A short blogpost today – as my son is visiting and…

IT IS HIS BIRTHDAY!!!

So I found a book title haiku especially for him!

*My son's name is "Nout" - which is coming from the name "Aernout" 
meaning "Ruler of Eagles"

And of course I submit this haiku to Haiku my Heart Friday – the weekly event where haiku-lovers gather around our lovely hostess Rebecca to find poetry, inspiration, wise words and a lot of kindness and love.

And here’s another series of index cards to go in the Box of Longing and created for ICAD

Passion

Attention

Precision

And the weekly art journal spread: The Chronicles of Marit 2013 – Week 26

Size: 31 x 24,5 cm – 12.2 x 9.6 inch

That’s it for today dear ones… I am going to enjoy my son’s visit as it has been weeks since I had him around. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Hello Friday, Hello Friends – let me start with a warning.. this blogpost contains
an OVERLOAD on PICTURES and it even starts with a VIDEO.
Are you in for all that? Then welcome, come on in!

To begin with this

We did it again! FEATURING #4 is out and I am majorly proud!!!
As you know we ship the magazine all over the world, so no matter where you live:
if you buy it, we send it your way! Purchase your copy HERE

On to another Book title Haiku now.
[Yes, I found yet another haiku combining the titles of my books… ]

*English title: Scarlet Feather 

And of course I submit this haiku to Haiku my Heart Friday –  the weekly event where haiku-lovers gather around our lovely hostess Rebecca to find poetry, inspiration, wise words and a lot of kindness and love.

A week ago, I received this comment from Michelle LaPoint Rydell

I answered the first question ~ HOW MANY JOURNALS DO YOU HAVE GOING? ~ in last Wednesday-post, and today I’ll walk you through my creative process

~ WHAT IS YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS LIKE? ~

I documented the process of making my weekly “Chronicles” spread to show you how I work. I make these weekly spreads for the fourth year now. (I just counted the spreads, and the one created here is #165) During those four years, I build up a certain routine – that starts at the beginning of the week. Tammy asked about it in an interview once and here’s the answer I gave:

“My way of working on the spreads changed over the years. I started with making the spread on Monday (creating the background and add the first images and text) and added some more every day. Eventually, that didn’t work for me. The spreads looked disjointed by the end of the week. Also, unexpected events could happen during the week and when it did, there was no room left on the pages to write about it because of what I added already. Another ‘problem’ I bumped on to was that the ‘feel’ of a week could change when the days went by. For instance, I would start with creating a bright, green or yellow background on a sunny Monday and then it would rain from Tuesday ’til Sunday… things like that changed my mood and by the end of the week the spread had the wrong ‘feel’.”  [Read the complete interview here on the Daisy Yellow blog]

So now I have a sheet of paper laying in the house, where I jot down what I did each day. Just short notes, like ‘I went to the market’. I make my weekly spread in the weekend – I sometimes start on Saturday but usually I make it from scratch on Sundays. Reading the notes at the end of the week automatically bring back the memories. (Sometimes, there’s a longer story to tell and my notes are longer then…)

Also, when I come across an image that I think would fit on the weekly spread, I keep it with the notes.

Last week looked like this:

The ‘card’ is a gelatine monotype that I stitched on. I did not know what to do with it next, so I kept it to use on my Chronicles page.

On to making the spread then… when looking at the mono type, I noticed that little bit of ochre in the image and I decided to paint my pages in that colour… so I got out the paint and smeared ochre on the page using an old credit card.

… and now comes the fun part of my creative process… that’s how the brain works (well, my brain anyway…)

– I have paint and a plastic credit card on the table already.
– The Chronicles pages need to dry.
– I have a stack of index cards for grabs.
– My hands are dirty already…

So ‘in between’ I add paint to three index cards – no idea where that will lead me later – but I don’t have to think about it now.

And did I randomly choose these colours to smear on the index cards? It may seem like that, but if you looked closely to the former photos, you’ll see that the same colours were used on my ‘starting point’ – the monotype… apparantly I am in that particular ‘colour mood’ and therefore it is no wonder I chose these blues.

