of this years most trending Valentine themed designs on fabric. And of course love is always an option, so no need to limit the use of these designs to one day of the year.

1 // Lollipop Love
This prints was inspired by the naive pop culture trend. We see food and candy pins pop up in fashion and we love these retro style illustrations influence new fashion collections. This designs is a simple illustration of heart shapes lollipops combined with black dots making the design fresh and quirky. Perfect for Valentine. https://www.spoonflower.com/designs/7177070

2 // Monochrome Love Typography
We adore monochromes and this style is still growing strong. A simple black and white print, you cannot go wrong. Small hearts with hand drawn love typography. A cool combo making this print on trend and very useful for gender neutral creations. Create some cool fashion pieces or use this print as wallpaper for your home. I’d love to see this design used in a baby nursery. So cool! https://www.spoonflower.com/designs/6093977

3 // Textured Hearts
This design has been around for a little while. The mint and peach combo is still trending after three years. The textured hearts are matching our inky texture collection. A collection of designs that have been licensed throughout Europe, United Stated and Australia. But it is also available on fabric and wallpaper via Spoonflower. So if you are looking for a more contemporary love themed design, this one might be just what you’ve been looking for. https://www.spoonflower.com/designs/5163891



4 // XOXO Sweet hearts
The monochrome nursery is very popular. And this soft pink xoxo design is perfect for your little girls bedroom and wardrobe. A raw abstract ink print with xoxo and heart shapes. The designs is a basic repeat with minimal shapes making it perfect as a secondary design or for large scale use like curtains and wallpaper. Curious to see some finished results with this one! https://www.spoonflower.com/designs/4867777

5 // Love Hearts
Black and whites with a hint of color are it this year. And this design is perfect for both boys and girls. For your little one or for your own fashion items or home textiles. The pattern is made with hand drawn heart shapes and the random placed shapes make this print playful yet stylish due to it’s color use. You can never go wrong with a strong basic black and white. https://www.spoonflower.com/designs/4845697

Happy Valentine // Share the love and send out a romantic gesture

Little Smilemakers designs are available at several postcard and stationary companies all around the world. There is one company in Holland we are working for directly. Kaartje2Go is an online website from which you can send out a postcard to your loved one, friends or family. You can choose a design, add images and you can even upload text in your own handwriting.

Since social media took over there are not many people sending out paper postcards anymore but digital mailing services have grown ever since. It is all about that little sweet gesture. Who doesn't want to receive a little note from their loved one with Valentine's Day? I must say it has been a few years, well maybe even 10. Yes, I know how to pick some very unromantic boyfriends (working on that!) No, seriously, I am not a very big fan of the commercial Valentine's Day. But any gesture is welcome right, when you love someone? You just want to take some time and think about how to make that special one actually feel special, so we have a whole bunch of cards inspired on love available. To send to your significant other, your best friend or family member who should know they are lover.

Last year typical red and pink prints were hot sellers. Popular trends this year are minimalistic designs. Basic black and whites with color pops. A more simplistic style related to the Scandinavian trend going on in surface pattern design. But also typography is trending this year. Hand lettering with sweet notes with a little quirky touch. With a background in typography it is always nice to step aside from our daily surface pattern design routine. These hand lettered designs were made in ink and pencil. For this post we featured our less common love prints and we wanted to show you our Panda postcard. I am celebrating not having any panda point today! Yay!



So here we are featuring some of this years new trending designs for Valentine. So have your pick, browse around this years most popular postcard designs and send one to your BFF or love of your life. Not sure what to write to your loved one, family member or friend? Hallmark has come up with a series of sentences if you lack inspiration or don't know what message is appropriate. So if you do not know what to write check out Hallmark's blogpost about what to write to your valentine this year.

Happy Valentine // Top 5 things I love

It's that time of the year again. Shopping windows all turned red and pink and the past few weeks everything was covered in hearts. It is Valentine's day. We do not have a huge library of Valentine related designs but we put lot's of love in our creations. So let's talk about all the things we love. Like this image above that represents all that.

