Romain here, marking my first post in the (blog)house. I would like to let you know why Pia has been slower than usual to respond to your emails.

Pia works 150% on every project but Little Treasures: Made by Hand has proven to be closer to 1000% due the self published nature of the work, and also the self imposed deadline (don’t try this at home boys and girls). On top of that she is an amazing mother to our little Laly who is growing up fast, and in the past few weeks there have been unforeseen family events. That is a lot on someone’s plate.

So Pia, against her determination, has been forced  to take a break now but she will resume her activities at a slower pace in a few weeks time.

A word about her latest book, Little Treasures: Made by Hand: It is hot off the press and is making its way to distributors and ultimately stores around Australia.

For those of you who have kindly pre-ordered your copies on Pozible, your signed copy of the book will arrive at your home some time in April.

Thank you for your understanding.

Romain

With 52 hours to go, this morning, it happened. We reached the goal. We did it you guys!!

I can’t believe it.

Around this time last week we were not even half way there, and I honestly thought there was no way it would happen. I felt utterly hopeless by last Thursday, and while blubbering through a conversation with Fran on the phone that day I told her that we should forget about it, that she should call the printer and say there will be no book to print. Being the beautiful, sensible friend and manager she is, she listened, sympathised, and then said, “let’s talk some more tomorrow”.

Knowing how I was feeling, you guys started rallying support like I’d never imagined. You wrote incredible instagram messages, emailed all your friends, facebooked, tweeted, pinned and blogged! You wrote from your hearts and let the world know how much you wanted Little Treasures: Made by Hand to be published.

I woke up the next day and found your letters and messages of support. Once again you gave my heart wings, and gave me the energy to keep on trucking. And because of YOU, we made it happen.

I had no idea we’d still have hours to spare, and today I planned to share with you the amazing items that will be in the $400 package! I’m smitten with this collection, and even though we’ve reached the goal I do hope some of you will still pledge for this exclusive package, not just because I’ve spent the last 2 days pulling it together and photographing it, but because this is so special and you won’t find something like this again!

Initially in the package I mentioned there would be 4 treasures. But now there will actually be 9 handmade treasures in total! And all made by talented artisans across the globe.  Take a look…

Although this is Laly’s collection pictured above, each $400 package will be tailored to YOU  – all you do is let us know if your items are for a boy or girl (or you!), and we will pick the colours suitable, and then you can tell us the name you would like for the garland, and which tea you’d like (there will be a choice of three – chai, french earl grey or mother nurture).

And of course you will also receive a personally signed and wrapped copy of Little Treasures: Made by Hand, so that’s 10 treasures altogether!

There are only 7 of these packages available, and only 40 hours left to make your pledge!

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There are also some fabulous people on a waiting list, wanting to do a day wander together here in Sydney so if you like this idea then email us and we’ll organise the five we need, then you can each pledge separately.

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And about the shipping, for those who haven’t had a chance to update your orders, we’ll send you a simple paypal invoice for the amount, so don’t worry about updating your pledges at this stage.

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Thank you again, you amazing, beautiful creatures!

I have just one more thing that I’d like to say:

VIVENT LES ARTISTES!!*

xx

* (Long live artists!!!)

a diary entry and page from Little Treasures: Made by Hand

Well there are less than six days to go. Will we reach the target? Will I make it to the last day of the campaign without becoming an anxious, emotional wreck? Who knows. All I know is this crowd-funding stuff gets your heart pounding. And self-publishing tops my chart of risk-taking adventures (why must I do something so “brave” each year?!).

We’ve had a number of requests scattered around various social media networks asking if shop owners can purchase copies of Little Treasures: Made by Hand. The answer is YES PLEASE. So, to gather your requests in one place, could you email us at info(at)piajanebijkerk(dot)com with how many books you’d like, your shop name and address, and we will send you a wholesale quote followed by an invoice.

Thank you so much for your pledges and for getting the word out. We need to sell 1000 books to be able to make the target, so please keep those pledges coming!

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Here are the package stats:

$25 books sold: 272
$45 paper wallflower kits sold: 41, 59 available!
$65 flower presses sold: 10, 140 available!
$85 paper boat press package sold: ALL SOLD OUT
$125 skype session sold: 3, 7 available!
$250 2 hour styling session sold: 4, 36 available!
$400 little treasures package sold: 1, 9 available!
$1500 day of wandering sold: 1, 4 available!

