Customer Spotlight: Buckle Me Baby - Print designs for PJs

Over the years we worked with a couple of trailblazers but when we got an email from Dahlia explaining what kind of product she created we got so excited to jump in and create some prints for her.  

Her story all began while raising her three kids and struggling to get them into their car seats during the colder season. With their coats to be too puffy they were not safe to keep on. But those cold rides were no fun for her kids either. Safety shouldn’t be a struggle, and she created the perfect coat for kids that could be kept on safely in those car seats. From 2016 to 2020 she developed her product got it tested and approved. And in 2020 she appeared on Shark Tank giving her that boost to keep going and create some real magic.

We love her Buckle Me Baby Coats, and we are so honored to be part of her creative journey. It’s where solving a problem and making something easier truly is a form of art. My designer hearts sure loves what she makes! If only all products put on this planet made this much sense. In her shop she also has other pieces of clothing for little ones and for her Pyjama Collection she used some Little Smilemakers print designs we really want to show you. We love the finished pieces. They turned out cute right?

Dahlia licensed our designs non-eclusively but she does have an extended license with exclusivity to her branch. With the Premium license you can use our ready-made designs and keep them unique to your company without breaking the bank. Need some prints for your products too? You can find more info about using our designs and our licensing options on our website.

Customers Spotlight: Sierra Creek Studio // Handmade Bags

Sierra Creek Studio was developed by Deb Barbour as a post-retirement design workshop. And every since she's been creating beautiful bags with our fabrics. Time for a little feature to show her creations. 

With art and artistry at her core, Deb has approached her handcrafted Charlie Collection of shoulder, sling, belt, crossbody & tote bags with a belief that stories are shared through image and artistic expression. So every bag is a one-of-a-kind piece created to inspire in its everyday use and to bring unique art, patterns, & color to every street.

The original Charlie Bag was inspired by the flexible shoulder bag Deb carried as she and her husband photographed street art with their family dog Charlie comfortably tucked inside! Since, she has evolved a collection of bags which are crafted using unique textiles designed by artists across the globe and sustainably printed in the United States.

Designs featured in this post are available on fabric in our Spoonflower shop. We also have these design available for licensing. If you want to use our designs for your business you can find more info about using our designs commercially on our website.

Finished work: Mjolk nursery textiles

We are excited to show you one of the new prints we’ve created for Mjolk Russia. Mjolk specializes in neutral baby nursery items such as rompers and hats. They also create textiles for your little ones crib and all other types of nursery textiles and accessories you can name. We’ve been working with this company for a couple of years now.

We even worked on their logo when they decided to rebrand a couple of years back. This year we’ve created 12 designs for their winter and summer collections. And this image was just too cute not to post. The Little Home print was an already excisting design we tweaked a little for Mjolk. The print was licensed for non-exclusive usage and is also available on fabric in our Spoonflower shop. It's a fun neutral with simplistic icon-style illustrations. Perfect for the minimalist baby nursery.

Next season another batch of 5 Little Smilemakers prints will be launched so if you’re in the Russian area you’re up for a treat. There will be some cute little sheep, florals and some other abstracts. Aaaaah we're teasing. They'll be coming soom. You can follow Mjolk on insta and keep in the loop about when all new prints will be launched.

Licensing print designs
If you like to license our prints for your business too please send us a message. We license print designs all over the world and we love to welcome new collabs.

Made with Little Smilemakers Studio Fabric // June: The Rainforest Wanderlust launch // Bambino Mio

A little different than our usual monthly post. This months we have a ‘Made with’ completely devoted to our new Bambino Mio collection we have worked on the past year. With a strong visual consistency and the colors and joyful characters we know and love.

Bambino Mio is a company known for their re-usable baby diapers and they have been around for 20 years. Selling nappies with print designs is rarely new to them. We started working together 4 years ago and within the past years the print collection has been growing rapidly.

