Fly With Me

Hello again,

No, I have not fallen off the face of the earth, I've just been a little sick, but I will post about that later.

First, I have to tell you about the awesome new Mission Possible Kit that the ladies with Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations have made.  Its called Fly With Me and has loads of beautiful birds and butterflies.

Check it out here:

Fly With Me

I had some fun with this kit.  Here are two digital pages I have made with it.

Early Bird

This one was inspired by my son - who is a lot like me when I was his age.  Who needs to sleep anyway - there is too much life to live!  Alas, I can no longer keep up with his hours, I often go to bed before he is asleep, and most likely will sleep past his waking.  Oh well, at least he can entertain himself easily.


Time To Fly

This one is inspired by a song that the sister of a good friend wrote as she was leaving after a visit to the country we were living in at the time.  I absolutely love her music.  The CD this is from can be found here - if you are interested.

Sara Swensen, All Things Big and Small


Oh, and there is a freebie that coordinates with the kit above on POlka Dot Chicks Facebook Fan page found here.

Well, that is all for today.  I am working on a fun hybrid project as well to go along with these - for my daughter's room.  I can't wait to show you that as well.

Have fun!

Anniversary and fun!

Well, I never got around to posting yesterday, sorry about that.

BUT, it was my anniversary and so we were busy celebrating.  It was nice!  So you see there was a good reason for my absence.

Oh, and I made a card for my sweetie.  It was fun too!

I used one of those new kits from my sweet ladies over at Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations.  Its in the kit Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Altered Junk Mixed-Up 21 check it out if you like birds!

Now, to show you my pages.

This one is in honor of my dad and my husband,

It tells about my memories of my dad and his always having coffee.  Funny, I never would have guessed back then that I would come to love coffee as much as I do, but that is life.

Ingredients:

Sherrie JD - graffiti page V6

Dawn Inskip: Wrecked art papers
Bisointine - mustache me
fonts: Idiot, Jane Austen & Cold Coffee

This one is in honor of my crazy dog - remember her?

Ingredients:
Tangie Baxter: AJC 2012 - Parcel 3, 12 & 19, AJC 11 parcel 6, explain it, Chipper chatter verbs, prose, Shakesphere gave us
CD Muchosky: Markerific alpha
Audrey Neal Stitches
Crow About StudioB: WOOT Words
Vicki Segall: Ransom words


And then I had some fun with those kits I showed you last time:


This one came about after my dad sent me some family pictures.  It just got me thinking a bit, especially since my grandmother passed away last month.

Ingredients:


Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Altered Junk Mixed-Up 20
Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Altered Junk Mixed-Up 21 
Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Altered Junk Kit 2


And this one was just for fun!

It has been a while since I have been dancing, but a girl can dream right?  If you have a thing for shoes, then you should check out the Mixed Up 20 below, because it is full of vintage shoes.

Ingredients:

Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations {Altered Junk} Mixed up v.20

Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations {Altered Junk} Mini Kit 5

Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations {Altered Junk} Mini Kit 8

Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations {Altered Junk} October mini kit

Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations {Altered Junk} Cut Outs 2

Well, that's all for tonight - more later!  Thanks so much!

Catching Up!

Well, I have gotten behind in posting all my goodies.  I have been having so much fun creating that I forgot to share it.

Last time I said I might have to play with some of the new Altered Junk goodies - well, I did.  And to make it even better, the ladies at Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations came out with two new mix-ups this week.  Too cool!

But I am getting ahead of myself.

Here are the pages I made with the kits from my last post.

This is one of my favorite ones from this week.  I used a photo I had found a while back - don't you just love it - and then the Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Altered Junk Mixed Up 19 over at Scrap Delicious.  There is a story that goes with this one, but I think I will save it for later.

I had some fun making some more pages with the mission possible kit.

This one was food for thought for a while, and when I saw the strong man in the Mission Possible Circus Add-On Kit, I had to give it a go.  Its simple, but means a lot to me.