Travel the world
We saw this cute leopard legging in the Elsie & Aster shop. The design was made right before my trip to Sri Lanka two months ago. Where we went on a breathtaking safari and spotted some leopards in Yala National Park. Most of the designs that make the fabric cut are inspired by our travels. it can be the shape of some certain food, colors on a daily market that inspire a palette, or quirky animals we haven't seen before.

Ink drawings
This leopard design was part of the OMG i booked a ticket to Sri Lanka experience. But it also contains my other passion: black ink. I was just a kid when I decided I wanted to draw all day every day. Turns out you can actually make a living out of that. Well if you put in the effort and work hard. Nowadays I try to draw at least something every day. I especially love using a pencil with black ink. I love the contrasting colors and the harsh lines, I like how you have to be confident with the black ink. There is no way to erase the lines and shapes, it is my own handwriting that will be translated into the shapes and illustrations I make.

White
Clearly, when you would look into my personal portfolio you will see lot's of white. I love to start with a white canvas. The photo above also has the crisp and clean feel to it which I love so much. Designing is a process of making choices. I like to start on bright white and work with black, than fill in the blanks and balance out color. White. You are loved!

Finished projects
I can not remember the first design that was turned into something tangible but I do enjoy every single hand made piece we see posted on our facebook page and Instagram. It is so much fun to see how your creations evolve into another creative project. All those adorable kids wearing our prints, we can not get enough of that! Makes is so much fun to create.

A visual diary
All right, let's be honest, I personally am not the best writer and posting things here on the blog can be a challenge. I am visual. So writing might be a challenge but I make up for that visually. I dreamt of becoming a photographer for a while. I love making pictures, creating images, illustrations. So Instagram for me is the best invention for our Little Smilemakers business. That way we can share all our designs and we can stay connected with our followers. I love updating this visual diary. Follow @littlesmilemakers on Instagram.

Be my valentine // new postcard & print designs // lovely mail

Little Smilemakers designs are available at several postcard and stationary companies all around the world. There is one company in Holland we are working for directly. Kaartje2Go is an online website from which you can send out a postcard to your loved one. You can choose a designs, add images and can even upload text in your own handwriting.

Since social media took over there are not many people sending out postcards anymore but digital mailing services have grown ever since. It is all about that little sweet gesture. Who doesn't want to receive a little note from their loved one with Valentine's Day? I must say it has been a few years, well maybe even 10. Yes, I know how to pick some very unromantic boyfriends (working on that!) Hopefully my Valentine knows how to surprise me this year. No need for a big present. Just a little note is more that enough.

Last year typical red and pink prints were hot sellers. Popular trends this year are minimalistic designs. Basic black and whites with color pops. A more simplistic style related to the Scandinavian trend going on in surface pattern design. But also typography in trending this year. Hand lettering with sweet notes with a little quirky touch. With a background in typography it is always nice to step aside from our daily surface pattern design routine. These hand lettered designs were made in ink and pencil.

So here we are featuring some of this years new trending designs for Valentine. So have your pick, browse around this years most popular postcard designs and send one to your BFF or love of your life. Not sure what to write to your loved one, family member or friend? Hallmark has come up with a series of sentences if you lack inspiration or don't know what message is appropriate. So if you do not know what to write check out Hallmark's blogpost about what to write to your valentine this year.

Top 5 designs for Valentine // Romantic winter love themes and soft abstract pastels

Valentines Day is a day to surprise your beloved with a little extra gesture of your love. Send out a postcard, bring home some flowers or create something unique with one of these new Love inspired designs that are launched just in time.

For all romantics this is the time to start your valentine DIY projects. With only a month to go we would like to show you this year's new designs available on fabric, wallpaper, postcards and also know designs that are featured here are available for licensing.

This year Little Smilemakers Studio has worked on some new Valentine inspired designs. These are this years most popular love themes.

1 // Hello Gorgeous - postcard & poster series
2 // Little Quirky Hearts - Fabric & Wallpaper
3 // Love Antlers - Fabric & Wallpaper
4 // XOXO Cupid Love - Fabric & Wallpaper
5 // I Love Your Stupid Face - postcard & poster series

There can never be too much love in your life. Send that postcard to your secret lover. And even if you are single and not looking for a relationship, Valentines Day is a great day to celebrate life and love. Spend the day with your best friend, your awesome neighbor or make someone close to you feel a little extra important.