It’s also time to login to my blog more often and write more posts. Which brings me to this one: I keep on running behind with showing you my Chronicles pages and since I create such an art journal spread every week the queue of pages waiting to get posted gets longer and longer…. I’ll show you a whole bunch at once today but keep a few in line to show you the next time. It might be too much otherwise.

Click on the images to enlarge for a better view

The Chronicles of Marit 2017 – Week 25

The Chronicles of Marit 2017 – Week 26

The Chronicles of Marit 2017 – Week 27

The Chronicles of Marit 2017 – Week 28

The Chronicles of Marit 2017 – Week 29

In the past Summer months I did keep my Chronicles journal going but I didn’t spend much time in the atelier… However, lazy days are over now and I am all energized, inspired and in the mood to get creative. All kinds of ideas for new projects go through my mind and I hope to show you other kinds of pages besides these Chronicles spreads in the time to come.

You might see more blogposts coming too… so thanks for visiting my blog today and see you soon!

… and then there’s this…
(are you counting down the days already?)

Only one week to go…

‘Quirky Dutch Summer’ is  a series of
inspirational posts in English and Dutch.
Start: June 12. Read all about it here.

Nog één weekje wachten op…

‘Quirky Dutch Summer’, een serie
inspirerende posts in het Engels
én Nederlands. Start: 12 Juni.
Lees meer hier.

I am preparing some whimsical and fun posts for this event. I promise:
you will be overloaded with inspiration and tips and techniques to get
your mojo started and going all Summer! Also, I have been recruiting
some ‘quirky’ bloggers to write guest posts.
I think you’re going to be blown away!

OK, enough about all that, let’s get to the content of this,  temporarily last,
‘normal’ Tuesday post!

Did you miss my ‘Chronicles’ already?
I am a little behind showing them on my blog aren’t I?
I have two spreads to show you today

The Chronicles of Marit 2012 – Week 21

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

It seems like ages ago that I created this spread (it’s been two-and-a-half-week)
It is a nagging, whining, grumbling spread. I really needed to get some things
of my mind! I blurred the text, ’cause you don’t want to read the words I use
when I’m in such a mood. (I’m not always the nice, polite girl I seem to be –
you’d be surprised! 😉 ) Anyway – writing it all down cleared my mind and my
mood has gone up since then, thank you!

Here’s the week that followed…

The Chronicles of Marit 2012 – Week 22

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

Ha! The fighting spirit came back here – no more whining but ‘ready to battle’.
I overdid the feeling a bit but after all, I think it’s a fun spread.

Starting next week, I will be showing my ‘Chronicle’ spreads on Friday –
as Tuesdays are reserved for ‘Quirky posts’ this Summer. I’m as curious
as you are to what mood the next pages will show… that’s one of the fun
and exciting parts of keeping a ‘diary’ like this: moods change all the time
and I, too, never know which feeling the spread will get in the end.

I found this quote, and I think it’s a nice one to finish this post with.

“I am a contradictory mess but I see it as my prerogative to change
my mood like the weather.” ~ Shirley Manson ~

I wish you all a sunshiny week!

..

We tried heating the part of the pipe outside with my heat tool
(haha.. I hardly use that thing but now it comes in handy!) –
the pipe even got brown spots from the heater but the ice didn’t
melt enough.

We put an electric heater in front of the pipe.
Nope.

We got the garden hose out and tried to spray warm water in the pipe
(this all has to be done outside, at the end of the pipe that comes out
in a floor drain/hole in a corner of our small garden).
No results either.

My beloved and I made the deal that we would not (NOT) snap at
each other or fight, and that we would keep on smiling… we are not
very handy with these things so we gave my dad a call a few times a
day – he gave us advise, set things in perspective, made jokes and
kept us sane! And you know…. my beloved and I even had a good laugh
and fun together while doing this all – but still… no results.

The ice is still there – maybe a bit less and somewhat thinner then before
but still there in the pipe. Aaargggh.

After three afternoons of hard work in the freezing cold and snow,
we gave up.
We will deal with it.
We will drain the water out of the pipes in the bathroom every now
and then and we will wait for the temperatures to rise.
That should not happen for another week though.
The forcast predicts even more cold.
More frost.
More ice.
Low temperatures.
There might even be an ‘Elfstedentocht’ early next week…

Anyway, enough with the moaning….
Let me show you the Chronicles I made in the past weeks.