This one was with the Altered Junk Mission Possible Circus Kit and the Add-On Kit.  It came out of a frustrated moment.  I hate that so many people think life is a competition.  We don't have to compete with each other for everything, we CAN co-operate.

And here is a page I made with the Altered Junk May Journaling Mini Kit.  It is such a soft kit, it made me realize how bittersweet May truly is for me.

Well, that does not catch me up (can you believe I have made even more) but it does make a dent.  I will try and post the rest in the morning.  It is just so fun to express yourself, don't you think!

Next time I will show you how much fun I had with these two kits:

{Altered Junk} Mixed up v.20

{Altered Junk} Mixed up v.21

happy times!

Life is like a 3 Ring Circus

Ok, so life has gotten a little bit crazy lately.  That is due in part to the coming of Monsoon.  The rains do somewhat limit the kids outside time, and make us schedule most of our outings when the sun is out.  But there are a handful of other things all going on at the same time and things seem to just start swirling by before you can really think about it.

So of course, when I saw this new Mission Possible Kit by my favorite ladies, Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations, I just had to make a page celebrating our current craziness.  And why not!  We are talking about celebrating all the aspects of life this year after all, so lets celebrate the crazy aspects as well.

Here it is:

It was a great de-stressor today for me.  After the kiddos were in bed I just sat down and played a bit. And the best part is that it all came basically together.  This is the first Mission Possible kit I have had the pleasure to play with - there are two more (Time and Travel) in the store here.

For this page I used all Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations
Mission Possible: Circus
Mission Possible: Circus Add-on
Mission Possible: Circus Freebie 1
Mission Possible: Circus Freebie 2

And if you like what you see, you might want to click the links because some of those freebies might still be available.

The ladies have loads of new kits out in the store right now too. Including these two that I might just have to play with a bit.

Happy day to you all!

Art Journaling Challenge with Altered Junk

You might have noticed that I talk about Altered Junk and the lovely ladies at Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations quite a bit.  Well, they are now hosting challenges for any folks interested in art journaling.  This month's challenge can be found on my friend Inger's blog here.  So head over there and have a look.  She has a really cool freebie for you too!

I had a lot of fun with this challenge.  I started out with one page and before too long realized I had to make two - one for me and where I am and one for my family.

Here is my page:

Ingredients:

background: 

Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Paper Set 30 - Process Paper Set 1 page 5 and Dana Zarling: Urban Girl Paper Pack

extras:

Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Altered Junk Halloween Paper (on lady)

Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Altered Junk Cutouts 2 (lady)

Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Altered Junk Challenge Freebie #1(rainbow, crown, and path)

Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Altered Junk Mini Kit # 6 (goggles)

Tallula Moon Designs - Frosty Chill glitter borders

font - Pea Andrea

It celebrates the change in vision I have had this year and how I am no longer afraid to be the person God created me to be - no more pretending, no more masks, just me plain and simple (OK - so I am not so plain and simple - but you know what I mean).

This page I made with my family in mind:

Ingredients:

Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Altered Junk Challenge Freebie #1 (rainbow)

Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Altered Junk Messy Splats 2

Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Altered Junk Mini Kit 8 (paper)

Tallula Moon Design - Frosty Chill Gliter Borders

font: Pea Breathe Easy

It is simple on purpose, and it celebrates the fact that as a family we have been through so much together, and yet, we are still here.  I had a lot of fun with photo extraction on this one.  I am telling you, each new page I do helps me to learn a little more.  This is so much fun!

Well, hope you visit Ms Inger and have a go at the challenge - it is really fun, and you get a nice prize for participating.

Happy Day!

Yeah for learning!

This week marked an important step in school for my 4 - year old.  I really make an effort to not push my kids academically before they are ready, and I see no problem in a 4 year old spending most of her time playing, so when she just does not want to do the 30 minute preschool I try to do with her each week day, I just don't fight it.  So imagine my surprise when she came to me this week with a sheet of paper filled with well-formed letters.  Sure it was the same 3 letters H - M - O in various combinations, but I have never taught her letter writing at all.

I asked her 'do you want me to teach you to write?'

Her answer 'Of course Mom!'  Yes, of course!

