LDD May Kit: SHE {a tribute to her} | CT Layout : Dear Mom

Dear Mom | Everything from Little Dreamer Design’s May Kit — SHE {a tribute to her}. By Michelle Coleman.

Here is my newest layout for this month’s kit — SHE {a tribute to her} — available for subscribers at Little Dreamer Designs. It’s such a gorgeous collection honoring that special mom in your life, full of colorful papers and elements, journal cards, chalkboard labels and alphas, and floral bundles. My favorite set in this collection were the floral bundles, they are so yummy!

The first time I designed a page about my Mom was when I first discovered digital scrapbooking years ago in 2007 and then I created another one in 2010. A few years has now passed, so I thought it would be nice to not only create a new one, but to see how far I’ve evolved in my journey as a digital scrapbooker.

Here are my throwbacks:

A Letter To My Mother | Background paper and flower element was from a freebie by Doris Castle; journal paper- Thao Cosgrove Art Journal Collection; frame – Kate Pertiet Bare Frames

Sixty One | Everything from Black & White by Nancy Kubo (blog gift)

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Mother’s Day is always bittersweet for me. I don’t know if I could ever celebrate it without feeling a little emotional. Of course, I enjoy the love and appreciation I receive from my family and loved ones, but my heart always longs to celebrate it with my own mother. Seeing others with their moms always leaves me a little envious and I always try to keep that from getting the best of me. Yet it is something I have accepted and learned to understand that I’m not the only one missing their mama and all I could do is embrace her memory. She left me with a memory of words that she spoke over my life before she passed and I can still hear her voice and remember that very precious moment that I laid in her arms. I was 11 years old and the memory is still fresh in my mind. There are times that I wish I could relive that moment over and over again. Everyday I miss her, but I miss her even more on Mother’s Day. With each year that passes and as my children grow older, I often think about the experiences she didn’t have or the chance to enjoy life with me and my sisters and it drives me to live every moment with my kids to its fullest. I want to celebrate her life by being the best mom that I can be to my own children which I know is what she would have wanted… This year, I will be turning another year older and it is somewhat defining to me because I will have outlived her age when she passed. I hope to live many more years and enjoy a full life, reaching an age where I have finished raising my sons, seeing them graduate college, getting married, and starting their own families and being blessed with grandchildren… All the things that I know my Mom would have been overjoyed to witness and experience…

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MAY KIT | SHE {a tribute to her}

WWW.LITTLEDREAMERDESIGNS.COM

SHE {a tribute to her} May Kit By Michelle Coleman www.littledreamerdesigns.com

Reunited With Little Dreamer Designs!

Reunited with LITTLE DREAMER DESIGNS!!!

Just thought I’d share some exciting news…. I decided after a few years of my digital scrapbooking hiatus, to rekindle the flame. Thank you Michelle, for having me back! Little Dreamer Designs has been a very special place to me since my debut in 2009. I joined the Creative Team and then became a designer. When I left to pursue another opportunity, it was never quite the same as it was at LDD, which I realized that sometimes when you think the ‘grass is greener’ on the other side, it doesn’t always turn out to be. There were also a few changes made in my life at the time as well, that I probably needed to go through to realize the importance of what digital scrapbooking means to me. Although, I am now more involved in mixed media art, scrapbooking plays such a huge part in the evolution of who I am as an artist today. My roots in art are grounded in storytelling and preserving memories about who I am, where I’ve been, and the person I aspire to become. It also gives me a way to document the lives of my family and friends, giving me the opportunity to appreciate my loved ones and remember the special moments shared with them. As we all know, life is so very fleeting…. Memories sometimes fade unless we take the time and make the effort to journal, scrapbook, or photograph them. Otherwise, it’s a risk we all take when we think that all we need is our brain to keep track, because even the human mind isn’t perfect. I do know that all of this will somehow make it into the hands of the next generation, hopefully hundreds of years down the line, for someone to behold and cherish and be inspired by my stories, photos, and art….

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Here are my most recent layouts using January’s “Everyday” Kit and February’s “You Are Loved” Kit.

For more inspiration from the Creative Team, check out the gallery here.

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Every month, Michelle Coleman, designs these gorgeous monthly kits for members who subscribe to the monthly program and is also released for sale to non-members later on. The only difference is that members get a super, sweet, amazing deal for $5.99 a month. Each kit is valued at so much more, filled with TONS of gorgeous papers and elements, and is 100% top-notch in quality and design. Definitely one of the best in the digital scrapbooking industry. I don’t think you will get more than your money’s worth and then some, anywhere else! This is what it includes:

Each month members will have access to a new exclusive collection which includes:

a full sized kit, coordinating brush set, access to new monthly freebies and video designer tutorials.

