Somehow I feel like I'm doing this pregnancy thing all wrong. Well, mostly I feel great, but people keep commenting on how I should be taking it easy and focus on resting and relaxing before our precious little one arrives to come and take it all away.

Rest and relaxation wasn't really what we had in mind when we booked our trip to Iceland and Canada earlier this year (before we knew we were pregnant), and work happened to ramp up right at the same time. So here's the story all about how, my life got flipped-turned upside down. Or, I mean how I non-stop traveled for a month while 6 months pregnant.

Travel, Journal Pages, PregnancyAnna Denise FloorSeptember 18, 2016Comment

Journal Pages: These Boots

Lots of pregnancy stuff in the journal this week as it's slowly taking over my life at 24 weeks.

Journal Pages, Personal, PregnancyAnna Denise FloorAugust 14, 2016Comment

Journal Pages: Butterflies

Journal Pages, Travel, PregnancyAnna Denise FloorAugust 1, 2016Comment

Pre-Baby House Tour

A lot of friends have been asking me whether we're planning to move now that we've got a little one coming. Like most Londoners, we're in a one bedroom 'flat' (apartment) with little budgetary room to wiggle our way into something bigger that's not an hour or two away from work or would bankrupt us within six months. So the answer is no. We're not moving.

As I imagine it will be interesting to see how we'll manage to squeeze in the babe in between the lack of storage space and came-with-the-flat bolted down IKEA stuff, I thought I'd give you all a 'before' tour of the house now, and come back in a few months from now when we've set up our baby gear.

Living Room

The living room is by far the largest space in the house. It has large bay sash windows and holds a lot of our second hand and up cycled treasures. It's also where my studio nook is. It's tiny, but it's more than most people have and Jochem is often jealous of my miniature desk (an original Gispen), even if I end up accidentally knocking off my notebook, watercolors, water, tea, etc. while working.

Bedroom

The bedroom came fully furnished (as did most of the house, originally), and most of the furniture here wasn't bought by us, with the exception of the bed. We decided to splurge on the bed when we moved in and it's been the best decision ever. Memory foam FTW. The bedroom has a large sash window overlooking the garden.

Kitchen

Most of the kitchen is kind of a mess, but it's large enough and has a breakfast bar (my favorite) and a door leading to the shared garden (Jochem's favorite). It's airy and bright and I love sitting here in the morning with a cup of (now decaf) coffee. Not pictured: the dirty dishes. It's my blog, I can pretend I'm a good person here.

Also not pictured in this post is our bathroom. We have a bath, but honestly, that whole space just depresses me. It needs a paint job and then some, so perhaps in the future I'll do a before & after on the bathroom.

Hope you enjoyed that little tour!

Home, London, Personal, Thrifting, PregnancyAnna Denise FloorJuly 27, 2016 Comments

Commissions: All in the Family

Lately, I've been trying to hold off on taking on too many commissions. I've been doing a lot of travel and the pregnancy is taking up its fair share of energy as well. I've got one more wedding invite to finish before my maternity leave, but other than that I've mostly been working on a baby book for our little one and trying to keep up my own journal pages.

Here's two commissions I did do this past year, both for family. I also hand lettered 350 place cards for a friend's wedding (which was surprisingly relaxing), but I forgot to take pictures.

Samme's Born!

I had the honor of designing my nephew's birth announcement. He was born back in November, and he's the absolute cutest of course. I love working with my brother and sister in law, as they always know exactly what they like and don't like. It helps when people have a clear idea of what they have in mind (and have somewhat of an understanding of the design process).

Party Invite

Exiting things are happening in my family, as my youngest brother is getting married next year. Because our stepmom has recently fallen quite ill, and we're not sure how long we'll still have her with us, my brother and soon-to-be sister in law decided to organize a small gathering for all of the parents in honor of them getting their wedding license. We had to throw this one together in quite a rush, so we used a drawing I made of them in my journal before from when they got engaged (see here) and turned it into an invite. It was total card blanche from their end, so this went to press with only minor adjustments.

Baby Announcement, Freelance Illustrations, Wedding Invites, PersonalAnna Denise FloorJuly 24, 2016Comment

Journal Pages: In the Oven

If you're a careful observer of these journal pages, you might have noticed I've been sick and tired a lot. The good news is this wasn't completely due to my loud neighbors, the shitty weather, or the travel. Nope, we're expecting a little baby Floor! I'm due December first, so there's still a while to go, but we're over the moon excited. Hope you guys like babies!

Journal Pages, Travel, Personal, PregnancyAnna Denise FloorJuly 1, 2016Comment

Journal Pages: Two Months On

I used to be one of those people to loudly brag on about how I "function just fine on five hours of sleep". While that may or (probably) may not have been true (both the five hours and the functioning part), this has definitely changed.

See, I gave this whole 'eight hours' thing a try, and let me tell you. It's friggin magic. Not only are a seriously disrupting caffeine habit and hazardous 4 PM afternoon dips (Geronimooo!) no longer facts of life, it turns out those slow sleepy hours between nine and noon weren't just signs of me 'not being a morning person'. I am still not a morning person, but at least my brain can perform simple tasks like tying my shoes or having a polite conversation with colleagues without insane amounts of sugar and/or coffee.

