Sweet Shoppe Designs

Everything (except arrow) by Micheline Martin: Frame from Cold Espresso kit; paint from Amelie and Brighter Days Ahead kit (collab with Lauren Grier); Paper and stitching from Brighter Days Ahead kit. Doodles are by Micheline Martin and Shawna Klingerman, Pieces of You kit. Available at Sweet Shoppe Designs.

Arrow by Lauren Reid.

Journaling reads:

In 1997, Gary and I went on vacation to Thailand. We stayed in posh resorts, saw the jungle on the back of an elephant and ate as much delicious Thai food as we could. But about a week into the trip, I developed a bump on my upper arm. I shrugged it off as a bug bite or a blemish. A couple days after that, staying at the exotic Oriental Hotel in Bangkok, I developed a fever and rash. I feared all sorts of exotic diseases from Malaria to Dengue fever. The hotel, which is often rated the best hotel in the world, had their own doctor so I went to see him. Far from any exotic disease, I ended up having garden-variety chicken pox. Yes, apparently I never was exposed when I was a kid, and no, my Mom never told me that. The medicine the doctor gave me didn’t help so Gary had to go tramping all over Bangkok looking for some Benadryl (which he eventually found, thankfully). The hotel also has a world-class Thai cooking school, so Gary signed up for a few days of classes while I stayed in our room for the rest of the trip watching TV and suffering through some of the most miserable days of my life. I still bear the scars of that vacation in the form of white spots in various parts of my body. Nevertheless, I would love to return to Thailand some day to finish up our otherwise perfect exotic vacation.