Members can access their monthly content downloads anytime throughout the month after their subscription has been purchased by logging into the Members Area and providing their Paypal email address and the encrypted password they received after purchasing their subscription.

 

Enjoy!

GIVEAWAY WINNER: Graffiti He{Art} Butterfly Print

And the winner is…..

a Rafflecopter giveaway

CONGRATULATIONS, SHAWNA!

I will be sending you an email shortly! Hope you enjoy this print and thank you so much for participating!

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To ALL of you who entered, I truly appreciate you and enjoyed reading all of your answers to what you are thankful for. If you are still interested in purchasing this print, I will be offering it up for sale on ETSY very soon…

And, just for taking the time to enter this giveaway, you will have the opportunity to purchase it at %20 off.

So, look out for an email from me in the next few days!

Thank you again and may you have a BLESSED weekend.

GIVEAWAY : Graffiti He{ART} Butterfly Print

Hello!

I’ve been meaning to share this hybrid piece that I did awhile back and finally decided that I should share it. When I say ‘hybrid’, basically meaning that I scanned some of my original mixed media art into digital files and then played around with it on my computer using Photoshop. What started off as a simple experimentation, resulted in this digital collage. I had a lot fun with it, adding digital brushes and shapes, layering the background and adding texture, just as if I was really working with my hands except its all digital.

 This my friends, was bringing back love for digital scrapbooking and fusing it with my new passion for mixed media. And truth be told,  I think I found LOVE. <3 The heart with the butterfly, was actually from this art journal page that I created a few years ago.

Inspired by Christy Tomlinson’s workshop – She Had 3 Hearts

After scanning this page, I extracted the heart element and turned into a .png file and placed it as a new layer on top of some of my scanned paintings that I already had on my hard drive. After playing around with the placement, color adjustments, and digital embellishments, the title and quote came out into play. Part of my process almost never begins with an idea, theme, or quote in mind. With digital or mixed media, most of the time I just start with a blank canvas and let my artistic intuitions lead me, not worrying about the outcome. I love letting my art unfold gradually and allowing it to take on a path of its own as my heart wills. For me this gives me a sense of liberty and freedom to express my deepest emotions that I otherwise would have kept bottled up inside. Art is my therapy, a deep connection to my soul and is one of the selfless acts I can do for myself.

Butterflies, as some of you know, hold a significant meaning to me so I felt that I had to put down one of my favorite quotes on it — “Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly.” The story of my life which seems to be the constant theme that I find myself facing, over and over again. The moment I think my world is falling apart, it becomes a chance for new beginnings and opportunities for change. These are priceless opportunities to grow and learn from our weaknesses, discovering our strengths, and embracing who we are.

One of my close friends wanted to give this digital art as a gift print for a close friend of hers and had asked me to customize the title and quote. It was definitely a pleasure of mine and I would have not expected that anyone would have asked, but since she did, I thought maybe others would like to have a copy too.

So, guess what?????

I decided to do a giveaway and bless someone with my art before I put it up for sale in my shop!

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One person will receive a FREE fine art print of my Graffiti He{Art} Butterfly AND you can choose to have it customized with your own Title and/or Quote (limitations apply).

This giveaway will run until Friday, February 1st, 11:59pm PST.

HOW TO ENTER:

Enter your the giveaway down below by leaving a comment! After leaving your comment, you also have more chances to win when you follow the instructions thereafter by following me on Facebook or Twitter and/or tweet about this giveaway.

Best of luck and thank you in advance for participating!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Instagram Blurb Book

Last week, I was thrilled to discover this FREE giveaway for a Soft Cover Instagram Book from Blurb, from the awesomely generous peeps of 7th House on the Left. The only cost was the shipping, but nonetheless, it was a huge steal and I definitely took advantage of it.

Yesterday, I received my original copy in the mail and was really, really, really impressed with it. The photos were taken with my iPhone, some using the 3gs and others with version 4. There wasn’t a huge difference in picture quality between the two cameras, but overall, they came out lovely. I am so going to create more since I’ve got over 2000+ photos, not that all of them are worth printing, but there are so many moments captured through my iPhone that I definitely want to print and make use of before they become a faded and blurred memory. As the family photographer and photojournalist, I hate to admit that I am also guilty of capturing tons of photos and the most I will do with them is store it in folders on my hard drive. I know I need to get these photos organized and get back to my ‘digital scrapbooking’ mode as I once did not too long ago. *SIGH* If only I had more time in a day, right? You can see some of the photo books I’ve enjoyed creating HERE and HERE.

