#2 Layout for The 2011 Book

This is the second layout I've finished (more or less) for The 2011 Book. These pictures were all taken in Libya. It was so great to meet the people on the Logos Hope and be able to visit with them. We even met a lady from Kauai.

On a different note, I called the allergist and got some of the test reports. I am extremely allergic to ALL the grasses they tested for, allergic to house dust mites (no wonder I have trouble breathing when I sweep or vacuum; or someone else does), and mildly allergic to a host of foods... Also the Epstein Barr virus is present and the figures were very high. The Allergist told me that is why I am hypersensitive to things I am minimally allergic to. In doing some internet research, the virus could also be behind the Fibromyalgia. Something to ruminate on anyway.

Hugs to all - especially those we are far from...

Sketch #8 Red Dragon

This Red Dragon I sketched in mid September and colored today. I don't usually bring colored pencils or an ink pen with me when I'm out, so I ink and color later when the mood strikes (and I am waiting for the kids to finish an assignment).

Sketch #6 Bird

This is a sketch a did September 9th, inked, and then colored with colored pencils. I then did some clean-up in Photoshop before posting it on Picasa. I enjoy the process of creating. I started a sketchbook after visiting my parents and my dad showed me his 'waiting book'. That's not what he called it, but the name suits. Now at the doctor's office, at break times, and other sit-and-wait times, I have something I enjoy doing. It makes the time speed by!

#1 Layout for The 2011 Book

I updated my header, as you can see. I'm trying to decide if I really like it or not...

However,

this is the way the layout should look.

I have been taking a break from designing. Re-aligning my priorities with people who care for me and those that need me to care for them, has been very good for my health. Although allergies and Fibromyalgia still plague me at times, I am feeling better overall. As homeschooling settles into a groove, I may think about designing again, we'll see. The kids and hubby are a priority :)

I am beginning work on a year in review book. I am hoping it will be done before Christmas, but as busy as things are, that may be wishful thinking.

Below are my first set of layouts. I chose to use my April of 2010 Color Challenge kit that I created for the now defunct Deco Pages (Deb has a neat Blog now). The colors are excellent for continuity throughout the album as they will work with any season or event.

Reports are dribbling in slowly that friends are headed home and are ok. Praise God. Keep praying.
Hugs,
Theta

Notes :)

A lot of things have happened since Christmas:

1) We are finally home in Hawaii! Yay!
2) I have internet! more Yays!
3) We finished the deck. Phew!
4) The tree that was growing 4-6 inches in diameter is now gone. Whew! That is a relief. The man still has to come back and take out the stump, but the tree is gone.
5) The girls are learning to drive. Uh-oh...
6) Schooling has begun again.
7) We still haven't gone to the beach.
8) Because the new car would get un-new real fast...
8.5) Since we sold the van when we left we had to get a new vehicle when we got back, we chose to get a Toyota Prius - it's really fun to drive!
9) The old van was dying, so we bought a Toyota Yaris - we don't want to get this one sandy either...
9.5) And the girls are learning to drive... uh-oh...
10) There is still a ton to do and I miss my friends in Benghazi, but I get to see old ones here (they're so wonderful) and I love living here where it's warm :)

So you will ask - did you take pictures - not of things I should have (like the hideous mess the deck was in when we got back or the size of the tree), but I still have a chance for the other things. The girls haven't hit anything with the cars so they still look new and the cars finally have their license plates. Our son still has his girlfriend and the kids will be doing schoolwork for
awhile :)

Well that's it for now, hugs,
Theta

Hi everyone. We are in Egypt and heading back to Libya tomorrow. I haven't much designing lately partly due to the lack of internet access. Hopefully we will be up and running soon :)

November's Club-Deco Kit is out :)

The top layout is my contribution to the November 2008 Club-Deco Kit, Heritage Blessings. The next two layouts are done with my quick pages that come with my kit. Below is the November Club Kit collage. It has a sampling from most of the contributions.

Moving Soon... and other stuff

I looks like we are heading out on the 8th of November. After that our internet access will be sketchy for awhile :(

However, I have managed to get up all but one of my Deco-Pages Posting Rewards. I'm quite happy about that and, as PatinParis is the only one qualified to receive the last two at this time (one other person is getting close), she will understand if I don't get it it up yesterday. Besides, this will give her a chance to download the 12500 kit ;)

The new welcome kit is up at Deco-Pages.com. You can probably recognize my contribution down there on the bottom right. It is the first part in my Gallant Chivalry Posting Rewards Kits series. You can get my reward kits just by posting at Deco-Pages:).

