For the DUTCHIES ONLY:

Héé, hallo, goedemorgen! Kun jij wel wat (extra) inspiratie gebruiken dit jaar? Ik kan je daarbij helpen! Bij voldoende belangstelling (7 of meer deelnemers) gaat de ONLINE WORKSHOP LET IT LOOSE namelijk weer van start dit voorjaar. In de winkel staat deze workshop nu nog ‘dicht’ en dat heeft te maken met de manier waarop ik werk. Ik ‘draai’ namelijk mijn workshops in een groepje. De lessen worden dan twee keer per week ge-upload in een aparte ‘workshop community’ waar de deelnemers ook hun werk kunnen uploaden en met elkaar kunnen communiceren – mijn ervaring is dat dit gezamenlijk volgen van de workshop een ‘boost’ geeft aan de deelnemers en veel inspirerender (en gezelliger!) is dan dat je als cursist gewoon maar de lessen via de email thuis krijgt en in je eentje uitvoert zonder feedback of aanmoediging.

Heb je belangstelling voor deze workshop? Stuur me dan even een email (zie button bovenaan in het zijmenu.) Bij genoeg belangstelling plan ik een aanvangst-datum en zet ik de winkel open.

As said, I have no lack of inspiration and that you can tell from seeing my desk surface… on the desk is the early start for Week 2 in my Chronicles art journal.

WOYWW #502
(What’s On Your Workdesk, Wednesday, pop over to head desker/hostess Julia of the Stamping Ground to find this week’s desk-hop-list)

This new Chronicles journal I bound is really big (42 x 29,7 cm ~ 11,7 x 16,5 inches) and although I usually have difficulties creating on a large page, I really like the size this time.

The Chronicles of Marit 2019 – Week 1

I was inspired by my fellow artist-teacher Sarah Trumpp in Book of Days 2019 and I painted a face using her lesson (sort of…) in my weekly spread.

Last but not least: here’s the book (14,8 x 21 cm ~ 5,8 x 8,3 inches) I made my mum for her birthday last month. I forgot to take photos before I gave it to her, but I brought my camera with me when I visited my parents last weekend so that I can show it to you guys.

I still have some Japanese fabric patches that I ordered last year laying around and use every little piece… the Japanes designs are gorgeous! Of course I added some Sashiko stitching and bound the book with little beads incorporated in the binding.

And that’s it for today sweeties… I will go back to that spread on my desk that’s waiting to be finished now. Thanks for your visit, have a wonderful, colourful day. Splash some paint around!

WOYWW #353

The art journal spread in the middle of my desk is not finished yet. For the ones who saw the calendar I bought last week (it was on my desk-photo I published in my former blogpost) – I used a photo from the calendar on the page (the lady on a bed on the left.)

The spread I made for week 9 in my Chronicles art journal (on the left table) is finished, but I haven’t showed the former week pages yet so I will publish it later. Instead, I show you what I created for week 7.

The ‘week journaling’ is on a card inside the pocket and I used a quote from Ludwig Wittgenstein to go with the horse on the page: “I sit astride life like a bad rider on a horse.”  (By the way, it’s only half of the quote. The complete sentence is:  “I sit astride life like a bad rider on a horse. I only owe it to the horse’s good nature that I am not thrown off at this very moment.”

Well… I am still riding and intend to stay on the horse: hence this!

ONLINE workshop Let it Loose €35.00 April 4 – May 12 2016 This workshop will loosen you up and take you a step further in creating your own, unique art journal pages. You’ll learn some basic writing techniques to improve your journaling and you will get tips and techniques to use your own handwriting. Furthermore, you will learn art techniques like working with collages, paint, colors, gesso and gel medium.

Yep, I’m teaching this online workshop in April & May and I’m looking forward to it!

This is what former students had to say about Let it Loose:

“I had such a wonderful time with this workshop. I learned so much. I am still using all that I learned everywhere I go! Marit is a wonderful teacher, and if she is offering this workshop again, I highly recommend it!!” ~ Danielle

“I’ve just started a super cool art journal class with Marit – I wish I’d had teachers like her in school! When you visit her blog, check out her work – wow! And if you have the chance to take a class with her – do it! You won’t regret it.” ~ Anne

“Let it Loose has been such a fun and inspiring class! I highly recommend it – whether you have never tried art journaling, or you’ve been doing it for awhile. The lessons are fun and easy to follow, open enough for interpreting in your own style, and the atmosphere is super supportive!” ~ Michelle

Thanks for stopping by my blog, I really appreciate it and hope to visit as much woyww-posts as I possibly can this week so: see you! Have a sunny, fun and creative week.

Today is International Women’s Day and in honor of that, I went on a wild-goose chase in my bookcase this morning to see if I could come up with books that would make a fitting haiku. I thought as a feminist who owns lots of books about the topic, that should not be too difficult – and I was proven right.

