Challenges, layouts, and a freebie

I definitely didn't plan it but when I looked at all the layouts I want to show you today, I realized they were all created with prompts from challenges!

What I love the most about challenges is how they push your creative boundaries. You get to do what you might not normally choose to do, try new techniques, and sometimes even explore some of your own buried feelings. I'd recommend it if you haven't tried yet.

I've totally enjoyed the challenges at MScraps forum where I hang out the most these days. They are creative and challenging (as challenges should be), and the sample layouts from the site CT's are very inspiring. Oh, and of course, the points that you can collect toward $ to use in the store are quite nice too. ;)

...................

Did you happen to notice the tweet button on the right side of the blog? Hehe...yep, I'm using twitter now. In my twitter page I use this layout as background.

I created this LO for an About Me challenge in the theme "Phobia" and that means heights for me. It was a long process thinking, planning, and executing the page, which is why I just love how it came out looking so simple and easy. The ladies at MScraps gave me so many encouraging comments!! TYSM!

(The city silhouette is inspired by Famous City Skyline brushes by Rawox and Balloon girl modified from a brush by xCassiex24. Thank you both!)

Just 2 days later I created another page for the Photography challenge: reflections. Mine was taken on our short train ride 2 years ago. It shows not one but two reflections! One on the magnifying glass and one in my son Neill's eyes, and I just love how I can see myself in his eyes!

The page went on to earn a mention in the Gallery Standouts blog! I was so excited!!!

Both pages above were created with this beautiful kit: Little Discoverer of Designs by Anita.

...................

For this month (July) I have 2 challenge layouts to show. :)

This first one I made for the Recipe Challenge. Not food but scrapping recipe - with a certain amount of photos, papers, fasteners, lines, circles, etc. you have to put in. Not easy at all but so much fun!!!

Journaling reads: Neill isn't normally allowed to play with toy guns.

I let him have this one because it hasn't got a trigger

and there're no dangerous parts that can become loose.

It can make a heck of a noise though.

From collab kit Things to Do on a Windy Day of Designs by Anita and Che Yang Designs

...................

And the most recent one is another About Me challenge. This time it's about what you dislike about yourself. Oh boy. I have to say, when it's done, I felt so drained and naked! LOL



Journaling reads: I'll admit it

there are times when I am not too happy with the fact that I'm

NOT so young, wild, or free anymore.

I haven't totally come to terms with it yet.

But I know I'll get there ... one day.

From kit Young, Wild, and Free of Designs by Anita

...................

Now a little bit of news!

Two Little Pixels is closing shop so all Anita's products there, including the ones you see here, are now on sale at 35% off! This is only until August 5 so hurry up!!

...................

Congrats! You've survived the loooong post. Here's a present for you. As I said, I spent a lot of time planning, drawing, cutting and piercing those digi papers to make the layout so I think, well, maybe you can find some use for it! :D Here's the download link if you're interested:



Just a little reminder here: this template is for Personal Use and NOT for any promotional purposes. So, please refer to the TOU when using. :) Thank you so much! Please let me know if you do make something with this. I would really love to see your art. :)

Party in the summer rain

Nobody can tell anymore what color my car is exactly. :D Since it's been raining cats and dogs almost everyday here in Bangkok, I've decided to forego the pointless act of washing the car altogether. (Or at least until my son can't take it any longer and has to wash it himself. LOL)

Well, when it's not raining, it's just so darn hot here. I guess it's the perfect reason to be in an air-conditioned room and do some scrapping! I'm so in love with a lot of scrapbooking kits coming out right now. The bright summer colors certainly liven up galleries that it's such a joy to browse around.

Anyway, in the midst of sun and rain, I created a few double page layouts I'd like to share here. :)

P.S. Just notice that I put "Summer Rain" on the title! Love the song! Love you, Mr. Schue!

