The old blog (posts from 2008 – 2010) is still there, but will vanish in time as I plan to close it. I plan to transfer all those old posts somewhere to a ‘side page’ so they won’t be completely deleted, but who will ever read those old posts? Well… I DO from time to time, and when I snooped around in my old posts last week I decided to ‘dig up’ an oldie every now and then to re-post.

[ Seth from The Altered Page hosts an annual collaborative project called “Buried Treasure” with all kinds of artists/bloggers who re-post an oldie from their blog. You can find last year’s post and link-list on Seth’s blog here.]

And now… here’s a post from November 2009… to which I add some new comments in blue… enjoy!

…

Anyway, I was in Zeeland last weekend and we went to Middelburg (since my move last year, I live in that same Middelburg now!) – the “big” city and capital of Zeeland – on Saturday morning. Now you should know, I left my parents house when I was almost nineteen and lived in Middelburg for 2 years before I moved to another province (to study – but I still live there). Middelburg contains a lot of memories – it was a very important and hectic time in my life – and I decided to make an art journal page about it.

Painted background with acrylic paint.
Photo of the Jewish synagogue ruin (see journaling)
Lines & handwritten journaling with black sharpie

Journaling:

“One morning in Middelburg. The memories pounce upon me. Behind every street corner and underneath every brick – there is one. The City hall (1), where I married J. while my heart was in doubt.
My heart, already with W. There’s my favourite pub, where I spend the school pauses and evenings with friends. The owner looked like Mark Knopfler from the Dire Straits. And the bartender J. bought me a white rose on the market once, to apologize for spilling an ice cream on my little white dress – he was in a silly mood then. The discotheques – where I danced the night away – are all gone or changed owners. Unfamiliar names glimmer on the frontage now. The shops are the same as in every other city. Except for “de Drvkkery”. I love this bookstore that wasn’t there when I lived here. In a little book that N. got for free I read that the Jewish Synagogue in Middelburg was re-build several years ago. I still remember the ruin. It lay behind old houses. In a backstreet. Difficult to find, but what a beautiful place it was! I made lots of photo’s there and one night I kissed J.W. in the moonlight standing next to its old walls. The houses I lived in are still here. Nederstraat. Stationstraat. Suddenly, I miss Lenny. The carillon plays a song of longing. Ah, “de lange Jan” (2) is still here.”

(1) City hall of Middelburg

(2) “De lange Jan” (Long John) a very high church tower.

Detail: Painted background and handwritten journaling.

Oh, and do you remember the ‘awards’ we bloggers gave to one another? There was one in this old post too.)

I received this award from Denise (the link to Denise’s blog does not work anymore, is Denise still online somewhere? I don’t remember her last name but she lived in Canada and was part of the ‘Scrapping out Loud’ design team.)

The rules (yep, rules!) are: I need to pass this on to five people. Post on their blog that I gave them this award, and then I need to answer a list of questions in one word. (I won’t be passing it on to five other people this time, but feel free to take the award and play along if you like.)

Well OK, here we go…

1. Where is your cell phone? Haven’t (and yes, I AM human!)
   2015 – I finally bought a cell phone in 2011 – it’s on the diner table
   
2. Your hair? Thick, auburn & gray
   2015 – more gray hair and shorter than in 2009
   
3. Your mother? Writer
4. Your father? All rounder
5. Your favorite food? Zeeuwse mussels
   2015 – I’m living in the heart of “mussel-country” now, more opportunity to buy and eat them, yay!
   
6. Your dream last night? Ordinary
   2015 – I don’t remember…
   
7. Your favorite drink? Wine
8. Your dream/goal? Giving workshops
   2015 – Did that!! My website shop to register for workshops will open again real soon and I plan to write another (new) workshop later this year.
   
9. What room are you in? Home office
   2015 – Atelier
   
10. Your hobby? Scrap booking/art journaling
    2015 – Just art journaling, but it would be fun to create a ‘good old scrapbook layout’ again – I might…
    
11. Your fear? Losing my loved ones
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Zeeland
    2015 – Succeeded in that wish – I live there now!
    