So the next day we started to learn how to write the letters whose sounds we have been practicing all year.  She was so proud of herself that she had to show everyone her work.  And since I am celebrating the 'little things' this year, I also had her help me make a page to celebrate this step in her academic life.

Here it is!

She wanted pink - and I thought it would be fun to use the banners to give it a party feel!

All the goodies are from the lovely ladies at Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations who make the Altered Junk line.  They have some great new items on the shelves over at Scrap Delicious, and it is still on sale - so go have a look.

http://www.scrapdelicious.com/shoppe/Altered-Art/

Ingredients include:

Polka Dot Chicks, and Soto Creations Altered Junk August mini kit (background paper)
Polka Dot Chicks, and Soto Creations Altered Junk July mini kit (torn border bit (bottom of page),
Polka Dot Chicks, and Soto Creations Altered Junk April(2011) mini kit (frame),
Polka Dot Chicks, and Soto Creations Altered Junk November mini kit (scallop glitter border)
Polka Dot Chicks, and Soto Creations Altered Junk September mini kit (scatter)
Polka Dot Chicks, and Soto Creations Altered Junk Kit 2 (staple)
Polka Dot Chicks, and Soto Creations Altered Junk Notebooks 1 (notebook)
Polka Dot Chicks, and Soto Creations Altered Junk Mix Up V. 10 (stitching)
Polka Dot Chicks, and Soto Creations Altered Junk Mix Up V. 12 (glitter splat)
Polka Dot Chicks, and Soto Creations Altered Junk Mixed Up banners 2 (all three banners)
Polka Dot Chicks, and Soto Creations Altered Junk Mixed Up ribbons V1 (award ribbon, side scallops)
Polka Dot Chicks, and Soto Creations Altered Junk Mixed Up Messy Splats V 2
Polka Dot Chicks, and Soto Creations Altered Junk Coins 2, 3 & 5
Polka Dot Chicks, and Soto Creations Altered Junk Hardware 6 (brad)
font: Pea Alicia Script

Constructive Distractions

Yesterday I finally pulled out the sewing machine and got busy working on those projects that have been on the back burner.  (You know, the ones I was hoping to be more motivated to do a few weeks ago!)  I got most of them done, and all of them started, but then I got distracted.  No Surprise there, but it was a constructive distraction.  I had some cards that I needed to make, 1 for a wedding, some thank yous and 1 just 'how ya doing?'  Well, the sewing machine inspired me and I finished those up.  Here are my favorites:

dream ingredients:

Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Altered Junk Mix Up V. 8

fibers by LaBoom (Thai company), acrylic stamps, gel pens

enjoy ingredients:

Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Altered Junk Adornments Bundle

Fibers and Brooch by LaBoom (Thai company) Paper is from the Once Upon a Time Stack in my stash (by paper studio I think), acrylic stamps and gel pen

love ingredients:

Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Altered Junk Mix Up V. 10

fibers by LaBoom (Thai company)

Acrylic paint, acrylic stamps, gel pens, thread

smile ingredients:

Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Altered Junk Mix Up V. 12

fibers by LaBoom (Thai company), acrylic stamps, gel pens

wish ingredients:

Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Altered Junk Mix Up V. 12 &Mini Kit V. 4

fibers by LaBoom (Thai company), acrylic stamps, gel pens

They were really fun to make, and they came together quicker than I expected - I guess I was feeling inspired.  Now to make little enveloped to go with them and get them in the mail.

Oh, and by the way - Polka Dot Chicks is having a 40% off sale at Scrap Delicious right now to celebrate SD's 2nd birthday - so if you have been eyeing their goodies now is a great time to try them out.  They have some great new products out right now, and more coming in the next week!

Go see them here:

http://www.scrapdelicious.com/shoppe/Altered-Art/

Happy Weekend!

Steamy Summer Nights

OK, Summer has officially arrived in Chiang Mai.  It is HOT!  And it is not cooling down at night anymore.  Today the kids and I completely gave up on doing homeschool.  Instead we crowded into the kids room, cranked the AC up (we only have single units - thus adding to the heat issue) and thought cold thoughts.  We decided to draw pictures of things that helped us to feel cooler.  It was fun, and fairly refreshing - especially once the AC really cooled the room off.

