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Birth announcement Vera

Fall birth announcement card illustration Anne-Lieke Creative

What a perfect assignment. A birth announcement card, for a baby girl named Vera, in autumn theme. When I look out of the window I see deep warming tones ocher. Bolsters of beech nuts, elegantly folded open towards the sky, are crunching underneath my shoes. The nuts have fallen out, sprinkled all around between the leaves. A nice metaphor for new life, and a soon-to-be mother and father expecting their first child. If you look closely, you might be surprised by a mushroom popping out at you with it’s bright red color. With white dots all over, like in a fairytale.

Birth announcement fall theme

That same week I get a request for a birth announcement card in autumn theme from England, for a boy named Axel. But this time with a squirrel on the inside, because they run around in the garden of the future parents. Autumn colors, beech nuts, fallen leaves, mushrooms and squirrels. I have my sketchbook ready and am ready to go!

Fall birth announcement Amsterdam Netherlands

Birth announcement boy girl fall theme squirrel

Birth announcement seasons fall nature

Ink drawing with watercolor

Lately, I’ve been working a lot with ink and then add small splashes and details with watercolor paint to bring the drawing to life. I always love the process of really looking at what you draw, nature is such a beautiful thing. The ‘skirt’ that sticks out underneath the top of a fly amanita. The graceful veins running through a beech leaf. I love the seasons and all it brings…

Fall birth announcement beech nuts sketch

Dutch envelop birth announcement

Birth announcement squirrel mushroom

Fall illustrations Anne-Lieke Creative

Personal stamp mushroom fall theme

Spring, summer, fall & winter

Would you also like to have a birth announcement card made with nature elements matching the seasons? I would love to hear from you. Also take a look at birth announcement Josephine, in spring theme, with newly hatched flowers and butterflies. Makes me long for the spring months!

2019-01-30T09:12:42+01:00November 20th, 2018|0 Comments

Josephine in springtime

Birth announcement card girl flowers spring

Of all the special birth announcement cards I made for lovely people around the world, this one is definitely at the top of my most special list… Because this birth announcement is for our own baby girl. As I am writing this blog, we are waiting for her arrival (and have passed the due date of May 20th). An impatient but also magical time… We can’t hardly wait!

Birth announcement card lily of the valley

Designer birth announcement cards Amsterdam Anne-Lieke

Dutch ink illustration flowers

Blooming in springtime

While collecting ideas, I knew quickly that I wanted to do something with flowers blooming in springtime. I had a fairy-tale-like illustration in mind, as if walking through a field of wildflowers. At the same time I wanted to keep it simple (because the most beautiful things in life usually are). Maybe by working with ink, keeping most of the illustration black and white. I started out with sketches of red clover, field mouse-ear, lily-of-the-valley, cuckoo flowers, butterflies, wild grass and twirling dandelion seeds. I also fell in love with the rare twinflower (Linnaea Borealis) with its two humbly hanging heads.

Birth announcement card pink water color paint

Birth announcement card unique designs

The return of color

Because I could already picture myself for hours and hours behind the sketch table, because this is such a dear-to-my-heart project, I was surprised how quickly I put the initial drawing down on paper. Probably because I had the idea floating around in my mind for quite some time. Because spring is a time of fresh green leaves and the return of color, I wanted to try and add some soft spring colors. The result is some subtle streaks of water color paint that bring add light and life to the illustration.

Birth announcement card house Amsterdam

Illustration home

“Our house, in the middle of the street”

Daan and I have been living in our apartment in Amsterdam for over five years now. We are both a bit curious how the three flights of stairs will work once we have our little one (including stroller, diaper bag, etc.) but we will figure that out as we go. At the same time we are very excited to welcome our little girl to this special and unique place in the heart of the city. That is why Daan came up with the idea to include the house in the illustration, which I loved to do. I never studied our street, house and balcony this thoroughly.

Birth announcement cards matching stamps Dutch Amsterdam

Birth announcement envelope Dutch design

Matching envelope and stamps

I combined the card with an envelope to match the off-white laid paper. And when the stamps arrived by mail I was dancing around in the living room. Very happy with how the twinflowers liven up the envelope. After all, it’s all in the details.

Framed birth announcement card Amsterdam Netherlands

Amsterdam framed birth announcement card

Birth announcement card Josephine

Birth announcement card Amsterdam

On top of the fire place

By now, the card is proudly framed and stealing the show in our living room. Which is such a fun thing to do, to have the birth announcement card beautifully framed or give as a present to new parents. Only the date needs to be modified when the time is right… Josephine, we are ‘patiently’ waiting!

2018-05-30T17:15:59+02:00June 8th, 2018|3 Comments

Fern leaf linocut print

Hipster wedding stationary Anne-Lieke

What a joy to be part of a great team of creatives for this styled photoshoot! Last March we created a wedding wonderland in the woods, to show people what a hipster wedding can look like. The assignment was clean, green and down to earth. I was asked to design the stationery for this lovely event.

Working in the woods

And there I was, working behind this tiny antique wooden table surrounded by tall trees. I wish I always had a work place like this, in the middle of nature. It was so much fun to see everyone passionately running around and working so hard. And of course it’s very special to have your work in the spotlights like this. Thanks Cynthia for organising such an inspiring day!

Linocut wedding stationary Anne-Lieke

handmade wedding stationary Anne-Lieke

Handmade wedding stationary

Hipster wedding

Wedding vows handmade stationary Anne-Lieke

Wedding stationary Anne-Lieke

Fern leaf

Because the end result is always best when things match, there where lots of phone calls, messages and pictures sent back and forth before the big day. The florist told me that she was going to work with fern leaf. So that’s what I decided to make the starting point for my design. The result is a linocut print with mixed green ink. Every card handmade and completely unique. For the font I choose something simple and classy. All on off-white laid paper.

Complete stationery set

Nothing is as stylish as a complete stationery set, in one coherent style. So next to the save the date, rsvp cards and invitations, I designed cards for the vows. Nobody wants to fiddle with a torn piece of paper during moment suprème right? Vows are also a really nice memory to frame after the big day. To make everything complete I made name cards for the diner table, attached with a golden seal stamp to slices of rustic wood.

Gold wax seal

To make everything even more special, I hand carved a seal stamp in the shape of a fern leaf. That way, to party will already start when guests receive their envelope with golden wax seal stamp on their door mat.

Lots of talent

Take a look at the beautiful pictures made by Liefdesmomenten and the work of all these creative people at the website Trouwplannen.nl. Get inspired for your hipster wedding! To start, a little peak behind the scenes:

With thanks to

Location – Kasserie OCK
Wedding dress – Victors Wedding Design
Wedding suit – TailerMadeSuits
Styling – HappYes
Florist – ‘t Bloemeke
Cake – Delicious Sweetness
Wedding rings – Monique ‘tHoen Goudsmid en Ontwerp
Hair & Make-up – Cynthia Veenman Visagie & Haarstyling
Music – Lace
Decor & props – ‘t Brocantehuisje

Hipster wedding photography

Save the date stationary hipster nature

Dutch handmade stationary Anne-Lieke

2019-06-25T21:35:35+02:00June 2nd, 2017|0 Comments
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