Made with Little Smilemakers Studio Fabric // December 2019

It is so exciting to see a finished project after working hard on a new collection of designs 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 or Instagram for some kids fashion, pet accessories or home decoration you are very likely to stumble upon some Little Smilemakers prints. We sell lots of fabric and we love seeing what our customers are creating with our designs. Most creatives with small home-based businesses sell their projects via the internet and tag us via Instagram. So we see some amazing things pop up in our feed every month. We love how Little Smilemakers creations are the foundation for other peeps around the world to work with. We see them grow their businesses and some even start licensing our designs after a while. For this month's blogpost we've selected a bunch of small businesses that are specializing in headbands, hair accessories and bows. Just to bring something extra to your little one's outfit this Holiday Season. But we are not only sharing some pieces for little humans we of course also wanted to include every men's bestie: we also added some cute dog accessories so he can also wear something special for Christmas.


Cute Bird Kids
Did you wear bows or hair accessories when you were younger? I remember having one pink fluffy bow and I just looooved how I felt wearing it. Cute Bird Kids is all about fun, they even sell bows with confetti and glitter. I would’ve love to have one of those! For this month made with we selected our more toned down winter prints they have in stock. A checkered green basic. And our rusty copper design, which was used for bows and headbands. Wanna spoil your little girls? Browse around their shop, I am sure there’s something for your little one in there too.

Bloom Headbands
Haley is the owner of this online shop where she sells headbands and bows for babies & toddlers. These tiny creations are so adorable. And we love seeing those tiny models pop up in our feed. Haley has a great eye for modern & moody prints. She loves warm neutral colors and delicate prints. So for you stylish new mommies: she has a bunch of our neutrals & animal prints available. But for this months’ made with post we wanted to share the forest green crosses. A classic minimal design, perfect for Christmas! Check the shop for all prints & products.





Pawsome Paws Boutique
You might have seen some of the Pawsome Paws collars, leashes and harnesses that were made with our prints. This online dog accessories shop has so many awesome prezzies for your furry friends. But did you know Sophie also created these adorable little bows? For this Holiday season she has some cute winter themes available in her shop. The pink & red leopard is also a great gift with Valentine coming. We love her colorful choice of print designs and we’re excited to keep seeing them in her shop.

Modern Piggy
This company, run by Camille and Becky, specializes in girls hair accessories. They make the most adorable bows and hair ties. Modern Piggy is celebrating its 4th birthday. So another reason to add these hair ties to our festive Holiday season post. They have some animals prints of ours in their collection, but for their 4th birthday they selected our ochre balloons. How cute are these for your little girls birthday, right? You can find them in their shop.

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!

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.

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.

> 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!