13. Where were you last night? In my bed
14. Something that you aren’t? Simple
15. Muffins? No
16. Wish list item? The winning lottery ticket
17. Where did you grow up? Zeeland (the Netherlands)
18. Last thing you did? Look in the dictionary
    2015 – Watch the solar eclipse on TV – it’s too cloudy to see it life…
    
19. What are you wearing? Pyjamas
    2015 – black tights, black skirt, old hoodie (I plan to paint later this afternoon)
    
20. Your tv? Too small
    2015 – same TV still… so yes, still too small
    
21. Your pets? Spiders
    2015 – pigeons and blackbirds in the trees across the balcony
    
22. Friends? Mostly On line
    2015 – and a few very good ones still around me!
    
23. Your life? Fulfilling
    2015 – getting back on my feet…
    
24. Your mood? Amused
    2015 – not yet sure… melancholic maybe?
    
25. Missing someone? My son (oh, he just came in, so NO – nobody’s missing)
    2015 – my son (he left the nest in 2011)
    
26. Vehicle? Bicycle
27. Something you are not wearing? Right now? Make up
    2015 – shoes (I never wear shoes inside the house)
    
28. Your favorite store? Drvkkery (bookstore Middelburg)
29. Your favorite color? Depends
30. When was the last time you laughed? Too long ago
31. Last time you cried? Saturday
    2015 – a week ago
    
32. Your best friend? Soul mate!
33. One place that I go to over and over? Zeeland
    2015 – my blog 😉
    
34. Facebook? No thanks!
    2015 – yep, I gave in… my facebook page is HERE
    
35. Favorite place to eat? Home

…

I hope you liked reading this old post – have a great weekend!

To make this an interesting post, I came up with a solution
so you will find some art pieces on my blog today anyway.
Of course there’s a photo and a haiku too.
After all, it’s ‘Haiku my heart Friday’.
Enjoy!

Written for ‘Haiku My Heart Friday’.
For more haiku and photos, visit Rebecca at Recuerda mi Corazon.

I started blogging in November 2008 and my creative work got a boost.
Showing what I made to ‘the world’, getting feedback and compliments and
the contact I made with other artists and their work was really uplifting and
inspiring. I though it would be fun to see what I made over the years.

I lifted work from my old blog from every (blog)year up till now…

What did I make back then? Can I see a change in style? (yes) and did I make
any artistic progress? (definitely!)

See for yourself.
(Click on each image to enlarge for a better view)

March 2009

Traditional ‘scrapbooking’… but you can already see
my search for ‘ways to change and get loose.’
I used paint behind the journal spot…

March 2010

I’d discovered ‘art journaling’.
From this year on, I’d call my work ‘art journaling’
instead of ‘scrapbooking’  (although the boundaries
between those two are blurry)

This page was for ‘A Year in the Life of an Art Journal’

March 2011

Photos, stamps, puffy paint, more journaling…
I think in 2011 I really got loose and tried every
technique I came across. Some techniques stayed
(photo transfer!) and some techniques were not
‘my cup of tea…

December 2011

Here are some pages I made at the end of last year… so,
did I found my own ‘style’ over the years? I don’t know…
Some say they recognize my art as ‘Marit’ when they see it,
but I still find it hard to point out what ‘my style’ is.
Can you tell me?
I would like to hear: what makes it ‘a real Marit’ ??
I’m very curious, so leave me a comment.

Have a nice weekend.
Go find your own style (whatever that is) and don’t worry if
you can’t find it – in any case; make sure you have fun on your quest.

This one’s for you Joe – may friendship and healing surround you!

For more haiku and photos, visit Recuaerda mi Corazon
where Rebecca hosts the weekly ‘Haiku my heart Friday’.

I stay at the beach with this next page… it’s the first page in the book
I made in Zeeland last weekend.

(Size of the pages: 13 x 17 cm - 5.12 x 6.7 inch)

The scrapbooking paper with seahorses has been in my stash forever!
I finally used it to cover up the inside of the cover. The photo was taken
by Elvy (put on a particular position her camera takes pics that look like
watercolour paintings. Awesome, isn’t it?)  That pose is typical for me
and I love how she captured that with her camera!

I started next page last weekend too.
Margot had  brought some little templates with her (6×6 inch) and I fell
in love with this one. I also glued the image on to the page but I got stuck
after that… I finished the page yesterday.

Size: 29,7 x 21 cm - 16.9 x 8.3 inch.