The Chronicles of Marit 2012 – Week 4

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

I said it before but you don’t mind me saying it again:
my son is a talented photographer!

He bought a ‘portrait lens for his camera the other day and
when we visited my parents he brought his camera.
He took some marvelous pictures of us all.

… and here is last week…

The Chronicles of Marit 2012 – Week 5

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

This page is all about ice.
You understand that, don’t you?
I get cold even looking at this page!

I will go make me a pot of tea then and maybe get
the paint and markers out of the drawers this afternoon.
The heat tool is still downstairs too, do you think I can do
something crafty with it for a change? Maybe I will!

You all make sure you dress up warm this week.
See you on Friday!

I could type it all down – things I have to do, work I’m facing, preparations etc.
– but that would show ‘black on white’ why I should stress out, and I rather
keep the stress as far away as possible. So let’s say I’m in the middle of
‘pursuits’… I’m facing a lot right now, but nothing to worry about, ’cause
mostly it’s FUN things! The only thing that has to ‘suffer’ is my blog… no time
to write a long blogpost (what’s new lately?!) and no haiku either.

In my last post I promised you the ‘Chronicles’ page though,  so here it is!

The Chronicles of Marit – Week 44

(23 x 31 cm - 9.1 x 12.2 inch)

(Used materials: Japanese or Chinese ? pages as a background,
gesso, distress ink, Stazon ink, stamps, washi tape, sharpies. )

I made a plastic pocket to store some pictures of last week.
Here’s what it looks like when it’s fold out.

That’s it for today dear ones.
Hope to be back on Tuesday to show you a glimpse of my busy weekend!

Suddenly I was wide awake!
I blinked with my eyes – yep, still there…
I wondered what this could be…
and then it hit me – it was a vibe!
Someone had sent me a vibe!

Now I was really curious!
What kind of vibe would it be?
In any event a fun, positive vibe for its color was so bright!
I jumped out of bed, took a leap and then I caught him.

My oh my… it was a cleaning vibe! YAY!
I don’t know who send it to me, but THANK YOU!!!
It was just the one I needed!

I used it well during the day, and it shrank to just an eeny meeny little vibe.
I layed it beside the computer so it could rest. I have the feeling it will be
strong enough tonight to take off again, and I’ll send it to someone else
who needs it. (Jenneke perhaps? Keep your eyes open tomorrow girl!)

Do you expect photo’s of a clean house now?
I didn’t take one… but I have some artwork from last weekend to show you!

(Remember: you can click on each image to enlarge for a better view!)

The new prompt at A Year in the Life of an Art Journal is up!

As always, the prompts are designed for you to take all or parts of the
three part prompt and use the idea as a jumping off point for YOUR art!!
Use the songs as inspiration, create your piece as the prompt applies to you
and use the off the wall product/techniques to stretch yourself a bit!

THE PROMPT: Promises
THE SONG: Run Devil Run by Kesha
PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE: The poison symbol

As you know, I’m a guest host at AYITLOAAJ and I make a page with
each prompt to inspire the participants. There’s something strange
going on with my pages though… at the beginning of the year I made
a square book especially for these prompts and the pages all seem to
turn out a bit like record album covers.
They don’t look like my ‘normal’ art journal pages at all…
well, never mind what they look like, here’s my contribution for this prompt.

Run devil run

(21 x 19,5 cm - 8.3 x 7.7 inch)

I had the image of the cartoon (I think she’s called ‘Electra’?)
and I found it very fitting and complementary for the song lyrics.
The background is painted black, white watersoluble crayons for the ‘light’
behind the figure, the title is written with sharpie markers and the border
is made with puffy paint.

Birthday card for my uncle

(approximately 15 x 15 cm - 6 x 6 inch)

See those ‘waves’??? I carved my own ‘wave stamp’ and used clear embossing
powder. After spraying the dark blue mist over it, I wiped it away from the
waves and it left me with this image! The powder wasn’t really neat on the ink,
but I love the effect it gives with the blue ink over it… like foam bubbles!