The November Newsletter is out. PatinParis did the freebie for this month. I did the one coming up in December:)

I used my Gallant Chivalry 100 Posts Kit Quick Page for this layout. You will get the Gallant Chivalry 100 Posts Kit and this quick page when you reach 100 posts at Deco-Pages. You won't be able to see the posting levels until you get to them, so the kit contents will remain a surprise to some degree. You get to see samples from the kits in the QPs and will get the kits when you reach the posting levels:) Click on the images to be taken to the layouts posted on Deco-Pages to see the credits and fonts used.

For this layout I used my Gallant Chivalry 500 Posts Reward Kit QP. The turtles looked very content basking in the sun. I believe Myra  took these photographs. She is getting quite good.

Here are some more photographs from the Honolulu Zoo, this time I used my Gallant Chivalry 5000 Post Reward Kit Quick Page.

We had a wonderful time at the zoo last Tuesday. It was overcast and not too hot. It was quite nice that it didn't rain on us, nor was the zoo flooded this time:) We often seem to pick the most inopportune times to go to the zoo.

I took this picture of the turtles sharing a meal at the Honolulu Zoo. I like the bright colors of the fruits and vegetables against the greens of the grass and turtles. I used my Gallant Chivalry Kit 7500 Posts Reward Quick Page for this layout. Remember, if you haven't made it to 7500 posts at Deco-Pages.com, you won't be able to see or get this great free kit. My posting reward gifts start at 25 posts and they are free when you reach the posting level. So come participate at Deco-Pages and receive my free kits! All you have to do is make posts. At Deco-Pages you get something for just participating, kinda cool isn't it?!?! Also, if you have been participating at Deco-Pages and haven't stopped by to see what posting gift you qualify for, do so before the First of November, because my old Reward kits are coming down and plopping  into the store :)

Today we went to the Honolulu Zoo and saw these amazing guys. They came right up to us and said hello. This is the quick Page that comes with my Gallant Chivalry 1000 posting prize kit coming November 1.

One day in October Mr. Rhino came with me to tutor. He did all right for awhile, but then he became jealous of my tutees. He had to be packed away until we got home and he could lord it over us from the bookshelf again. I used the quick page from my Gallant Chivalry 12500 Posts Reward Kit for this layout.

I gave the boys haircuts yesterday and then took them outside to take their pictures. They wanted to bring Mr. Rhino and have their picture taken with him. They enjoyed, loved, and read to him. Then all of a sudden, "Look! Mr. Rhino Comes apart!" Poor, poor Mr. Rhino. He seems to have gotten his comeuppance after being such a stinker the other day ;) I used my quick page from my Gallant Chivalry Kit 2500 Post Reward Kit. For those of you who have reached 2500 or even 12500 posts at Deco-Pages.com, you can pick up the QP, the kit that goes with it, and the lower level posting kits on November 1 :)

These two layouts use two of the QP's I made for my Gallant Chivalry Collection for my posting rewards. November 1 I am switching out my old posting rewards and putting in the new ones. The kits get larger at each posting level and each kit comes with a QP. The Hula layout is the QP for the 10,000 posts prize and the Everyday Sights layout is made with the 25 post reward. I hope you are able to stop by Deco-Pages and join in a game or two, post a layout or leave a comment, or join in a discussion, thereby earning my Gallant Chivalry Kit :)

 

There are a few more days left in October to join my Font Challenge at Deco-Pages.  For posting an eligible layout, you will receive the Elegant Recollections Font Challenge Kit free. The kit is an add-on to my Elegant Recollections Kits and does not contain repeated pieces. 

Also don't forget I have a 30% off coupon good through the 15th of November. It's a sale because we are moving far away in physical life not in virtual, so you deserve a treat :)

Side note: I create all my kits at 300 dpi. The jpg papers are saved at 8 for excellent print quality. Most of my papers are 12x12. The elements are png files and for the most part the shadows below an object are for preview purposes only.

Don't forget! There are just a few more days left for you to get my posting rewards before I change them out :) So hurry over to Deco-Pages and post away so you can reach the next level before the end of October! You receive a posting gift from when you reach 25, 100, 500, 1000, 2500, 5000 posts and on November 1 I will be changing out and extending my gifts to include 7500, 10000, 12500, and 15000 posts :) Of course if you only see the posting levels you have reached, so you don't know what you are missing :P Have an ultra marvelous day!