* * * * *

We went to South Africa in April to visit Ouma and Oupa (my mother- and father-in-law) and had such a great time there. I took a whole bunch of pictures from the trip which you'll definitely see later in my layouts. This one is about their new dog, Muffin, whom Neill created an amazing bond with...

Journaling reads:

In the brief 2 weeks that we stayed at Ouma and Oupa's house in Pretoria, South Africa, Neill has found a friend in little Muffin, Ouma's 4-month-old Yorkshire Terrier.

Both were at first awkward playing together. Sometimes the boy was too rough with the dog, other times the dog was too loud for the boy.

But they worked out their differences soon enough. By the time we had to leave, they were the best of friends and tears were flowing freely when they said their goodbyes.

Ouma told us later that Muffin sat at the gate for days, waiting for us to come back. And, of course, Neill has been begging to have his own dog ever since.

Credits:

layout created with Bloom of Colours kit by Val C. Designs

* * * * *

Val (Val C. Designs) and Terese (T for Me Designs) have teamed up to create this lovely kit called Summer Party.



They've also come up with a fun challenge with loads of freebies (add-on from both designers plus 2 word art sets in English and French) for us all to play with and prizes to win.




I had soooo much fun creating my double page layout for the kit and the challenge. :)






Come to the party at Zig Zag Scrap and join the challenge here!

I'll be back in a few days with my own template freebie. ;)

Holiday shopping, anyone?

Happy Thanksgiving! For those who celebrate the fabulous holiday, of course. We don't celebrate it here in Thailand but I always love spirit and the idea of being grateful for what we have.

The concept actually applies to Buddhist teachings as well. To be satisfied, grateful, and know what is "just enough" for you, that equals to letting go of greed. Isn't that wonderful? Wouldn't it bring a little peace to the chaotic world? (A little pageant-y for me but what the heck. LOL!)

* * * * *

I'm running a little late at everything. (When am I not that? Umm............ Let me think.............. Still thinking............) So I'll just leave you a couple of ads here. Hope they are useful for those who are shopping for holidays!!! All images are linked to corrensponding stores.

Oh! First, some good news!!!!

I am very lucky to be chosen as this week's Featured Scrapper at MScraps.

I would really LOVE IT and LOVE YOU if you ladies can visit the thread and play with the challenge! It's easy! You just have to visit my gallery at MScraps and lift one of my layouts using at least 75% of MS products. I'm the last one for November so, with holiday preparations and stuff, there might not be a lot of participants. It can be a bit lonely there. Keep me company, pretty please.........? ;)

* * * * *

Now, the second good news! Val C. Designs asked if I wanted to join her CT and I said yes!!! I have always loved Val's beautiful kits and she's sooooooooo sweet and one of the most generous designers out there. So it's such a pleasure to be working with her again.

She just opened her store at Zig Zag Scrap recently and now some of her fabulous products are on sale during the Black Friday! Go shop!

* * * * *

At MScraps, Anita and Dunia are also having some sales of their kits. Dunia has 3 new products on sale for 20% off during the weekend, while Anita's shop is 30% off!

* * * * *

Gotta end with this bittersweet news. Designs by Doodelle (Rachelle) is closing her shop at MScraps. She'll be starting at a new store next month. From now until the end of the month, though, you have a chance to pick up her stuff at MScraps at a very looooow price! Some of the old kits will be retired forever so, seriously, don't miss the chance at owning some vintage Doodelle before it's gone for good!


I have a big bunch of new layouts for ALL the designers I CT for that haven't been shown here yet. That will have to wait until next time, though. See ya soon! Now enjoy your shopping!!!!!

Boo! and freebie too! (2)

Yep! As promised, another post with the same name, right after the previous one! LOL!

* * * * *

And like the earlier entry, first we begin with the good news!

