Dictionnaire, but illustrated

Take a look at this book, it's antique! It was published in 1896. At first glance it looks quite ordinary and rather boring. But it's quite the opposite! The dictionary is illustrated, both colour pictures and black and white. The illustrations look similar to the ones in an old encyclopedia Brittanica. Really lovely, this small French Dictionnaire.

Old and abandoned

Today - at my children's school - I met this old, but still gorgeous fellow. He was left alone on a bench and nobody seems to care much about him. I thought about taking him with me and adopt him, but then it crossed my mind that maybe, just maybe, someone had forgotten all about him and would come back to collect him. If not, I would be happy to give him a nice place to live for the rest of his life.

Buttons everywhere

Corné took this picture and gave it to me to post. He was intrigued by the look of the amount of buttons that form a nice pattern/texture. Of course, the crafty girls amoung us are used to seeing this...

Houston Street

This kind of typography always cheers me up! I just came across this picture which I took on our last trip to New York. That was about 3 years ago, must go back soon!

Light as a feather

I've been patient, I've been understanding, I did not complain, I was optimistic, but now I've had ENOUGH! I want springtime!

Vintage postcards

Found these while thrifting!

Building a city

Always great vintage toys, these children's building blocks. These are printed with bricks, windows, clocks etc, so children can built a town, with a church or a town hall.

Cold as ice

A new coldfront has hit Holland and I'm freezing, again. I don't have enough sweaters and cardigans to get me through this winter!

Marco Faasen

An illustrator I've been keeping my eye on is Rotterdam based Marco Faasen. Hopefully I'll be able to work with him in the future. He's really good at designing pictograms (great for infograhics) and developing characters. Take a close look at his website, it's worth a visit!

Don't judge this book by its cover

A hideous cover but a great book about growing vegetables. With beautifully drawn images. And to top it all off, someone left a newspaper clipping as a bookmark.

Farm life

One of the best vintage toys I own is this lovely farm. The box and some of the items are a bit worn but nevertheless it is a great vintage game.

100! 100! 100! 100! 100! 100! 100! 100! 100!

Post number 100 is a fact!! For this special occasion I've asked two contributors to help me. My daughter Mila, 7 years old and my son Lewis, 4,5 years old. They had to be triggered somewhat 'cause they get a drawers' block when given an assignment. I pimped the results a little, to make it even more festive.
Hopefully the first 100 posts will make you check back in now and then to see the next 100 posts! I'm looking forward to it!

Weddingbells

Corné photographed a wedding a few months ago and I made the wedding album. It's a nice way to work together!

I tawt I taw a Putty Tat

Found these little figurines in a box in the attic. We bought them a long time ago at a market. I think they're from the eighties.
Bugs Bunny, Sylvester and especially Daffy Duck have always been my favourite cartoon characters.

When in France...

This is the same idea as the book I posted yesterday. Again, French tourism, but this time from 1955. A bit more money was spend on this production; a hardcover, and a lot more pages!

... do as the French do

This is such a great book! For the Dutch France is the most popular country to spend their holidays. I've been spending a lot of time there as well. This book from 1953 is a tourist guide for France. It has two covers, if you flip it over to the backside you can see part II. The illustrations are really attractive and colourfull.

Mieke Driessen

I'm a big fan of Mieke Driessen's work. It's so happy and humoristic, I wish I was able to make up stuff like her foomp. They look so simple and yet have so much expression! Check out her work! And do not forget the foomp project.

Again, doodles...

This time little creatures, flowers etc. Nothing special, really, but brought together they form a nice spectacle. I'm planning to change my blog's background and fill it with the best texture I've made so far. I'll first have to find out to go about it. Suggestions, anyone?

Apples and pears

A few more fruitlabels, I've been quite busy collecting them these past few months! Aren't they cute?!

Marc Boutavant

One of the most beautiful children's books my kids own is Mouk by Marc Boutavant. He is a French illustrator, represented by the Heart Agency. His colourful and playful animals are so cute and fun to look at. It always makes me smile. However, the book is quite hard to read together with the children...