Signature research
But with this rapid growth, Bambino Mio was searching for the consistency within their print designs. Therefore we met up and talked about the importance of print designs, and how they could be a trend setting party in the eco baby business instead of a company that just follows the pack. We created a strong design signature. Including guidelines in using colors, composition, shapes and form. The new Rainforest collection is the first collection launched with the new Bambino Signature. With this signature we are creating a strong series of designs, all visually linked to the brand.

Trend research
For the Rainforest wanderlust collection we researched global trends too. Bambino Mio sells it’s products world wide and the prints should attract customers all around the world. A pretty big task. But we created a fun, colorful collection, appealing to a large audience but also with a distinctive unique Bambino Mio touch. The prints are already pretty popular. We already had so many sweet comments from Australia to Canada come in and new images are popping up on our social media feed every day. They look so damn cool!

Rainforest Wanderlust
So we are proud to show you these 6 print designs exclusively made for Bambino Mio. For this collection we were inspired by the tropical vibes of the rainforest. We created some adorable animal characters, sloths, snakes, toucan birds, wild cats and hummingbirds. There is a cute creature for everyone!

Curious to know more about licensing designs? Or is your business also in need of a clear visual language. Please send us an email. We are happy to guide you through this process.

New collection: Recharge // Botanical Pop // New fabric and Wallpaper & Art License available // Tropical destinations turned into a new colorful collection of surface pattern designs

Spring is such an inspiring time of the year. I live in a four season country and even though I am an autumn child I do prefer the warmer seasons. Actually the only season I do not like is winter. But the cold comes with crisp clean, sober ease as well. Anyway back to spring. Where the flowers blossom and the trees turn green again. The time of the year to release a whole bunch of new tropical print designs.

During the winter I usually travel to a tropical country. I go somewhere lush and warm. I have visit Indonesia, Costa Rica, Sri Lanka, all during Dutch wintertime. And past winter I traveled through Vietnam, where I got the botanical buzz. When I got back home early January I just had to sit down and create. Make a new series of botanical prints. And this time with a strong palette of colors that pop. Usually I just don’t have enough time and sit down and make an entire new collection when I get back in the studio after my month long winter break. It is all about responding to new emails, picking up new custom work for clients. But this time I just needed to create, I put all my inspiration, everything collected from those tropical destinations into the new tropical series. With as always a little touch of childhood.

We now have some gender neutral botanical pop garden prints available on fabric but we also added some kids themes, dinosaurs, flamingo’s to cover our tiniest target group too. Curious to see all prints? Check out our Spoonflower shop and enjoy the entire new collection! If you are interested in licensing one of these new designs, or any other print designs you see pop up in our social media posts and online shops. Please reach out and send us an email for more information about using our designs for your products.

New Collab // Dollhouse Bandits by Tiny Little Cactus

With a new year came a new fun product launch. Tiny Little Cactus has created a new range of tiny dollhouse furniture with fitted bedding and interior textiles for your little ones tiny home.

When I was a little girl I had this amazing three story wooden dollhouse. But I didn’t like the furniture that was available in the eighties: all plastic and too big to fit into my perfect dream house. I remember being frustrated that my interior was a mix and match of style. Well, more of a mix and mis-match. When Krista approached me to help her on her new collection I just had to say yes. I love a well thought out interior design. And this seemed to be it!

You might know Tiny Little Cactus from last year’s fabric collab: BabyBooties. Adorable soft sole baby booties, all handmade with soft and on trend fabrics. This year they added a fun new range of products and for this we have created some custom print designs in Kawaii style. Clouds, bunnies, stars and some of our abstract designs have been used for the bedding for these tiny beds. These small blankets and pillows are now available in all Tiny Little Cactus palette colors. So if you have a little one and want to surprise her with a little bedroom ‘make over’ choose your favorite Dollhouse Bandit.

Finished work // Bubblebubs Australia

This Australian nappie brand was created in 2004 co-incinding with the birth of Vicki’s daughter Abbi. Not long after Vicki started making nappies for Abbi and she had friends asking her to make them nappies and from there Bubblebubs was born.

