Dreams of the Orient-Art Journal Kit by 2chmd

The wonderful art journal kit "Dreams of the Orient" by 2 Curly Headed Monsters is now available at Go Digital Scrapbooking. 

  As part of Christina Rios' creative team, I receive the kits early and get to play.  The hard part is waiting until they are released to the public.  Now I can play Show and Tell.

Lady of the Garden

Honor

Right now the kit is on sale.  If you'd like to see this, and all of the fabulous kits by 2chmd 

just click here.

Grow Your Blog Party

Hello!  I'm excited to be participating in the "Grow Your Blog" party again this year.  I met some wonderful friends last year and I hope to do the same thing this year.

 My name is Lou Anne and I live in Southern California.

I chose this picture because it's one of my favorites.  It was taken around 1968 with my cat, Punkin, and me.  Punkin lived with me all the way through my third year in college.  I'm still a cat lover.

My husband, Tracy, is a photographer.  I made this photo of him in Kauai.

Here's a more current picture of me.  I consider myself a mixed-media artist, though my current work is overwhelmingly digital.  I have a background in photography and am passionate about digital collage.  There are lots of my digital images all over this blog.  I am proud to be a creative team member for two outstanding digital designers.  "2 Curly Headed Monsters" and "Altered Amanda Studios" design kits for scrapbookers and art journalers.  I have designed quite a few freebies kits myself (check out my freebies page) and I sell some of my digital designs in my Etsy shop.

My other passion is visiting thrift shops and antique stores.  I loved it so much I had to open my own booth in an antique store.  It grew to two booths.  I either had to give up collecting or open a shop to sell some of my treasures.  I enjoy having an actual brick and mortar space, though I have to dust it more often than an online shop.  My space is nestled in with many others so it's fun to visit.  I often end up leaving with items that I've purchased from someone else.

If you like free digital collage kits you'll want to check back here on February 1.  I'll be participating in the Pixel Scrapper "Be Mine" February Blog Train.  There are always lots of participants so be ready to download some digital goodies!  Here's the color palette.

I'd love to have you sign up to follow my blog.  I frequently post free digital downloads and it's a good way to make sure you don't miss one.   You can sign up on the right sidebar.

And finally, I'd like to offer a prize for one of the people who leave a comment.  Simply comment below and you'll be included in a random drawing to win one free digital collage sheet from my Etsy shop.  (I've placed two samples above but there are a lot more to choose from.)  I'll contact the winner via email shortly after February 15, 2014.  You'll be asked to select any one of my collage sheets and I'll send you the download.    If you want to check out what's available, you can click the link to my Etsy shop in my right sidebar.  (If you're not a digital scrapbooker or artist, you can get the sheet printed at any office supply store that offers those services.)  Make sure you include your email address so I can locate you if you win.

Thank you for stopping by!  This "Grow Your Blog" hop is one of the best things I've ever participated in and my thanks go to Vicki from 2 Bags Full. The link to her blog and the list for the party is here.   Hope to see you again!

Digi Blog Train-Mental Disorders Awareness

I'm part of a Facebook group that creates free digital scrapbooking kits in order to boost awareness for various issues.  This month, we worked with a very pretty color palette to increase awareness of mental disorders.  I feel very strongly about this issue, mainly because I feel that our society seems to have cast aside many of those who suffer from mental illness.  The Center for Disease Control estimates that one in five children have some kind of mental disorder.  Approximately one in four American adults suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year, according to The National Institute of Mental Health.  The same organization reports that the leading cause of disabilities in the U. S. and Canada are mental disabilities.

My part of this blog train was created as a neutral themed kit.  The pieces could be used for many purposes.  It's centered around the idea of having fun.  The colors seemed like happy hues to me and the paint, flowers, and other accents I created seemed playful to me.  I hope you like using it.

Click here to download my portion

As always, the designers, including me, count on feedback from you.  Everyone puts a lot of effort into their kits and even brief comments are much appreciated.  Thanks again for stopping by!

Here is the list of all of the participants:
Lizzy QX Design
KJD Designs
Dea’s Design
Caroline B.
Dhariana Scraps
Craftpoly
Shuckclod’s Stuff

Ann’s Scrapbook Heaven
Marniejo’s House Of Scraps
Timber Scraps
Misplaced Mermaid

If you get lost, go here.

Journal 52-A Special Place

This week, I decided to totally abandon my comfort zone.  Instead of a digital image, I played with watercolors.  I tried my best to ignore my inner critic.  It said, "You don't know how to paint."  I felt like a child again, which is a good thing and a bad thing.  It's good because tapping into my inner child is healthy, in my opinion.  It's bad because my adult self doesn't want to make art that looks like a third grader made it.  I have friends who are awesome painters.  My ego just wants me to pick up a brush and paint like them. 

My child self won out.   I actually had fun, even though I had to have a conversation with the critical voice throughout the entire process.  I certainly know how my students felt back when I taught elementary school.  They would get frustrated and tear up their art.  I tried to nurture their artistic sides by saying that messing up is okay.  It's not necessary to throw away our attempts when they don't please us.  I'm proud to say that I didn't throw anything away.  I kept at it until I decided it was time to stop.  The hardest part was scanning it in two pieces.  You can probably see the fuzzy line where I hastily repaired it.

I believe that art journals are works in progress.  You can't get them wrong, no matter what.  They're captured moments, visual translations of thoughts, often spontaneous journeys into unfamiliar territory.  I will definitely play with watercolors again.  And if my art looks like a child made it, I guess I can thank Little Lou Anne.  Apparently she lives inside this body too!  You'll probably see more of her in the future. 

Cozy Winter-Altered Amanda's Studio

As the newest member of Altered Amanda's Studio Creative Team I get to play with all kinds of fun and fabulous products.  My two newest pages come from her Feeling Cozy kits, available at Digital Scrap Addicts here. 

The wonderful thing about these kits is that a group of designers created papers and elements using  a common theme and color palette.  You can buy each mini-set for a nominal price and choose only the ones you love.  Only one problem-you'll love all of Amanda's kits.  But don't worry-they're so great you'll want to use them over and over again.  Check them out!