This was such a fun week, and here’s my third blogpost to ‘close it’.
I saved the best for last… so let’s see what makes me so exuberant.

For one:

The best Summer Camp you’ve ever seen will open its doors this Summer!

You can read all the info on Marit’s Paper World
(For the Dutchies – click the language button in the top menu
on the website to read the Dutch version)

For two:

I have two posts online today!

Yep, that’s right – TWO blogposts!
You can read my guest blogpost
From Scrapbooking to Art Journaling
on the site of Art Journal Every Day.

For three:

I made PennyLane from songs in my heART very happy with this page.

Songs of the heART is a place for artists to display their artwork
inspired by music. ATC’s, paintings, photography  – all are welcome.
New art and inspirations will be posted as received. There are no
deadlines and perhaps, an occasional prompt, but other than that
you are free to be inspired by the songs in your heART!

My art journal page was inspired by a song from the Eels: “I’m a hummingbird”

If you have an art piece that is inspired by music: send it to PennyLane!
She wants the site to be versatile – not only post her own art – and she will
be thrilled to get more submissions, so help her out a bit please!

And last but not least: another ‘big journal page’.

I got inspired by iHanna, who had a blogpost about ‘collecting colours’
on the Art Journal Every Day blog last week. I gave it my own twist though.

RED

I find myself journaling in Dutch lately… it keeps me much more
concentrated on the text and I can use ‘my own words’ more.
But I translate it for you:

India, land of color and noise. I had to think back on India when I
flipped through old National Geographic magazines and came across
some pictures. India – the mixture of heat and smell. Especially that.
But let’s not forget the people. Dirty and happy. Always inspiring.
They laugh at everything. At me, as a Western tourist, and with me.
I felt like an alien when I arrived in that country, but soon I found myself
embraced by a group of children, laughing and joking. India to me
is red. The red of passion. Fire and life. And ofcourse the red of Paan*.

* Most of us don’t know “Paan”.
I didn’t know either – until it scared the hell out of me in India!

First – the explanation from Wikipedia:

Paan, from the word pān is an Indian/Pakistani and South East Asian
tradition of chewing betel leaf (Piper betle) with areca nut and slaked lime
paste. There are many regional and local variations. It is a Piper betle leave
chew, chewed as a palate cleanser, a breath freshener, and for digestive
purposes as well. It is offered to guests and visitors as a sign of hospitality
(after meals at both personal and social occasions) and at the beginning of
social events. It has a symbolic value at ceremonies and cultural events
in India and southeast Asia.

Yeh, right. But I didn’t know that.
So what I saw was people looking like this

Photo made by Steve Saba

Looks like he’s bleeding, isn’t it?

And then they spit it out…

So I found myself surrounded by “blood spitting people”
I really thought they all suffered from a fatal disease or something…
but how could that be? There were so much!

I learned that this was ‘Paan’ pretty soon 😀
(And no, I didn’t try it myself)

Aaahhh, that was ‘long ago and far away’ (1989 and 1991) but working
on this journal page brought it all back!

The sun is shining today.
The city where I live will soon burst out into one big, noisy feast –
it’s “Carnaval”. I’m originally from another region, and I don’t
celebrate carnaval. In fact: I hate it!
But never mind – I will stay inside the house and celebrate
my own, private party. Paper – paint and lots of colours! Yeay!

Whatever YOU will be doing: enjoy the weekend!

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!