Experience
With 10 years experience in this industry Vicki and her team know what they're talking about. You don't stay in business for that long unless you have great products, designs and great customer service and most importantly great customers! Bubblebubs philosophy is to treat a customer like royalty.

Sustainable Nursery
Sustainability is more and more important. We are happy to see a new trend of conscious consumers. Mommies want to know their baby products are honest. Throughout the years the Bubblebubs products have gone trough many changes and improvements. In 2009 they produced their first batch of One Sized - All in Two Nappies, outsourcing production overseas. These nappies became very populair and are a perfect fit from new born to toddler. Now Bubblebubs offers over 20 different products, from different types of reusable nappies to wipes and wetbags. All you need for your sustainable nursery.

For this high quality product we were delighted to work together on some new designs for their nappie range. Over the past months the new designs have been introduced and they are now available in the Bubblebubs shop.

New Collab // Maxomorra // New Spring 2018 Collection

Founded in 2008, Maxomorra is a sustainable children’s clothing brand from Sweden. Their clothes are characterized by functional design with playful colors and patterns, produced using ecologically and socially responsible textile processes.

The new Spring ’18 Plus Collection is part of a new design project, risen from their curiosity to explore Maxomorra outside the box. The new Plus collection contains eight prints in a limited selection of styles, all made by Little Smilemakers Studio. With a few extra details to the prints and a brand new and beautiful color palette. To create complete outfits, there is also a small basic collection with solid colored jersey and velour available. As always, pick your favorites, mix and match, and go out and be fabulous. There are t-shirts, cute boxers, leggings, hats, adorable onsies and so much more to choose from. And there is even more to come this year!

Spring Favorites
Our fave of the new spring season collection must be the Watermelon Love design. And the super cool Arrow Monkey and Indian Animals. We love how the prints turned out on Maxomorra’s range of kids fashion items. Hope you enjoy the new launch just as much as we do!



Conscious
Cotton can be a shady industry. Maxomorra chooses to only use sustainable certified cotton. And we are proud to work together with this socially conscious Scandinavian brand. The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) was developed through a collaboration by leading standard setters with the aim of defining requirements that are recognized worldwide and that ensure the organic status of textiles from harvesting raw materials through environmentally and socially responsible manufacturing all the way to labelling in order to provide credible assurance to the consumer. Maxomorra has been using GOTS certified cotton since 2008 and is a GOTS certified brand since 2011. So if you are looking for some new conscious baby and kids items to fill your shop with contact Maxomorra and ask for their new Plus collection.

Thinking design // making design strategy for your business a priority

In a highly saturated surface design market we see a decrease on non-exclusive and royalty free design sales. More and more companies begin to recognize the importance of design within the process of product development. With strong competition in the textile industry, adding similar designs to a new collection than your competitor is not a way to profile your business. It even makes your customer doubt your intentions. The climate is changing and design strategy is becoming a must.

Honest business
The first year I was working as an independent designer I already noticed the harsh games businesses play in the textile industry. At one point I made a series of exclusive designs for one customer and another one of my customers, only licensing non-exclusive designs, payed it’s producer to give him the information what was going through their printers, designs their competition was printing at the same factory. They bought the info about the exclusive range and then behind my back downloaded similar designs through royalty free partners of mine. Well, you can imagine, some businesses need a little lesson or two about how to work with other human beings. They actually had the nerve to ask me to work for them on an exclusive base. No thank you, I do not work with people that are dishonest. Be kind, and your customers will notice. Stealing others idea’s and designs is also something they will notice.

Customers are getting more critical each day, with todays technology and information present at any time it is easy to track and check businesses and their story. Are they selling the truth or is it just a story? Stories can be fictional so just coming up with a story is not the way to engage customers to your brand. You’ll have to earn trust, tell your story, and back it up in all you got, your traces, your production developments and process, your communications. This is essential for your trustworthiness.