(For the Dutchies:  ‘Puffin’ is the translation of ‘papagaaiduiker’ –
the name of the bird)

For you who need inspiration to art journal: how about making a page
using the new prompt at A Year in the Life of an Art Journal ?

THE PROMPT: Pretty
THE SONG: Fuckin’ Perfect by Pink
PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE: Pink Paint Dripped like Blood

The design team created some awesome examples to inspire you, so
hop on over, take a look and play along! You can take all or parts of
the prompt, and MAKE THEM YOURS!! You don’t have to use the swear
words or you can use them all you want. Just make this prompt into
your art! Then go to the AYITLOAAJ-site and share a link to where
you’ve posted your page on line. Easy, isn’t it?

I started this page with a lot of enthusiasm. Painted the background green
and transferred a funny photo of myself. I also dripped some pink paint
from top to bottom. Next day I looked and… bleeehh… didn’t like it at all!

I threw in some pink spray ink – which turned out to be purple.
I stamped pink paint with a toilet roll. I put washi tape at the borders.
It became one, chaotic page and I got mad.

I wrote the text.
I didn’t like that either.
I got more mad.

I colored the circles (pink water soluble crayons) and outlined the text.

After that, the page was full. I didn’t like it but there was no room left to
add anything else. I considered to cover the page with gesso and start over,
but then it hit me: this f**ing page is f**ing perfect for this prompt –
and I’m not 😉

(Size: 21 x 19,5 cm - 8.3 x 7.7 inch)

Thanks for being around today!
I hope you liked this ‘glimpse into my silly life’
It’s healthy to act silly every now and then –
now go and have a wonderful weekend.
(Throw in some silliness!)

I thought it would be fun to tell you the inspiration-sources with each
piece I made last weekend.

(Remember you can click on each and every image to enlarge)

Inspiration source: Michelle LaPoint – Rydell

In my last post I commented that I was working on a page in my
‘album cover journal’. Michelle LaPoint – Rydell integrated album
sleeves in her art journals a while ago, and when I saw her doing this
I thought it would be neat to make something similar in my album
cover journal.

I journaled all bands and singers that I love or have dear memories of…
The old record (eeckk – James Last!) is there for the colour. I want to
replace it with another one from a more appropriate musician when I
find a label in the right colour.

Favourite music

approximately 30,5 x 30,5 cm - 12 x 12 inch

Used materials/techniques: Basic - Acrylic paint.
Journaling/doodling - poster paint sharpies.

Inspiration source: Daniella Hayes

In this blogpost, Danielle talked about a zentangling group she joined
and how much she’d learn there. I clicked on a link she provided – from
there on I clicked some more links and I ended up finding this tutorial
about paradox zentangling. I just HAD to try it in my grid journal!
(If you look well, you can discover a grid of 9 squares on this page)

Paradox – zentangles

15 x 15 cm - 6 x 6 inch

Used materials/techniques: Pentel: Tradio brush pen

Inspiration source: Scrapbookers Anonymous

Theresa and Lea started this challenge blog and wow – that was
a year ago already! Scrapbookers Anonymous is celebrating the event
with mini challenges al through the Month. The challenges are thought
up by different team members and some come with tutorials as well.
(See for example this tutorial and challenge, made by my friend Lena)

I made the next page especially for this challenge that was provided
by Theresa but in fact, almost all my art work fits the challenge:
no photo’s, journaling is required and use your stash.

29,7 x 42 cm - 11.7 x 16.9 inch

Used materials/techniques: old book pages, gesso, Ranger:
Adirondack color wash spray ink, self made mask, Caran d'Ache
Neocolor II: watersoluble crayons, hand curved stamps

(My ‘weekly page’ almost always fits the above challenge and this week
is no different. So hey Theresa & ‘Anonymous team:  I also submit the
chronicles page ‘week 36’  – it has more of the ‘journaling’ you asked for
in the challenge as well, so it may even fit better?!)

Inspiration source: LIFE!
and uhmm… Teesha Moore, Phinner, National Geographic

Teesha:  making borders out of old scraps of pattern papers may not be
exclusively Teesha’s idea, but I picked it up at her blog first.

Phinner: who send me the postcard with the funky ‘mardy grass’ dancer on it!

National Geographic magazines: My aunt gave me a whole bunch of these
magazines some years ago and I still use them a lot! There’s always a fun and
fitting image somewhere on one of the pages. I think I flipped through these
magazines a thousand times by now and it keeps on inspiring me!
This time, I cut out the photo of the meerkats.

