It’s been two weeks since I blogged too… for the same reason: no inspiration, too hot to sit at the computer and edit photos and no energy to think in English (after all, not my mother language) to compose a blogpost.

But today I took a break from ‘vacation days’ to say hello to you all and show you some cards I made in the last couple of months. I usually forget to take photos of the cards I make – I think about it when I put them in the mailbox, when it’s too late – but this time I remembered so here’s a couple of cards that I send to friends for their birthdays.

May 21 – for Anna

May 22 – for Marc

June 29 – for Hans

Last but not least:

July 7 – for Nout

This is the card I made for my son Nout who turned 25 last Wednesday. He received the key to his new appartment (in Amsterdam) on his birthday so it’s a double celebration card. The text is in Dutch (of course) and “Oiski Poiski” is a phrase from the animated children’s television series “Noah’s Island” that I used to watch with my son… it has no meaning really but we said ‘Oiski Poiski’ to each other quite often in those days…

I hope you liked this ‘sign of life’ from me today, thanks for your visit!
Enjoy your Summer days, take it easy and I see you again whenever I feel like blogging.

Wednesday… “Into the Studio” day… WOYWW day… here we go!

Here’s Wednesday’s golden oldie scrapbook layout – lifted from one of my old scrapbook albums.

(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 on this page.)

This week’s request came from Anne from France – from Ink~a~Doodle~Do

This was Anne’s comment on June 26th…

Hahaaa… no Anne, Album 22 does not excist indeed… and what’s that with Album 7 – layout 7???
You must be the seventh person asking for that number 😉 (I showed that layout here – and to avoid doubles in the future, I published a list to choose from here)

So… what did I do???

I turned around the numbers of the first request… that way it became Album 3 – layout 22.
As you can see on the above photo album 3 only has 17 layouts BUT most of these layouts are spreads (= ‘double pages.’) Instead of counting the spreads, I counted the pages. I came to layout 12 in album 3 that way… so here’s for you Anne:

That’s me on the photo – taken in 2001 – and wowzah… do I look good there if I may say so myself.
(Makes me think… should I get a hair cut with bangs again?)

No index cards to show this week, but here’s my latest art journal spread

The Chronicles of Marit – Week 27

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And for all you WOYWW-watchers:

WOYWW #215

here’s what my desk looked like this morning

The journal that is in the make here is for a project with my neighbour. We both made a journal that we want to exchange from time to time to work on each other’s pages. I therefore call this journal “There and Back Again” (“Daarheen en Weer Terug.”) For the Tolkien lovers: yes, that’s also the name of Bilbo Baggin’s book. The title inspired me to come up with this special binding in the shape of an arrow (it goes the other way on the back cover.) I will show you good pictures of it when it’s finished.

However, this is not all that’s going on in the Studio…
Here’s a photo of the cabinet in the middle of the room (I put stuff there that needs to dry.)

I thought you might like the extra view of another area of the studio.

Do you have no idea what WOYWW stands for? Well, The WOYWW headquarters can be found over at The Stamping Ground from where the lovely lady Julia hosts the biggest weekly blog hop – and she explains everything about it in the side menu on her blog. Just click the link to find out.

It has been quite hot in the Netherlands the last week – today the sky is a bit ‘hazy’ which keeps the sun from shining too bright and temperatures are bearable in the office room. For a while now I have plans for changing the header on my facebook page – I might work on that today… but I could also sit in the garden and read. Nooo, I don’t feel guilty at all for not doing any housework… I had a “housekeeping day” yesterday and even did some extras like cleaning the windows and mopping the floor. So today is MINE to fool around on facebook or elsewhere… ha! Hope your day is great too. Do something fun… like come LIKE ME on Facebook 😉

As most of you know, I re-arranged the upstairs old room of my son (who moved out) and turned it into a working space for me. I showed photos of it in this post.

I stood in my son’s room several times in the past years, thinking how I should re-arrange the space once he moved out and how I would love to work in solitude and not having to clean up after me every day – but now that the moment was there, I had to take some hurdles – here’s what happened (and how I solved it!)

Here’s a floor plan from the room so you get a better picture.

See those *stars*  with some of the words?
That means these items/furniture are solid build in to the room – leaving me with no other option then to work around it and make it work for me.

I made it even easier for myself: I left the bed, the bedside table and the big desk in the corner – that were already there – in the same place too. In other words: once I’d removed all the ‘stuff’ which my son had left behind, the room didn’t have to be decorated much. All I did was put in a book case and the small cabinet-on-wheels with my most-used tools that stood in the living room.

But then…

It took me at least a day to gather my stuff from all over the house and another day to store it into my new art-room… MAN, the decisions one has to make! Where do I put my paint? Stamps? Old magazines? Well, if you have a studio this probably sounds familiar but it was new to me and I kept on placing and replacing stuff from one closet to another… anyway, to make a long story short: I got it all in and satisfying stored.

