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Party Hard

planet fur_party hard_ellen vesters illustrator graphic designer

“Party hard” is what Miss Planet Fur wished us innocent creative souls at the start of 2013.

Boy, were we in for a surprise.

 

Intergalactic powers, she has.

 

Last week I was invited to no less then five openings and one lecture in two days time!

I slept through was too busy to visit the lecture (soooo sorry, Mr Van Gaasbeek…) and made it to three of the five openings.

 

First up:

Elle Aime!

Big wow factor. Big standard set for my own shop-in-the-making.
Elle Aime is dedicated to the crafty types among us.
The shop is filled with all kinds of craft materials as well as finished products (so much nice stuff…!).
Make sure you go there asap and do enter one of the workshops. You will have a great time for sure.

 

elle aime shop lisa manuels__ellen vesters illustrator graphic designer

 

Second stop:

MamaMarketing!

MamaMarketing is THE Dutch platform for women that are starting their own webshop, although I can recommend it to anyone starting out as entrepeneur.
Their website is the place to go for advice on a number of subjects, including branding, SEO, etc.
The party I was invited to actually was a launchparty where the Mamamarketeers launched a productline, ranging from worksheets to workshops.
I can’t wait for their app to come out (soon!) which will also include a Quote Coach (love that)!
(you can read all about MamaMarketing in their mini magazine)

 

opening party mamamarketing webwinkel minimagazine_ellen vesters illustrator graphic designer copy

 

Third up:

Fred & Guus!

Fred & Guus sell art by young designers (including yours truly) and also offer a stage for the most amazing vintage finds.
In a short timespan they have managed to make an important mark in the Utrecht art scene.
Their taste for art is impeccable.
As is their taste for great parties!
(Which they promise to throw once every month!)

 

opening party fred en guus shop galerie_ellen vesters illustrator graphic designer

 

You can’t visit a party without gifts, don’t you agree?

So I decided to give everyone a Dutch Dwelling of their own city.

This meant designing two more Dutch houses: Rotterdam and Den Haag (also known als ‘s-Gravenhage).

They will be added to my Etsy shop shortly, for all of you Rotterdam and Den Haag lovers out there.

Tell me when you feel like your city has been left out and I will try to make some time to include it!

 

dutch dwellings hollandje huisjes rotterdam_ellen vesters illustrator graphic designer

Are you as curious as I am about the missed lecture by Mr Van Gaasbeek?

Watch Utrecht’s Creative Mornings channel at Vimeo. Very soon his video will be uploaded!

Update training Voor de Kunstenaar: Pressure cooker

A 5.3 on my economics exam.

 

I was sure I would never have another look at stuff that would remind me in the slightest of this terrible subject. Nothing could be further from the truth. The past six months hardly a day passed that wasn’t dominated by business planning, financial planning, marketing, communication etc etc. All this time I participated in the intensive training program of Voor de Kunstenaar and I had fun too!

 

Looking back …

 

…Voor de Kunstenaar came to me at exactly the right time. For a while already I had it in my head that I had to give more space to the profession of illustrator. I seized Voor de Kunstenaar as the pressure cooker I needed to jump into, to finally fully address all the business stuff that I had left hanging around. And now there’s a result I am proud of. Important decisions have been taken. And above all, I have come to the conclusion that my recipe ‘believe – work hard – push through’ works!

 

And now I’m Super Entrepreneur.

 

Or is this only beginning?

I have great plans for 2012. In 2011 I met many wonderful people with whom I am drawing up some interesting ideas. It seems that quite a few intentions from my business plan are coming true sooner than planned. Soms big changes are knocking on my door, unfortunately at this moment I still have to keep my mouth shut about them. I pledge to work very hard on finishing my site as soon as possible so I can bring you some cool news before summer!

 

Marca van den Broek, thank you for providing the pressure cooker, thanks to all donors for igniting the fire underneath, and thanks to the group of Voor de Kunstenaar for the necessary fuel to the fire and putting a lid on the cooker when needed.

 

 

 Website Voor de Kunstenaar: http://www.voordekunstenaar.nl/.

Update training Voor de Kunstenaar: Exhibition and auction this weekend!

A 5.3 on my economics exam.

 

I was sure I would never have another look at stuff that would remind me in the slightest of this terrible subject. Nothing could be further from the truth. The past six months hardly a day passed that wasn’t dominated by business planning, financial planning, marketing, communication etc etc. All this time I participated in the intensive training program of Voor de Kunstenaar and I had fun too!

 

And now I’m Super Entrepreneur.

 

Or is this only the beginning?

 

In any case, this weekend me and my nine colleagues will party big time, celebrating finishing our studyprogram. The group of Voor de Kunstenaar will occupy gallery RudolfV in the heart of Amsterdam for a weekend with a beautiful exhibition. The art ranges from graphic work, oil painting, jewelry, sculptural work and glass painting to music production.

 

This Friday night, you are very welcome at our opening party. On Sunday you can visit the gallery to bid on various works of the participants and pick up a nice artwork for an affordable price.

 

 

 

And then what?

I have great plans for 2012. In 2011 I met many wonderful people with whom I am drawing up some interesting ideas.

In December 2011 I just managed to organize the first Don’t-do-it-yourself Open-Studio-night in Utrecht (should be wicked to use this in wordfeud). It was a great success and I’ve decided to make it a monthly evening (if you want to join in, email me).

With some colleagues from Voor de Kunstenaar we will fill a huge container in the center of Zaandam (a city with close ties to the sea), where we will participate in the LEFestival. We will build a genuine Zaan-beast out of waste (http://lefestival.nl/website/zaanbeest). I’ve never been to Zaandam, but this festival sounds very promising. The design of the website alone is a real treat.

 

Talking about websites … in 2012, I will finish my promised new website! (according to my training it should express my style more, so it should be a cleaner, more minimal look with elements of humor ;))

 

Website Voor de Kunstenaar: http://www.voordekunstenaar.nl/.