Rach (Designs by Doodelle) has an important gig next month being a guest designer at an exciting store!!! Apart from holding a Guess My Gig games at her Facebook fan page, she's also holding a RAK for new kits she has coming out at the guest store too! Head over to Facebook or DST for both games now! Or you can just go to Rach's blog to read the details about them. :)

* * * * *

Now my news. And I'm sorry to say that it's a sad news. After almost a year working as a Creative Team Member of Digital Scrap Cafe, I have decided to step down. Yes, I'm leaving DSC.

It's such a hard decision to make, I lost quite a few nights' sleep over it. It feels like the end of an era for me!! I enjoyed being active and getting creative for the wonderful shop and this friendly forum so much, but I just don't have enough time to be as active anymore. It really breaks my heart (you know how much I love DSC) but you've gotta do what you've gotta do, right?

In any case, I'm hosting this one last challenge there and I hope you will be able to find time to play with me. It's a template challenge!! I made a new template out of an old layout of mine, then I used it with this new layout for the latest lovely collab kit from Aprilisa Designs and Pixelily Designs called Eek! I'm Scared!

Here's my layout with it:


Journaling reads:
*NOT counting down to October 31 !*
Papa has taken leave from work to visit us from the second week of October,
and he's due to be back in Lebanon on Oct 31.
That makes this year the worst Halloween ever!
We know we woud miss your funny faces so much!

There will be a little parting gift from me to all participants of the challenge as well. So please go to the challenge thread to find your download link and make a layout! Play with me! Please..... :) I hope you like the template!!

** There is a problem at DSC so the challenge is cancelled for now. You can click on the image to download. **

** Edited: Many thanks to @Ally S. who let me know that she couldn't download the template from DSC because there's a malware warning on the site. I heard the complaint earlier and the site were already working hard on it. Anyway, in the mean time, if you can't access DSC either, you may use this link to download the template directly.

And if you do have a chance to make a layout from the template and can't post the layout in DSC gallery due to malware warning, please leave the link to your page in the comment space here and I'll make sure to show it in the challenge thread and make you eligible for participating prize. :) Thanks!! **

I'm turning back the clock at DSC! :D

Well, not really. LOL! It's just for this month's What's in the Coffee Cup Challenge!

For October 2010 I decided that we’ll revisit some of DSC’s discontinued challenges (the oldies but goodies.) :) Those who have been to the forum last year might remember that we used to have Quote, Color, and C&S Challenges. Now we will see the combination of all that!

I won't bore you with details here. You can go and read all about it from the DSC blog and the challenge thread. (And please do drop by because there will be a special gift for ALL participants of the challenge!!) I'm just gonna tell you how excited I am hosting it. I think it's a wonderful combination and I had such a great fun creating this example layout!

So here's my interpretation of this month's CCC:

Journaling reads:
You just started training for badminton recently
and already it has become your latest passion.
You are not really light on your feet yet but you have keen eyes and great reflexes.
We don't know yet if you'd make the school team in time
for the upcoming inter-school tournament, but you definitely gave it your all.
Even if it doesn't come out the way we want,
this will surely be the start of another great journey for you.
(September 30, 2010)

The kit used for this layout is Defiant by one of Digital Scrap Cafe's exciting new designers, Dream Big Designs!


It's such a perfect kit for boys, especially ones who love rock music and into all rebellous kinds of activities. It's totally made for my Neill! LOL!! I just love it so much and probably will create more LOs with it when I can find time.

The WA in the layout is from my own Journey Word Art set that was the September CCC participation prize.



You still have a chance to get the whole set, if you want to, just by joining in the October CCC Challenge. Click the preview below and pick up this one word art freebie to make the layout per the CCC directions and submit to the thread! I'll be waiting for you there. :)

A Little Something from DSC Blog Train!

My son Neill just turned seven a few days ago (on September 16.) That morning I woke him up with a hug and a Happy Birthday kiss. His reply:

"I'm 7 now! Yay!! And you know what? I'm loving you more every year, Mama."