And then I found myself sitting at the desk. Now what?
This was my new creating space. This was what I wanted for so long. Everything in its place. No more going up-and downstairs to get my paper/tools. All my stuff surrounding me, and I didn’t know where to begin or what to do.

I turned around and around on the chair, looking at the room. Without leaving my chair, I opened the door of the cabinet and I saw this:

Click!
My aunt and my dads birthdays were coming up, so I decided to start with creating cards (‘mail art’ if you like.) Making cards would speed the familiarization, I would learn what stuff I own (some boxes had not been opened for years!) and where everything was.

It worked! I got used to ‘my room’ and sitting at the desk in a fun and easy way. I made cards – and cards – and cards… I just couldn’t stop.

(Click on the images to enlarge)

For my aunt Lien

For my dad

For my son

For my mum

For my aunt Corneel

You see, the whole family got cards. They loved it and I loved it.
After a few days, I was all used to my new studio. Yay!

I was planning on showing you an old layout too, but this post is getting waaaay to long already… I better leave that for the next time, cause there’s something else I would like to show you.

I have been drooling over all those workdesks that could be seen on Wednesdays, and now that I have a studio and a desk that I don’t have to clean up every time – I can finally add a photo of MY DESK to that list. I am talking about WOYWW (“What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday”)
It’s a fun series, read all about it here or check out today’s woyww #193

WOYWW #193

My desk today shows my good-ol’ (30 years!) sewing machine. One lesson in the online workshop “Mixed Emotions” (which I teach with Michelle LaPoint-Rydell, registration still open ’till Sunday) handles paper weaving and I found it fun to dive in again! Oh, and see that box with (index)cards in the background? I have great ideas for that!

I’ll tell all about it in a later post – ’cause there’s work waiting for me. Not on the desk shown in the photo, but a desk in the office. Working hard on the next issue of FEATURING magazine. It’s going to be fantastic again, I can tell you that much! If you ever saw/read the magazine, you know that don’t you? (And if you never read/heard of FEATURING, shame on you! You better make it up then fast, all issues can be purchased HERE and YES, we ship international!)

Visiting such a big supply fair means that it is impractible to keep
your money in your pocket. I did not really need supplies so I’m
proud to say that I managed to keep my findings to a minimum –
but still there can be done a lot with those ‘minimums’ – take a look.

These cards arose from experimenting with my new material:
4 bottles of Dylusian spray ink, 4 templates and a few new washi tapes.

I had fun trying the ghosting technique using the templates and ink.
I worked on a large sheet of paper and used every ink colour and template.
Later, I cut the sheet to make cards. I added some pieces of washi tape to each
card and stamped white acrylic paint – using bubble wrap plastic – for texture
and contrast. The circles are stamped with Versamark ink and embossed with
black embossing powder. The black has a shine to it and I love the result!

I also used my new ‘toys’ for my weekly art journal spread.

The Chronicles of Marit 2012 – Week 44

This spread has that typical ‘Julie Balzer-look’ to it. That will not come
as a surprise when you know two of the templates I bought are designed
by Julie. To ‘get to know the stuff’ I experimented with the usual
techniques that are used with templates and ink.
The figure with the circles is inspired by a Dina Wakely stamp
I sketched the figure onto dictionary paper and cut the silhouette.
The circles are stamped and embossed like on the cards.

So, this is not a real ‘Marit Page’, but I had fun making it and getting the
feel of what is possible with this ink and templates. I hope to use the ink
in a more ‘me-way’ eventually.

Before I leave you to your own business, there’s one more thing I want
to point out to you.

As you all know, one week ago hurricane Sandy battered New York City.
Seth Apter – a friend and artist living in New York – decided to auction off
a copy of his book (signed by 30 of the artists in it) along with original art
to benefit the victims of Sandy.

100% of the proceeds will benefit The Mayors Fund to Advance
New York City. Visit The Altered Page to learn more about the auction.

..

The upcoming weeks are going to be busy so I don’t know if I will have
much time to play in my journals. The team and I are working real hard
on the next issue of FEATURING (#1 and #2 can still be purchased here)
and I can hardly keep my mouth shut about some things that will be
in there… I better go now before I spoil the surprise!
I wish you all a beautiful week.
Go spray some ink and love around!

I am glad I saved some ‘oldies’ to show you when the day would come
that I have nothing new to show. Because I didn’t even had time to finish
my ‘chronicles spread’, that day is now!

This is a birthday card I made for my uncle in August

.. and this is a card I send to my son.
(He had just made a trip to Berlin when I made this, hence the image
of the ‘Brandenburger Tor’. He’s quite a traveler, my son!)

I could not find a translation of this quote, so I translated it myself….

“Leave, young man, your hometown and visit foreign lands.
The world will become bigger” ~ Petronius

That’s all this time sweeties… gotta run… ‘flapflapflap’
(that’s the sound I make, fluttering behind TIME to catch up…)

How come?
Well, I dared Phinner the other day to both make something for the
challenge at Scrapping the Music – I did my part 😀 and to be in time
for the deadline (June 27) I post it right now.

