Plant Diary Entry 01 - Tradescantia Cuttings

During a visit to the gorgeous plant store Wildernis in Amsterdam, I bought a small tradescantia zebrina (also called wandering jew). I was really drawn towards the beautiful colors of the leaves. The purple underneath is so vibrant. The top of the leaves have these lovely, shiny silver lines. The colors will fade to a less vibrant green if the plant does not get enough light. So if you happen to get one, make sure to put it in a spot with bright indirect light. In general it is a strong plant and accidentally over or under watering won't cause too many problems - unless you do it too frequently of course.

I quickly discovered the tradescantia family has a lot of very pretty types and I especially fell in love with the tradescantia fluminensis/variegata variations. All the different names can get confusing, I still get it wrong. But I'll do my best to leave a list of the types shown in the photos. I'm no expert by all means, so I apologize if I made a mistake somewhere.

It sounded quite tempting to go and buy all the types and variations that I liked, but I didn't quite have the space for so many large plants. Therefor I decided to try something I hadn't tried before: ordering cuttings online. After a bit of searching I found a European Etsy seller that offered different types of tradescantia cuttings. I was very happy to have found a seller that didn't live too far away, especially since I knew the cuttings would be on its way to me without having any access to light or water on their way to me. Earlier this week, a week after it got shipped, a whole bunch of cuttings arrived. I received around 8 different variations in a really good condition! Most of them have been put straight into soil in order to perk back up and to adjust to their new spot, while the smaller ones are in my new propagation station.

This station (available at Hart en Ziel) was a birthday gift from dear friends and I was so happy I was able to use it right away! I didn't want to get the smaller cuttings into soil right away. This way, they get the time to grow (more) roots before getting their own pot. The fun part is that I get to see the roots slowly growing.

While typing this post I already noticed a difference from when I took the photos. Most cuttings in the soil seem to be standing firmer. I might have to groom the cuttings a little when they're all settled in their new environment and I'll do my best to keep you updated. But by the looks of it, things are going really well and I'm so excited to have these new plants in my home!

To finish this post, here's the list of all the cuttings in the photos. I didn't photograph all the cuttings I received yet and I'll make sure to mention them later so you get to know these too.

• Tradescantia Zebrina
• Tradescantia Fluminensis "quicksilver"
• Tradescantia Fluminensis "variegata"
• Tradescantia Fluminensis tricolor
• Tradescantia Fluminensis (green leaves)
• Tradescantia Zebrina Purpusii
• Crassula Ovata Gollum, which is a succulent, but it was in my propagation station too

Introducing Stationery

I can't tell you how excited I am that I have this new section in my collection: stationery! I already had prints available, but I'd like to make the section a bit larger than it is now. Two designs were printed and turned into a notebook: my brown bear and my newest illustration featuring a blue rabbit and its home. This illustration has also been made into a time lapse video which you can find at the end of this post!

Both notebooks come in two sizes: A6 and A5. Before placing my print ordered, I asked around as to what size is used most often and the answers were so different each time. Having both sizes available felt best. A6 is commonly used as a pocket notebook to quickly write down ideas, sketch something small or when you don't want to carry a lot of weight with you. A5 on the other hand is used for writing down full projects, doing sketchwork either for that project or for larger practice or to use as an art journal.

I personally use both sizes myself. A6 to carry around with me or to sketch out ideas and A5 for larger drawings/illustrations. Though, lately I tend to stick with A6 and work on loose paper for the final illustration.

To me it was important that the pages of the notebook were of good quality and recycled, which I managed to find! The recycled paper is 80gsm and is slightly off white - a favorite of mine to work on with (colored) pencils.

And here's the video I mentioned earlier. I enjoyed making it so much and I have plans to make more in the future.

Have a wonderful day!
Love,
Eva

A Bow Series

It's been a while since I've made a post here, but that doesn't mean that I haven't been busy. I am still drawing and making illustrations. So today I'm sharing a small series I've been working on. I'm not sure yet how far I'll go with the amount of illustrations or if I'll ever go into detail about the story behind it. But I'm truly enjoying it and seeing where it goes works just fine for me. Each illustration went through some sketching and study work before it was made into an original piece.

The ginger cat, the deer and the forest are all available as prints now.

A Print For Charity

• Time Lapse Drawing #4 · Gorilla •

I was asked by the Gorilla Organization if I was interested in making a print for their charity. I already have a whale print that helps raise money for a wonderful cause, so I didn't overthink and said yes! Today I finished the drawing and I've been filming the process. So you see both the print and the video in this post. The print is available as preorder! Once the printing order is completed and fully processed, the prints ship out right away. For each sold print, I'll be donating 6 USD to the Gorilla Organization!