Ditto, baby. Ditto. :)

Between Neill's final exams coming up in less than 2 weeks, having to drive him around to all his sport practices, and trying to finish my own work assignments, my life here is kinda like a quick blur right now. Some days I was so exhausted although when I did go to bed, I couldn't sleep no matter how long I spent tossing and turning under the blanket. This is the time when such a little sleepy message like the one from my boy can mean so much. I'm so grateful for you Neill!!! Mwaahh!

* * * * *

Now let's get to what you're really here for. LOL! Digital Scrap Cafe's blog train is here again!

For September 2010, the designers of DSC have come up with this cute and huge collab kit, A Little Something. Well, despite the name, with 122 elements, 4 templates, and 70 papers, this kit is everything but little! :D


The kit's color palette made me think of the fun train trip we took earlier in June. The trip was organised by my close friend PaMam so I decided to RAK her with some layouts (brag book pages) using her and her children's photos.

This first page used a template by Adi aka Le Pingouin Designs (included with A Little Something kit!) -- If you like the layout, go collect the brag book quickpage from the Digital Scrap Cafe blog. It's a part of our blog train!

I also made these following 2 pages using the photos of PaMam's children: Prima and Sinat.

So these are my goodies for you for Digital Scrap Cafe's September 2010 blog train! Please click here to download your 4x6" brag book quickpages if you like, or just click on the preview image below.

Don't want to miss any part of the blog train? Easy! I'll just give you the list here. :)

Blog Train Participants:
Pom - http://bkkpom.blogspot.com/ <--- me!
DSC - http://www.digitalscrapcafe.com/
Doris - http://tempusfug.blogspot.com/
Deanna - http://scrappygram.blogspot.com/
Loni - http://tincancanoe.blogspot.com/
Åsa - http://sondra-scraps.blogspot.com/

Please be patient and check back if any of the blogs are not ready yet when you first visit. You know, time difference and such. :) Now enjoy your free goodies and go blog hopping already! :D

Oh! And don't forget that my What's in the Coffee Cup Challenge is still going on until the end of the month! There's a gift for all participants too. Hope to see you there!!

Me and my first ever mini kit!?!

Didn't expect me to blog again this soon, did you? LOL. Well I'd like to surprise you (and myself) every once in a while!

* * * * *

I just put this layout in galleries. Didn't plan to put it out at first since I made it especially for Anita's CT profile page, but what the heck. LOL!! It's just a little something about me that you would have already known anyway if you've come by this blog more than a few times.

Journaling reads:
Briefly me --- Pom.
37. Thai. Married to South African hubby Chris. Mom to 7-year-old Neill.
A book editor & translator. Scrapping since early 2009. Vegetarian.
Addicted to coffee, reality TV, books, and the Net!

Credits:
Pieces of You - a collab kit from Designs by Anita and LieN Clickphoto Designs

* * * * *

There's something I did for the first time last week. I created my first ever mini kit! It was kind of a spur of a moment thing actually. LOL

As I told you earlier, last month (August) I took over the What's in the Coffee Cup Challenge at DSC from Di. It's exciting and I wanted to have something to give away to all participants for playing with me. I was going to do some teenie-tiny thing but an idea occurred to me and it eventually became a kit. What can I do? LOL!

Here is what it looks like:


The idea of the kit came from the photographs I took of Beirut's skyline. The view from the top deck of Gefinor Beirut Hotel -- with the sunset, the infinity pool, and everything -- was just stunning beyond words. I just love those colors so much.

Creating the kit, however, was quite a huge challenge for me as I have never seen myself as a designer. I'm simply a digi scrapper who loves to try new things and share the outcomes. :D I had fun making it but I'm quite certain now that I won't be quitting my day job to design scrapbooking kits anytime soon. LOL. Lucky me, quite a few people have said they like the kit and that makes me totally overjoyed!!!

(By the way, notice the new preview format? I decided to give it a makeover, completed with a logo! Like it?)

The mini kit will NOT be up for sale or given away anywhere else but in the challenges I host. It has already been sent to all participants of the August CCC. (And some have made stunning layouts with it. Woohoo!! Thanks, girls!) If you want it too, however, you can still have it by participating in the September Coffee Cup Challenge!