I added some new things to my section of the Deco-Pages Store today. Treat yourself to a rainbow full of elegance with my new kit, "Elegant Recollections Kits 1 and 2'. An array of rich colors, silver elements, flowing designs and an old fashioned flair encompasses these extra large kits full of everything you need to create your own Elegant Recollection pages for your memory albums. The kits can be purchased separately or together. Purchased together they are a great deal especially if you take advantage of my 30% off coupon good through the 15th of November.

This album is created from my Dragon's Warmth Collection and fits the Cosmo Cricket Kate Album. The quick pages are approximately 6" by 6", 300 dpi pngs. I included the holes and created both left and right pages that are similar, but not exactly the same. There are 16 quick pages, 8 background pages, and one edge overlay.

Aloha, we will be moving soon and I am having a moving sale in my store at Deco-Pages.com! Using the coupon code -    ThetaMove:)    - at checkout will get you 30% off of your order from my store of $3.00 or more. So go check out my kits that are on sale :)

Hello, Retro Designs just put up this cool new kit at Deco-Pages.com and I wanted to share it with you.

Here is the link to request her freebie QP: Retro Designs A Pocket Full of Posies QP Request

This is what she did with her QP. Neat! Click on it to see it and the credits in the Deco-Pages gallery.

Okay, it's mid October. We have been busy packing and now we have guests :) Life is good, but busy. We are having some sales at Deco-Pages right now and I'm working on a discount for my kits too. Also, on November 1, I will be switching out my posting rewards at Deco-Pages. So if you haven't been over there posting or if you have been posting, make sure you grab the highest posting level you can while they are still free!

I have been enjoying participating in Deb's Photo Challenge this month and have done 5 of the 8 layouts required. Many of them I did with my kit Elegant Recollections that is coming out soon.

I also did a layout for Marcee's Scrap By Numbers Challenge. She has beautiful reward kits this month for all of her challenges and if you're a Club-Deco Member you get the starter kit free! Otherwise it is $3.00 in the Deco-Pages store.

This is my layout I created with Marcee's starter kit for her Scrap By Numbers Challenge 

I hope you all are having a great October!

It has been pouring, here are two examples of the volume of water. Kinda cool, just enough and not too much:) The plants are totally loving it! The boys love it when it rains, because they are banned from turning on the hose and this way they get lots of water Mom can't turn off! They hoard it, they save it, they carry it around and make more mud... 

God is so good! He provided us with a gorgeous rainbow today. I love rainbows, they remind of God's promises ad that He always keeps them. This rainbow was a double and sometimes a triple. It was incredibly bright. 

We are  almost finished packing our books for our move. Boy has that been a job cataloguing all of them. It's nice not having books spread all over the floor. I am hoping that it will also help the younger two to concentrate on their schoolwork a bit more heavily before we go. Moving is always an upheaval and although we usually get some work done, it's sort of hit or miss while we explore our new surroundings. That's usually a big learning experience in itself, and this time should prove to be even more so as I am pretty strictly an english speaker. The kids are learning Arabic, so hopefully they will get around okay with me in tow:)

Hello, we have had rain here off and on for three days. We need rain so that is good, but the humidity is rather high and a bit stifling. Soon the black mold will begin. I have been working on a new kit Elegant Recollections that I hope to have in the store soon. I made two layouts with it from some old pictures my grandmother had. I need to get some more of her pictures scanned in to use in layouts so the kids have an idea who their ancestors were. 

I'm not sure of the date on the one photo the other is from 1939 and contains his son with white hair so it must be from the 1800's. Someone can probably date it from the clothes and props.

I finished my kit for next months font challenge. Here is a sneak preview of it and of the layout I did with the QP that comes with it. ( It goes with my new kit too:))

I also put my Summer's end kit in the store here is it's preview and what I did with the two quick pages that comes with it.

Hi everyone! I was reminded this morning how remiss I have been at keeping up my blog:( 

We have been very busy here - starting up homeschooling again, getting ready for a big move, and all the other life events that continue to go on everyday.

To answer a question posed to me, all my work is exclusively available at Deco-Pages.com in the store for purchase,  for club-members as part of the Club-Deco monthly kit, for joining in the Monthly Font Challenge (post a layout conforming to the rules and get a free mini kit), and for posting prizes. To receive the posting prizes, all you have to do is go to Deco-Pages.com and post comments on layouts in the gallery or in threads. For a little bit of work and a lot of fun you can get freebies - I like that! 

I have put up several new kits since June, (Escape and Dragon's Warmth are two of them) and the monthly Club-Deco kits each month (Farewell Summer). I have also started hosting a monthly Font Challenge at Deco-Pages.com (Summer's End Mini Kit, which co-ordinates with the September Club-Deco).