The Chronicles of Marit 2011 – Week 36

(23 x 31 cm - 9.1 x 12.2 inch)

Used materials/techniques: gesso, acrylic paint (scraped upon
the page with an old credit card) scraps of paper for the border,
Glitz: teeny alpha stickers, cut out postcard ('dancer'), cut out
image from NG (meerkats) stamps (for the dates), poster paint sharpie

..
I have more work to show, but I will save that for another day.
Let’s say: Friday?!
Same time, same place?
See you then!

Weird things happened this week. Strange vibes were in the air.
I didn’t really feel it, but when I visited a few blogs after finishing
some (art)work I tumbled from one surprise into another!

Nothing strange happened with this page (but you never know,
I became cautious!) I made this last weekend…

(21 x 29,7 cm - 8.3 x 11.7 inch)

‘Wees een onafhankelijke denker. Wees de schaker, niet het schaakstuk’
~ Ralph Charell ~

‘Be an independent thinker. Be the chess player, not the chess piece’
~ Ralph Charell ~

It has been ages since I used my embossing tools, but I did on this page.
I had fun with Tim Holtz distress embossing powder!
A close up:

The above page was made in my Miscellaneous art journal.
I had not worked in this journal for a while, and when I flipped through the
pages I came across this page I made a few Months earlier.

(21 x 29,7 cm - 8.3 x 11.7 inch)

I made this as an example for one of the prompts in Summercamp.
The booktitles form a poem…

‘My mother and I
Two women
thinking about love and power’

An idea was born: why not combine titles to form a haiku
for Haiku my Heart? Aaah, that was way too difficult!

I changed my self-imposed challenge into
‘form a haiku from words on a bookpage’…

… and I did manage to do that!

(13 x 21 cm - 5.1 x 8.3 inch)

..

(I couldn’t get the syllables right in the Dutch translation without loosing
the meaning, so the Dutch one is not a haiku.)

(*** This page is made on the wings of a ‘stange vibe’ … see later on)

I made this page at the beginning of the week.
After that, I started working on something I’d planned to do the minute
I bought carving tools: make my own alphabet stamps!

I drew the alphabet, copied it onto erasers and started curving.
It took me two evenings to complete the whole alphabet.
On the paper, you can see I drew the ‘holes’ in the letters (the O for example)
I ruined two pieces of eraser trying to get that little peace out, so I decided
to leave it alone. I kinda like the effect of the ‘closed alphabet’ though!

(*** Strange vibes were still hanging in the air)

*** Here’s what happened when I visited some blogs.

Rosie had been working on a page with a technique called ‘found poetry’…
She shows a lovely page with cut out words and sentences that form a poem.
I must have picked up her ‘vibes’.

Julie Fei-Fan showed her hand carved alphabet she cut out a long time ago.
She even left the ‘holes in the letters’ closed, she must have had the same
problem with that as I faced! Julie’s vibes were in the air too I guess…

Can you imagine I hardly dare to start a new page?!
Who’s vibes will accompany me this time?

There might even someone stand up right now and say:
‘Hey, I made a page about chess last week! You copy-cat!’

I better clean the house.
Do the laundry.
Work in the garden.

🙁

Any cleaning vibes in the air, maybe?

Hope to see you next week.

But of course there’s not a day that goes by without creating something –
anything!

(Remember you can click on the images to enlarge, for a better view)

You already expected to see my ‘week-page’, didn’t ya?

The Chronicles of Marit 2011 – Week 16

On Monday, my beloved and I drove home from Zeeland (where we visited my
friend Lena) The sun was shining and my ‘hometown’ landscape was beautiful!
Green fields, flowering orchards and lambs in the meadows… I started my
weekly page with painting the background in that fresh ‘Spring-green’ colour
and added images from Zeeland (cut a map in circles, and used an image from
a brochure)

There are plans cooking in my head… my mind ran over last week and I
jotted it all down. The ideas are still in an early stage (but steadily growing!)
so I blurred the texts. Sorry, but it’s too early to tell you anything!

