Friday, February 10, 2012

POST CARD CHALLENGE WEEK 6 ~BELGIUM

Week 6 and another great country to visit on this great art adventure!!This week I decided to try a not so frequently used item in my art room  -markers! Belgium has so much to offer to use as a topic for my card such as Belgium Waffles, chocolates, Belgium lace, beer, horses etc. Then to even  make the dilemma more  difficult, I had so many great cities  to visit...So after much debating I decided to do my interpretation of the Tapis de Fleurs. This is the most amazing floral carpet design I have ever seem (maybe one day I can see it in person). The premise behind the "Floral Carpets" was that 2 alderman of Brussels had seen a floral carpet in Audenaarder and decided a floral carpet should be made at the Grand Palace. The world renown landscape architect E. Stautemans designed the first carpet in 1971 , and now the carpets are made  every 2 years in August. (P.S. Stautemans actually made a floral carpet in my home state of Ohio; for Columbus when they sponsored a huge Rose/Flower celebration several years ago) I have attached a link to the website showing the Gorgeous displays.
http://www.flowercarpet.be/site/main.php?lg=en&otm=19&mtm=20&hst=_04_16&pg=113

                                                    
FRONT OF CARD:


This "carpet" was made using some old parts of previous carpets  and adding new elements.I started out by making my outline in Pitt pen and colored it in with several colors of Faber-Castell fine brush markers.The center symbol is St. Michael which is part of the Brussell flag and is a treasured icon of their city.

Back of Card
Correspondence as follows: Melite,
                                                 Well since I have not head from you recently, I hope this means you are still undergoing treatment in China, I'm now in Brussells, Belgium attending to business, Seeking a new venture~What do you think about chocolates or lace?  Anyways his year's Tapis de Fleurs is Amazing-the sweet smell of the begonias permeates the Grand Palace Square. Just wish you were with me to enjoy it.
                                             Hope to hear from you soon, Alex

PAGES IN BOOK
                                                  Book with Postcard in place
                                 View of page with postcard open- Didn't do a lot with the page because
                                             I wanted the  Belgium lace to be premier part of page(journaling   to follow)
                                              The yellow flower is the symbol of Brussells. I took a piece of lace and
                                             sprayed Lyndy's spray through it to achieve the background -
                                              The photo is of the Grand Palace, where the carpets of flowers are displayed.

HAPPY CREATING!
Fotojoy/Joyce

17 comments:

  1. I saw pictures of this event and was awe struck...reason enough to visit Belgium!
    Love your card!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. How pretty! Interesting background info too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love your carpet! Never knew they did this... Guess I have to take the children on a trip this Summer! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. WOW Sandra how lucky for you & your children -I believe the display starts this year around August 14 and only lasts a few days- I can't wait to see this years entry.
      BTW thank you for all the comments you leave on my postings!

      Delete
  4. oooo It's lovely! I must say I am really liking this postcard challenge as I am learning so much about other countries.

    ReplyDelete
  5. That's funny I thought about doing the carpet from that angle. It looks like it took a lot of time to do, nice.

    ReplyDelete
  6. What beautiful colors and an inspired idea!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Fabulous colours, would love to visit and see the carpet for real. Great postcard.
    Jen x

    ReplyDelete
  8. Glorious design Joyce...would love enough flowering plants to make a carpet mmmmmm....haven't started planting veg patch yet, maybe I could give it a rest this year??? :D XXX

    ReplyDelete
  9. Fabulous card. Would be a sight worth seeing, until now I did not know it existed - thank you.

    Janet xx

    ReplyDelete
  10. Aloha Joyce...the colors are gorgeous...bright and cheery...love to have one of these in my home...FAB

    ReplyDelete
  11. Love you interpretation of the carpet of flowers. I think the back of your card is really neat. I always forget to add a little something to the back side.

    ReplyDelete
  12. gorgeous..so much work and attention to detail. loving the lace on the page.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Darcy!! I know I love the lace background~ way to beautiful to cover it with other artwork !

      Delete
  13. Ooooh this one is great, I so like your book too!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Great card and loving your techniques!

    ReplyDelete
  15. love the carpet design and your process

    ReplyDelete