I don’t have much to show myself… my arm is doing better every day but still not healed properly, so I art journal a bit but only for short periods of time – building up a spread takes a couple of days that way but at least I can CREATE a bit! This week I also started working at my job again. Only two hours a day to see how that goes. The first day I was very tired afterwards but it is getting better every day. We build it up carefully.

I took a photo of my desk early this morning so you can see what’s on…

WOYWW #606

If you read my former post you know that I was interviewed by a journalist of a local door-to-door news paper (do you have those abroad? A free newspaper with local news from your city?) He took a lot of photos of me and my art and the article should be in the newspaper today (only, it wasn’t in the mailbox, so I haven’t seen it printed yet)

but that’s not all…

He got so excited about everything I do that he also made a video-interview! It’s in Dutch, of course, but in case you are interested to see (and hear) me talk and move, you can view it HERE

Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you are doing well in these bizarre times… we’ll get there eventually, keep hangin’ on and stay safe!

MAN, some week we had huh? In the Netherlands we also saw the terrible scenes on Capitol Hill, what a world we live in! I think of all my American friends – are you OK overthere and can you find peace of mind after what happened? I send warm hugs your way!

On the other hand, I myself had a nice week. My arm is getting better every day and I payed my collegues at work (Zeeuws Archief) a visit. Because of the lock down, there were only view people in the building and at a safe distance we drank coffee and chatted for a bit. I will get back to my job in the restauration and conservation atelier next week, only for a few hours, to test if I (and my arm) are up to working again, and I will build up from there. I’m looking forward to that!

There’s more to tell but let me post this week’s haiku first…

Friday haiku

The photo is taken by Lena Schreijenberg

I submit this haiku to Recuerda Mi Corazon where our lovely hostess Rebecca brings us all together to share a haiku on Friday: Haiku my Heart

As you know, I couldn’t create while recovering from surgery. Weeks went by without playing in my art journals so the moment I got back in my atelier, my Chronicles art journal showed a lot of blank “week-spreads” to fill. I turned to an ‘easy trick’ to fill the blank weeks: I printed the ‘update emails’ that my beloved and I sent to friends in November and December and glued those on the weekly pages. That way, my journal keeps the story without me having to write it all over again. Those pages are in the photo gallery on my website. There’s only one week that shows some creativity.

The Chronicles of Marit 2020 – Week 49

I bound a new Chronicles journal to use in 2021 before I had surgery (knowing I wouldn’t be able to bind a book in the weeks after…) but I had not decorated the cover yet. I managed to make something of it late December… it’s simple (some paint and big, bold lettering) but I like it nevertheless.

The Chronicles of Marit 2021 – Cover

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions. Instead, I choose ‘one little word’ to focus on. For this year I picked the words ‘unlimited spontaneous’ (it has ‘Carpe Diem’ as a subtitle.) I could tell you the backgrounds, my considerations and the whys that led to choosing this word but I guess it’s pretty obvious for all who know what I went through the last couple of months.

The Chronicles of Marit 2021 – First page (“OLW”)

I hardly created this page when I got the opportunity to ACT to it… last weekend a journalist approached me and asked if he could interview me for a local newspaper. With ‘my words’ in mind, I said yes right away. Last week he came by and got really excited about my work. We talked a lot and as an addition to the article, he filmed me too – it’s already published online and although it’s in Dutch, you might want to ‘see me move and talk in person’- so HERE’S THE LINK.

Thanks for stopping by today, have a lovely weekend and stay safe!

Je t’embrasse

Anyway, let’s not jump ahead ’cause there is something nice happening right now too… I’ve been published in The Daisy Yellow E-zine!

This zine is a publication by Tammy Garcia from Daisy Yellow and it’s chock full with interesting articles and inspiring tips (just like Tammy’s blog Daisy Yellow itself.) Take a look at the the table of contents.

Awesome content isn’t it? You can purchase the zine HERE

The article I wrote for the zine is called ‘Always Something to Write About‘ (it’s worth the read if I may say so myself) and you already know of course that I always have something (or a lot of things…) to write about. My Chronicles pages illustrate that. Here’s a bunch of spreads from my Chronicles art journal that I haven’t show you yet.

The Chronicles of Marit 2015 – Week 44

The Chronicles of Marit 2015 – Week 45  

The Chronicles of Marit 2015 – Week 46

I ordered a new A3 block of drawing paper, the kind of paper I use to bind my journals with, so I can make a new Chronicles art journal for 2016. The 2015-Chronicles-journal is 15 cm x 21,5 cm {5.9 x 8.5 inch} the spreads are 30 x 21,5 cm and I like to change the size. I love the size of my ‘Grandes Chaleurs‘ journal so I am thinking to bind the new Chronicles journal in a similar size. It’s kind of a tradition to change the size every new year.

