Insta-life lately

(My instagram)

It's summer!! Life has been nothing short of summery lately ♥ I do have to admit to I mostly just stay in with the doors open and paint, draw, read and write! Weekends are mostly spend outside though with bbq's, apple cider, music and friends. Despite last week being a series of unfortunate events, this week so far has been nothing short of greatness :)

♥ I'm obsessed with browsing Rebel Circus, especially the Fashion and Inspiration pages. Every single thing is right up my alley and gives me so much inspiration!

♥ June 2nd was my boyfriend's birthday and I finally got to give him my presents! He got his hands on one of the presents before I could give it to him, because it got in the mail and he thought it was something else he ordered himself. It was a vinyl of The Epoxies (check them out!!). Luckily that wasn't all I got him! He was very pleased with the little painting I made (I was nervous about giving it to him since I wasn't super happy with it) and also very happy with the Bioshock artbook and 2 bioshock vinyl decals of Fink mfg.

♥ Two bands I've been listening to non-stop are the HorrorPops and Mad Caddies! All their albums are amazing, but especially this song and this song have been stuck in my head all the time.

♥ Lately my glasses have felt more like a burden than ever before, I just want to get contacts! It probably won't happen until after the summer, but I'm determined to get them eventually.

♥ The tea I've been sipping on is Snow Geisha white tea from Teavana.. how appropiate for summer

♥ Slowly but surely I'm getting the hang of vintage/pin up hairstyles. So nice to have my hair out of my face :)

♥ Whenever I need to take my mind off of worries and negative thoughts, I watch videos Cherry Dollface's channel. I'd been following her for some time now, but only recently re-discovered her. So glad I did!

♥ Have you ever had an Oh Henry! bar? Because they're amazing.

♥ For some reason I'm obsessed with this fake cupcake. It's basically what I strive to be as a person

♥ Coming across really old pictures you thought were lost forever is the most awesome (and slightly emberassing) thing ever.

♥ Did you know pink spiders exist?

I hope you're having a great day. Go get a strawberry milkshake and enjoy the sun!

Stuff that's been going on!

Seeing Alkaline Trio live

Appropiate nail art + loving my new shirt!

It's still all a little unreal to me. I still can't believe that I've been that close to them, seen them with my very own eyes. Also: Matt Skiba is hilarious. I don't know. I just love everything about him. The way he talked about and impersonated the waving bear video, how he talked about how people who read are awesome and recommended us to read this book (on which the song 'The Torture Doctor' is based). His Twitter is awesome too. Maybe this sounds weird, but seeing them live just made me feel that much closer to them. It was such a small and cozy venue and everything was very laid back and fun. It could've been a bit more energetic, but hey, I'm not complaning. Happy times.

Going to Lowlands

Picture on the right by Fleur Bult for Olympus

I have just returned from this music festival called Lowlands and it was amazing. It pushed me out of my comfort zone very very much, which turned out to be exactly what I needed. Not only the live music/performances/iced teas were amazing, but also the entire atmosphere and hanging out with people my own age. That last thing has been lacking from my life for quite some time and I'm having a hard time getting back into the swing of things, but I felt like this helped a lot. I'm not quite there yet, but it's something.

Back to school
The only reason I am kind of excited for school to start again in about two weeks is because I can start taking the first steps with working on my exchange with MICA in Baltimore. I've been dreaming of this for ages (well, three years.) and I really hope I can make it happen. I get butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it.

Orange Is The New Black
So hooked on this show! Like so many other people. All I can say is: go watch it. Because I'm hopeless when it comes to describe why I like something a lot.

The story of Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling), a woman in her thirties who is sentenced to 15 months in prison after she is convicted of a decade old crime of transporting money for her drug dealing girlfriend (Laura Prepon).

I'm going to try and start blogging more frequently again. I have nothing planned for my last two weeks of summer. I have yet to visit the cat museum in Amsterdam, have a Hello Kitty high tea, visit the only lolita store here in my country and finish watching Orange is the new Black, but that's about it. I hope I can do those things before my holiday is over! Anyone want to join me? 