Anyway, tonight, as I was cleaning up after the kids were in bed I went through the drawings again, and had to chuckle.  And as is wont to happen, I got an idea for a journal page.  So here you have it.  My snow dreaming page.

journaling reads:

April 25, 2012 - 10:15 and still 106 out

I get a kick out of hearing people talk about wanting to live in a tropical country.  Anyone who has lived in the tropics for any number of years can tell you though, it is NOT always paradise.  Sure the winter months are perfect.  70-80 degree weather, nice breezes, beautiful sunsets.  What is not to love about that?  But just wait around another three months.  When tropic summer comes, then you will know what hell feels like.  Blazing sun that beats down with an intensity like nothing ever felt in a temperate climate - temperatures that stay above 100 around the clock - humidity that just sits there smothering you.  The walls bake in the onslaught and the houses become ovens.  You loose weight from sweating and will try anything to cool off just for a bit.  No, you keep your dreams of the tropics and I - I will dream of fresh crisp, cool snow.

ingredients:
All the goodies are from Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Altered Junk Line:
January Journaling Mini
Icy Snowflakes V. 1
Messy Splats V. 1
fonts:
pea alicia script
joy like sunshine through my windowpane

Anyways, just thought I would share how we stay cool in the HOT season.

Free time and Goodies

I am helping with a shower that is coming up and we wanted to display the menu on little cards.  The moment I saw it I knew that the newest Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Altered Junk Mixedup kit was perfect for getting started.  What do you think?

I kinda like how it turned out!

Here are the ingredients:

Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Altered Junk

mixedup volume 18 (all that lovely food and menu related stuff plus the papers and lace - yummy!)

mini kit 2, 5, and 6

banners 1

hardware 8

painted ephemera 1

messy stitches 3

font: Marcus the Cow, Janda Curly Girl, Moonlight Shadows

It all came together really quickly, and then, toady being Saturday,I had some free time, so I thought I would play with all the goodies a bit.  The song in the background made its way into my thoughts and onto my page (do you know it?)  I am not sure if I like the text being black, but everything I tried did not look any better so I left it like this for now.  I am thinking about printing this one out as a card for someone in particular that I think it will encourage.

For this one I used:

Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Altered Junk mini kit 2 (background paper) and 5

messy stitches 3

mixed up banners 1

smudges 2 and 3

clusters 2

font: Miserably lose

I am always surprised at how quick they come together.

There is so much more to play with, I can foresee a lot of fun in my free time.

Thanks!

Another win for Mommy!

Those of you who have boys, or had brothers, or are married, or have ever been around boys know just how competitive they can be.  Now, my boys are better than some, they have lived with me long enough to know I don't like to play games with them if they are intent on making me cry - and I have lived with them long enough to get a bit of a competitive streak to me.

So it is not any wonder really, when on our game night (at least 2 or 3 times a week now) we all get a little feisty.  And although there are some games I have never won, there are others I am pretty good at.

So here is a page celebrating yet another win for Mommy - the Queen of Hearts!

I used some more of the goodies from Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Altered Junk.  This time I used

three of their Mix-Ups Mix Up (13, 12, 15)

Mixed Up Clusters 1

font: Prissy frat boy

It is so much fun to mix and match these kits - and there are so many options when you do.

Have a good weekend!

10 best things!

So sometimes I like the challenge of a really hard journaling prompt - and this was one of those!

I had to come up with 10 good things about myself - TEN!  I got the first 2 or 3 without a problem, then got really stuck.  But I started sharing y dilemma and people helped out with some really positive feedback.  It is good to see yourself through someone else's eyes now and then.

Here is the end result for those who are interested.