Challenge 201A is the song ‘It’s a good Life’ by One Republic.
I never heard of this band, nor the song… I found the title a bit
too obvious to work with but the lyrics had some other fun sentences.
(Find the video, song and lyrics on the STM blog)

I made two ATCs for ‘It’s a Good Life’

Scrapping the Music has two challenges every time… one with a song
(the above) and one extra, that is a little bit more personal.
These ‘B – challenges’ are very useful to make an art journal page for example,
but I decided to make yet another ATC.

Challenge 201B Prompt:
Most Memorable Summertime Song.  Whenever you hear it,
what are the memories that come back to you?

A lot of songs came to mind when I read the prompt.
Songs that certainly have a  ‘Summer Feeling’ – but none of them had
a special memory of some sort to me… and then I remembered this one!

Baccara – Yes Sir, I can Boogie

I remember when I was a little
girl, I accompanied my dad
to the local pub every now and
then. On Sundays he played
billiards and since I lived in a
very small village, I knew all
the men in the cafe. My two
uncles would be there too and I
loved to sit at the bar and watch
them all play.

There was something very
comforting in hearing the
billiard balls click. I watched
the game of those mumbling
(and sometimes teasing and
laughing) men while the air
filled with the smell of beer
and cigars.

I especially remember that one Summer – it was hot outside but in the cafe
it was dark and kinda cool. I sat on my bar tool, sipping coca cola through
a straw and this song played over and over. Did someone put a dime in the
jukebox? Was it on a tape that the bar lady had set on repeat?

Anyway, this song was a topper in the Summer of ’77 and I liked the song.
I liked the strange, funny Spanish (?) accent of the ladies singing it (I wonder
if you English speaking blogreaders can understand the very first sentence,
right after ‘Mister…’) and I can sing along even now. I sang it with my friends
when we went to the beach. We sang it when we chilled on our teenage rooms
but the memory that stayed most with me was the afternoon when I heard it
in the pub.

Happy memories. Childhood.
Long gone, but brought back by Scrapping the Music.
Thanks guys!

(I don’t know if this song was as much a hit in other countries as it was
in Holland, and younger readers will not know it either – for Baccara
was a ‘one hit wonder’ – so here’s a link to the song and clip.
(be sure to listen at least to the chorus at 1:09 – oh, and for you who puzzle
about that first sentence: “Mister, your eyes are full of hesitation…” )

Enjoy – and see you all back on Quirky Dutch Summer Tuesday!

… And happy it is, ’cause temperatures rose above zero, the ice melted
and our drain pipe is open! There’s not much damage (one small crack
in the pipe) and we will replace it for a wider pipe in Spring.
I already loaded the washing machine twice and a big pile of laundry
hangs drying upstairs, the house smells like a laundromat!

..

More happiness… but let’s save some for the end of this post and
start with the cards first. As you can see, I made some cards in the
past days. Yes, SOME (that is more then one! I was on a roll…)

(The design of the ‘heart cards’ was inspired by – among others –
Lena and Julie Fei-Fan)

..

The card that I began
my blogpost with was
made for my mom and dad.

If the postman does his work
(which he normally does not,
Dutch postal services are
a disaster!) they will receive it
today.

I also made a card for
my aunt. Her birthday
was last Saturday – Yep,
I’m too late – so the image
of the white rabbit with
his watch (Graphic 45 –
‘Halowe’en in Wonderland’)
fitted perfectly!

Happy belated B-day
Corneel!

More birthdays
today.

Liam,
the son of
my friend Lena
turns 14
today!

I made him
a ‘cool card’.
(Dutchies
would say
‘stoer’)

I also submit
this ‘card’ to
Each Card is
Unique

Their challenge was
to make a male card,
and isn’t this a real
male card?

(Hmm, now that I
come think of it –
maybe it’s more
like an ultimate
FEMALE card!?
*teehee*)

Like every Tuesday – here’s my weekly page
(Click on the image to enlarge)

The Chronicles of Marit 2012 – Week 6

(Size: 24,5 x 49 cm - 9.65 x 14.86 inch)

At the end of this post I like to share some more happiness with you…
when you take a look at the preview of FEATURING magazine you will
understand why I’m so cheerful!

Don’t you think it’s awesome you can (digitally) flip through some
pages already?! It will be even more beautiful when it is printed!
Don’t you love the feel and smell of real paper pages?
I’m so happy with the way this magazine is going to look!

And I have the best team!!!
They are so inspiring and work real hard to get this baby going
and packed with great articles. My team deserves some cheering,
especially on Valentine’s Day, so THANK YOU:
Annemarie, Julie, Marcia, Katie and of course our designer Marius
– who did a great job creating the digital preview!

Enjoy this special day dear ones…
give a hug to someone,
anyone! XOXOXO