Hope you are having a wonderful week so far!

Current Loves: summer edition ♥

Only a few more weeks of summer left, and I'm SO ready for it. I'm trying to enjoy summer while it lasts though, but to be honest, I'm still not a summer person. I'd much rather stay pale and wrapped up in a sweater than lay around in the sun in a bikini (and get a massive sunburn). 

For now I will share some of my summer loves of the moment!

♥ The smell of my new make-up brush cleanser ♥ blinging out my phone! ♥ hydrangeas ♥ watermelon ♥ cooking yummy summer dishes ♥ little girls being mesmerized by my hair ♥ trying to make macarons for the first time (and failing miserably lol) ♥ spontaneous photoshoots ♥ trying out lipsticks with my mom ♥ caramel ice cream ♥ 

♥ buying ALL the pink things ♥ playing the Kitty Kawaii game on my phone ♥ banana green tea ♥ people on postcrossing saying they absolutely love their postcard ♥ seeing the CUTEST puppies in town ♥ cuddling with the CUTEST kitty in a gift shop ♥ 

♥ massive lightning and thunder storms ♥ seeing giant pumpkins in somebody's garden (FALL! HALLOWEEN!) ♥ dipping strawberries in berry balsamic (and eating them, obviously) ♥ late evening runs ♥ watching Sex and the City after a looong day ♥ picnics at the beach ♥ new Catfish episodes ♥ swimming in the sea ♥ pink flowercrowns ♥

Be sure to smile, drink your tea and count your blessings today! n.n 

♥ My Summer Days ♥

Hi everyone! Are you enjoying summer so far? I'm feeling extremely blessed right now having had beautiful weather in a beautiful place for 5 days straight already. I'm not much of a sunbathing/heat kind of person, but luckily there's plenty of shade, lemon lemonade and a swimming pool to cool off. I felt like sharing some of the pictures I took so far to spread my summer joy and relaxation n.n

Hope you're having a wonderful summer :)

The official beginning of summer freedom!

Another school year done!! I don't know how I made it, but I did. Yesterday we had final presentations in an abnormally hot classroom, which isn't ideal when you're nervous and sweating up a storm because of that already. But we had ice cream!

My little corner with some of my favorite things I made this year.

Mini zombie and kitty, just chillin'

They hardly had any negative feedback at all and seemed very pleased going through all of my stuff. It's incredibly nice to hear people have really seen you grow as an artist after working so hard. I don't think I could've taken too much criticism anymore at this point! Your work being judged and graded all the time can be a very tiring and draining process, but I guess it pays off in the end!

And some random pictures...

OMG these biscuits. I could eat them all day long. They are mango flavored and simply the best thing ever.

I've been playing with my new phone way more than I should be. I do have to say that I think the camera on it is crappy. I'll just stick to my usual ones. I approve of my current lockscreen background though.

So now summer has officially started for me! This Friday I will be going to The Ardennes with most of my family for a week, which I am both excited and anxious about. I'm very attached to my usual routine, the food I eat, my exercise and my peace and quiet and it's going to be challenging to stick with that for a week when you're surrounded by others (of which 6 kids) all the time. 

Especially food and exercise are two things I know are going to be a problem. I feel like I'm always made fun of whenever I say I prefer eating mostly fruits and veggies and need to work out. Lots of people in my family can't imagine a dinner without potatoes or pasta or whatever and consider working out only as something for people who need to loose weight. But it energizes me and keeps me from feeling down and/or having unbearable anxiety. I'm gonna try..

I'm also planning on taking lots of (instax) pictures! And just enjoy the present moment as much as possible. I feel like I've been 'living for the future' for way too long now. Enjoying the here and now is still something I need to work on. Sounds like it's going to be one hell of a spiritual summer :P

My Summer to-do list!