Haiku My Heart Friday

Submitted to Haiku my Heart at Recuerda Mi Corazon

Next is my latest art journal spread. I don’t have much to say about it, it grow from playing around with images, letters, hand carved stamps and colour…

The Chronicles – Week 9

Hmm, now that I look at it – is it appropriate to picture men in war-costume on International Women’s Day? The two Neanderthal figures on the right seem women to me – Freud would probably have a nice explanation why my unconscious made me pick these images to glue on my pages. Ha!

And now, to you foreign blog readers I say: women – remember how strong you are and be proud! To the men that read my blog (are there?) I say: why not try a costume like the above for a change? 😀  Enjoy your weekend.

Dutch readers: please stay a while longer ’cause I have an announcement.

Op 1 April 2013 (nee, dat is geen grapje!) gaat de online art journal workshop ‘Let it Loose’ weer van start – dit keer met een geheel Nederlandse groep.

Deze workshop is prima geschikt voor beginnende “art journallers” – er komen allerlei ‘basis dingen’ aan bod, zoals (persoonlijke) teksten schrijven, je handschrift gebruiken, werken met gesso, collages maken en zo nog wat meer. De ‘opdrachten’ zijn tamelijk vrij (ik hou niet van teveel ‘sturen’ – en dat iedereen dan de juf na moet doen…) waarbij je de aangeboden les, tips, techniek en trucs op je eigen manier kunt verwerken.

In deze workshop bouwen de lessen op. Gedurende 6 weken worden de 12 lessen één voor één ge-upload in een besloten community, waar de deelnemers met een wachtwoord kunnen inloggen. In de community is ook een ‘discussion board’ aanwezig, waar deelnemers (en ‘juf’) met elkaar kunnen chatten/praten/vragen stellen. Er is tevens de mogelijkheid een eigen album aan te maken, waarin je je gemaakte werk kunt laten zien (en op elkaars werk kunt reageren.)

Heb je ook zin om je dit voorjaar eens creatief uit te leven en meer te leren van art journaling en diverse technieken? Schrijf je dan ook in! Je vind alle verdere informatie in de winkel.

So much so, that now the workshop has come to an end, I want to show
you – my blogreaders – some of the art that was made in the classes.
It is just a grip from each workshop but there is more to see in the gallery
on the website (see the link at the end of this post)

So today’s post has no art made by me – I did create last weekend (yep,
my Muse returned but she needs pampering and petting to get back to work…)
I will show you that on Friday.

I could not find all the links to these students blogs (if they have one)*
but when I did, you can click on their names to get there.

*If you recognize your name/art and you do have a site I can link to
send me an email and I add the link.

The following art works were made in this workshop:

This workshop loosens you up and takes you a step further in creating your own, unique art journal pages using basic writing techniques and art techniques like collages, paint, colours, gesso and gel medium.

“Changing Colours” – Made by Mazina

I love how the happy photo looks even more joyful due to how Mazina
coloured the portrait. It looks as if this woman is enjoying a day in nature,
surrounded by flowers and butterflies.
This page makes me smile when I look at it.

“Handwriting” – Made by LilyLoesje

This page has a beautiful balance and there is so much to see, read and enjoy!
The way Lilyloesje used all different kinds of letters and the fact that she used
different colours and all sorts of pens to write the text makes it an exciting page.

“Bind your pages to a journal” – Made by Belinda

Belinda says that she isn’t the neatest working person and that she struggled
to get the binding right… ‘the holes aren’t all equal or on the right place’…
but that was the fun of this workshop: it was all about ‘letting it loose’ and this
type of binding looks even good when you are not that neat! (that’s why I
picked to teach this one in the first place!) Now that Belinda finished her book
she is very proud of it, and she should be! Don’t you love her journal?

The next art was made in this workshop:

Each lesson concentrates on a specific art period, handling the characteristics and showing the artists and highlights. Every lesson comes with multiple prompts – inspired by the specific period/art – from which the students can choose which one suites them best.

“Ancient Art” – Made by Yvonne

From the ‘Ancient Art’ period, Yvonne took masks as her inspiration.
I’m in ooh and awe over this image. The face seems to rise out of the
mud and has that sort of ancient look to it. Wonderful!

“Baroque / Rococo” – Made by Marleen

Marleen was inspired by the Baroque painter Rubens, who’s ‘fat ladies’
are famous. I love Marleen’s painting style – she managed to get the pose
and feel of this lady on the page (canvas?) with a few, well placed strokes.
The shadows and highlights are amazingly well placed too.
It’s a very strong painting.

