Happy Holi // Spring is on it's way!

It has been one year. One year ago I came back from an amazing trip through the Backwaters of Kerala India and I just missed out on celebrating Holi in this amazing colorful country. But luckily I live in a neighborhood where a lot of Hindu people live. The Hague is THE city to celebrate Holi when you live in the Netherlands. I am very excited to be part of this amazing celebration again this year.

Of course you might all know that I adore India. So I had to post a little something about this celebration of spring and India's most crazy festival of the year. A few snaps I took on my trip last year when I traveled through the beautiful lush Backwaters of Southern India. Where I met some amazing inspiring people. Where a Holy man told me to never wait for a man while visiting the temples of Madurai. Where a another woman at the temple told me I would be having 6 kids. Where I visit a little village where some never saw white men before. Where I spotted some amazing wild elephants. Where I spend the night on a little island, listening to the animals until I fell asleep. Where I encountered some strange looking yellow cows, they were cleansed with turmeric. Where I enjoyed an amazing train ride through the foggy mountains of Ooty. And there was so much more...

But back to the reason I am typing this. Tomorrow the Holi festival will be celebrated. A festival without borders. Hindi people all over the world will play with colors, sing, dance, light bonfires and celebrate the victory of good over evil. It is a way to bring people together, it still binds them in their roots. I love the Holi tradition and wish you all a happy Holi festival this year!

Swede Pea Brand // Made with Little Smilemakers Fabric

Swede Pea is a new company that specializes in little ones fashion and accessories and is located in the San Francisco Bay area. Stephanie opened up her online boutique this past December where you can find her hand made creations. We are very proud to see our Little Smilemakers designs used for numerous Swede Pea items and are happy to feature this new business on the blog.

After giving birth to her daughter Stephanie was inspired by her little baby girl to go after her long time dream. To create clothes for babies and toddlers that their mama's could match with an accessory. After months of preparation the website has been launched and the products are listed. Now you can find some very cute headbands, scarves, leggings and bibdanas in her shop but there is even more to come. This spring and summer, shorts, skirts, rompers and some mommy accessories will be added to the Swede Pea collection as well. We can not wait to see the collection grow.

"I've always loved to sew, knit, crochet, paint, draw and really anything creative and crafty. I don't have a degree in design or art. I'm a self-taught seamstress. I think I got the creative genes from my Swedish grandmother who used to sew a lot and she also does a lot of crafting, like crocheting and woodwork. I remember how much I loved being in her sewing room and watch her create."



Stephanie was born and raised in Sweden and her style is definitely Scandinavian inspired. The company name also reflects her roots. Swede Pea stands for Swedish Pea, based on the nickname they gave her when she was a little girl herself: the famous fairy tale princess that had trouble sleeping because of one little pea written by Hans Christian Andersen. If you have never heard of the story, go read it, it was also one of my favorite stories when I was a little kid.

Growing up I was called, Prinsessan på ärten (The Princess and the Pea), by family and friends. So when thinking of a name we came up with Swede Pea. I loved it right away!

Stephanie has a good idea of what designs she wants to include in her collection and tries to be consistent in her choice of fabric, colors and prints. For her collection she works with two other fabric designers; Elvelyckan Design and MiaMea Design, both Swedish companies. "I try to pick patterns that are unisex but sometimes it's hard because there's so much out there that is very girly. I like the unisex idea because I don't want to limit colors because of the sex of a child. Colors should be mixed and for both girls and boys."

So for her first few items Stephanie has chosen to work with a bunch of Little Smilemakers designs. The Geometric Feather print with minty blue, soft pastel coral, black and whites. The Pine Tree print with little lime color pops. The Aztec Feathers design in a vivid summer color scheme and the Geometric Triangle print in pink. And look how adorable those little ones look! Curious to see what else Swede Pea Brand has listed? Take a look at the Facebook page and stay up to date, or go to the shop and order some of her awesome pieces for your little one right now. You can also follow Swede Pea via Instagram @swedepeabrand.

A designing process // A brief step by step // From a cold crystal winter hike to a collection of woman's accessories

Since the cold weather is kicking in this week I thought it would be a good idea to talk a bit about my winter inspired collection, a series of designs I have worked on during the winter, and talk about the process of creation. From a walk through a cold winter forest to a collection of woman's accessories. From start to finish.