I’m also reflecting on my ‘word of the year‘ (in my case it was a ‘sentence of the year’ in 2015, but for next year I might pick a word again.) Did you choose a word to ‘live by’ in 2015? Did it work out for you?

Thanks for swinging by my blog today, I hope you all have a nice week. See ya soon and remember: Keep On Rockin’ in the Free World 😉

Yep, you are in the right place… that is, if you like both art journaling and magazines. Last month, my art got published in the latest issue of Stampington’s “Art Journaling” and Stampington & Company informed me that I could give away an issue to all my US followers.

Now I do have a lot followers from the US (hi guys!) but because I live in the Netherlands, I also have a lot of online friends and faithful followers outside America. I do not want to leave those sweeties out of the draw so I will order another issue of the magazine that will go to one lucky winner living outside the United States.

Yes, you read that right,

I GIVE AWAY TWO (2!) ISSUES

Here’s a glimpse of my article that is in this issue

but of course there is a lot more to enjoy.

I read the magazine from cover to cover and back again, enjoying the different articles and art styles. I especially liked seeing the pages of Hope Wallace (Well Traveled.) Her travel journal reminds me a bit of my Chronicles art journals. I was in ooh and aaw over the art from Ella Wilson (Steam of Consciousness) and I was happily surprised to find an article from my friend Glenda Tkalac in the magazine. There’s also tips from the artists and techniques to try in the magazine.

So… what do you have to do to win this magazine?
Simple,

leave me a comment in which you let me know what country you live.

I do take compliments too 😉 and you ARE of course most welcome to like me on facebook, share this post etcetera, but that won’t give you ‘extra points’ or something. Leaving me a comment telling me where you live is enough to be part of the drawing.

I will announce the winners on NOVEMBER 11

(that’s my blog anniversary folks… I will be blogging for 7 years then!)

I’m looking forward to see all your comments.

1. It’s my birthday today!
   .
   
2. My article and art is published in the Autumn edition of Art Journaling by Somerset Studio..
3. I cleaned and re-organized my atelier, it feels brand new!

Overview photo (click to enlarge)

Here are the photos again… with a little explanation.

These photos should give you a good view on how my atelier looks like right now.
I’ll show you what is behind the doors of the grey closet some other time.
I’m signing off for now to eat home-made cake and celebrate good times.
Have a great weekend you all,
be creative,
bake a cake.

Here’s the photo of my desk, just as it was this morning.

WOYWW #308

I’m glad that my desk is not empty and clean, but shows fun things. Projects and art journal pages that I work on just for ME! That does not mean that I do not work on the assignment I talked about earlier, but now that the end of that job is in sight I have a better view on the time left to finish that. And since I’m well on track, I’m less nervous that I won’t make it before the deadline and don’t feel so anxious anymore to plan some free ‘play time’ in between.

I did create a few art journal pages last weekend that I planned to post today, but my plan was thwarted by the following EXCITING announcement that I want to share:

Last week, this amazing book by Dawn DeVries Sokol was released…

… and my art is in it!!

I haven’t seen this book myself yet (cannot wait to lay my hands on it) but Marcia Beckett – who’s art is in the book also – was so kind to take a photo of ‘my page’ and send it to me.

Here are the three pages that are published in the book.

The Chronicles of Marit 2013 – Week 13

 Thunderstorm I

 Thunderstorm II

Wanna have a peek at more pages? Marcia put a video on her blog HERE in which she flips through the pages. “A World of Artist Journal Pages” is not yet available in the Netherlands, but if you are interested, it can be ordered at Amazon (see link in the side menu.)

And that’s it for today folks. I will post the art journal pages I created on another date (like Friday) so you will have to come back here then if you’re curious to see those. Thanks for stopping by and have a great Wednesday.

I skipped blogging last Wednesday but today I am back with – as the title suggests – a very special tale from my studio… so put on the music and do the happy dance with me. This is what I am so happy about:

See that? That is my name there, on the index page of a book… and see all those numbers behind my name? They point to the pages I can be found. Pretty impressing huh?!! The ‘double pages’ in the book show photo’s of me and/or my work and the single numbers point to pages where a quote of me can be found…  I’ll show you some glimpses at the end of this post but there’s more to show today, so come on in and enjoy!