Last but not least…

The Chronicles of Marit 2011 – week 32

(30 x 21 cm - 11.8 x 8.3 inch)

My son came home from vacation (Portugal & Spain)  last week and gave
me a set of postcards. They all contain images of the mosaic tiles from the
‘Mudéjar Palace’ in Sevilla and they are sooooo beautiful!
I didn’t want to cut them, so I scanned some of the patterns to print.
I used the pieces as a border. He also bought me a Spanish teaspoon –
it’s kind of a gimmick between him and me. Whenever he is on vacation,
he buys me a teaspoon! (My wicked collection ‘teaspoons Nout bought
me as a souvenir’ is up to ten now!) The spoon came in the little pocket
which is glued to the right. Ofcourse I used my hand-carved alphabet
and number stamps (see former post) for the dates.

I will be back with more (I hope) later this week!
Oh, and Dutch girls: enjoy the sunshine!

But it certainly won’t come to a complete art journal stop…
you know me 😉 I can’t do without art journaling!

Although the quantity of pages will be less in the next weeks,
I have a lot to show you today! All made last week and weekend.
Ready?
Here we go…

..

30 Days of Lists is nearing it’s end… I skipped two prompts,
and have 6 more to go (tomorrow’s prompt included)

Here are some lists I made last week

List 20 – Celebrity Crushes

Thank goodness the List-blog said “Think of ‘crush’ as liberally
as you like” ’cause the age of having ‘crushes’ is long gone 😀

Looking at my wrinkles and eyelids I find it hard to believe, but Yep –
I was a teenager once. And ooohhh, did I had crushes!
You want to know those names too I guess *teehee*
Well, I’m in a good mood – lucky you!

My teenage crushes

• Rutger Hauer
• Tony Baretta (the actor Robert Blake in this role)
• The Bay City Rollers (ALL of them!)
• John Travolta

those are the ones that come to mind right away.

Thinking of the ones NOW, quite a few names came to mind for one reason
or another… some I admire, some I find inspiring and some (guys) are
just too gorgeous to not name.

It turned out that I didn’t have enough room to glue all the pics on one page.
I had to tape an extra piece to it to show them all!

• Benoite Groult (1920) – a French author who I admire.
  Her books gave me a lot of insight, confidence and strength!
• Aragorn – Viggo Mortensen in “Lord of the Rings” – but to be honest:
  I was in love with (the character) Aragorn the first time I read the book,
  long before the movie was made or Viggo was known.
  He does meet the ideal image though!
• Virginia Woolf (1882 – 1941) – English author, essayist, publisher,
  and writer of short stories, regarded as one of the foremost modernist
  literary figures of the twentieth century.
  Inspirational woman with a wonderful writing style!
• Rutger Hauer (1944) – Yes, he’s on my list. Still.
  Rutger gets even better and more good looking now that he grows older!
• Marilyn French (1929 – 2009) – American feminist and author.
  The first book I read from her was ‘the Women’s room’ – I was 21 and
  I’ll never forget how good it felt to read a story that handled the same
  themes, ideas and feelings that I was struggling with.
  Instant recognition!
• Jacques Brel (1929-1978) – French singer/songwriter (Chansonier) –
  His songs are like poetry, his voice gives me the shivers.
  I’m a fan since my parents played one of his albums. I was five or six (??)
• Helen Mirren (1945) – English actor – she played in the theater,
  made tv series and movies. (she won a lot of awards) I admire her
  for the way she acts ánd her ideas.
• Leonard Cohen (1934) – Do I have to say more?
  My fave poet-singer-idol!
• Anais Nin (1903 – 1977) – was a French-Cuban author, famous for her
  published journals, which span more than 60 years, beginning when she
  was 11 years old and ending shortly before her death.
  I read a great deal of her journals and admire her writing and her spirit!
• (THE YOUNG!) Mickey Rourke (1952) – Oh man, was he good
  looking back then! I did have a crush on him, but have you seen him
  nowadays? Eeeeckkk!

Pfew, quite a list isn’t it?
On to some ‘easier’ lists now

List 22 – Today I saw

List 24 – I make lists for…

I’m not a list maker, and at first I thought I couldn’t make a page listing
my lists… but when I thought about it, I came up with a few.
Turns out I do make lists after all!

List 26 – Books I want to read

This prompt came the day after I wrote the former blogpost.
What a coincidence, and did I had fun making this list!

Some of the titles are already in my possession waiting to be read.
I read a review about the biography Keith Richard wrote and I got
real curious so that’s on my list too.
After reading my former blogpost, some of you gave me tips about
books to read and I included some titles to my list. Looks like I will
spend a lot of Summer evenings in the garden with a book this year!

To end this blogpost… (it is long enough as it is!)

