Introducing Marit

Well, you've almost met them all...but not quite! Marit Barentsen is another one of our inter-continental scrappers and belive me when I say that we are overwhelmed by the variety of artistic style and the level of impeccable talent that she and the rest of the new team of designers possess. Read her interview below and get to know her a little more...


Here's the sketch again and see what she created using it. I'm always blown away by the way everyone interprets the sketches. Makes me very happy & inspired. Love it! (you can read the journaling too because we always want to know what it says, right?!)







Q: Tell us a bit about you and your family.

A: I'm Marit, I’m 45 and I was born and raised in Zeeland, a province in the South-West of the Netherlands. I have one brother (who moved to Canada with his family 5 years ago) and I grew up in a little village right next to the dunes and the North Sea.
As long as I can remember, I read and I wrote, just like my mum (she’s a writer). I started making my own “books” when I was a teenager… little one’s which I put poems and photo’s in (and never heard of scrapbooking then!) I learned to love photography because of my dad. He is a gifted photographer and I spend evenings with him in the kitchen, which we turned into a darkroom, to develop and print our photonegatives (yep, back in the old days!)
I have boxes full of old photos and for years I didn’t do much with it until I discovered scrapbooking...
So you see, I just can’t help it, crafting is in my genes and I graduated as a teacher in arts.
Today I live together with my beloved in Eindhoven. My love and I run a small company together in graphical communication & design, and I am a co-parent of a son - born in 1992 - from a former relationship who lives with us part of the week and every other weekend.

Q: How long have you been scrapbooking and where did you get your start in this craft?

A: It must have been 2002 when I found a magazine about scrapbooking. It was as if I was struck by lightning - This is it!!! Ever since, I combine my passion for photo’s, texts and paper into scrapbooking and I feel blessed with all those boxes filled with old photo’s I always kept stored, and a digital camera to make new ones.

Q:What inspires your creativity when you are scrapbooking?

A: It can be everything! A great photo, a song, a quote, a colour, a challenge, new paper or tools – boy, even a commercial on the TV can be inspiring!

Q:Describe your creative style

A: I like to work with Earth (natural) colours and I usually “think” before I actually start crafting. I’m a bit of a slow scrapper and my lay outs show the concentration (at least, I think it does) Lately, I’ve been trying to shake the “perfectionist” in me. Loosen up a bit; discover the joy of just fooling around with ink and paint! I guess the learning process never stops huh?!

Q:What are your three favorite products/techniques right now?

A: At the moment I’m totally into spray ink (blame Dina Wakley!). I also love vintage stuff like old books & distress ink and I use a lot of sewing (hand- as well as machine stitching)

Q:What project(s) are you currently working on?

A: I started an Art Journal about the songs of Leonard Cohen last Month (“my men” gave me a DVD of a concert he gave in London and I got inspired right away!) and I also participate in a “Alice in Wonderland – Circle - Journal – Swapp - kinda - thing” and that’s just two of the many things I’m busy with or planning to...

Q:Describe your perfect day

A: A perfect day starts when I finished a project that turned out great the other day - I always need a little time “to recover” from a lay out but I feel totally fulfilled on such days! - and I drive to Zeeland with my love and son to meet my parents & friend who still live there… we go for a walk along the sea shore and in the (summer) evening we sit in the garden, drink a glass of white wine and talk. Me; feeling satisfied about a lay out and relaxing, surrounded by the sand dunes & sea & loved ones… that’s the closest to perfection!

Q:What are your three favorite layouts of all time that you’ve created (published or not)?