While working on my journal page, I used the left over paint and
scraps of paper to make two ATC’s for Songs in my heART

The song: I am a Rock by Paul Simon

The circle/stone – idea was inspired by my journal page I was working on
ánd by Teesha Moore, who makes ‘stacks of rocks’ (cairns) in real life as well
as on her journal pages. Read her post about it here.

A few weeks ago, I was flipping through a magazine looking for a certain image,
when I came across a beautiful photo – if I remember correctly it was taken at
some sort of Hindu-festival in India, where the people throw coloured powder
at each other. I couldn’t use the image at that moment, but tore it out and glued
it onto a new page. I recommend this way of working! Just glue down images
that speak to you, and work on the page later. If it so happens, that you don’t
like it anymore when you look back at it, add gesso to the page and start over.
You can’t go wrong here!

You can see I am ‘into greens’ lately 😀
Blame it on the weather!

“The highest prize we receive for creative work
is the joy of being creative”

~Marianne Williamson~

I love that quote!
It is also an important one that some people tend to forget sometime…
if you’re a blogger, you might recognize the idea of: ‘I have to make something
to show on my blog’. Don’t fall for it!!! Keep on enjoying and loving the process
instead of becoming a ‘creating machine’. I, myself, try to keep that in mind
and I used this quote in combination with the smiling, coloured ladies to
emphasize it as a reminder to myself.

I’m looking forward to a busy week.

Since I opened registration
for Creative Summer Camp,
participants keep on coming
in to register.

I don’t want to let them all down,
so I work hard to get everything
done in time. It’s going to be a fun,
fun, FUN and creative Summer!!!

..

Surprised to hear music playing?
Yep, my weblog is usually a ‘quiet place’ – but not today!

My son discovered the band ‘Eels’ last year.
He bought their cd’s, saw a documentary and went to a concert.
Ofcourse he played their music for us too, and I must say: he has
a good taste in music! I love the songs, the lyrics are awesome and
since I like to use lyrics in my art I made a page with it. I finished this
over a week ago (it was on the songs in my heART blog already) but
I show it to you while you hear that song playing. (At least I hope
you hear it – my beloved helped me include music into my blogpost…)

The background is one of the photos my mom send me – skies and clouds.
The eye is a gel medium transfer. The arm/hand is a photo of my own hand.
I made the pile of ‘earth’ with distress embossing powder. Acrylic paint in
the bottom part of the page, and journaling with a white sharpie.

“The sky in your eyes
The earth in your touch
The spirits come together
It’s almost too much
And this is where it gets good…”

And I have some ‘lists’ for you….
I have a blast working on these pages – the seize of the journal is fun to
work on (5.1 x 8.3) and I finished a couple of pages in the past two days
(and some more are halfway)

This is one I made last Friday

List #4 – Today’s Playlist

I think the next one is my least favourite page until now…
Oh well, not every page has to be perfect! Here it is

List #8 – What’s in my bag

On the other hand – the next page became one of my favourites… so cute!

List #9 – Favourite websites/blogs

And – as promised – my take on the ‘Fave things’ prompt:
Favourite Features.

This page, in particular the photo, has a comical story…

When I saw the prompt ‘favourite features’ I didn’t have to think long about it.
I have beautiful legs. Not long, but beautiful.

(I have to thank my mom! She is seventy now, but she still has legs like this!
Seriously, she looks like a young girl – and since my body shape looks like her,
I find that very encouraging. But never mind – where was I…)

Oh yes, my legs.
I once saw a photo of a pin up girl, laying on her back, wearing high heels
and having her feet put upon the wall… get the picture?
I wanted a photo of my legs that way…

I thought about asking my son to take the photo, but I felt a little bit
embarrassed to ask him (and besides – he was busy studying for a test)
so I let it go. My beloved? Sorry, but he’s not the best photographer
and again – embarrassing.

But then I suddenly had last Friday all to myself, remember?
So I thought – what the heck, let’s give it a try with the self timer.

I was wearing my old, comfy house suit, but I dressed up the lower part
of my body (c.q. legs) in nylon stockings and put my heels on.
The best light to take a photo (and a ‘free wall’ to place my feet) was in the
bedroom, so I placed the camera in the window-sill and put a pillow in place
where I would lay down (for focusing)
Then I hit the button – ‘ran’ to the spot – threw away the pillow – lay down
positioning my feet against the wall and waited for the ‘click-clack’.

I did this several times.