The challenge is to scrap a layout that includes each of the items listed in the coffee cup. I’m hoping to have some fun with night vs. light this time. More details at the challenge thread!

Here’s my layout using directions from the coffee cup:

Journaling reads:
There were a few dozen classmates sharing the same stage and bathing the same spotlight,
Yet you were no doubt my star of the night.

I used Aprilisa Designs’ kit Hot Off The Press for the layout. The talented Lisa is also the Designer in the Spotlight this month so don’t forget to check out her fabulous challenge and sale too!

So, I hope I'll see you all at the challenge! I know it's not easy but isn't it fun too to challenge yourself creatively? And, just for visiting the challenge thread, I'll give you this frame set taken from "At Dusk" for free! Please click on the preview to go to the challenge and get your download link. Enjoy!

A call, a dollar deal, a GSO, and a challenge freebie!

Okay, I counted. And I found out that in the span of about 24 hours I'm gonna have to make at least 3 blog posts to cover all I have to share with you. Wow.... That's gonna be fun! (And I can pretty much kiss my sleep good-bye. LOL) So I guess they all are gonna have to be short and sweet, and speedy as hell. :D Ready?

* * * * *

Designs by Anita is having a CT Call! This is absolutely a dream call for you, believe me. I'm speaking from my experience! Anita is super sweet to work with and always comes up with fabulous stuff that helps make your page special. Call ends Aug. 31 so hurry up!

(If you can't read the ad clearly, please click on it, or here, to go to Anita's blog for details.)

Here is just an example of Anita's beautiful work that I had a chance to create with. Natural Beauty:

I used the kit for this layout, This Smile, just to chronicle the progress of Neill's smile over almost 7 years of his life. :)

The template used for this layout is also a favorite of mine from Dunia Designs' Bunch of Templates Vol. 3!

* * * * *

...which brings us to another matter at hand, Dunia's amazing Dollar Deal! Her 20 products will be retired from stores by the end of the month, so Dunia has put them on sale for only $1 each at DigiScrappersBrasil! The deal lasts until the end of August only so you have to run if you don't want to miss these fun products forever! Here are previews of what you can get at the deal.


I used Times Like These kit and a template from Muliti-photo Templates Vol. 1, both included in Dunia's dollar deal, for this layout, Jump!



This page subsequently brought me the honor of being featured at the Gallery Standouts blog for the second time! Woohoooo! It has made its way to DigiShopTalk's and Digital Scrap Cafe's GSO threads as well. :)

* * * * *

I'll wrap it up quickly with this piece of news that is not so new any more as I should've blogged about it since the beginning of this month. LOL

I am a proud new hostess of the What's in the Coffee Cup Challenge at Digital Scrap Cafe! It's a fun challenge where you have to scrap a layout that includes each of the items listed in the coffee cup. And here is what the coffee cup looks like this month.


I won't go into the details now as this is already a loooooooog post. Let's just show you the layout I came up with for the coffee cup!


There WILL be a surprise gift (which will be revealed at the end of the challenge) for all participants. And, to kick start the challenge, I made a template out of my page above to give away as well. Visit the challenge thread to get the details and snag the free template!


Enjoy and see you soon! :)

"He who eats alone chokes alone"

*Warning* This blog entry might not be very coherent. LOL I started half of it and then found out that my son Neill was running quite a high fever and had to skip school for 2 days. So I just picked the blog up again 48 hours after I began. Sorry! Neill is better now though. :)

* * * * *

Like my proverb of the day? "He who eats alone chokes alone." LOL I LOVE it! So true!!

I was going through a website with food-related quotes when I came across this one. The website doesn't show the proverb's origin but I think it's so clever! It tells something about human. It hilights the fact that we are social animals and that we are meant to share what we have and to help each other. What a deep meaning for such a short and fun sentence!

