Happy Kingsday Dutchies // Koningsdag 2016

In a few days time the entire country will turn orange again while Dutch people celebrate Kingsday. On the 27th of April Holland celebrates the birthday of our King. All shop 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!

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.

Exclusive fabric range // Hemmers Itex Germany // Scandinavian style designs and animal themes

This month our new fabric collection was launched at Hemmer Itex. After Robert Kaufman and Joann fabrics, both based in the USA, we now have a German wholeseller for our designs in Europe that sells exclusive Little Smilemakers designs only.

We know ordering from the USA and shipping to Europe can be costly. So we are very excited to work together with this German fabric producer so all you European peeps can purchase Little Smilemakers fabric without worrying about the extra import taxes and fees.

This spring our new designs will be released. We have some cool kids themes: Baby animals & origami art themes. But we are not only targeting on kids this spring also some more neutral themes are added to the Inky Texture collection that can be used for your own creative fashion projects or home decoration textiles. Hot air balloons, clouds, apples, spring tulips, feathers and arrows all trending themes are included.

This week we have finished up some new themes. So if you are interested in ordering wholesale fabric, follow us via Instagram and Facebook and stay up to day about all new available fabric. And if you would like to work with exclusive Little Smilemakers designs, send us a message and we will give you more info about pricing and available licenses.

Finished projects made by customers // DIY passport cover // Baby nursery home // Lion dinner set for kids

After a lot of hard work it is lovely to see finished items. Sometimes it can take up to a year before we get to see the final result. Here is a little piece about some of the great ways Little Smilemakers designs are used by clients and fabric customers.



There are quite some travel themes in the Little Smilemakers fabric collection. For asian themes to New York inspired illustrated patterns. A Spoonflower customer send us this little passport case photo this week. And as travel addicts we love to see this travel themed finished project made with Little Smilemakers New York City fabric available at Spoonflower.



La Millou has a range of Little Smilemakers designs in their nursery collection. The hipster design, the Parisien design, Foxes and one of our all time favorites is the Toucan Birds design. A colorful patchwork style print for both boys and girls. The print is available on blankets, pillows, little hats and lot's more!

For Triple 8 Design Studios in Australia we have worked on some cute bamboo fibre biodegradable dinner sets. One with Lions but also one with cute little dinosaurs. So much fun to have these on your kids breakfast table! And after these there is even more to come.

We are always excited to see the result! So if you have been working with Little Smilemakers fabric or if you have some fun items to show that are in your little kids bedroom or in your household please share your Little Smilemakers via the facebook page.

> New retro fabric & wallpaper collection for kids | Spoonflower fall / winter collection

This past month we have been working on a new collection fabric and wallpaper. Over a hundered Little Smilemaker Studio designs are now for sale on fabric, wallpaper and gift wrapping paper. A large series of abstract retro designs, christmas and holiday themes, hipster illustrations and of course new stuff for little peeps, so crafty mommy, be aware! What do you think of the new kids and baby nursery collection?

CHECK OUT ALL FABRIC & WALLPAPER HERE!

> Byebye September | Last chance to watch & vote for the Shutterstock Stories contest

After being listed for two weeks in the Shutterstock Stories contest. We have arrived at the final day. The last day to watch and vote in this contest. Watch the Little Smilemakers Studio video on vimeo. If you would like to show your support please place your vote. September is coming to an end. Temperature is dropping. Yes time to finalize and start new projects, new designs, new video's, new collections and adventures. See you in October!

> Wild life illustration series | inspired by National Parks and travels world wide

One of my biggest passions is travel. I love to see things I have never seen before and I adore different cultures and countries. My work is highly inspired by my travels. This summer I have traveled through Asia. Visiting National Parks in India, Indonesia and Nepal inspired me to do a series of wild life illustrations.

These screen print illustrations are available on fabric and wallpaper at the Spoonflower shop, uploaded to the Shutterstock portfolio and added to the list of prints, tank tops, tote bags, laptop covers and iphone cases (for new iPhone5S and iphone5C cases as well) Society6 shop. So hopefully you will enjoy my little pieces of travel as well.

> Print & Party: Cute illustrated cupcake tags for your kids birthday

Dutch winter seems to be never ending. It is snowing again. A good time to spend some creative hours in your kitchen making some delicious food!
Make your own home-made party accessories for birthdays or special kids days! There is nothing better that sharing a few minutes of baking with your kids in your own kitchen. Give them each a nice different flavour and mark them with your kiddies favorite animal. Click on the image and save the full sized printable tags on your computer.