Ah, libra, litteraly the most balanced of all Zodiac Signs. It has to be, it's depicted as the scales of lady justice.
During this time of the year, night and day are in balance and so are the ​people born between September 24th and October 23rd. Supposedly.
Honestly, i don't know that many balanced libra.
But then again: i don't really know a lot of balanced people. Luckily. (boooring).

Anyway, this is one of the Flower Constellations i got to try out, and i love creating minimalistic set ups with the 4 holed brass tool. You don't need a lot of flowers for a wow-effect.

Tomorrow: the secretive Scorpio.
Check out Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo & Virgo

In the Netherlands, the name of this zodiac sign is 'Kreeft': which translates to lobster.
That's why it's pretty confusing for most Dutch people to see a crab instead of a lobster on the Cancer packaging. 
I did try to work both crustaceans into the artwork., but since the entire rest of the world apparently agreed we're dealing with a crab here, i gave up after having difficulties finding the right angle.

Cancers' birthflowers are not just rosehip, wild rose, lotus and magnolia: all white flowers are associated with the star sign.
I'm looking forward to setting up a bouquet consisting of gorgeous white flowers with the Cancer Flower Constellations.
​Which white flowers do you like most?

Have you seen our Aries, Taurus and Gemini packaging? Leo will follow soon! 

​May 22nd - June 22nd
​¢ 6,5 - 9 cm

element:           air
ruling planet:  mercury
colors:                yellow, light blue
birthstone:       agate
houseplant:     tillandsia
birthflowers:    lavender, lilac, lily of the valley

Remember the space age?
The Apollo missions that resulted in the moon landings in the late 60's wouldn't have been possible without the Gemini programme: the two-person spaceflight programme perfected space walking and paved the way for the successfull mission in '69. 
Now you know why we have twin astronouts on the packaging! ​  

Gemini or 'twins' birthflowers are lavender and lilly of the valley, and if you're born between May 22nd and June 22nd you might want to consider tillandsia (air plants) for your house.

Check out the artwork for Aries and Taurus, and check back for the next unveil tomorrow!

The Taurus is supposedly one of the most reliable signs. Since one half of House of Thol is a Taurus, i (the other half) can vouch for that. 
While researching all different Constellations and listing all things and traits associated with them, i also came across totem animals. , 

Funny thing: the totem animal for the mighty taurus, is the beaver.
Well... they can both fell a tiny tree.

Have you seen our Aries packaging?
Next up: Gemini

According to the Zodiac, people born between March 21st and April 20th are classified as Aries.
It being the first star sign of them all, it's rumoured that people born in Aries are stubbornly trying to be the first in everything. 
​
I'm no firm believer in all behavioral characteristics associated with the Zodiac constellations, but i do know a few Aries, and interestingly enough, they do seem to have an overlapping trait of stubbornness plus a competitive streak. So who am i to brush things aside... (Yes, MF & RL, i'm talking about you.)

In all packaging designs, we used elements associated with the Constellation inside.

Note the ram with red fire in its eyes, the tulips (of course) and other spring flowers, as well as the red planet mars.
The cloudy sky represents the cold, rainy days which so often make up the beginning of spring (at least here they do).

Packaging for the other 11 Flower Constellations will be revealed soon!
​Up next: Taurus

The World Packaging Design Society runs an influential packaging design blog featuring contemporary packaging designs from around the world.

We're very happy we made it onto their feed with our Waterworks box! 
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Definitely worth checking out on Instagram.

The Flower Constellations will make a lovely gift once they're out in the shops.
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But why wait so long?
Many friends and supporters pre-ordering the Flower Constellations on Kickstarter, reached out to us to ask for gift vouchers. 

Well... You ask? We deliver.

With voucher requests coming in from all over the world, we had to create something that would be easy to print anywhere.

We challenged ourselves to create something that would exceed a flat printed leaflet.
It took quite some testing, folding, redesigning and puzzle-solving, but here it is: the official Flower Constellations Gift Voucher.  

The A4 free download can be printed at any home-printer (do NOT scale to fit) and folded into a little envelope with hardly any white sheet left in sight.
​ 
Aside from fitting a little personal note, the small pouch is perfect for a package of wildflowerseeds.
In case you'd like to add a little natural sparkle to your gift. 

