Joselien, 36, married and mum of three kids, likes all things ‘old’. She feels most at ease surrounded by all the pretty old things in her old house. Where she makes the creations for her webshop.
You sell a lot of stuff with pictures of the Dutch province Zeeland, how come?
“I was born in Zeeland. I moved away for a bit, but I couldn’t stay away. The Oosterschelde (an inlet of the North Sea), the freedom it used to give me, and still close to beautiful cities. My gran (my mum’s mum) used to wear the traditional garb. I have a lot of pictures of her, in a little box, and I love rummaging through it. I also have some jewelry from that period. Stuff I’d never wear, but I would love to breath some life into them, but updated. A little while ago a friend told me ‘stuff that would otherwise just waste away in the attic gets a new lease on life thanks to you’. That hit the nail right on the head.”
Where does your inspiration come from?
“Cards, old pictures, fabric and just by looking around cities like Antwerp and Gent – an advantage to living in Zeeland, as they are quite near. I often go to a beautiful city for the day and end up with tons of inspiration.”
How do you find the time to make stuff yourself?!
“I often wonder myself… The web shop is going very well and that leaves me with very little time to design and make new things. But whenever I have a moment to spare I get behind my sowing machine or my laptop. It feels great to be able to add something new to the shop amidst all the bustle.”
And the name of your shop, two sisters and Jan, what’s that all about?
“Those are my kids, Doortje, Jan and Lien, two sisters and Jan!”