Back to the Chronicles page then…. let’s take a bigger step:

I added the monotype (using washi tape) and I put a bit of colour around the ochre shape to balance the colours. After that, I cut out paper strips to make a colourful frame. I outlined the paper scraps with a black sharpie to give it more contrast. (You can see the difference, as on the above picture there’s a part of the frame – on the right – outlined, while the left side is still without lines…)

Next, I think the spread needs yet another image – so I grab some old magazines and flip through the pages. The ‘jumping woman with the robe’ maybe???

Naah…. too big a picture…

This one’s better!

Next, I draw lines to put the journaling on.
(using black and white sharpies)

Last, I write the journaling using my notes as a guide/memory support.
I filled in the ‘holes’ of the letters with a red copic marker just for a fun finishing touch.
So here it is:

Chronicles of Marit 2013 – Week 25

Size: 31 x 24,5 cm - 12.2 x 9.6 inch

The index cards with the blue paint – shown above – are not finished yet, but I did make two other cards for the Box of Longing which I – of course – also submit to ICAD

This is another example of how my ‘creative process’ works [don’t worry, there’s not as many pictures as above 😉 ]

Flipping through magazine pages, I bumped onto this advertisement.

I cut out the text.

Seeing that red line, the map of the London underground came to mind

The red line was the inspiration for the stitching – and here’s the index card I ended up with.

Take a Different Road

and another card, collaged with scraps torn out of the book The Brewery Manual 1961 – 1962
that I bought on a flea market years ago.

Dig this… Real Cool Beer

“Real cool beer” would go perfectly with Summer temperatures but we experience cold, grey and rainy days here in the Netherlands. I even had to put on a cardigan to stay warm. Can you believe it? In June??!!

I do hope it will get better soon because tomorrow the Tour de France starts, and it is half the fun to have to close the curtains against the bright sun to be able to watch the race on TV. I really look forward to it!

And you? Is there something you look forward to?
Whatever you are planning, I wish you all a wonderful weekend!.

Hello Friday, Hello Friends!

I have a sore and thick left hand (some inflammation maybe?) and typing is not good for it – but I do have a lot of art to show… so this post will contain more pictures and less words then.

Starting with… another Book title Haiku!

* original title: Minding Frankie

And of course I submit my haiku to Haiku my Heart Friday

I picked up working in my Chronicles Art  Journal again, here’s last week’s spread

Chronicles of Marit 2013 – Week 24

Size: 31 x 24,5 cm – 12.2 x 9.6 inch

and a spread from another art journal

Zeeuwse Ziel ~ Horror Scenario

Size: 34 x 30 cm – 13.4 x 12 inch

Detail of the stitching with journaling

I am still going strong on the index cards – mostly I create collages but some other techniques start to slip in lately…
I will show those later though. Here is a series of collages – for the Box of Longing and submitting to ICAD

10:30 AM

1:00 PM

5:00 PM

I’m off now dear ones… I cannot type as long and as much as I would like, but I CAN surf around using my pen and tablet (luckily I am right handed!) so I might pay you a visit today! Enjoy the weekend!!

Hello Friday, Hello Friends!

I managed to compose another book title haiku for you, but I am almost done with it as I used up most of the books in my bookcase that have the right syllables in the titles… I am at a point that I use titles that has been used in a book title haiku before – combining them differently to get another haiku – but the end is near… somewhere this Summer, these book title haiku’s will stop and I have to decide if I go back to writing haiku (submitting to Haiku my Heart) OR start a new series “Found Poetry Friday” (which will give me more freedom to ‘compose poems’ than haiku…)  What do you think?

Anyway – for now – here’s another Book title Haiku!

And of course I submit my haiku to Haiku my Heart Friday

Some of you may have noticed that I did not post any pages from the “Chronicles” journal lately… that’s right. When things are not going well, this is what happens…

Chronicles of Marit 2013 – Week 19
[an attempt to journal, but not finished]

Chronicles of Marit 2013 – Week 20 – 21 – 22
[‘black weeks’ in which I did nothing…]

Chronicles of Marit 2013 – Week 23 – 21 – 22
[cautious attempt to resume art journaling]

… and week 24 is looking better even… I’m working on it!

I DID make
a lot of collages
on index cards –
for the Box of Longing
and for ICAD

 The Smell of Fields Before Harvest

The Crystal Clarity of a Night

The Intimacy of Conversations on the Road

And that’s it dear ones… thanks for visiting me again.
I wish you all a nice weekend with Crystal Clear Nights and Intimate Conversations.