The social side of food and eating is what inspired me to make the 2 layouts that I'd like to show you today. These pages were made using the stories and pictures taken during our Lebanon trip from March to May this year. Both were created with kits by Rachelle of Rachness Designs.

* * * * *

The first kit is A Cup of Kindness, a collab kit by Rachness and Lorie M. Designs. I have shown you the kit here a few posts ago but without the layout, because it wasn't ready yet.

Now the page is ready. So here's my page with A Cup of Kindness!


Journaling reads:

May 2, 2010 - We were invited to a lunch at a Lebanese friend's house one day and, after we all had too much of the tastiest Lebanese home-cooked meal, her mom offered to do 'coffee reading' for me. I was so excited. This was something I read about and saw in movies a thousand times before but never really experienced!

I was told to drink the thick and strong Turkish coffee until there's very little liquid left at the bottom, then swirl it around to make the sediments cover the cup's inside surface. We turned it upside down on a saucer and waited for the coffee grounds to settle and dry properly.

At first I thought the 'reading' will be full of ambiguous coded messages that require a lot of interpretation on my part. I was wrong. Although our friend's mother could barely speak English, she was very specific about my fortune (and misfortunes - LOL!) that she saw in the cup.

She mentioned health issues that I had, some deceitful friends, and described my precious close friend precisely down to how many children she has and their age. She could even tell from a symbol that I was from Thailand! (Honestly, I wouldn't be able to tell for the life of me that the smudge was an elephant!!)

In the end she told me to place my right thumb against the inside of the cup and turn it a little. She read the impression and concluded that I was satisfied with my life and had nothing serious to worry about. It's a relief to hear that and I was truly thankful for this amazing experience.

Okay I know that some of you might be thinking how unimaginative it is to create a page about a cup for a kit named a cup! Well, what can I say. The kit is just perfect for the picture and theme that I had in mind! It's also great for many other themes too, though, particularly friendship. Need more inspiration? See this entry in Rach's blog to enjoy all the CT pages from A Cup of Kindness!

* * * * *

The second kit, just released Minda's Kitchen Retro Remix, was designed especially for cooking. It's filled with the nostalgic sense (or scents?) of our mom's home-cooked meals. This is actually a remix of Rach's old kit (and now retired) "Minda's Kitchen", and is packed with her own never seen before vector-drawn and digitally painted illustrations. The bundled pack contains 16 papers , more than 50 elements, and an alpha pack (lowercase a-z only).


I made this page about the Lebanese fabulously tasty treats with Minda's Kitchen Retro Remix!


My husband works in Lebanon so during our son's school break, we went to visit him there for 2 months. Before we got there, I was a little worried. Being a vegetarian is not always easy, and the last thing I want was to make life difficult for those around me. Well, I shouldn't have worried at all.

Journaling reads:
Lebanese cuisine must be one of the healthiest kind of food in the world. It has a wide range of dishes, cooked perfectly and creatively with tons of veggies and very little fat. I was in a vegetarian heaven!

Every labanese meal we had there was so delicious that it was always long gone before I even remembered to take pictures! That's why when we saw this miniature clay set of lebanese food in a souvenir shop, I had to snap it up right away. (Photographically, not physically though. LOL)

In this picture you could see all Lebanese delicacies such as Baba Ghanouj (char-grilled eggplant puree), Hummus (chickpeas dip), Tabbouleh (mint and parsley salad), Labneh (strained seasoned yogurt), Wara' Enab (stuffed vine leaves), Falafel (small deep-fried patties), and roasted nuts and olives.

* * * * *

As always, Rach lets me turn my layout into a quickpage to share with you. Please click here or on the preview image below to download. Don't forget to leave a few words here too if you like it. :) Enjoy!



* * * * *

My Template Challenge at Digital Scrap Cafe forum is still going until the last hour of Friday, July 23! You still have enough time to go get your free template and make a layout to participate. Hurry up and I'll see you there! :)