Heading to the Netherlands, day 1

Some of you know my internet friend Marit who I met somewhere on the internet years ago, and we think it may have been even before we both started playing at What's On Your Workdesk, Wednesday.  In the summer, she hosts 10 weeks of art that revolve around journals and paper projects.  She calls it the "Quirky Dutch Summer," and I visit every week.  Her summer is nearly over this year, though.  New projects will show weekly through August 12.  Per her blog:

Ten weeks during the Summer, ten posts that are like the Dutch Summer itself: quirky! You know how Dutch summers are: one day it is hot and the next day the wind blows.

Having been inspired by all this quirky Dutch summer, I decided to experience my own Dutch summer vacation. That's why today, we're all heading to the Netherlands.  I'm also joining Chris at Pear Shaped Crafting, our host this month at Art Journal Journey with her theme We're all/going.  And because Try it on Tuesday's fortnightly theme is Splatters and Splodges, I'm joining their challenge, too.  It looks like I just missed Moo-Mania and More's summer holiday challenge.

Our first stop will be Amsterdam.  

We begin our trip through the Netherlands by visiting Amsterdam with its famous canals and incredible bridges.

The architecture is stunning and colorful wherever you are, whether riding the canals in a boat, walking or biking past the charming houses, or driving on the capital's streets.

This incredible museum is the museum of the Netherlands.  It houses many famous paintings, 

including Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring which actually lives at The Hague.  Ironically, there was also a painting of Rembrandt's Night Watch in the brochure that I didn't use, which will soon undergo a complete restoration project live at the museum.  Incidentally, it may be the only museum in the world where you can cycle through its passageway.

Keukenhof (Kitchen) Gardens is one of the world's largest flower gardens in the world.  I have a couple of internet friends who would go crazy here!  Unfortunately, it is only open about three months a year.  Although I created two name tags, I decided to use one and split it between both images of this incredible garden in Amsterdam.

One more look

at Amsterdam before we leave.

The second side of this spread finds us still in the Netherlands, this this time in Delft and The Hague.

Delft, famous for that gorgeous distinctive blue and white pottery, is located in the south of Holland.  The  town square, shown above, is not to be missed, nor are the stores that sell the beautiful Delftware blue pottery.

Although Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands, The Hague is the seat of the government.  I'm sure those of you who study history are familiar with the fact that the Hague has many international courts.  It is also located in the south of Holland.

For this page, as the flip side, I used images from a travel brochure advertising a trip through the Dutch waterways.  All images are from that brochure.  The spritzes and splotches on both sides were created using my handmade shimmering mists, while the only decorations I used were bits of washi tape.  All words were computer generated and colored using two water soluble crayons.

I planned to have another entry ready, but I barely got this one finished and photographed in time to show it.  Thank you for joining me today.  I also hope you will join Bleubeard and me at Art Journal Journey as well as Try it on Tuesday.