Project Monday

This week's prompt is to take a picture of yourself some place you wouldn't normally be, then add a caption. This one was a wee bit challenging for me since this weekend was spent at home working on the first assignments for two of my classes. Then it occurred to me as I watched the rain drizzle outside my window that I wouldn't normally be outside in the rain. So I headed to the back yard for some pictures.
Everyday I wake up and the mantra that fills my head is "this is the first day of the rest of your life" because it truly is. Every day is amazing, and I try my hardest to treat it that way. Granted I have my ups and downs just like everyone else, but at the heart of it all I feel I am so lucky to be living the life I'm leading.
My captions were inspire by song lyrics, "remember what they say, there's no shortcut to a dream, its all blood and sweat, and life is what you manage  in between" by Broken Bells. These captions represent what I take away from lines like these. No one aspires to be something because it's easy, and dreams are best pursued constantly, don't wait until it's convenient. Life happens whether your doing something about it or not, so you might as well do what you want with it.
Head on over to the Bubble Gum Life blog to participate in the fabulous photo prompts, then share your photos with us on Flikr. Happy picture taking! XO. K.

What Type are You?

 

 source

I'm doing research for my assignment in typography and I stumbled upon this fun and quirky little quiz that tells you what typeface matches your personality. Four questions, click here.

White on White Challenge

Love this look. While I was wandering around blogland the other day I came across a post by one of my favorite scrappers, Jennifer Johner. She challenged readers to a white on white scrapbook layout. So I accepted the challenge and I really love how it turned out. It's so pretty and simple, yet has plenty of visual appeal as well. I used a lot of textures to make the white stand out, and I contrasted with  black handwriting. I didn't really have a lot of white supplies, so I just turned some stuff over and glued it on the page face down!

Sources- lace cardstock and stick pin-making memories, butterfly laser cut paper- ki memories, lace- thrifted, transparancy- hambly, journaling stickers, vinyl sticker and letters- american crafts, brad- my minds eye and border strip- doodlebug designs, posie- made by me.
 Have you tried a white on white page? Well why not accept the challenge yourself?
Happy creating!
-XO. K.

Pinkies Up.

Just wanted to share some pictures from the tea party we had. Celeste got a Fancy Nancy tea party book for Christmas, so when we invited her cousin over for a tea party she tried her best to follow it. We didn't have all supplies, but we substituted well. We made butter cookies, cucumber sandwiches and dipped carrots in hummus. The girls got all dressed up, I did Celeste's make up for her and she wore her Fancy hat! The girls kept reminding us mommies to keep our pinkies up while drinking our tea, because that's the fancy way!  -XO.

Project Monday- Ritual

 Ritual.

 When I first read the word my morning routine immediately came to mind. It is strangely ritualistic. It never really deviates from its pattern, and if it does it throws off my entire day. I work early, so the first thing I do as part of my morning ritual is stumble towards the coffee pot.

Sometimes I stand in the kitchen waiting for my brew, other times I stand in front of my closet hoping my outfit will jump out at me. (It never has ;)

Then I do my makeup. I think this is very ritualistic, because it is always the same steps in the same order with the same amount of precision.

Moisturize, foundation, concealer, eyes, lips. Eyeshadow is my favorite makeup. I have so many colors, but I usually stick to purples and grays.

I love to match my eyeshadow to my outfit and I usually wear two shadow colors at once.
What is your ritual?
Check out Bubblegum Life for more fabulous photo prompts!
-XO K.

How was your Saturday?

Ours was lovely, while I started out the day cleaning and doing laundry, I ended with an afternoon party. Yay! Parties are way better than cleaning! Celeste asked if we could make pancakes for breakfast, so I obliged. We made banana cinnamon pancakes with whipped cream on top. Homemade whipped cream makes everything especially yummy.

  It was pretty warm when we headed out, so I wore a short skirt with sheer tights. I love the colors of this wool plaid skirt, its bright enough to be fun but not over the top.

Sweater & Skirt- Old Navy, Thigh highs- Victoria's Secret, Necklace- gift

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend, see you for Project Monday!

Just Thinking About it

Just thinking about school resuming on Monday makes me anxious, nervous, and tired. I am so excited to be continuing my journey towards a career I will enjoy, but also nervous about the growing sacrifices I must make in order to realize these dreams of mine. I know in the grand scheme of things it is most definitely worth every bit of effort I am putting forth, so I keep on keepin' on.
I am so proud of myself for opening my Etsy shop, I have wanted to do it for a really long time. But I am a bit nervous at how much I can devote to it with a course load added to my busy life. I am just going to keep adding artwork at what ever pace I can and hope for the best!
On that note here is another item I've added to the shop. I called this one Soak up the Sun. I love her smiling happy face just soaking up the suns rays. It has been unseasonably warm here and it is just such a tease! I can't wait for the warmer weather, as much as I love scarves, mittens, sweaters and wool socks I am eagerly awaiting the days when I do not move so frigidly because I'm freezing!
XO.

Project Monday- In Series

A series of photographs... Carrie over at Bubblegum Life did a series of herself jumping. Very cute! I love the idea. For my series I chose to photograph various steps while baking cupcakes. After dreaming of cupcakes and mopeds, I decided to bake some chocolate cherry cupcakes. I first tried this recipe a couple years ago for my mom's birthday. It is a cake recipe meant to make a four layer six inch cake. I tried to make a two layer nine inch cake and it fell apart. So I delivered my mom a chocolate cherry trifle for her birthday.