Summer To-Do List:

♥ Visit museums
Two I already have on my list are the cat museum and the GO Gallery in Amsterdam and the fashion biennal in Arnhem, but I'm sure there will be lots of other interesting shows over the summer!

(source)

♥ Stay in a different place/city for a couple of days
Last year my mom and I stayed in Amsterdam for a couple of days (in the same hotel as in John Green's 'The Fault in Our Stars'!) and it was such a nice getaway, even if we were just about two hours away from home. I definitely want to do this again, but in a different place.

♥ Have a picnic at the beach
For some reason, I always have a picnic at the beach at least once every summer. I prefer 'dinner picnics', in the late evening with fresh pasta salad, bread, chicken and fresh fruit.

Moonrise Kingdom

♥ Make a zine
Maybe just a zine of my 'summer adventures', or just random stuff. I don't know, but I want to make one.

♥ Take lots of (instax) pictures
So far I haven't used my new instax mini camera too much, but summer vacation feels like the perfect time to use this baby more!

(source)

♥ Send lots of fun mail/postcards
I haven't been able to send out a lot of fun mail lately... I want to change that this summer!

♥ Make jewellery/accessories
I want to try making at least all the things I listed right here!

♥ Explore my city more: discover smaller cafes/shops/other places
There are places in my own city I've been wanting to go for some time, places I dont even know exist, cupcake shops that have to be tested...

Ten To Three Bakery
(source)

♥ Go to concerts/festivals
I already have one concert and one festival planned! And I'm sure there are many more (free) ones to be added to that list.

♥ Make picture books out of my photographs of the past few years
I've taken lots of pictures over the past few years and I think it's a shame they're just sitting there on my laptop. I really want to make picture books out of them.. maybe I'll get to that this summer.

♥ Visit lolita store in Bilthoven
I've been wanting to visit this store for such a long time, so this summer, it has to happen. Especially after seeing this post about it on Icosnap! Cute!!

Picture by: Icosnap

♥ Have a Hello Kitty high tea
Another thing I've been meaning to do for a long time (and coincidentally icosnap made a post about too!) There's a place not too far from here that organizes Hello Kitty high teas, and I really do want to stuff my face with anything Hello Kitty, literally!

(source)

♥ Finish portfolio website + business cards
This has to happen this summer. Not just for school, but also for myself. I want to figure out what kind of work I have for my portfolio right now and see where I want to go from here :)


Do you already have plans for this summer?

Flirty Tiki Lookbook!

Ladies and gentlemen, let me present to you...

I had so much fun doing this! I want assignments like this all the time! All designs, printing, creating, photography and editing by yours truly. Let me know what you think :)

Luau parties and hipster strawberries

Hello lovelies! My week long break has unfortunately come to an end already, but it was sooooo good. Being able to take my mind off of school for a bit definitely helped me and I am SO ready for the last few weeks. I can't believe my 2nd year at school is almost over already, but I don't mind it one bit!

Anyway, here are a couple of recent pictures I took of drawings and food (because that's basically what my life consists of as you might know by now). Right now it seems like I'm trying to make all of my assignments summer themed. That's probably because all I can dream of right now are tropical beaches, fruit and luau parties. I am craving pineapple/chicken anything right now, or a hawaii pizza. Omnomnom! Maybe I'm gonna try and create a clean and healthy version of that. Yes, sounds like a perfect plan.

Strawberry/vanilla ice cream with white chocolate and strawberry sauce treat on a hot spring day!

My first real try with typography. That stuff is HARD.

Pineapple and strawberries! Did you know there are pineapple strawberries? What!?

More typography experiments. Pineapples! Watermelons!

Sunday Funday delicious cheesy salami pizza!

Got a new mint plant. Hope I can keep this one alive...

Hipster triangle strawberries!

Hope everyone is doing well! The only thing that makes me really sad right now is that I'm going to have to live without warm water for an entire week! Our boiler broke down and we were very lucky it didn't catch fire and burned the entire house down. So I'm very thankful that didn't happen and it's probably going to make me appreciate a working shower even more.