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If you are interested in the day of wandering but haven’t been able to gather 5 friends, send me an email at info(at)piajanebijkerk(dot)com and with every 5 requests I will create groups, let you know and you can pledge your $250 without a reward – I will instead send you an email confirmation and receipt. I’d love to do these wandering days so I hope there are a few of you who’d like to too, it will be a lot of fun!

xx

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So as I mentioned in my last post, during the last days of the Little Treasures: Made by Hand campaign I will be featuring some of the packages available exclusively for the campaign – that means you can only buy these packages now through my pozible book page.

One of my favourite packages is the giant paper wallflower kit that I created just for this campaign! It’s one of the projects I made for Laly’s room and it is featured in Little Treasures: Made by Hand. I’ve made a number of kits for you guys, it is one of the most fun craft projects I’ve created as it’s so simple but makes such a statement in any room.

In the kit you’ll receive everything you need to create your own giant paper wallflower. All you need to do is open the brown paper envelope and follow the 10 simple instructions…

It will take you only about 20 minutes to make the flower, isn’t that amazing?

Maybe half an hour if you really want to spend some time fanning and fluffing out your paper petals to make them just so. Like magic, the contents of one brown envelope will go from this (what you see above) to this…

Voilà! Here is the photograph which features in Little Treasures: Made by Hand. I have hung Laly’s paper wallflower above the day bed in her room…

To buy your giant paper wallflower kit as well as receive a signed copy of the book, click on the $45+ reward on my pozible book page then add the shipping of either $15 if you live in Australia, or $25 if you live in NZ, the USA or UK (so that’s a total pledge of $60 for AUS or $70 for NZ, USA, UK) and follow the instructions to make your pledge!

Thank you! Only 10 days to go! Far out!!

XX

PS if you’ve forgotten to add your shipping in your earlier pledges no sweat, you can update your order now. You can also order more than one package! Don’t forget about your friends. And mum. And that lovely neighbour down the road who just had a baby… x

current vignette on my sidetable

Good morning mes amis, it’s a super drizzly and dark Saturday morning here in Sydney-  feels more like a European autumn day, which I don’t mind at all because it reminds me of how much I love it in the north. Maybe it’s the change of season but I do find myself missing Amsterdam and being so close to Paris. Romain and I can’t wait to take Laly to Paris, I think our little French girl would love it…

morning cuddles are the best

So there are only 14 days left to raise the funds to be able to publish Little Treasures: Made by Hand, far out! And we are 35% of the way. I’m anxious and hoping with all my heart we can make this happen! Most of all I’d love this book campaign to help shape the future for fellow creative spirits. Deep in my heart I want this book campaign to be a template for those of you out there who have longed to create your own book, or your own shop, or studio or just CREATE. It costs a lot of money to start your own business and in this case, to make a book the way you want – in my case using eco friendly paper, printing it locally, and gathering the best people for the job. It all adds up. But dreams can become realities, and I hope this will be one of them.

So over the next 14 days I will be showcasing some of the awesome packages we have exclusively available for this campaign. The first one I want to share with you is the two hour photography and styling workshop we will be hosting in Sydney in April!

portrait of me by sweet jenni booth

I’ve had many requests for an event such as this over the months, so I thought it was a wonderful idea of Fran’s to offer it through this campaign. Here are the details:

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Come and spend two hours with me for a special styling & photography workshop and afternoon tea in Sydney.
Bring your own favourite ‘little treasure’ which I will help you style and photograph as a special memento for Mothers’ Day (note: the workshops will take place in Sydney on April 6).
You will also receive a signed copy of Little Treasures and your name will also appear in the thank you list on my blog.

$250

only 40 tickets available
{date & place to be determined at the end of the book campaign}
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I’m really looking forward to this event, it’s something I’ve been wanting to do for ages. To book your ticket, make your pledge on pozible for the amount and that’s it! We will be in contact in a few weeks time to discuss the details.

xx

PS For French readers, pour mes lecteurs francophones, il y a maintenant une version française de la description de Petits Trésors : faits à la main, ici. hourrah! x