Friday, December 16, 2016

my autumn in 16 pics - and a few thoughts

Heading towards the longest night of the year I look back on the past season. How I love autumn!
Above you see a selection of my Instagram pics. You are welcome to follow me!

I said goodbye to summer, admired the golden leaves that made the trees look like they were on fire, walked through foggy landscapes early in the morning, and I packed the first christmas presents to send to friends far away.

Autumn is my mom's season, she is born in October. We all hoped with her she would leave this world while the leaves were red and brown... For her birthday she asked a double pneumonia! She lost everything, except her humour. But it is obviously not up to us. Instead of packing a fatal illness I made her an autumn leave garland with my home designed leaves.

It was the season Donald Trump got elected, the Syrian war got in a decisive phase and innumerable civilians were on the run or trapped in the war and lost their lives...
I more and more tend to cocoon in my mini world with colours, art,  good food, designs, my family, friends and not to forget the wonderful nature behind my house. Fortunately this tendency is balanced by a son who is very politically aware, who follows all the trouble spots in the world, knows the military strategies and has strong (adolescent!) opinions about all the international relationships.

And of course I worked - and I worked a lot - like always! Designing summer collections for Ompak Packaging, my own running business in between (with the always great help of Kim, my assistant!) and I attended my very first consumer event. Still don't know if it was worth all the energy, but I learned a lot and met some wonderful people: my real customers!

Looking back I can say: bye autumn, you had everything! Laughter, love, worries and work. Welcome winter! Can't wait to see what you are going to bring us...

Sunday, December 11, 2016

NEW event in spring - and a question to you...

When they phoned me some time ago I was rather sceptical. Again an event in this small world of creative professionals in Holland? I have never attended Sunday markets, craft fairs, creative factory events etc. Next to the 50 hours I already work for my wholesale company I never had time, nor felt like attending these kind of events. 
But somehow CREATIVE LIFE had a certain 'je ne sais quoi'. I asked them to phone me again. And now I am IN!
  • Inspiration is the key theme (and yes: next to that, visitors can buy stuff too, lucky me!)
  • It takes craft & creativity to a higher level - there will be mini-workshops all over the place
  • It will be held in the wonderful, newly renovated, Werkspoorkathedraal 
  • It will be large and professional, but still personal and crafty
  • Creative Life is organised by an experienced and wellknown fair organiser.  
  • Monique - Mrs. Connecting the Dots/art director - from Happymakersblog is working in the organisation already from the beginning.
WANNA EXHIBIT?
They have a very sympathetic construction: If you give workshops in your stand you get a discount on the (already not too high) stand price. There's a good list of wonderful exhibitors already, you can check them here. Good thing is: there's place for some more! A friend of mine - who's gonna be an exhibitor as well - told me: I need to be there, to stay visible on the map, to stay relevant. This is THE event! I think she is right. 

WANNA VISIT?
Treat yourself on a day full of creativity. Come home not only with some beautiful selfmade or bought items in your bag, but also with a head full of ideas and inspiration! Well, it's easy peasy: block one of the days in your new 2017 calendar and buy your ticket (early bird discount!) in the coming weeks. Ticket sale starts by mid December, keep an eye on the website. And of course: spread the word and invite friends. This is going to be so special!

MY QUESTION TO YOU
Since I don't give workshops - I think you are all able to fold my angels without my help ;-) - I am thinking of contributing with something completely different. I would love to sit with you personally and share my professional experience with you.
Jurianne speed dates during the Creative Life event. 10 or 15 minutes of personal feedback. Not in my stand, but separate, private, in order to be real focused.
I can help you with creative/professional questions like:
 
  • I would like to make a career move in a creative direction, but I don't know where to start!
  • I would like to know how I can commercialize my small collection of products.
  • I would like to get feedback on a creative process I got stuck in.
  • I just would like to know some Jurianne 'business - secrets', to get inspired...

Do you think people would go for this idea? Would you? Should I ask money for this, a small symbolic amount maybe? I think it would be wise when people reserve their time in advance and send me a brief version of their question + images, so I can prepare it a little bit.

I would LOVE to hear your opinion and ideas! Thanks in advance...

Sunday, December 4, 2016

multi functional gift wrap decoration

Like most of you wrapping gifts for my loved ones is one of my favourite hobbies! Can you imagine how fortunate I feel that designing gift wrap paper and gift tags is my work? I feel so blessed! 

All of the above photo's show products I designed for wholesaler Ompak gift paper. Light gray marbled paper, black pine paper, silk paper (with the snowwy trees on it), gift tags and stickers. 

They are designed to make gift wrapping the easiest craft ever: small effort - huge effect. I love to design things that are multifunctional, so all of the tags can be used as other decoration too! You can hang them in the Christmas tree or string them and make a garland!

The tags and stickers (prices vary from € 1.25 per pack) are now for sale in my webshop: Jurianne Matter.