OH MAN… the path to FEATURING issue #4 was not a smooth one!
We faced illness, technical and personal difficulties and set-backs –
but the team helped each other out and we have achieved to finish
the fourth issue with success. So now… drumroll please….

I am happy to announce that issue #4

of FEATURING is COMING SOON!

And this issue is indeed as  inspirational, versatile and artsy as the former ones, if not more.

But hey, I am the editor-in-chief and the magazine is my baby so why should you believe me?
You better go and see for yourself.

Read the brief summary of the content

Flip through some of the pages in the preview

It will take a while for the actual paper magazine to get back from the printing office, but you may want to pre-order the magazine because when you do that, you have the chance to win a Mixed Media Paper Craft Kit from Gauche Alchemy!!

Yes, you heard it right: FEATURING cooperated with GAUCHE ALCHEMY for A GIVE AWAY.

We will give away 5 ACME Mixed Media Paper Craft kits to readers who pre-order issue #4 before June 23. The fourth issue of the magazine will be released soon after.

Now that is an extra reason to want to order the magazine, isn’t it? Why not go ahead then. PRE ORDER/BUY your copy now to have your name in the hat for our give away and to make sure the fourth issue of FEATURING will come your way as soon as it is released.

Done? YAY! Thanks!
On to the haiku and the rest of the post then.

*This has nothing to do with me - just saying, in case you start to worry.

As always, I submit my haiku to Haiku my Heart Friday

This Summer, I am participating in Tammy Garcia’s Index-Card-A-Day 2013

Tammy asked me to co-operate and I contributed a tutorial – which you can find here – and translated all the prompts and themes for her. Artists from different countries helped with translating, so besides the English texts, you can find the ICAD prompts in Dutch, French, Italian and Swedish now! Here are the prompts for week #1 and here’s week #2

The themes and prompts Tammy gives are all optional but I decided to try and work with the given challenges…  the overall theme for week #1 was ‘Color’ or ‘Rainbow colors’.
So far, I made (only) three index cards but I hope to catch up…

ICAD prompt #1 – Zebra

ICAD prompt #2 – Candyland

ICAD prompt #3 – “Faux Stitches”

Working on these cards is a good practice for me to ‘loosen up and let go’ – something I always tell my students in the workshops to do but have to be reminded of myself from time to time…

This was quite a long blogpost… did you read all the way and are you still with me?
WOW, then you’re the best!

The sun is shining overhere (finally Summer arrived this week!) and I am going to grab me a stack of index cards, some colored pens, a cool drink and a chair…. and spend the afternoon in the garden. I hope to visit the haiku circle later.

I wish you all sunshine and joy this weekend.
Go grab an index card and color a rainbow!

Book title haiku for Haiku My Heart Friday

Haiku my Heart is hosted by the lovely Rebecca.
Find the list with participants on Recuerda Mi Corazon.

Link love

Tammy Garcia at “Daisy Yellow” is on a mission to share the love for bloggers. I think it is such a great idea to share links to fellow bloggers and/or blogposts that got our attention or had us in awe and aah. We all love it when visitors find our blog, read our posts and leave a comment isn’t it – so why not pay it forward?

[By the way: Tammy’s “Index-Card-A-Day” event starts tomorrow!]

And now for the links: I wasn’t online much last week but on Wednesday, I participated in WOYWW (see former post) and visited quite some fellow-desk-lovers… here are some things/blogs I came across and enjoyed.

The clean and tidy closet from Alison at Oh I hope this one is better

Colorful crocheting and lovely fabrics at Lunch Lady Jan

Neat effects with filters: the ATC’s at Bluebeard and Elizabeth

Dianne Marcoux played with gesso.

The desk from the whimsical Annette always amazes me!

Oh, and sweeties, don’t forget the ONLINE Summer camp will open its doors tomorrow!

The online Summer camp Community bursts with challenges, tips, sketches, techniques and inspiration. Over 30 prompts lie waiting for you from which you can choose randomly. The Summer camp will be open all Summer (June-July-August.)  There are no fixed ‘course times’ – just look around whenever you feel like, and choose what seems nice to you. It’s fun and it’s cheap.