“Cubism” – Made by Inge

Cubism isn’t an easy (or much-loved) art style, but once the students learned
more about the concept and the thoughts from this particular period, they got
enthusiastic and made the most beautiful ‘cubistic artworks’.  This page is just
one of them. I love the colour combination and the still live that makes you
look twice.

I hope you enjoyed to see work by others on my blog this time.

You can view a bigger selection of the students’ art on the website
in the public gallery

To all my friends in New York: thinking of you! I hope you are save!

To all the people who gave me a like on facebook: Thanks – luv ya!

I’ll be back on Friday.

I uploaded the photos for this post earlier today, but I could not find
words to go in this post. Not even the title… My head is somewhere else.
How come? Well,  FEATURING was send to the print office today!
OHMY – In a week or so, the magazine will be born on paper.
A real magazine, MY magazine… I will be able to flip through the pages.
I’m so curious how you guys are going to like it!
It really is going to happen now and yes, I am nervous to the bone.

Sooo, I will show you last weeks artwork without much words.
I’m sure you’ll understand

The Chronicles of Marit 2012 – Week 14

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

Inspired by the diaries of ales°motyl

Westenwind – edited/improved

OK, this needs some explanation.
Remember the canvas I showed you last week?
I uploaded the photo of it in several galleries and some comments say
there was something ‘missing’… even my beloved felt that it wasn’t finished.

Oh. OK. Is it?

I put the canvas on the side-table and looked at it for two evenings.
The comments were right, there WAS something missing.

Movement. Wind.

I added some gesso and black paint stripes.
Now it is really done.

Here are the ‘before’ and ‘after’ pics…
(BTW – The colours on the second photo look as the colours in real life)

… and here’s the canvas ‘on its own.’ (Click to enlarge)

For the Dutchies:

Volgende week maandag (16 april) gaat de online workshop ‘Let it Loose‘
geheel in het Nederlands (met een Nederlandse groep deelnemers) van start.
Er is nog genoeg plaats (een online groep kan immers onbeperkt groeien! Geen
muren die het aantal deelnemers inperken – er is altijd plaats voor iedereen!)

Mocht je zin hebben om de Lente met veel creativiteit in te luiden, dan ben je
bij ‘Let it Loose’ aan het juiste adres. Gooi los die haren en doe mee!
Je vind alle informatie over deze workshop hier op de website.

I wish you all a nice and sunny week. Don’t forget to tune in on the website of
FEATURING magazine (or subscribe to the newsletter via the ‘stay informed’
button on the site) because later in the week we’re going to accelerate!

(Ha, I just found the title for my blogpost!)

Oh, and I got a gorgeous postcard from my mom and a funny note from
my dad last week. They both ended up in my Chronicles. (Nooo, not my
parents silly… the note and the card!)

The Chronicles of Marit 2012 – Week 11

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

I know a lot of you love to know about the techniques and how my
art journal pages come about. I don’t tell that often because my pages
just seem to ‘grow’ and I usually don’t think back on how I did it.
Because it’s such a lovely day, I will try to remember and tell you
all the ‘ins and outs’ of this page.
let’s see…

I have a lot of small pattern paper blocks (6 x 6 inch) in my stack.
I bought those years ago, and kinda forgot all about it. I came across
the blocks when I was searching for something else, and took them with
me down the stairs to use especially in my Chronicles.
I choose a lot of ‘happy papers’ – bright colours and fun patterns.
Spring was on my mind, so the sheep had to be in there too.
See him (her?) looking ‘sheepish’ at you on the middle of the page?

I just love sheep!
I tore pieces of all the paper and glued it random on the page.

It was quite a mix of colours and patterns, so I toned it down
with a thin layer of gesso.

Next, I used Tim Holtz letter masks and adirondack colorwash
(‘Terra Cotta’) to spray the title.

I outlined the letters to make them pop up more.

To balance the page, there’s a bit of Terra Cotta spray
in the right bottom corner of the page too.

I don’t know where the plastic sheet/overlay came from, but I
turned it into a pocket by taping it on the page with pattern (letter) tape.

The pocket holds the note and postcard.

Next, I stamped the days (hand carved stamps) and dates (I never,
ever know where I got my stuff from. I don’t keep the package.)

I loved the stamping so I went on with it and added all kinds of lines.
Dotted ones…

… and traight ones (this one is a stamped label with a flower)

And patterns.

This stamp is hand carved from an eraser.

And this is one of my faves, the spiral.
(also hand carved.)

I love to add text into the spiral!

Next, I used sharpies and markers to ‘jot my week down’.
Not a coherent story this time but all kind of lines, quotes
and thought I had this week.

Last but not least: I decorated the back of the clip.
(I used this clip on the page of the week before – the back
was flat and silver.)

I glued a small piece from the Atlas on it and added
glossy accents.