Last year I was asked to make another collection for Veritas Belgium. I just came back from my trip through the backwaters of India when I started the process of designing a new series of surface pattern designs during the freezing cold winter days of 2014.

With the raw images of India still in my head and after some winter hikes throughout the cold Dutch nature I started my research for this new series of prints. The first step is choosing a material. Usually I start drawing with a pen or pencil, but for this I felt like using a more raw material to make my drawings. Ink and dry brushes to represent the sharp edges of a winter day. The raw outline as an intense reflection of my present being.

White paper & black ink
I always start my drawing process on white paper with black ink. Color is something that will be added in a later stage. First I try to find a shape to represent what I want to create and what I feel. A combination of those two. The new collection should have a little look and feel of the collection I created a year before. This collection should be a logic follow up on what was already made. But a year later there is a different perspective to translate into the new design series. What I know already is that I want to use the raw intense emotion of the cold weather: create a translation of this raw winter woodland. The harsh shapes, clean crooked branches and cold winter weather vegetation.

100 pieces of paper
Finding the right shape for the foundations of the design takes up most time in the designing process. Searching for a base shape can take up to weeks. This collection was made with Indian Ink so that means I will have to be patient until the wet ink is dry too. This process of painting still is a pure translation of how I feel. Thoughts only get in the way of creating a pure output at this stage. How I look and feel can be brought back into simple shapes and if that shape is found I try to improve it and start repeating it until I feel it is just right. That means ending up with piles of paper with similar repetitive shapes. Painting is like a meditation. No thoughts only conversions of emotions translate to paper.



In search of composition
After finding the basic shapes the process begins of making the analog drawings into one colored vector shapes. My scanner is my best friend in the studio and is making a lot of working hours. Luckily for this process I have an assisted digitalizing the work. For this particular series of designs I have created almost a hundred pieces of paper filled with ink drawings. All these shaped will be imported into one vector document. From there the search to a strong basic repeat starts. Making combination of shapes, create layers add little textures and detailing. Another shape will evolve from here. The final prints should be related to one another but also need to have a design that is strong enough on itself. Should the shape be smaller of larger. Should a basic repeat be companied with a more tossed and contrasting composition?

Balancing colors & new compositions
Adding colors is the next step. Shapes can have a very different feel if you combine colors. Will the shape be strong enough? Will details fade or will they be too aggressive? Usually I start out with a few color schemes. Swatches I put together out of a pack of Pantone cards. For this series of designs I also had some color input from my client to work with and I will have to be looking for the right balance of working on a trend and creative a Little Smilemakers design without losing the authenticity. With a selected color scheme I will add the digital color.

When the colors are integrated into the repeat the files will be prepared for the sample printing process. That means the designs will be send to the client who will produce the final product with the print. At this stage the samples will result in small color tweaks. And then it can take up to a year to finally see the entire collection as a whole. But when it is finally there it is time to celebrate!

Happy birthday Dick Bruna // 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

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 responds 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.

Shutterstock Instagram Takeover // Behind the scenes at the studio & a great dose of inspiration

Instagram must be my favorite type of social media. I am not a great writer, I a visual person. So when I was asked to take over Shutterstock's instagram feed for a week I was more that happy to do so.

Posting for someone else is a completely different experience. Shutterstock followers tend to choose Photography over illustration. So this was a great chance to post some more visual work made with different materials. Show followers how I work and what inspires me. But of course this take-over was also a great chance to show a little bit about my country and the places I visit, little snaps of my daily life. I love to travel but forget there is also a lot to see right where I come from. Especially for followers from so many countries around the world.

I was amazed with the great feedback I got. I am so happy I was able to show off a bit more illustrations and patterns. If you want to see all images take a look at the Shutterstock Instagram feed. And don't forget to follow @littlesmilemakers too.



If you would like to read more about my take-over you can check Shutterstock's blogpost written by the awesome Sarah Maloy. Thank you for this great story.

