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

For non-Dutchies this might be a little bit of a strange post. Each year The Netherlands celebrates Sinterklaas the first week of December. It is quite similar to the well known Santa tradition in the US but our old white-bearded man comes from a typical Dutch heritage. He arrives on a boat with a dozen helpers that come and turn the dark November month into a sweet candy filled mayhem. Like Santa fills socks, Sinterklaas and his Zwarte Piet fills kids shoes with presents and candy.

Each year we try to create a cool freebie around this traditional Dutch holiday. This time of the year we need some cool crafty projects to work on while it is pouring out go sit down and have a nice crafty afternoon with your kids. 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 below and save the file to your desktop. Don't forget to send us your results!

This crafting set was originally made by me around 10 years ago for H&M Holland when I was still working for a design company that was hired to do all H&M's graphic design in The Netherlands. The original illustrations were made for them and this crafting project was a free giveaway they handed out to mommies and daddies shopping for their youngsters.

Sewing Inspiration // Sprout patterns // Fashion and accessories

We have been selling fabric through our Spoonflower shop for over four years now. We have seen many awesome finished projects by our talented customers but we also got requests from people that really wanted to create something but didn't really know where to start. These fun Christmas stockings, kids clothes and cactus blouse were all made with Sprout Patterns.

This fall Sprout Patterns was launched a new service that offers curated indie sewing patterns that you combine with our Little Smilemakers Spoonflower designs to create customized projects. Each project is digitally printed by Spoonflower at their Durham, NC headquarters. Sprout Patterns takes out all the work of putting a sewing pattern onto fabric.

With Sprout you simply choose your sewing pattern from our curated collection of indie patterns, then fill the pattern with your fabric design of choice from Spoonflower’s marketplace. Select your size and fabric, we do all the rest! You will receive a package that includes a digitally printed custom sewing pattern— all you need to do is cut and sew! So no messy struggles with drawing your own pattern and try to find that little size stroke you can never really see through the transfer paper. If you don;t have a whole lot of time but love to make something original this is something for you.

And with the holidays coming up this might be a perfect present for one of sewing addict friends. Or throw a baby shower for a pregnant friend and spend your day sewing cute little baby rompers. Check out the website for all sewing and pattern inspiration. Log in with your Spoonflower account and pick your fabric. Also check out there Pinterest and Facebook page for daily inspiration. Have fun and happy holidays!

Top 5 // Most popular Little Smilemakers Christmas gifts 2014

With Christmas just one week away it is time to enjoy some last minute Christmas shopping. This winter lot's of Little Smilemakers projects are finally finished and available in shops around the world. After a very busy summer we are now able to see the result. Fun nursery bed linnen, home wear, new storage boxes. For this year we have hand picked our Top 5 favorite Christmas presents.



1 // Fabric for DIY addicts
With new trends and designs added each month Spoonflower is the number one place to shop for your DIY friends. We just added another 30 designs in our Little Smilemakers Spoonflower shop. We have new winter and kids themes, abstract geometric designs and some quirky pastel ones. But if you'd like to start with some new Spring/Summer projects for your small business you can also purchase your fabric here. Take a look around and enjoy!

2 // Home Decor
It is always a blast to work on home decor projects. Wallpaper, storage boxes, family planners and stationary, it is what we love most here. Being part of someone's interior. If you are looking for some Little Smilemakers Studio originals take a look into the Society6 shop. With these fun pillows you can give your living room a little extra character and if you want to change colors and restyle your home they are easy to integrate and add for a quirky personal touch.

3 // Personalize your phone
It has been a year since we started working for Daily Objects. As you might know Maaike is a great fan of India and when she was asked to make an entire range of designs for this new rapidly growing company she was excited to add her Indian designs to their collection of designs. Now more than 200 designs are available on Daily Object's website. Take a look around, there must be something suitable for your friends and family in there.

4 // Sewing supplies and fashion accessories
This year another fall/winter collection by Maaike Boot is available in Veritas shops. If you are located in Belgium or Netherlands you can order the entire range online. Sewing supplies like fabric and sewing storage boxes are part of this year's design series but also fashion accessories: bags, scarfs, undies and cosy home wear. A completely new collection is out now. But be quick! There is not much left!

5 // Tickets to the unknown
Book two tickets to a place you have never been and go explore the world with your bestie or loved one. It is better to invest money in experiences then stuff. Get out of you comfort zone!

> Merry christmas to you all

Those days before christmas. Shopping presents for friend or family, finishing the last projects of 2013. Busy days. Just two more to go before closing up for christmas. I hope you will all have an amazing holiday filled with love and cheer. Thank you all for your kinds wishes and postcards.

Best of luck to you all,
Maaike Boot

> Typography and photography travel inspired art | christmas presents | Little Smilemakers online shop

It is that time of the year again! Decorating the house for the winter season and it's holidays. A while ago I was working on some travel inspired postcards. Designs containing both photography and typography. All telling their own personal story of a country, a culture or a moment. If you are a travel addict yourself or if you are just looking around the internet for a fun christmas present, check out all travel inspired artwork that is available now at society6. Place your order before cyber monday and enjoy free worldwide shipping.

Available on: iphone case, ipad case, laptop skin, tote bag, baby onsie, t-shirts and pillows for your home. Enjoy shopping for the holidays!

> Enjoy the holidays!

We will be closing up the studio in a few hours for some really last-minute christmas shopping. Enjoy your christmas! Have fun unwrapping presents and eating too much delicious food!

> Happy christmas decoration | pimp your online cards for the holidays

by Maaike Boot

Christmas is the time of the year to dust of and use your good old mailbox! Send out some personalised christmas cards via Kaartje2Go and add some Little Smilemaker Studio xmas illustrations or holiday frames. Enjoy!

> New mindfulness inspiration designs & home deco products

by Maaike Boot

As a graphic designer you need to keep an open mind. A way to preserve that is to do some yoga and meditation from time to time. Zazzle has another little smilemakers line in their home deco department to keep you all relaxed and at ease. Cute soft pillows to add to your winter home. Have fun looking through these mindfulness inspired home deco products!

> Sinterklaas, zwarte piet and christmas patterns are up!

For most graphic designers that work for commercial products and companies the holiday season starts in the summer. Little Smilemakers Studio is always working six months ahead. To post my new christmas home deco projects and patterns here on the Little Smilemakers blog during the summer feels kinda strange so i always wait till i see a first sign in the shops. I was amazed to see the first signs of our typical Dutch holiday 'Sinterklaas' and 'pepernoten' in my local grocery this week already!

I have been working on several holiday patterns as you can see above. The top pattern was made for a Sinterklaas wrapping paper collection but you can also order this print as online postcard. Could be an invitation for friends to celebrate this holiday together or just a cute note for a Dutch friend or family member overseas. I love the Sinterklaas tradition.

If you would like to send one of those christmas patterns and designs as a merry christmas card to you friends or family just check out my online cards at Kaartje2Go.

> Cold winterdays, warm winter clothes and sweet lovely notes from overseas friends

by Maaike Boot


Christmas is coming up. I am not supposed to talk about that part of december just yet but i am already selling christmas cards at Kaartje2go.nl. This design is one of my old ones mixed with new details. Ofcourse there is a lot more to find besides this card design. But if you would like to purchase my design and use it for something else, then take a look in my online shutterstock portfolio and pick your fave!