Freewheelin’ Friday (#19)

Does your layout ever fail?

Just curious… ’cause although I have “better” and “worse” layouts,
I almost never feel my layout failed completely –
but this week, I did!!!

I promised you a page for my Leonard Cohen art journal (I was half way
when I said that) but…. the page failed miserably!

It was too bad to show, really… so I TORE IT APART!

And look what happened…

..

I almost threw it
in the garbage can
when I noticed how
beautiful these
pieces are!

It wasn’t good as
a whole but the
little pieces look
intriguing don’t
you think?

This is what my
friend Patty calls
“Flopportunities”

I saved the pieces and you might see them pop up
on a layout one of these days!

..

And I will show you my next layout in a minute (’cause yes, after the
“failure” I took another challenge to work with: “my favourite city” –
for These are a Few of my Favourite Things)

But before
I come to
that, I want
to give a
little โ€œgeographic
lessonโ€ to
explain where
that city
(and my
homeland)
is situated.

For all you
Americans
and Asians
(and more?)
this is a map
of Europe.

..

I live in the Netherlands and this is a map of the Netherlands
– or Holland. (Click on the image to enlarge for a better view!)

As you can see
I spend my
childhood
right at the beach.
That province is called
โ€œZeelandโ€ and it
exist of many islands
connected with each
other by dikes, dams
and bridges – so I lived
on a peninsula.

When I was eighteen
I moved from our
small hamlet to the
“big city” Middelburg
(which is a provincial
town and not that
big at all!)

I was very familiar with that town – it was one of the two towns on our
“Island” (the other one is “Vlissingen” – which has a big harbour) and
I went to secondary school in Middelburg (and NO, we don’t have school
buses over in the Netherlands, so I cycled up and down every day!)

Anyway, I moved out of the house when I was eighteen and lived in
Middelburg for only a few years… but those were GREAT years!
(I shared an apartment with my friend Lenny “just across the bridge”
on the top right photo on the LO) I still love this town (“city” is too big
a word for it) and I feel like coming home when I visit it!

I used a map of the area as a background which I gessoed to make it less
strong – except for the spot where the city lies – and some tiny pearl stickers.
I outlined the photos and the name “Middelburg” on the map with my sewing
machine. The journaling is written on strips of Vellum which I stitched onto
the background.

Journaling:
“I remember the bell of the bridge, the silence of the monastery garden,
the gaudy town hall, the tower “Long John”, the carillon that sung above
my head, the back streets where I broke my heels on the cobblestones
and how happy I was here…”

Detail:

..

And here’s another zentangle page I did in the evenings…

..

I’m looking forward to the weekend!
My mum invited me to go with her to the “Poezie festival Landgraaf
(that’s a poetry festival” – my mum is a writer and a poet and she has to give
workshops at the festival to children on Sunday)

We go by train tomorrow and stay in this hotel!


Look at this…
and the weather
forecast predicts
nice weather
this weekend!

The hotel
(which is an old
estate) is surrounded
by nature so
we might go
for a long walk on
Saturday afternoon.


The festival is
in the same hotel
and since we know
a lot of the other
writers who will
be there too, we
might not walk
too long…

…but sit on the
terrace instead,
sipping wine and
talk.

..

Sooooo….. I won’t be able to visit your blogs this weekend.
I promise I’ll drop by next week. Have a beautiful weekend!

Je t’embrasse!

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19 Responses to “Freewheelin’ Friday (#19)”

  • phinner Says:

    oh wow, Marit! how I would love to visit your hometown! someday!

    lucky you getting to spend time with your Mom, surrounded by beauty and art, and wine! swoon!!!

    love the zentangle and I can’t wait to see what your make with your ‘floppertunities’!

  • cindye Says:

    I would love to visit there as well. Can’t wait to see your “pieces” pop up … they look wonderful as does all of your work.
    Oh my …. that hotel looks beautiful. ๐Ÿ™‚ I am jealous.

  • Julie Tucker-Wolek Says:

    Every time I come visit U …I am seriously IN AWE!!!! I love love love love love love your page ( and loved reading the history of the town ) this is just amazing marit!!! i absolutely loveeeeeeeeeeeee it!!! thanks soooooooooo much for playing along with us! :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)

  • helen Says:

    Wow, Marit, looks like you’ll be having a lovely weekend! You might not read this til you come back, but I will get into the habit of blogging before midnight on a Friday, honestly! Have a great time at the hotel xxx

  • Annemarie Says:

    I like that term, flopportunity. I like yours. I will have to keep an eye out for your pieces elsewhere.

  • cynthia Says:

    Hi Marit ๐Ÿ™‚ thank you for your sweet e-mail about class ๐Ÿ™‚ I look forward to it so much!!!!!!!!! I love how you ripped up your page. They will make one fabulous collage for sure. I love when you think a project is a complete goner and makes a wonderful twist of potential in the end!