The photos looked absurd – but once I cut of the part where the worn out
sweatshirt and my red, sweaty face without make-up was visible.. the picture
was exactly what I was aiming for! I found a real funny quote to go with it,
so here’s my take on the prompt at These Are a Few of my Favourite Things

My favourite features: my legs!

“Darling, the legs aren’t so beautiful, I just know what to do with them.”
~ Marlene Dietrich ~

And you know what really made me giggle?

When I’d cut out the photo and positioned the image on my page,
I saw this:

Why had I  wrenched my body into those weird positions?
I could have achieved the same effect by sitting on a chair!

I hope you enjoyed this extra post.
I hope you enjoyed the music.
I hope you have a lovely Sunday!
I’ll be back on Tuesday – well, let’s make that Wednesday.
See ya!

As you noticed, this is a MONDAY post.
And there will be a WEDNESDAY post and
a FRIDAY- (OR-SATURDAY) post as well!

Why is that, you say?
Well, for one: I was very productive last weekend and
two: there is some work that can’t be showed before a certain date.

I won’t write a long post today, ’cause we have trouble with
the Internet access lately.
My ‘private expert’ spend last weekend figuring out what was wrong,
experimenting and re-setting (and swearing… that too!)
He thinks there’s something wrong with the modem, and he hopes to
get it fixed real soon. In the meantime, I create.
I can’t visit all your blogs as I used too, and I’m sorry that you didn’t
get much comments from me in the past days…

I’m online now, and I just hope this thing let me publish this blogpost!
So lets not make him work too hard (yes, ‘him’. Computers are male!
Rational – thinking in ‘one’s and zero’s’ *teehee*)

Here’s what I have to show:
(you can click on the images to enlarge for a better view)

The Chronicles of Marit

Week 8

Last week was filled with art journals, paint, crayons and embossing powder
(once I figured out how Tim Holtz’ “Distress embossing powder” worked,
I became hooked! I want more cans/colours now!)
The small strips with beautiful collages on the right are little business cards
that came with the goodies that Terri send me.

Here’s a page that I still don’t know what to think of it.
Is it good? Is it bad? Is it finished?
I throw it online here anyway…

Journaling:
Artistic temperament sometimes seems a battleground, a dark angel
of destruction and a bright angel of creativity wrestling ~ Madeleine L’Engle ~

I worked in my big art journal this weekend, you know – the 9.8 x 13.7 inch
journal my son gave to me. I’m in love with the structure of the paper, look
at how it shows when I use my watercolour pastels on it!!! Even the layer
of gesso won’t take away the structure. No doubt, you will see more ‘big pages’
coming this week – I just can’t take my hands off of this journal!

The image is cut out of a ‘National Geographic’ – as are the alpha’s.
I have a big pile of old NG’s, a treasure I got from my aunt.
Every art journal artist should have a stack of magazines (and an aunt!)
like this!

In the time I wrote this post, I had to stop five times because there was
no Internet access… I’m going to hit the publish button and get off of here…
there’s a big table downstairs waiting for me to work on!
I am going to roll my little drawer next to it, and hit the journaling road!

See you on Wednesday!

Hello, hello, this is the teacher in me speaking.
Yep, I start this Tuesday with a blindingly obvious platitude,
but those are the ones we easily forget.
I needed a reminder myself last week…

You might remember this unfinished art journal page?
(I showed it in my former post.)

For those who didn’t read that post:

I started this journal page, using the ‘painty’ instructions from the
step-by-step instructions on Julie’s Art Journal Every Day blog.

I completed the first two instructions…

1. Prep a page.
2. Apply acrylic paint with a credit card. Scratch into it with a toothpick.

It isn’t my way of working at all, and I didn’t like the page much…

I shoved this page aside but I kept on coming back to it; I don’t like unfinished
business you know. So I decided to not follow Julie’s steps anymore and make
this page my own without worrying if it was ‘according to the rules’.
I did use some of her ideas though (apply gesso, scrape it off again. Paint
shapes onto a bookpage, cut out the shapes and glue them onto the page)
but I also added a collage, I did some doodling and I made it work for me!

I worked on it all Sunday afternoon (I discovered that ’10 minutes a day’
doesn’t work for me either… not when I have the feeling that it is  ‘ordered’
anyway… )

And now this page is mine!