I hope you're excited and that you like this print! On top of that, you'll be supporting a great cause too.

A New Addiction.

• Time Lapse Drawing #2 · Bat •

• Time Lapse Drawing #3 · Elephant •

• Behind The Scenes #1 · The Bear Pouch •

I might have to admit that I have a new addiction: video making. I've been really enjoying the process of building up my own Youtube channel and I hope you're enjoying watching the videos I've been making so far. On my channel, I mainly want to focus on my illustration. I've been filming mainly time lapse videos. In order to have a bit of variety among my feed, my latest video shows a peek behind the scenes of how the bear pouch became what it is right now. It all feels so new, but I'm having so much fun!

If you have a suggestion of what you want to see next, just let me know! Make sure to subscribe to my channel to stay up to date!!

First Video!

Making a time lapse video has been on my "I seriously want to do this one day"-list for so long and I finally took the time to make it happen. I made an original illustration out of one of the animals I drew for my Animal Tuesday project. Seeing this video being on my Youtube channel makes me really proud! I can't express how excited I am about this first video! I've learnt so, so much while recording, editing and showing it to friends. A next video will follow as soon as possible! Make sure to subscribe to my channel to stay up to date.

A print of the moth will be made available somewhere this week. Keep an eye on the shop or Instagram to see it getting listed.

Ready for Fall

Since fall started yesterday - and I'm a huge fall fan - I'm sharing this sketchbook drawing today. I've been really into drawing leaves lately and I'm afraid this is going to be one of many. I can already imagine using this as new (fabric) pattern. Hopefully you're excited to see more!

A Print for a Good Cause

A couple of days ago I got really inspired by a sculpture Stephanie of Petitplat was making (also shown in the second image on the right), so I decided to draw the whale she was sculpting. I've drawn a whale before for my weekly challenge and I knew I was going to enjoy making this whale filled with corals for sure! I posted it on Instagram and a few days later I received a request of a really kind customer to have that drawing printed. Stephanie was kind enough to approve of it (as I drew what she made), so I now have a limited amount of A5 prints available in my shop. That's not all! I decided to start a charity fundraising with this print. Per sold print, 6 USD (half of the purchase price) will be donated to Sea Shepherd, an organization fighting any form of cruelty towards the wildlife in the world's oceans.

It would be really great if you'd help out raising money for this great cause and/or spread the word!
Make sure to check out the shop of Petitplat too, she makes so many beautiful things.

Last, but not least, the necklace shown in the first image is by the talented crafters behind Star of the East!

Introducing New Designs

A couple of days ago I wrote a post about the new collection I designed. Well, today it's time to talk about two new designs! The first one is an illustration I made in my sketchbook. I decided to make an original drawing out of it and after that was finished and scanned, it was put aside for a time - sometimes it doesn't feel right yet to use something. But when I was working towards making my first collection of purses featuring my illustrations, I really wanted this illustration to be part of it. It just looks so pretty on the fabric! All the details, even the small stripes, are so well printed and clear. I couldn't be happier with the result and it fits so well between all the other designs.

This brings me to the second design. It features an illustration I already offer as print in my shop: the flowerpot filled with different types of flowers and leaves.

I hope you're excited about this new collection! Both designs are up for preorder in my shop: the bird and the flowerpot.

Brown Bear Purse

I'm not sure how long this has been on my mind to make, but a couple of weeks ago I finally edited the files and ordered the supplies to make prototypes for a new collection of own designed fabric pouches. When these arrived I literally got butterflies in my stomach (which shows how thrilled I was). I went straight to my sewing machine and put everything together. First up is my popular brown bear illustration. The finished result was shared on my Instagram two days ago and I'm totally overwhelmed by all the reactions! I really didn't expect this. Because of these reactions, I set up a preorder listing in my Etsy and Dawanda shop.

A ready to ship batch should be ready in 3-4 weeks, but if you're as excited as I am and you purchase the preorder listing, the pouch will ship out sooner.

Over the next couple of days, I'll be sharing more designs. So stay tuned!!

Sketchbooks

I really love drawing frames. Quite often, I tend to draw these frames in advance - at random pages - and keep them empty until I figure out what to put inside. For this frame, I picked the swan I drew for my weekly challenge and added some leaves. The drawing came out really nice and I'm thinking of turning this one into a new necklace piece!

As for the other drawing I'm sharing today, that's from an older sketchbook. I figured I don't often share old work, despite it being an important part of my current style. The sketchbook page you're seeing is made in 2010! It seems so long ago.


> > I've also got some exciting news: I opened a society6 store! There are - at the moment - 4 illustrations available. I want to have a couple more added by the end of the week. The illustrations look so nice as different types of products. Make sure to have a look!