It wasn’t easy picking out the photos I wanted to include since the coupon only gave you a limited amount of images for free, but I finally decided it was going to highlight one of the biggest and most difficult changes from last year — selling our home and moving. So the photos I chose were of our family during that time, certain things that I know we will miss about the home, the memories of our family together while living there, and some of the most memorable moments about my personal life as I learned to embrace the inner artist in me. You can read about it all, HERE.

Anyway, here is an online preview of my very first Instagram Blurb Book! Thanks for looking!

He{ART} Canvas | Transformed

 He{ART} Canvas | TRANSFORMED

digital fine art print will be available soon!

see my process below

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collaged the canvas with patterned papers + modge podge

 once the collage dried, i painted + scraped on layers of paint in teal + yellow

 sketched and painted a butterfly with a white wash

added details to butterfly with shapes and filled them in with water soluble crayons

felt it needed a touch of something…. scalloped background was added in to give it some character. 

VOILA!

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butterflies have always fascinated me, not only because of their intricate beauty of their wings, but because of the transformation that takes place from a caterpillar to a butterfly. i know there’s so many deep spiritual interpretations about the symbolism of butterflies in different cultures and beliefs, but to me it holds a special meaning in my journey. my life story can be told through the parable of a butterfly. it’s a bedtime story that i have told my kids at night, over and over again. they seem to love it so much and never get tired of it, always asking me to tell them the same story over and over again. so, if you’d like to hear it, i’ll be sharing it in my next post. hope you’ll come back and be enlightened by this fictional tale based on a true story. a story of my life… and how i was transformed and formed wings like a butterfly.

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Fine He{Art} Prints

I finally decided to turn my original artwork into fine art prints! I was curious to see how they would turn out and wanted to do a test run with a professional printer before I begin selling prints in my Etsy shop. If I may say so myself, they turned out pretty good! The colors and quality of the prints exceeded my expectations. It looks just the same as the original, which was one of my major concerns that the colors would be off, but that’s why a good scanner and photo editing software makes all the difference in transforming original artwork into a high quality digital file.  What I would like to also do is run a test print on a gallery wrap canvas and other digital media. How cool would that be?

Anyways, stay tune for a FREE giveaway to one of these fine He{ART} prints!!

xo,

Makita Studio Retirement Sale | Closing Doors @ 9th & Bloom

Recently, my husband has changed jobs and it was an answered prayer that we have waited for so long, 9 years to be exact. With better hours, a better environment, and a location close to home, he is so much happier with his life and the fact that he can spend more time with his family and enjoy doing the things he loves to do. It’s such a breath of fresh air for me that he is more involved in our lives at home and our family, something that we both longed for these past years. Now there is more balance between us, in our marriage and as parents. We both feel that it has brought us closer as a family and as a couple, but most of all it has strengthened our faith in God and how everything has happened in His perfect timing…

Talking about timing, my husband and I also feel that because we both have this passion for photography and enjoy taking photos, we decided to start a photography business as a husband and wife team! This could not be possible if he were still working at his other job. So far, we have done a few weddings and portrait sessions and already have more interested in hiring us. Also, my youngest is starting Kindergarten this year (next week, eek!!) so that also allows me to have more free time to focus on our business. I will be working on our photography site and portfolio which I hope to share with you soon, but for now here is our business logo — ICEBOX IMAGES.

I haven’t really decided yet if I am going to keep Makita Studio and this blog up and running. I still might want to keep this as my personal blog for now and also to share some of the mixed media art and other crafts that I also enjoy…

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY 9TH & BLOOM

Remember there is a FREE collab with purchases $10 and over

Josiah’s First {Shutterfly} Photo Book :)

This finally arrived on my doorstep… And once I opened it, I could not help but get all teary eyed. Something about seeing your work and designs printed and reading the heartfelt words that I poured out on these pages, really resonates this sweet, fulfilling joy deep within… Especially when you see your son reading them with such enthusiasm and happiness that I created them about him and for him… Shutterfly does such a great job with these and I loved the look and feel of the photo pages overall. I also plan to make one for my youngest soon because I know he is anxious to have one of his own. Anyways, here’s a few photos to share….