Click on the logo to find out all about Summer Camp or sign in HERE
to join the creative happy online campers this Summer!

Book title haiku for Haiku My Heart Friday

 ..

Art journal: Schrijven Over Schrijvers (“Writing over/about Writers”)

Virginia Wood

Link love

Tammy Garcia at “Daisy Yellow” is on a mission to share the love for bloggers. I think it is such a great idea to share links to fellow bloggers and/or blogposts that got our attention or had us in awe and aah. We all love it when visitors find our blog, read our posts and leave a comment isn’t it – so why not pay it forward?

Here are the links I want to share this Friday. Enjoy!

Catherine at PHOTOCAT’S EYES – a blogpost stuffed with beautiful black and white photos and a provoking text.

Nigel at Freebird’s Flights of Fancy – I visit Nigel less than I should… that’s why I pay him some link love today.

John at Artjuvenation – this collage is stunning.

Lisa Hoffman – just because Lisa is Lisa.

and

Roxanne Evans Stout at River Garden Studio – her blogpost filled with Spring photos and flowers brought some happiness into the grey and rainy Dutch day. I hope the sun will find us in the Netherlands too, eventually

Last – but not least…

Do you see that logo with the happy jumping girl in my side menu?

Due to popular demand, the ONLINE Summer camp will open its doors for the second time.
It’s fun and it’s cheap. Click on the logo to find out all about Summer Camp or sign in HERE
to join the creative happy online campers this Summer!

Thanks for your visit again dear ones, it always makes me happy to see you stop by!
I wish you all a SUNNY weekend…

Book title haiku for Haiku My Heart Friday

The Chronicles of Marit – Week 18

Card for my mom

Tammy “Daisy Yellow” Garcia is on a mission to share the love for bloggers.

I think it is such a great idea to share links to fellow bloggers and/or blogposts that got our attention or had us in awe and aah. We all love it when visitors find our blog, read our posts and leave a comment isn’t it – so why not pay it forward?

Here are the links I want to share this Friday – the first link is to an artist and dear blogfriend I know for quite some time now, the other’s link to blogs/artists I recently discovered. Enjoy!

• ~*~ Patty at Magpie’s Nest   (Oh, and Patty added links at the end of my BIG Road Trip post – North Carolina here – those links/posts are worth wile reading!)
  

• It was Patty who brought Conny at Piaroms Art Blog to my attention. (You’ll find some awesome video’s of her working-process on her blog too!)

• Molly‘s  Buddha Doodles – which she publishes daily – make me smile, cheer me up when I feel down or teach me a lesson (and sometimes her doodles do that all at once!) And if you know me or saw the header of my facebook page, you will understand I especially love yesterday’s doodle.)

• Heather aka Head Krazy at Kookaburra Laughing Productions: colourful, open and honest art journaling – that’s how I like it!

• Vicky from In My Head Studios – especially her gelli prints grabbed my attention.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.

Good morning and good Friday you all!

Last week, my book title haiku was in honor of our new King. This week I have again a Dutch
‘event-related’ haiku. May 4 & 5 are “memorial days” in The Netherlands. On May 4th, our country memorizes the victims of war (WW II as well as all other wars) and “V-day” (‘victory in Europe’ or ‘freedom day’) is celebrated on May 5th.

First, here’s my booktitle haiku.

* "Short American" is a phrase that was used for a certain haircut
that became popular in the fifties - it refers to the type of haircut
that American soldiers/allies had.

This haiku is submitted to Haiku my Heart Friday. Go to Recuerda Mi Corazon to find a link-list of all the other haiku lovers.

In my former post I left you with a cliffhanger, remember?
I promised to show you my latest Chronicles art journal spread and the scary photos I used on those pages.

I did work in my Chronicles journal a bit, but I spend most time yesterday on playing with the gelatin plate that sat in the fridge unused for over a week… so there are all kinds of half-finished pages laying on my desk today. It looks like this.

… and yes, I glued the ‘scary photos’ on the art journal page… and I don’t mean the photo of the new king and queen 😉

I mean these:

See… that’s my son up there on the roof!
EEEEECKKKK! What did I tell ya?
Is that scary or what?!