Visual priority
With the need of more transparency and more customers asking questions about the products they spend their money on we can see there is more need to prioritize designs within companies. Their visual language should be one unified message carrying out the brands philosophy. When companies use print designs they need a more distinctive print language, that has a connection with their overall visual identity. The demand of non-exclusive designs in textile, fashion, home decor and other commercial market places is declining. And it is time to prioritize design. More and more companies choose to license our exclusive prints and choose quality over quantity. Something that is highly appreciated by their customers creating more engagement, a clear message and trust. The past two years we have been working with several companies, guiding them through this process.

Design strategy
With a large portfolio with non-exclusive designs and quarterly exclusive collections we try to serve both small start up companies and large textile and commercial retailers. What suits your business most? Is there a mission, a story to tell? What impact does a print design have for your product? Does it sell the product? Or is the design secondary to your product and are these print designs or illustrations only used as detailing only? What does the design reflect? Does it have a connection to the brands philosophy or story? Can we make a connection? Creating an overall visual language? The importance of the design needs to be determined. All these ingredients should reflect your design strategy. Most companies have prioritize their product strategy, developing and improving their product, but forget about the importance of the design. Designs should always support the product. We can help you with this process of prioritizing designs and create a strong unified message in print design reaching out to the more conscious customer. If you would like to get more information about design strategies and how they can built a strong visual identity for your business just reach out and send us a message.

New Fabric Collection //Kawaii Breeze

We have been working on three new collection this year and one of these brand new series of designs has been launched on fabric this week. Our Kawaii Breeze collection was inspired by our trip to Japan. With a candy sugar color palette and typical kawaii detailing this must be one of our favorite design collection we worked on so far.

Two years ago I visit Japan. The country had been on top of my bucket list for a while but since it is quite the travel, a full day in the clouds, I only wanted to visit if I had enough money to actually see everything I wanted to see. I have always been inspired by this quirky country that is so different from where I come from. it is colorful and I noticed while traveling, everything has a cute face on it. Everything is Kawaii. the postal service has a Kawaii logo, public transport regulations are all illustrated with cute little characters and even more corporate advertising was all about cute. Such an inspirational trip. I ended my trip in Tokyo, where I visit the Takeshita Dori, a street full of Harajuku, comic book and kawaii inspired shops. Everywhere I looked I saw beautiful pops of color. Unique color palettes everywhere. But when I got back, I started working right away. I did not have time to create and turn my inspiration into new designs up until spring of this year.

The new Kawaii breeze collection is a combination of what inspired me during my trip and on trend themes. We created some seasonal prints with summer fruits and seasonal botanical influences. We created some cool food designs, cat cupcakes and breakfast ingredients. I had a huge ice cream cone in Tokyo, so I could not leave out the ice cream. And we made some christmas designs as well. So you can create something in this style all year long. The entire collection is now available on fabric, cotton, faux suede, modern jersey, knit, canvas and satin. And we also added them to our range of wallpaper to create some adorable Kawaii walls for your baby nursery.

Since not everyone knows it’s way around a sewing machine, (oh I can tell you I don’t!) we also added some of these new Kawaii breeze designs to our Society6 portfolio. You can score some cool back to school items, for both boys and girls. Backpacks and notebooks and all sorts of cool accessories. So take a look if you are curious and of course don’t forget to tag us in your posts and creations!

Merry Christmas // Enjoy the holidays!

It is that time of the year again when half of the world gathers and celebrates Christmas. Christmas time is always a time to look back and reflect on the past year. We have so much to be thankful about!

The past year I have registered my new company, to take a step into a different direction. Together with a partner we are setting up a brand new shiny studio and a shop. So many things are happening! And what a great fruitful year it has been for the studio. We have worked for companies all over the world. Have seen our designs pop up in Canada, Australia, and we added South Africa and Brazil to our list of countries we do business with. 2016 was a fun year but also had some bumps in the road. We discovered a crazy lot of misuse of our designs, and struggled with a representing company not fighting on our behalf. We said goodbye to a 10 year business collaboration but in the end it will only give me and my business the freedom to stay close to the heart, create and make other people happy with our designs.

So we hope you can look back to a great and successful and most of all joyful year. Go enjoy the holidays! And take some time to reflect on where you are. Merry Christmas!