Inspiration and things that matter // finding your own style and designing your creative process

Since my last trip, New York in June, I have been working on several Shutterstock things. Taking over Instagram later this week, I have been setting up Holland's first Drink & Draw contributor's event for Shutterstock but also I have been writing a piece for the contributor's blog which let me to think about what I do and what is important to me.

I feel so blessed that I am able to do what I do now. Make my living with illustrations and patterns. During my studies I found it hard to choose a more 'abstract' way of living. So instead of choosing Illustration as mayor I studied graphic design and typography. This foundation, combined with my passion for illustration and photography makes my work so much more diverse each day. I am so happy for choosing another direction and not be limited like other designers. For me designing is about inventing, diversity, searching for solutions between the 'set rules' for the final product and my own hand writing merged into a piece that works for the company I work with.

I see lot's of designers trying to hold on to their own handwriting, meaning repeating designs, they just end up making the same thing over and over again. I love to experiment with different types of materials. Ink, paper cutting, vector drawing. I am so happy to work with all these different techniques and companies still choose me for my own style. The foundation of my designs is always visible. I think every artist evolves. When a musician looks back on the music he made years ago he would say: "I would do that completely different now". I would be bored out of my head if I had to make the same design in another version day after day.

I do have some preferences, white backgrounds, poplin' colors, I work with. Some limitations to a design are necessary to accomplish a great result. But do not limit yourself. Let the client set your rules and stay open for growth. If you then are able to trust your own skills and experience you can make a living with doing what you love.

My inspiration lies in diversity and experiencing new things, I think my designs reflect that what is most important to me.

Featured images are available via Sutterstock, Society6 & Spoonflower. Also available for licensing.

> And the winner is.....

It was something I had never done before. Making a 'moving' image about... well, me. I am not the kind of person that feels naturally comfortable in front of a camera. If I know someone is trying to capture me through a lens I suddenly feel the urge to do all sorts of things but not be in it, sit still, or try to go with it. So yes. After a week of filming, me and my craziness, I decided to do what I love most. Make a video of my story illustration style. I finished just in time and sent in my Shutterstock Stories video.

Now a month later all winners are announced and I have this very cool 'badge in my right corner' thing going on. I am honored to be one of the winners. All Shutterstock Stories have been very inspiring. Proud to bee one of them! So thank you all for voting and supporting me these past few weeks. And I will have to thank two peeps i couldn't finish this without: Jaap Vork for his amazing eye and Rob Kanters for his soundscape and greatness of his ears.

Enjoy watching if you haven't seen the video yet and follow all new exciting things happening on facebook.

> Shutterstock Stories | My Little Smilemakers Story by Maaike Boot

When I was little, i only had one hobby: drawing. My mum used to buy me a new package of pencils every week because i run out of ink that crazy quickly. As long as i can remember i was busy creating things. My parents always knew i would be doing something with that creativity.

This spring i was invited to dinner by a Shutterstock representative and i was informed about the Shutterstock Stories program. Shutterstock has been very important to me during the seven year I work for them as a contributer. I think it is partly because of them I was able, and dared, to quit my job and start my own Little Smilemakers Studio. As an ambassador i just had to join in and send my little story into the world.

I love creating things but filming... as it turns out i do not have a a lot of potential as an actress, just being myself and telling my story was too hard for me to do on camera. I kept forgetting my own text. Strange, because it was my text, my story. Well, I needed to come up with a different approach. More me, not in in the spotlight and all about drawing. A dear friend and awesome photographer, Jaap Vork, helped me to make it more 'me.'Hope you can appreciate the video. It is kind of scary to put something out there that is clearly not my media but is very personal. But it's there, all finished!

WATCH THE SHUTTERSTOCK STORIES VIDEO

> Travel the world and make your work all about travel | Zazzle designer spotlight

I have been working on a few more typography cards for Kaartje2Go. New designs for several occasions. So wish your friend or family a nice holiday trip with this one! Travel the world! A beautiful postcard in polaroid style. With an amazing sun shining over the clouds. A view from the airplane. Showing amazing lens flare.

Also my Zazzle interview is up. You can read all about my work and the travels that inspire me to design. My trips have left me with a big pile of inspiration. Let me know what you think! Read about it on Zazzles blog!

by Maaike Boot