We discovered a big water-stain on the bedroom ceiling some time ago, and when we stood in the garden and looked at the roof, it seemed as if some tiles on the roof had shoved. We were not sure if that was causing the problem though. My beloved is afraid of heights (acrophobia) and I am not much of a hero either… but my dear son was anxious to get on the roof when he heard of the leak! I know he is not a reckless guy so I let him, but still I felt it in my stomach when he went up there! The neighbours were kind enough to open their roof window so he could climb through there.

“… and is it fixed?” you might ask now. My son did not manage to get the tiles straight but he made pictures with his phone, so we could at least have a look at the problem ourselves and still keep our feet on the ground 😉 We then called a professional contractor who put the tiles straight and that should do it. It has not rained much since then, so we are not sure if it is fixed, but the weather report predict some showers in the next days so keep your fingers crossed please!

More water… in my Zeeuwse Ziel art journal

I dreamed of water and floating through a river the other day and I made the next art journal page inspired by that dream.

There is some collage-ing on this page (the ‘blobs’ are cut out of aerial photos from a swampland.) I also used dylusion spray ink, water-soluble crayons and black and white posca pens.

And that’s it for today. [Sorry, no link love… I’ll make that up to you next week.] This afternoon I intend to ‘dive into Facebook’ to find out why it is that I have a facebook page but don’t see a timeline. Neither can I become ‘friends’ with other people. I guess that all has to do with the fact that I do not have a ‘personal account’ (only a ‘page’ account, which probably is seen as ‘business’…) I hope to figure some things out so I can finally and officially ‘like you’ and become your ‘friend’! Ha!

Well, FRIENDS, may you all have a nice weekend.
Don’t forget mom!

For the ones who missed the news and/or my last blogpost this week: The Netherlands have a new king.

Why do I tell you that – again – you ask?
Well… my book title haiku for Haiku My Heart Friday is about the king this week!

Each Friday I join the circle of haiku-lovers. I add my name to the list and I go say hi to all my fellow-poets, especially to our hostess Rebecca who generously opens her blog Recuerda Mi Corazon for all haiku lovers on Fridays. YOU are very welcome to join too.

I haven’t showed you any pages from my Chronicles art journal over the last couple of weeks. That is because I had a difficult time and I did not create any art journal spreads, I only wrote a couple of sentences on the pages and I like to keep those for myself. Last week, I picked up the creating again so here’s the latest spread.

The Chronicles of Marit – Week 17

The collage on the right is a card I received from my neighbour… lovely, isn’t it?!
Thanks Miriam!

I visited Sara Jansen’s blog Adventures in the Fun Room this week and my-oh-my… it was SNOWING where she lived! Eeeckk… I am glad to say we finally left winter beyond and today is bright, sunny and colourful… this is how my front yard looks!

I cut some branches from the tree in our garden to put in a vase…

Spring is in da house!

April is over but Tammy “Daisy Yellow” Garcia continues her mission to share the love and link up to fellow bloggers.

I think it is such a great idea to share links to bloggers and/or blogposts that got our attention this week. After all, don’t we all love it when visitors find our blog, read our posts and leave a comment?

Sooo… I continue to share some links on Friday in May.

• I named Sara Jansen in snowy Alaska already – here’s the link to her blog Adventures in the Fun Room

• I found Sara through “WOYWW” (What’s On Your Work desk Wednesday) – a fun ‘event’ that is hosted by the lovely Julia on her blog Stamping Ground You can read all about woyww here.

• I discovered a blog from a creative and – most of all – brave lady. Candace took a deep breath, a huge leap and changed her life around. Now that is some woman! Us Three By The Sea

•  I made me another gelatin plate yesterday – it’s in the fridge right now and ready to be taken from the pan. I definitely will show you the monotypes I make with it and then I also link the post to Carolyn Dube and her May’s Colorful Gelli Print Party! so stay tuned for a ‘monotype blogpost’ next week!

• I ‘know’ Glenda for quite some time now (four years?) and I LOVE her journal pages. She is a host at ‘A Year In The Life Of An Art Journal’ and I am a fan of her fun and quirky art work! View her latest art journal page in this blogpost that is called Coffee Rocks  – I’d say: Glenda Rocks!

Hope your weekend is sunny and bright and filled with pink blossom!