The text says: For those about to rock: find your own voice.
I thought that was pretty smart of me, to glue this ‘lesson’ onto this page 😀

In the meantime, I was working in my ‘Chronicles’ art journal.
The moment I started this page, at the beginning of last week, it felt
like this one was going to be an awesome one… and yesssss… it is!
I love it!

Week #5

It’s odd really… I work almost every day in my ‘Chronicles’ art journal,
sometimes even for a short time (like 10 minutes?) and in this journal,
it seems to work for me. Then why doesn’t it work when I create an “Art
Journal Every Day” page?

I thought about it, and I figured it out.
“The Chronicles” is MY LIFE JOURNAL, and it is in DUTCH (I can always
find the right words in Dutch… while in English I have to think and translate!)
I just feel comfortable with this journal, I fiddle around, describing my week
and I don’t ever worry if it is going to be ‘good’.

Why can’t I do that on another ‘every day’ page too?
Simple: I poured everything I wanted to do/say on this page already!
And when I’m done, it is over. Finished. Basta. Seen that. Move on…

…and not start something similar on another page.
After playing with my ‘Chronicles’, I like to create something else,
mostly a page with a theme or quote or picture I have in mind.

I don’t know if I explain it right, but I have a clear vision on how it works
(and not works) for me. Thanks to Julie: (different) lesson learned. YEAY!

Have a lovely week, keep on rocking in your own voice!

“One World One Heart is a worldwide event for bloggers only.
It gives all those who blog a chance to meet and mingle and
form connections with those they may not have otherwise met
from all over the world….Think of it as a GIGANTIC open house
allowing you to travel without ever leaving your home……..
going from blog to blog in various countries, and meeting all
the fabulous people behind them. As a bonus each blogger
participant will offer up a “door prize or prizes”…. just for
dropping by, saying hello and seeing their world.”

Find the list of all participants here

I guess you don’t feel like reading long posts, ’cause you may have visited a lot
of blogs already, and still have a lot to go… so I will keep the introduction short
and instead, present you a short overview of my artwork.

..

But before you see my art – a little bit about me:

I’m Marit Barentsen and I live in the Netherlands. I am a passionate artist and
I graduated as a teacher in arts. I teach online art journal workshops on my
website Marit’s Paper World.

I discovered ‘scrapbooking’ in 2003 but over the last years, my art changed
from scrapbooking to art journaling. When you look at both fields, there is a
certain cross over and I like to explore the boundaries of it. I also like to use
words (quotes, song lyrics) in my art and my art work often contains details
or words that have a deeper meaning.

I think that’s enough for now… if you want to know more about me, or see
more of my work, you can find my resume and galleries in the menu
on top of this blog.

Here are some pages from last year that gives a clear view on what I create.
(And Yep, there is a door prize too! Hang on, you’ll get there!)

In 2010 I started “The Chronicles of Marit”
It’s an art journal in which I work during the week, filling the page with
text and images preserving the things I thought and did in that week.

The Chronicles of Marit: Week 34 – 2010

The Chronicles of Marit: Week 2 – 2011

Last year, I participated in ‘A Year in the Life of an Art Journal’.
This is a art journal blog that publishes prompts twice a month to get
you started and create an art journal page. I’m proud to say that
for this year 2011, I was asked to be a guest host!

Pages from last year:

With the word: Moment

With the word: Vision

I love me a good swap! ATC cards, Yeay!

ATC: Uprising (song by Muse)

I even dared to make skinnies: Bettie

Another art journal page.
I like this one very much!

Big dreams

People who follow my blog, know that I’m totally in love with bookbinding
lately. Especially with the new binding I learned last December.

So here is the book that I made as a doorprize and that YOU can win
if you leave me a comment!
I kept the cover quite simple, you can add your own title later if you like.
The blank paper inside is from ‘Winston and Newton’ (220 gr. = 0.5 lb.)
and the seize is 14 x 20 cm (= 5.5 x 7.9 inch)
It contains 12 pages (24 sides) and it’s ideal for sketching or art journaling.

Here’s a picture from aside, so you can see the awesome way
this book was bound!

This sketch book / art journal can be yours!
You don’t have to do anything but leave me a comment!
I announce the winner on February 17.
(Note: I will contact the winner by e-mail so make sure
you type the right address when you leave me a comment!)

Thanks for visiting my blog! See ya!