A “Golden Oldie” layout to start with…

(I don’t create ‘traditional scrapbook layouts’ anymore but every Wednesday I dive into my albums and lift a ‘golden oldie.’ The layouts I pick are random, YOU – blog readers – name the number of the album and layout to show. Let me know in a comment which album you want me to open next week – to avoid that you name layouts that have already been requested, you can find a list showing the ‘free’ numbers to choose from on this page.

This request came from Bonnie Leukert. Bonnie found me/my blog via my facebook page, and she choose album 7 – layout 11 as her birthday is July 11th.

Mother & Son

Isn’t this the sweetest layout? Maybe a bit too sweet for my likes – I do not like using flowers in my work at all… and I honestly don’t know where this came from… but the layout dates December 2007 and I tried all kinds of things back then… that should explain it. My son was 15 at the time this photo was taken and it’s one of my fave pictures. He is now 21 years old and has a beard, ha! (Which makes me think: I should have our photo taken again, before he shaves that beard off.)

And here is a photo of my desk how it looked this morning… well, I cheated a little bit because the Mixed Media book wasn’t there (the rest was.) I placed the book on the table on purpose. The photo is taken for “What’s On My Work Desk? Wednesday.” WOYWW is  and event where crafty and artistic individuals around he world share pictures of their desks. Never heard of it? Hmmm… hop on over to Julia’s blog Stamping Ground to find out then ’cause everyone is invited to join.

WOYWW #234

And here… as promised… a glimps of “my” pages in the book.
(…and no, I don’t own two copies of the book… I ‘tricked’ this photo to show both spreads.)

The book is titled: The Mixed-Media Artist [Art Tips, Tricks, Secrets and Dreams from Over 40 Amazing Artists] and this group of artists is brought together in the book by Seth Apter from The Altered Page. There are indeed fabulous artists in this book and I find it very inspiring to see and read about all those inspirational individuals who share their thoughts, dreams and works. I am so proud to be published in their amazing company!

One last thing: I joined Free Art Friday on facebook…

Here’s a bit of an explanation coming from SCOTT WONG, the artist who owns/runs the Free Art Friday – Wisconsin page.

“This is it. The revolution of all revolutions. The movement of all movements. The day where every street corner in every community in every city within every state is flooded with art.

[…] On Friday, Nov. 29th, 2013 a.k.a. BLACK FRIDAY, I want every creator, every artist, every painter, every photographer and sculptor, inker and anyone else who does even the faintest idea of art participating. […] Do a piece of art and leave it on the streets in a public spot for a random stranger to find, take home and love.[…]”

I like the idea so I am making a piece of art that I will leave on a public place for someone to take home for free next Friday…

Wish you all a beautiful and artful day!

Now what does this mean, you might think?
Come on in and I’ll tell you!

..
This group of artists is brought together by Seth Apter from The Altered Page, to be published in his book and yessss… I’m in there too!!!

This book will be released
on November 15, 2013 and
Seth uses the time leading up
to that date to introduce all
artists that are in the book
on his blog The Altered Page.

Here’s what he says:

“30 artists…30 days.
Spend the month of October
with me at The Altered Page
to meet the 30 spotlight artists
in my book The Mixed-Media Artist:
Art Tips, Tricks, Secrets and Dreams
from Over 40 Amazing Artists.

See them in action in their studios,
read their ‘quirky’ bios written in
their own words, see some of their
art that led me to invite them to be
a part of my book, and hear my
story of what they each mean to me.

Then click on over to their sites
and see what they have to say about
The Mixed-Media Artist.”

Today it is my turn to shine!

In his blogpost, Seth says we crossed paths online for many years… I agree of course and when I read that, I got really curious to find out when it was exactly that we came across each other.

I remember it was me who found out about Seth first, because I bumped into the disintegration project on the internet, and I wanted to know more about it. I was fascinated by that project and played along. The first blogpost I wrote about it was on July 8th, 2009  – I was still scrapbooking back then but searching for other ways to create and already finding my way to art journaling. Which, as you know, I found out about. I started art journaling and never looked back 🙂

Now that you are here on my blog, I take the opportunity to point you to FEATURING magazine

FEATURING magazine is an international publication. A printed magazine about art journaling, mixed media and more. The magazine is shipped world wide and available in the online store. We released four issues now and the respons is very positive, but we notice that still a lot of people haven’t heard of our magazine… in order to keep my baby – this awesome art publication – alive and going, we have to spread the word and get more brand awareness so we can reach more customers. The release of the next issue depends on that. Therefore, I decided to set up a special promoting CAMPAIGN that is running right now. Go visit the campaign blog and order your copies in the online store.