Sloane Stationery x Hanneke Jongsma

As the night before Christmas quickly approaches and the Sloane Stationery elves are busy shipping orders all over the world, we wanted to take a moment to celebrate our latest holiday collaboration with artist and illustrator Hanneke Jongsma.  Hanneke creates an exquisite collection of colorful Christmas Cards for us each season, and we thought we'd share a little of her inspiration and creative process. 

CGP: What makes a special holiday card? 

HJ: Beautiful and made with love!  You can always tell when someone puts thoughtful sentiments in to sending a card.

 

CGP: How did your collaboration with Nathalie begin? 

HJ: Nathalie and I first connected through social media in 2009, when Sloane Stationery was nothing more than a creative concept. I’m based in Amsterdam, and flew to London to meet Nathalie.  Over lunch in Notting Hill, we immediately realised that it was a creative match.  Nathalie is the quintessential hostess and I always leave London inspired with new ideas.  Some of my earliest childhood memories include sketches in all my journals….so notebooks in general are very special to me. 

 

Pictured here is the first illustration I did for Nathalie and Sloane Stationery. This was even before there was a logo, and Nathalie used it as a visual on her business card 

 

CGP: What was the inspiration for this year's illustrations?

HJ: The world is your oyster when it comes to creativity! In shops, magazines, wallpapers, or in fabrics of clothing… there is inspiration everywhere.  

 

CGP: Do you have a special family holiday tradition when sending holiday cards? 

HJ: I think every mother experiences some level of stress when it comes to doing the family’s Christmas cards. I like making the process collaborative with my children.  My six-year old daughter and I work together at the kitchen table to organize the stamps and envelopes and my 8-year old son loves to put the cards in the box, whilst my 2 year old son tries to distract us. We listen to Christmas music and it has become our little tradition.

 

CGP: What is your favorite Sloane Stationery notebook for a holiday hostess gift? 

HJ: Little Miss Organized from the new Creep Crawlies Collection.  It’s the perfect notebook to make to-do lists and write down special moments you don’t want to forget.  The hand-written word is quite important these days.  It’s not the same as an electronic post-it.

 

CGP: As an artist what inspires you most about the holiday season? 

HJ:  Trying to find the beauty in everything and creating those special moments for your friends and family.