So if you decide to try out the recipe, I recommend keeping it in cupcake, or very small cake form! Now if I just had that moped....

Recipe:
Better Homes and Gardens Magazine


ingredients:
CAKE:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream

FROSTING:
8 ounces sour cream
1 cup whipping cream
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. maraschino cherry juice

TOPPING (optional):
16 whole maraschino cherries, with stems
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate pieces
1 tsp shortening

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line sixteen 2 1/2-inch muffin cups with paper baking cups.
2.  In a small bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; set aside.
3.  In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat butter on medium to high for 30 seconds. Add sugar; beat until smooth and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla until smooth. Beat in sour cream and flour mixture. Fill each cup with two slightly rounded Tablespoons of cake batter.
4.  Bake 18 minutes or until top springs back. Cool completely on wire rack.
5.  Prepare cherries (if using): Drain cherries, keeping stems attached; pat dry with paper towels. In small microwave-safe bowl combine chocolate and shortening. Cook on 50% power 1 1/2 to 2 minutes or until melted, stirring once. Dip cherries in chocolate; place on waxed paper until set. Store, covered, up to 24 hours.
6.  Prepare frosting: In a large mixing bowl combine all frosting ingredients. Beat on medium-high until fluffy.
7.  Ice cupcakes- spread onto cupcakes. Top with a chocolate covered cherry. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Servings: 16

Enjoy your delicious cupcakes! XO

Hold onto your Heart.

Today I was making cupcakes and a thought for a painting came to mind. A painting of girl holding a large heart, holding onto it with her eyes shut. Then a song came over my Pandora radio with the lyrics "hold on". That's it, I had to paint it! So here she is....

Sweet and innocent, not ready to give her heart up to just anyone. Reminds me of those romantic moments before your life is turned upside down by young love. Those moments when love is just a happy fleeting notion to your mind, an emotion yet to be experienced...
Print is available for purchase here.
And this weeks coupon code is heartmoon. Enter at checkout for 15% off your order.
Stop by tomorrow for Project Monday!
-XO.

Not Exactly What I Planned

Today I was supposed to attend our city's monthly wine walk with my mom. She and I have been talking about going together for quite some time. I was so excited to have a mom and me day. I got up early, put my hair in curlers, picked out a dress, painted my nails. Then I called my mom to make sure we were still on.
And we weren't.
My poor mom's car got rear ended yesterday and she is just devastated! My little brother and his girl friend borrowed it and were just sitting at an intersection when they were hit from behind by a teen boy racing another vehicle. Everybody's fine except my mom's car.
So I guess I was just all dressed up with no where to go.

Dress and tights- Forever 21

What I Wore Today...

Keeping with my little anti jeans adventure, I have been pretty steadily wearing dresses or skirts at least a couple times a week. Usually Thursdays at work, and whenever I go out on the weekend. I love to get all dolled up, I am not someone who goes out in public in their PJ's. I haven't done an outfit post in a while though. Mainly because the lighting sucks. By the time I get home and ready to take the picture the daylight is gone. This is the case with these pictures, but I've been wanting to resume my outfit posts so bad.

 This is a necklace I made with a moon medallion carved of stone. My Mom gave me the medallion, she said it reminded her of me(!) and I made a necklace with moonstone and amethyst.

 Tank top- Old Navy, Shirt- Converse One Star, Skirt- Old Navy

 Thigh highs and Grey skirt underneath- Target

And our new kitchen light fixture:

Before:

 And After:

 We just need to repair the holes from the previous fixture and sand down a circular paint mark from an older fixture probably being put back up before the paint was dry. I also need to adjust the lights positioning. Then My plan is to paint the ceiling a pale grey-blue color, and leave everything else white. I love how this fixture reminds me of the old school hollywood movie lights!
-XO. K.

The Backdrop of My Life....

This weeks Project Monday photo prompt is "the backdrop of our lives". Look around at the details of your life, what do you notice that is present in your everyday life that you normally don't think about being there?

 My art supplies are usually everywhere, piled on my desk, stuck on the floor to make room for a project. It isn't really something I think about too often, they are always there, at my fingertips ready for use.

 These are little lanterns hanging above my easel in my studio. I don't think I've turned them on since I first hung them up! Guess I really forget about them. Ooooh they would be so pretty with twinkling white lights hanging near them. (After Christmas clearance thoughts*)

 Stacks of magazines for inspiration. I love to flip through magazines for ideas on my next painting or drawing, whether it be a pose, a color scheme or a pattern. Plus they are always good to have for Celeste's school projects.

 My poor neglected living room shelf. After all the Christmas decorations come down I realize just how bare it is! I love these things though. The cigar box was my great grandfathers and it is filled with pretty rocks. (I'm such a kid, I have a rock collection!)

 Old books. I love finding old books at the thrift stores. I love the illustrations of the past, the methods of writing. (Okay the Houseplant book isn't that old!)

 The beginnings of my framed artwork grouping. I have been collecting various pieces from thrift stores, they are all over my home, but this is as close to a grouping as it gets so far. Give it time...

 I love shoes ;)

 This is a sea shell windchime hanging in my shower. I actually barely notice it, but a lot of people think "a windchime in your shower?" Well, yeah, my bathroom is pretty small and that's the only place it could go! It's above our height, and the water doesn't hit it, so it works out pretty well. Plus it makes your shower feel all "beachy".

Check out Bubble gum life for next fridays photo prompt!