The Chronicles of Marit 2011 – week 12

Thanks for visiting my blog!

I don’t thank you often enough, but I want you all to know
that I highly appreciate all your visits and comments!!!
Have a wonderful week sweeties!!

And what do I have for you today?

..

First, the new prompt for A Year in the Life of an Art Journal

THE PROMPT: Confidence Shot
THE SONG: Strut by Adam Lambert
PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE: eye shadow

I have some photos of myself as ‘super woman’. My son did this photoshoot
two years ago for a prompt (I gained two kilos in the meantime!)
Every time I see those pics, I get the feeling that I am ready to conquer
the world! Now thát’s a confidence shot, isn’t it?!
I didn’t like the song ‘Strut’ much (sorry!) but the first line was very useful
to go with this ‘superwoman pic’.

The letters are stamped and coloured with copic markers.
A doodled border makes it complete.

And ofcourse, I’m still working on the 30 days of lists

I can’t keep up the ‘one list/page a day’ tempo and I’m not working
in the correct order either…  but I’ll get them all done in the end.
Here are two more lists.

List #5 – Weekend goals

List #7 – Blog goals

(I now see I made a spelling mistake, I meant preferable instead of prefarable…
&*()#W%!! – but when I looked up prefarable in the dictionairy to see if this
word exist, it turned out that it means something sweet, so it can be read
that way too… a blessing; ’cause I can’t stand mistakes!)

The Chronicles of Marit – week 10

Can you believe we are in week 10 already?
I couldn’t – ’cause I glued a 9 there at first.
I only discovered this mistake yesterday.
I had to make the circle where the 9 was black to repair it.

It’s almost noon, and I have a lot of plans for this afternoon.
I better get started! Not much text in this blogpost today,
but you have the images to compensate that 😉

See you on Friday!!!

At least I am used to NOT put on the radio in the morning.
My top 2000 album is done – I added a first and last page to the album
and you can see the complete book in my gallery.
(Look under ‘art journals’ in the top menu of this blog – which raises
the thought that it might be more logical when I  put it under ‘mini albums’.
What do you think…)

Yesterday, I started fiddling around in a new art journal.
It’s a bit scary to put a pencil on the first page… it’s all so ‘new’ and open –
but I overcome my nerves and my art journal is deflowered now –
ready to be filled with all that’s yet to come! The future lies open!

I can’t show you the page yet – but I do have some ‘oldies’ for you.
I haven’t published the last weekly art journal pages from 2010 on my blog
yet because the blog party was going on in those weeks. (By the way,
from now on my weekly art journals will be called “the chronicles of Marit” –
don’t you just love the way that sounds? Like I am some sort of ancient
book character!)

Oh dear, am I rambling again?
Sorry… here we go with the pictures then.

Week 51

A happy and colourful page with the New Years card I made and the start
of the top 2000! I used that photo of Elvis on one of my top 2000 pages,
this photo had the wrong size for the page I worked on, so I glued it
right on to this page…

See how easy this ‘daily journaling’ is?
You just keep your journal nearby your workspace, and shift all things
that are rejected for the lay out you’re working on straight to your journal.
(The same goes for painting, stamping etc. Smear the last paint from your
brush on your journal page.  When you are stamping – stamp an extra image
in the art journal. This way, you end up with a happy and colourful basic-page
in your art journal without really ‘working on it’. You can add text later.)

Week 52

My beloved received that postcard from a friend, and it made us giggle!
(click on the image to enlarge for a better view)
It’s so fitting for this musical week in my journal – I snitched the card
and glued it on my page, Ha!
Oh, and if you look real close, you can see I used a top 2000 newspaper list
(from previous years)  as a background.

I want to make this last page in my “Chronicles” an annual ritual: a self portrait
taken on the last day of the year. (I do hope I will look a bit slimmer next year!)

Here’s a pic of my closed art journal. I started this weekly journaling in April
(week 17) so there isn’t even one year in it – and look how fat this book is?!!
(I plan to do only half a year in my new art journal… so it won’t become too fat)

And that’s it for today.
It felt good to start the ‘normal blogging’ again – I hope you all had a great
start of this week and fell into daily routine easily.

Thanks for following me to this new blog-address !

One last thing: if you follow this blog with RSS feed or google reader
or something like that, don’t forget to change the address!
Also the address of my blinkie is changed, so please add the new
code to your blog. (find it in the side menu)

See you later this week!