AJC 2011 Itinerary 25: CATCH ..A Falling Star*

To celebrate Midsummer, our stalwart campers Sophie and Kevin have lit a small bonfire and are watching for falling stars.
Thinking that this may be a way to entice a Star into the StarCage, Kevin (wearing the Perry Como Yellow Cardigan Sleeve) taught Sophie his Mum’s favourite song ‘Catch a Falling Star’.
(If you listen closely you can hear Sophie yodeling on the ‘catch a falling star’ repeat bits)

He first heard the song while still in the egg, as Mrs Kiwi had built her nest in the eaves of the local Whakatane Record Shop and of course she would hear all the latest records being played.
Mum was so enamored of Perry Como singing ‘Catch A Falling Star’, (she would warble it to the eggs while they were hatching) that one night she snuck in, hopped up on the desk, dipped her bill in the inkwell, and wrote a somewhat scratchy but readable Fan Letter which she had delivered by Albert, a kindly sea-faring albatross.
When Mr Como received that note and found out that a whole nest of New Zealand Kiwi’s loved his singing, he wanted to do something extra special for them; so he cut off the sleeve of his favourite yellow cardigan (knowing that the whole thing would be much too big) parceled it up and gave it to Albert to deliver for him! (no doubt a few swigs of rum and sea faring sea shanties were shared by Mr Como and Albert before departing)
It has remained in the Kiwi family ever since and is only brought out On Very Special Occasions and Only when Catch A Falling Star is sung.

*
Credits and Kits:
Background Moon and Sky: the net
Bonfire: c/o cousins Big Burn
Trees and Grass: AJC10 Tangie’s Parcel 48 asexton
Catch wordart: AJC11 Parcel 25
Falling Star: AJC11 Journey11 Beginning Parcel elements
A Falling Star: Tangie’s Duchess Font
StarCage: AJC11 Parcel 25 BRimmer
Music Staff: Bkerr paperborders Music Vol 9
Sophie is wearing her favourite Cowichan Toque
Kevin is wearing That Perry Como Yellow Sweater Sleeve

Here is the Immortal Mr C singing ‘Catch A Falling Star’ with lyrics.
Courtesy of Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U08iKG4tfFE

AJC 2011 Itinerary 24: LAUGH or Sophie and Kevin Go Camping...

*** in which a Universal Truth is Discovered.
(I will leave it up to my viewers to decide who the ‘Snorer’ is!)

Credits and Kits:
Kevin the Kiwi flew in by Air NZ c/o Tangie’s Parcel 22
Hands holding Poster: Tangie’s Parcel 22
Background Papers: AJC Beginning Parcel
Fonts Used: Tangie’s Tweedledee, MockTurtle and FivesevenAndtwo

Storyline based upon all my Girl Guide Camping years.

WOOHOO! Sophie and I have been PUBLISHED!

A few months ago I received this very mysterious 'secret squirrel' type private message on the AJC forum from Annie and Tangie (the AJC Tour Guide):
"A Request of Most Importance and TOP Secrecy!"
asking me (ME?!) if I would like to contribute an article with accompanying 4 layouts (they would choose 2) for the upcoming June Travel edition of the Artisan Guild Notebook?!

After a few 'are you sure you read that correctly' minutes and checking to see that it had been addressed to the right person, (as I have read and viewed the awesome and amazing digital artwork in that ezine!) I took a deep breath, swallowed the rest of my coffee and sent a 'sure I'll do that' reply back.

Then the panic really began.

For my article, I wrote, deleted, wrote some more, deleted, all the the time figuring that it wouldn't matter how much I wrote, they could just chop it down.
Well, IMAGINE my surprise, when they didn't, but published every darn word, including my punctuation typos! (lol)

So without further ado..

page1myarticle and page2myarticle

Considering the very talented contributors not only in the e-zine, but on the Caravan itself like SparklyDuck who was also chosen;
Sophie and I are very humbled and honoured to invited to share our Journey with you.

AJC 2011 Itinerary 23 -PAINT! or Sophie HELPS OUT!

Precariously balanced on a can of yellow paint, our intrepid Camel Artiste, thinks that ‘just a touch more yellow’ would make my Rhododedrans look much better.
Poor long suffering Kevin the Kiwi did try to tell her that it was ‘not such a good idea’ but in the excitement of helping out (before I got back), his sage advice was ignored.

Note to self: remember to lock the Studio door when I go away!

Credits and Kits:
Background Paper and Floor: AJC11 Parcel 04 – KMF Papers
Easel: AJC11 Parcel 23: Brimm element
Embrace and Play wordart: Tangie’s GrabBag June 11
Kevin the Kiwi: AJC11 Parcel 22
Sophie’s Outfit from the Spring Artists Collection
Rhododendron photo: mine
Paint can: c/o the net

AJC 2011 Itinerary 22 - ROAD TEST or BRAKE! SOPHIE! BRAKE!

When Sophie heard about our plans for traveling to Italy, she decided that she could at least handle a Vespa and zoom around with us, rather than having to walk everywhere.
Best of all: you can’t pack much luggage on a Vespa!
(There was No Way she was going to be a Pack Animal on that trip)
.
Sophie had been taking Secret Driving Lessons from her friend Kevin the Kiwi who works as a Driving and Road Tester for the Department of Motor Vehicles.
(He originally wanted to be a Flight Instructor, but being a small flightless bird *, that was ruled out much to his disappointment).
So other than a few minor mishaps such as getting tangled in a BLACKBERRY BUSH and confusing the ACCELERATOR with the BRAKE, Sophie got her LEARNERS and proudly Vroomed Vroomed home to show me.
(Good thing the Garage Door was OPEN at the time as I still could hear Kevin yelling: BRAKE! SOPHIE, BRAAKKKKKE!)
**the following is based on a True Story of me teaching a friend to drive again after 7 years absence behind the wheel – names changed of course to protect the guilty**

Credit and Kit:
Apteryx (Kiwi) bird: Tangie’s AJC11: Parcel 22
Vespa, helmet, boot, c/r free the net
Background photo: Deserted Drive: (mine)
Font: Tangie’s Tweedledee
Sophie's Leathers: Special Order from Harley Davidson (g)
Thoughtbubble: DSA2