Once again, I used the lovely Altered Junk line from Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations - this time Paper Set 30 - Process Papers for the background.  I also used  Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Altered Junk April Journaling mini, Tangie Baxter's AJC 2012 Toppers, MZimm  Embrace the Past glitter borders.
And the following fonts: the buns, the doorman, too many secrets, windsong. waterfalls, teachers pet, susies hand, spicy sushi roll, scotosaurus, Pea Elsie joy, smiley monster

I encourage you to find the 10 best things about yourself as well - and write them down as a reminder.

Gift Junque Journal #1 is finished - almost!

I have been elbow deep in paint, stamps, and all sorts of things this week - Excellent art therapy I might say - since I mostly could not leave the house.  I finished the first of my gift journals - well, except for all the froo froo I will add like clips and little ribbons, but the messy bits are done.  And I have to say it was so FUN to make!  I decorated every 5th page or so, some slightly, some pretty heavily just to give it some life.  Here are my favorite pages from the journal.

This one was inspired by my art journal page below - it uses the same Ztampf image with some acrylic stamps, acrylic paint and gel pens.

I have always wanted to used this stamp, and I loved these legs from Crow About Studios - so viola!  a Junque Journal page

This one uses some more Altered Junk by Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations.  I used my heart punch to clip the hearts from the paper in Mix Up 15, then used the wings from the adornments bundle and Mix Up 7 to make my hearts soar.

This one uses Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Altered Junk Mix-Ups 7 & 8

and Flowers 2 

This is one of my favorites by far - Again using Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Altered Junk Mix Ups 10 and 7 and then Coins 3.  I also used some acrylic stamps again here.

This one was fun.  It uses Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Altered Junk Mix Up 15 and some word art by Tangie Baxter.

here is my favorite little dolly again, she is from Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Altered Junk mix up 12.  This time I mixed her with some cut flowers from some old traditional paper (from Paper Studio I think) and then Word Art from Crow About Studios.

And last is this one.  Again using Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Altered Junk Mix Up 7 & 12 and Coins 3

Anyway, i am still wondering if I should add something to the cover - I might, but not sure yet.  For now this is all, but Journal 2 is already in the works.

WHY?

I had fun using some older files from my digi stash this weekend.  Made an Art Journal page about what I don't want to talk about - ironic?!

Anyway, here it is:

 I used mostly Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Altered Junk items for it.


credits:
background: blend of Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations Altered Junk Paper sets 1, 30 & 37
I also used their mini kit 2 (stars) and alpha 1
clouds were a freebie from Everyday Mom Ideas
fonts: thinking about you(in title) and the buns(journaling)

I have been told that the lady hiding behind the umbrella is very 'me'

Thanks!

Sew much to do!

I have a pile of sewing that needs to be done (or started, or finished, or something).  Lots of little things that on their own would only take a few minutes, maybe an hour.  But all together it is rather daunting.

So i thought I would make a little check list - see if it motivates me at all to get on it.

Here is my list - OK, so its a bit more than a list - but nothing should be boring if it doesn't have to be!

I used the great Altered Junk line again, from Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations.  This one uses the following products:
April Journaling Mini
Mixed-Ups Volume 10
Butterfly Splats 3
Alpha 5
fonts: Pea Alesa, old typewriter

It was fun to make - and hopefully, it will motivate me a little.  Lets see what we can get finished!

Thanks!

Junque Journals and me!

So this year I have been trying my hand at Art Journaling, and I must say


I LOVE IT!


I have learned so much in the process.
So much about me, about art, about computers.


And I have been able to try some new things.


Right now I am working on making some Junque Journals.  That has been fun too!


 I am making a bunch of them as gifts and it is so much fun to make them with another person in particular in mind.  Here is the title page from my first Junque Journal. 

I used some of the great Altered Junk products by Polka Dot Chicks and Soto Creations including Mixed Up Kit #12, Adornments #1, and Coin Sets #2,3 & 5.  If you have never seen their Altered Junk Line - you really should check it out.  They are exclusively at 


http://www.scrapdelicious.com/


I realized half-way through applying the Matte Medium at the end that my marker was NOT water resistant even though it was advertised as such - but Oh well, it still works!


I hope to post some of my Art Journaling pages soon.


Thanks!