This is only one way on which I ‘build’ my weekly page.
It’s not that I always work like this – I sometimes have the layout
in mind and make the page in one ‘run.’ Other weeks start with
a background on Monday, a picture on Tuesday and so on.
It differs every week, that’s what makes it fun!

Oh, and for the texts? A scrap of paper lays between the pages.
At the end of each day I make a note of what happened that day.
Just a few words are enough to remember the complete story when
I read it back at the end of the week. I then decide what to write down.

Now, for the ones who have a subscription to my newsletter –
this is the end of the post for you. The following information arrived
in your mailbox earlier this week.

For all the others: read on!

As you know (or may not know) I taught online workshops last years.
Because I spend all my time creating the FEATURING magazine lately,
I didn’t have the time to even think about creating new workshops.
A number of requests for teaching came in though, so I decided the following:

In case of sufficient participants, these popular online workshops will start again in April.

The lessons are available both in Dutch and in English. To make it easy,
the participants of each workshop will be divided into two groups: one English
speaking group and one Dutch-speaking group. You get access to both groups
so you can take a look at everyone’s album. Everyone works on the same lessons,
but the language on the forum will differ per group.

Because a workshop is much more fun when you can share your work and
experiences with other participants, a minimal number of 7 participants
per group is required. If you are interested, please send me an email that says
in which workshop you would like to participate

marit [at] maritspaperworld [dot] com

As soon as the required number is reached (7 English speaking participants
for an English group) we have a go and I will open the shop. The lessons will
start April 16 (‘Let it Loose’ and April 17 (‘A Creative Art Journey’).

You can find all the information about these workshops in the shop.
(For Dutchies: click on the language button on the site to read it all in Dutch)
Work of previous participants can be found in the photo gallery.

If you have not yet taken (one of these) workshops: they are really great!
It’s not only me talking, former participants agree.
Their testimonials can be found on the home page of the website

www.maritspaperworld.com

I have some new artwork half finished and I hope to show some of it on Friday.
See you then, enjoy your week!

With August on the calendar, and light getting shorter in the evenings, it sure
feels like fall now! I decided to turn the ‘bad’ into ‘good’ and made plans for the
upcoming season then!

For me, some great things are in the pipeline – including teaching a long,
luxurious live workshop-weekend  in November – and then there’s also
something fantastic bubbling and growing, which I can’t say anything about
yet…  but it’s starting to come together and getting real!
Eeeckk… I hope to reveal it soon!

All in all, I had no time to also create a new online workshop for this Fall,
so I decided to offer two existing (and popular) online workshops again.

The online workshops that will start in September are:

Let it Loose (September 12 – October 20; 2011)

This workshop will loosen you up and take you
a step further in creating your own, unique art
journal pages. You’ll learn some basic writing
techniques to improve your journaling and you
will get tips and techniques to use your own
handwriting (You dislike your own handwriting?
You might be surprised what you can do with it!)
Furthermore, you will learn art techniques like
working with collages, paint, colours, gesso and
gel medium.

A Creative Art Journey (September 13 – October 21; 2011)

If you love art journaling and are eager to learn some
art history along the way, this is the workshop for you!
In 12 lessons you will be introduced to 12 different art
periods in time. Each lesson concentrates on a specific
art period, handling the characteristics and showing
the artists and highlights. Every lesson comes with
multiple prompts – inspired by the specific period/art –
from which you can choose which one suites you best.
You will learn about Ancient art, Renaissance,
Impressionism, Cubism and others.

And then there are still some places available for live Workshop by the sea

November 4 to 7, 2011 (National / Dutch)
November 11 to 14, 2011 (International / Bilingual:
Dutch-English)

This weekend will take place on the inspiring peninsula
of Walcheren (Province of Zeeland) in the Netherlands.

Besides binding your own book/art journal, working
with different techniques to create backgrounds and
a haiku workshop (provided by the writer/poet
Johanna Kruit), I will also teach you how to create
an ingeniously folded booklet.

Last weekend, I made such a folded booklet to use as an example in the
workshop. Here’s a sneak peek.

All  information about the workshops on the website: Marit’s Paper World

Registration for the online workshops is possible in the  shop.

If you are interested in the live workshop, then let me know
and I will e-mail you with further information about registration.

I’m sure you can guess what more I created last weekend!
Yep, right

The Chronicles of Marit 2011 – Week 31

(30 x 21 cm - 11.8 x 8.3 inch)

The background is gessoed. After that, I added acrylic paint and spray ink.
The ‘bubbles’ are made with paint and a sequin waste (template). The photo
is a cut-out from a magazine. Tiny alphabet stickers (October Afternoon)
used for ‘week’ and ‘month’ and journaling/doodling with sharpies.

I’ll be back on Friday with another art journal page.
Maybe even two 😉