    Thanks for showing us your map. I love geography!!! What amazing place to live and be surrounded with such history and character and growing up by the sea. I noticed on the map the province named friesland. I wonder if my family way back came from there and moved to Germany ๐Ÿ™‚

    What a fabulous tribute to your favorite city! Do have a great weekend!

  • anne Says:

    Sounds like a wonderful weekend; beautiful spot – I love your favorite city LO. I clicked for a better view and to see if I’d ever come close to where you live/lived. Closest was Brugge. Great idea to use the map. your flop pieces look very interesting and i find it hard to believe it wasn’t another wonderful example of your work.

  • Yyam Says:

    I think sometimes we are too critical of our own work…I walk away from pieces that I “hate”, do something else and come back to look at it with fresh eyes..it usually works!

    Love how you used the map….love the beautiful pics! ๐Ÿ™‚

  • dani Says:

    I tear apart pages I don’t like too! I’ve read before that you shouldn’t do that, but why would I want to keep something I don’t really like?? Nope. I’ve completely tore up, restarted and changed pages before.

    I love that you saved the pieces! awesome.

  • Jocelyn Says:

    Oh Marit…I just adore this LO and the story behind it!!! What wonderful memories and a glorious place to live!!! I so want to visit your part of the world!!! I am afraid I would get there and never want to return!!!!

    That zentangle is stunning…how do you do that…I would love to try it out!!!!

    Looks like a lovely time is to be had with your Mom!!! The hotel is stunning and oh so quaint!!! What a fun time you are going to have!!

    I always look forward to your comments that you leave for me!!!! You are such a dear friend!!! Love you girlie!!!

    I love the pieces to the LO that you tore up and that

  • Mirjamc Says:

    ben toch wel benieuwd hoe de art journal eruit zag voordat je ’em in stukken scheurde!!! maar in stukken ziet het er in ieder geval ook mooi uit ๐Ÿ™‚
    leuk dat je een lo van je geboorteplaats hebt gemaakt!!!ik ben nog nooit in middelburg geweest, erger nog….zeeland is de enige provincie waar ik nog nooit ben geweest!
    je weekend is vast super geweest, met dat mooie weer en dan samen met je moeder op stap en logeren in zo’n prachtig hotel!

  • Chris Says:

    And yes, I do tear mine up sometimes and save the pieces. thank you so much for the maps and explanation of where you live – I really like being able to visualize where my friends live and place they love. and speaking of love, what a super layout of Middleburg – love the photos. thanks so much for sharing with us at TAAFOMFT – and wow – your zentangles are so intriguing – I just sort of fall into them! Have a great week!

  • Monique Says:

    LOVED to read this post of yours (thanks for sharing!)!!! and the layout that goes with it is just perfect!!
    And your – what’sitcalled – zentangle (?) is STUNNING!!!!

  • Denise Says:

    Very cool “flopportunities” and I LOVE your zentangles…hope you had fun with your mum. Did you know there is a town in Michigan called Zeeland? Also Holland, of course, where there is a big tulip festival each year. One of my favorite illustrators I had the honor of working with is Gilsbert Van Frankenhuyzen…now you KNOW that guy is from the Netherlands! Talk with you soon…will be signing up for your Art Journey next month ๐Ÿ˜‰

  • Glenda Tkalac Says:

    Wow, I wish I could come and visit you Marit!! Your town looks waaaaay better than mine!! haha Love your creations and yes I have totally had stuff fail. I’ll have to remember to rip it up next time and see what happens!

  • Jenneke Says:

    Dus er is nog hoop? Als ik vind dat een layout mislukt is, moet ik hem gewoon in stukken scheuren?? Haha, vind het wel een geweldige vondst om ‘m in stukjes te gaan gebruiken! Zo origineel!!
    Ik ben 1 keer in Middelburg geweest maar het is al zo lang geleden, kan me er niet zoveel meer van herinneren.. Heel leuk dat je er een layout over gemaakt hebt!!
    Dankjewel voor het meedoen met Fav Things, Marit!
    En ik hoop dat je een fijn weekend hebt gehad!

    Groetjes, Jenneke

  • jeanet Says:

    Wow Marit! Prachtige layout voor Fave Things, prachtige foto’s en dat naaimachine werk is WOW!!!
    Prachtige stad! Je verhaal erbij is zo mooi!!
    En je zentangle page is ook weer helemaal super!
    Ik zie inderdaad hele mooi plaatjes op je stuk gescheurde page… nooit iets weggooien ๐Ÿ˜‰

  • Thinkie Says:

    Mooie lo! Middelburg is leuk!

  • merryheart2 Says:

    o0oh i like that word. flopportunity! it should be a real word.
    what a beautiful photograph of that hotel. i hope you did get to sit on the terrace and sip wine and chat with your friends and fellow writers.
    sounds totally relaxing.