Thursday, 27 October 2011 by Irene Hoofs
Art in the home of Charlotte Swiden
A: Art means to me...something to generate an emotion rather than a profit.
R: Reading books, blogs, or magazines...I do most days, preferably in bed
T: Trends I see in art or graphic design are...all the colours of the rainbow (lucky me, just what I love).
A: Artists I admire are...Karin Larsson, Frida Kahlo, Björk, Michel Gondry, Stig Lindberg, Kristina Isola.
N: Never will I...bungy jump.
D: Dreams for my own work are...making things that I want for myself and that others will want too.
P: Projects I'm currently working on are...possibly some homeware for kids.
R: Relaxing I do at/when/if...when I'm in nature.
I: Interesting art focused websites...Made by Joel is a space to share art, craft, and handmade education projects for children and their care givers.
N: New in my home is...a couple of Dalahorses I got from my latest Sweden trip.
T: Tomorrow I would like to go to...a nice beach and have a swim in the ocean.
S: Studio, my studio is...happy, colourful and a bit messy.
Thank you so much Charlotte for this gorgeous tour of the art in your home!
If you would like to learn more about Charlotte and her work click here and if you would like to visit her gorgeous shop, click here.
You'll be seeing this tray on my wish list for sure!
ps. We would like to wish you a wonderful weekend already...Bloesem is going to have a long weekend, but we will be back on Monday with many nice finds. Tiffany & Irene
Wednesday, 26 October 2011 by Irene Hoofs
Yes it is this time of year already! With the Bloesem Gift Guide we would like to help you find fun, nice and interesting things in the easiest way possible for you... just follow the links in the guide and it will bring you either directly to the porduct of your liking or to a shop where you can find what you are looking for.
Today we start with the first category: items for the Office
Nine more categories will follow in the next four weeks... so stay tuned! Read More>>>
Bloesem Gift Guide 2011
{ Image above banner design: illustration by Phoebe Carpenter Eels}
A bit later today I will share with you the first category of the Bloesem Gift Guide 2011. But let me start with showing you the banner designs that were submitted to my call two weeks ago. It was difficult for me to choose which banner I liked best, you need to scroll down in this post to found out who the winner is... what would have been your choice?
A BIG thank you to all who took the time and create something special for Bloesem!
Paper collage by Mirthe Blussé... More Banners here>>>
Illustrated by Loes Jongerling...
Banner collage by Sara Spence...
Paper-cuts from Greetje Aalders.
and this banner by Bénédicte Motte ...some more and different banners were submitted for BKids.
But the WINNER I have chosen is Jessica Nielsen and would you like to see how her beautiful banner looks like in the Gift Guide 2011 then click here or here or for the BKids Gift Guide here.
..Bloesem Gift Guide 2011
..Bkids Gift Guide 2011
Tuesday, 25 October 2011 by Irene Hoofs
Let's get Personal with Kim Welling
D:: Dutch is... Being straightforward (I've been told that we can be a bit blunt, but it's just honesty, no harm intended, I promise!;-) owning more than one bike, I do feel a bit detached when not being able to ride my bike everywhere. My dotted raincoat and making the most of small houses!
E:: entrance, when entering my home you will notice... Me ignoring autumn is coming and trying to grow all sorts of plants in pots and containers (even though my plant space is a bit shady, I'm just being very persistent).
S:: style, means... refinement and adding a personal note to what's common.
I:: interesting places in my city, Utrecht, are... the canals, especially down at the water, there are sort of little docks where you can stroll or have a coffee or even lunch or dinner, it's quite unique and very nice in summer. Utrecht is also a very green city, we've got lot's of nice parks, my fave is the Griftpark. Oh and one more spot, the Miffy museum!
G:: gardening is something I... LOVE, especially growing edibles! I only wish I had a garden... but for now I'm doing well on my little balcony since I bought the book 'Grow great grub' by Gayla Trail, my new garden bible.
N:: new, in my home is... My Home! I just moved to a new place in a lovely green area (it's on a tiny canal with an apple tree in front of my house). I love decorating a new place and had so much fun doing this one. I used most of my existing furniture and only bought new vintage wallpaper and a vintage kitchen cabinet (I use in the livingroom). Most of the furniture I own is stuff I found 9on the street), bought vintage or inherited. I love that 'history' feeling old things have, and giving it a new life.
H:: hobby, I always make time for... Cooking, gardening, my friends and my rabbit Seb. He's like a dog, waiting till you get home, following you everywhere around the house, jumping on your lap to be petted. I named him after Seb Jarnot, a french illustrator...
O:: outfit, my favorite thing to wear is... everything from Humanoid, my favorite clothes brand. It's stylish but sort of basic in a not so basic way and lasts forever.
M:: magazines I love to read are... Uppercase, ReadyMade and Jan (a dutch magazine)
E:: enjoy, I can't live without... my creativity. I just can't imagine what I'd be doing if I couldn't draw, design and create every day.
............................Thank you Kim Welling.....................
Kim's passion is with illustrations but she is a designer and arts teacher as well. Utrecht, I always call it Amsterdam's little sister, is the city where Kim lives and works.I find her portfolio quite impressive and ad some of her ceramic pieces to my Christmas wishlist. If you like to read more about her then click here for her blog or go directly to her etsy shop called Kim's Little Monsters.
Monday, 24 October 2011 by Irene Hoofs
To get you in the mood for the Holiday Season I start with the NEW collection by Paloma's Nest.
Caroline has outdone herself with this years collection I believe. Christmas Stockings, an Advent Calendar, and a Tree Skirt in addition to dozens of new ornaments and decorations. I truly like them and would be very happy to decorate our home with. You can see and buy the collection right here...
AND tomorrow Bloesem will be showing more Holiday Season spirits... we will share with you the first category of the Bloesem Gift Guide 2011 ... to warm you up ... please have a look at the Gift Guide 2010... still many of these presents will make perfect gifts for this year, but tomorrow we will share with your our favorite finds for the Kitchen!
Friday, 21 October 2011 by Irene Hoofs
And seeing this picture at Zilverblauw, one of the best new Dutch blogs, because of it's style and personality and yes because of it is bright colored photography and how much fun was it for me to see Ben's designs for the new chocolate brand from Japan, Kokoro featured so beautifully. I like it when worlds come together.
Daniel Franzén and his company Bunkerhill via Lotta Agaton...
and this post at FinelittleDay about Anna's art...
Wish you a very very nice weekend! What are your plans? We are planning to start working on our roofdeck, trying to make a city garden... never done this before :)
Hope to see you back on Monday... a beautiful Let's get Personal Tour will be waiting for you. xoxo Irene
We made a seperate webpage for the 