This is all a very roundabout way of telling you that it's been two months since I last posted here. And it's because I chose sleep over blogging. And I am not sorry. Sleep is glorious, you should try it. Enjoy the long ass update!

Anna Denise FloorMay 17, 2016Comment

Journal Pages: Where the Eagles Cry!

I am a known 'stadsmens', as we say in Dutch. A 'city person'. I grew up in the city, have always lived in cities, and I just very much love and enjoy cities - the bigger, the busier, the better.

I enjoy the concept of nature and the outdoors, but severe allergies to everything natural, a constant need for stimuli and soy lattes, as well as weak knees have often been enough reason for me to not venture too far away from civilization. Now, though, I seem to have found a reason to actually love nature: I love painting mountains.

Travel, Journal PagesAnna Denise FloorMarch 29, 2016Comment

Journal Pages: What is the meaning?

Some new scans for you all!

Journal PagesAnna Denise FloorMarch 29, 2016Comment

Journal Pages: The Spread

I'm rekindling my love for doing double page layouts. It means I have to be extra careful with what materials I am using on the page, but I love the look of a full book, bursting with color on every page. Here's a few snaps of my Dublin pages.

Journal PagesAnna Denise FloorFebruary 29, 2016Comment

Journal Pages: Morning Routine

I am not a morning person at all, but I still love the romance of mornings. Those quiet few hours before life picks up again.

Journal PagesAnna Denise FloorFebruary 8, 2016Comment

Journal Pages: Flying Food

One thing I like about cities, is the sense of anonymity. You don't have to get to know your neighbors if you don't want to, and no one will gossip about you when you don't show up to a local bake off or god knows what. Unfortunately, the paper like quality of our ceilings and walls make that I've inadvertently gotten to know my neighbors quite well. Including their ringtones, party schedules, and favorite songs. Everything but their name, really.

So off to the British countryside I went with my friend and colleague Hannah, to assist her on her 'shoot'. No, not a shoot of the fashion variety, but a shoot of the dead-bird variety. I had a lovely time, outside, breathing air that was so fresh it almost hurt my poor city girl lungs, sniffing up the smell of gun powder, drinking gin, wearing tweed. It was truly a unique experience. Yet, while I am convinced many a supermarket chicken would happily trade with the partridges and pheasants that day, it was odd. Bringing home a dead bird to pluck, gut, and eat is a lot more 'real' than buying a pink patty in the store. There's real power in knowing where your food comes from, and it's inspiring me to eat (even) more consciously and eat selectively.

Journal Pages, PersonalAnna Denise FloorJanuary 31, 2016Comment

Journal Pages: Invisible Pastels

It's kind of like the emperor's new clothes including the part where I paid a lot of money for it.

Journal PagesAnna Denise FloorJanuary 16, 2016Comment

Journal Pages: Blue Period

Not bad, 2016. So far, so good.

Journal PagesAnna Denise FloorJanuary 9, 2016Comment

Journal Pages: Looking Right Back At Ya, 2015

Time flies when you move to a different country, move twice, travel around the globe, and have people over every month. 2015 has been a great year, and I can't wait for 2016!! Which is great, because it's already here despite me redrawing and reliving the past all day today.

Happy New Year, all. May the inspiration be with you!

London, Personal, Journal PagesAnna Denise FloorJanuary 2, 2016Comment

Journal Pages: Pink Haze

December feels like a haze. A pink fog filled with pictures of my new nephew, work, working out, food, fun, family, and - of course - Star Wars.

Journal Pages, Personal, LondonAnna Denise FloorJanuary 2, 2016Comment

Journal Pages: Bed Tales

Yesterday I realized that about half of the drawings in my journal involve me in a bed, on a bed, or talking about a bed.

I'm a little worried about my energy levels, but mostly I think it's because a) we got a new bed which is made of angel farts and unicorn hair (it's that good), and b) a lot has been happening. I became an auntie, my grandma passed away, I traveled to Asia and back for work, and my man grew a beard in my absence. Yeah. Enjoy.

Journal PagesAnna Denise FloorNovember 30, 2015 Comment

Without Pretend

That breakup that left you breathless. That friendship (or was it more?) that faded and left you grasping for answers. That lover you lost through no or all fault of your own. We all have unresolved feelings about someone or some situation, I'm sure.

Which perhaps is why I used no less than seventeen exclamation marks in my reply to Erin when she asked me to illustrate the second volume of her project 'Portraits'. 'Portraits' is a heartfelt project that aims to honor memories and exorcise unresolved feelings. The characters profiled in the volumes are citizens of pretend spaces we’ve created between past and future, fiction and memory.

It's one thing to be asked to collaborate with someone you respect and admire, it's another to work with them on something that feels both personal and important. The second volume of 'Portraits' on Without Pretend is illustrated by yours truly and I invite you to check them out.

Bring tissues.

Personal, Freelance IllustrationsAnna Denise FloorNovember 30, 2015Comment

Journal Pages: Slam Dumb & Move On

So we moved four streets down to a flat in a terraced house with a garden and we are now Mr and Mrs Domesticated. In the month since we moved I've baked us two apple pies and a few other weird experimental tarty things that don't deserve a proper name. I don't bake, so this is a thing. We also bought a million pound bed and it's my new favorite place to be (and not just because it's the most expensive thing we own now). I'm glad this update also includes trips to Paris and Amsterdam because I'm sure you're starting to worry about me by now.