We used the space underneath the fold of the envelope for a little explanation about the Flower Constellations and crowdfunding process, as well as our website address for more information.

The folding pattern should be pretty straightforward, provided you pay attention to the print on the sheet.

Here's a short video showing you the steps to create the Flower Constellations Gift Voucher Envelope.

How to download the voucher, you ask?
Simply click the large image and a pdf will open in a new window.

​Have fun folding and gifting!

Have you ever ordered flyers?
And? Did they lure you into ordering the next batch up?
You know: 2500 instead of 1000 because 'the difference is only €25,-' and 'i don't want to risk running out of flyers'?

Well, we just did exactly that: we just ordered 2500 Flower Constellation flyers instead of a 1000.
On Eco paper, mind you. So still bad, yet a tiny bit less bad.
Now what we need to do, is get these babies distributed....

Please let us know and we'll try and get our flyers in their coat room / waiting area / powder room and/or on their counter as swiftly as we can.
We'll be grateful till eternity. Or at least till May 5th.

When it comes to beautiful cities in the Netherlands, Haarlem is one of the contenders for the top position. 
​
​And in one of Haarlems' golden little backstreets you can find My Deer Art Shop: a stylish store that's all about interior design, limited edition art prints and lush greenery.
​
Owner Maaike Koster has long been an interior designer as well as illustrator and created a perfect inspirational space full of independent brands both from the Netherlands as the rest of the world. 

After personally delivering the first batch of Waterworks-sets to the shop in Haarlem, we're very happy to be able to add My Deer Art Shop to our House of Thol store locator.

Go check that out:

Urban Jungle Bloggers is a global society of plant lovers, at least that's what's stated on the Urban Jungle Bloggers website.

The website is a mix between a blog and a platform and was founded in 2013 by Igor Josifovic (Happy Interior Blog) and Judith de Graaff (JOELIX.com) with the idea of bringing more green into homes and blogs.

Judith and Igor are now head of an enthusiastic army of green-interior-lovers hashtagging away with #urbanjunglebloggers from all parts of the planet. (Check it our on Instagram)

It was only a matter of time before these two would turn their blog into something less digital, and indeed: in 2016 their first book, aptly named 'Urban Jungle', was published in both English and German.
​
The book showcases beautiful green interiors from around Europe and offers loads of ideas and information to help you create your own urban jungle.

And two languages wasn't enough: last fall the book came out in French, Czech and Dutch as well.  

And we're in it!!!

Well, not 'we' exactly, but Waterworks is!
And not with an actual photograph, but in the text (fast forward to p. 168 <Dutch version>).
And we're pretty damn happy with that.

It's a gorgeous green publication, and to have our Waterworks adviced as a handy tool to water your plants (which it undeniably is), is making our week.
​
Thanks Urban Jungle Bloggers!

Happy New Year!
      Good intentions, fresh beginnings, new leaves and all that nonsense.

      Truth is: the Holidays are over (i had a blast), yet i hardly even made a start on all the things i planned to do during my break, and the new year is knocking on my door -loudly- while the relationship-status between me and my alarm- clock is still... well... complicated.  
(don't tell me you can't relate)

      It seems like the last months of 2017 (read blog) were more about keeping up with the workload in my inbox and less about entrepreneurial vision and strategically prioritized goals and projects.

Well...enough about bad habits and hesitations: let's get to it!

In order to be on top of my priorities in this fresh year, i created this easy to use productivity planner which helps to prioritize your projects and plan your work-week accordingly. 

A couple of things i'd like to add: 

1. No, you don't necessarily need 9 projects in your to-do list, i'd advice a maximum of 4 or 5, but with the 9 slots you'll have scribble room for the easy to forget smaller tasks that are part of the work-week and have a tendency to pile up over time.

PS. Please note: The baselines in the planner have a thickness of 0.25pt, whereas Adobe Acrobat usually previews a minimum of 1pt.
​      In other words: Don't be fooled by the adobe preview, the planner will print with thinner lines similar to the image on this page.