Ferris Wheel

Last weekend I visited the Tall Ships Races and I showed you a whole bunch of pictures of that day on Saturday and Monday. But I felt like this subject deserved a post all of its own.

See, there was a huge Ferris wheel there, and for a lover of lines and photography it was an abolutely irresistable subject to take pictures of. And so I did, and then I took some more.

Those white lines against the blue sky, I don't know, maybe you have to be a little crazy to get it, but if you do, you are in for a treat. Lookit:

I hope you see what I mean and if not, well, just skip this post. There should be more artsy stuff in the making soon. I'll be going to a Sketchcrawl again this weekend (it's been a while), so that means instead of taking pictures I will actually have to draw some stuff.  ;-)

Let's hope the weather cooperates. Keep your fingers crossed!

Wishing you all a wonderful and artsy weekend!

Drawing in the journal

Currently I use my journal for just about anything I feel like doing and of course drawing is a part of that. Here's a selection of spreads from the Real Journal (yes, that's what it's called) where I did some kind of drawing or sketching.

As you maybe can tell, the last picture is also the last page in the Real Journal. Yes, I've completed another journal! This one was rather small and thin, so it only took me about 5 to 6 weeks.

The only thing that still needs finishing is the fabric cover I'm making for it. That's why the right side of that spread is only used to test some colours, since it will be covered up when the cover is done. Of course I will show that to you when it's finished.  I'm proud of how it's looking so far, but the big test will come when I actually put it together. Keep your fingers crossed.

I have already started another journal by the way, but that's for another post. For now I wish you all a wonderful and artsy day!

Tall Ships Races 2014 - part two of two

Saturday I showed you the first part of a series of photographs I took in the port town of Harlingen where the Tall Ships Races 2014 were hosted. You can read more about in the previous post.

I had a wonderful time walking around the huge sailboats, but also visiting the fishing harbour and the nautical market that was being organized. And of course Harlingen itself is a lovely town.

So here's the second part of a selection of the (about 250!) pictures I took that day. Enjoy!

I kept track with the Runkeeper app on my smartphone and it turns out that I walked over 12 km that day (about 8 miles) just going back and forth between the different sights, so I got plenty of exercise as well! 

Hope you liked taking this peek through my camera at all these pretty sights and I wish you another wonderful and artsy day!

Tall Ships Races 2014 - part one of two

This weekend the port town of Harlingen hosts the start of the Tall Ships Races 2014. I had the good fortune to spend a day among the boats, the different harbours and the many more pretty sights that Harlingen has to offer.

The ships that compete are enormous sail boats, where often young people are being trained to be professional sailors. The cool part was that you could go on board too and get a close look at all the little details (and the big ones!). I'd never even seen such big ships, let alone been aboard one!

This post and the next one will give you an impression of both the ships and the town of Harlingen, because of course I brought my camera so I could take you all with me. (Okay, I mostly did it for me, but we can share them, I'm not stingy.)

Hope you enjoy these pics.

You can probably see I have an absolute fascination for all the lines that the many ropes make  and also for all the little bits and bobs that come with these ships. I can't get enough of them. I'm sure it somehow connects to my love for patterns.

Next post will have another selection of pics for you. Until then I wish you a wonderful and artsy day. 

Amsterdam

Last weekend I got to visit Amsterdam with two local friends. The weather was lovely, the city was beautiful and after just two days we were exhausted from running around trying to see as much a possible.

Of course I didn't get to see as much as I would like and I certainly didn't really get to explore any museums (but that's better for me to do alone anyway), but we did go on many canal buses (a hop on hop off boat that takes you by all the sights), saw a lot of cute shops and markets, beautiful buildings and had ourselves a very good time.

Here's a little photographic impression of the weekend.

I also had myself  little (big) bonus when we got to the hotel. Turns out they had overbooked all the regular rooms. Now we already had ourselves a discount for those (connections connections), so we were already staying there dirt cheap. But now they upgraded me to the royal suite for free!

This is about a third of the entire suite.

It was pure decadence. The room had a bath tub that would drown about three regular bathtubs, so of course I spent that one night in luxurious bubbles. There were complementary bath robes and such too.  It was wonderful! It also had a sitting area with a comfortable couch and a big terrace with a wonderful view.  I later found out how much this suite costs and my jaw pretty much dropped. I guess now I know how the other half lives. Okay, maybe not the millionaires, but still.... ;-)

After this short visit I am now planning a longer stay in Amsterdam somewhere in the fall, hopefully October. I want to rent an appartment then, but we'll have to see how the finances are at that time. I am looking forward though to exploring this city at a slower speed and taking the time to see the wonderful museums.  I'll let you know if and when that happens, and  I will take you with me of course.

For now I wish you all a wonderful and artsy day!