Effervescent Teenage Something

i've moved

2011-05-26T22:23:00.002-05:00

Take two!

I'm giving this blogging thing another whirl. If you'd like watch this second fiasco unfurl, I'd welcome you to join me over at my new blog, enthusiasm.

It's been a good(ish) run, gang!

Love,

Kate

{a bit of weekend inspiration}

2009-06-12T13:06:00.003-05:00

okay, yes...totally lameface to do two posts in a week along the same lines but i haven't had much time to be creative the last few days...thus i am borrowing from others ;)

so i hope you enjoy my dose of weekend inspiration...i tried to pick things that weren't on a lot of other blogs so they would be fresh ideas. enjoy!

1. french general

about a year ago my grandma sent me an email telling me that i would love this shop she'd found...and good heavens was she right. all i can say is that you must, must look at everything on this site. the pictures alone are enough for me...but the gorgeous products are even better. be sure to check out the sequins, glitter, and notion kits to start!

2. lovelydesign.

this site is brilliant. functional, simple, beautiful products any paper junkie would love. it's brilliant. and lately i have been on an all out address file kick, so finding this was great {gotta love google!}. if you want more address file goodness look here, here, and here.

3. pattianne stevenson

i happened upon this site by chance and ooh i am glad i did! this is the kind of cake you can enjoy again and again and never feel guilty about...the cardboard variety. so pretty, so genius.

4. rifle at renegade craft fair

rifle is one of my favorite blogs. i'm a big art/calligraphy kind of person, and she does the kind of work i dream about doing. browse through this blog! you won't be disappointed!

have a splendid weekend!

-kate

{invited}

2009-06-10T16:33:00.003-05:00

i didn't do a whole lot today, unless you count doing a favor for my mom something. she's having a party {that i am not invited to}, and she got some really cute invitations from paper source. she realized on monday, though, that she didn't have enough {shoulda been my first hint} and that she wanted to get some more...

i, of course, went with her to paper source {since i had a massive gift card and would take any excuse to go there} and the following went down there:

me: wow, those invites are really cute!

mom: yeah i know, right? hey question.

me {unsupsectingly perusing paper}: mmhmm?

mom {sweetly}: so i was wondering. would you like to use some of your writing to, oh i dunno, make them look pretty for me?

me {enthralled by patterns}: wow look at this one!!

mom: well?

me {still not comprehending}: um, yes?

**my mother does not really talk like this. it's pretty much her words in katespeak.**

i am a bit slow on the uptake. i should have asked her how many, but i didn't. so when she brings me a list after i whip up the prototype my jaw kinda dropped.

sixteen?

now that doesn't sound like a lot, but i'm kind of ocd. when i make something, i want every detail to be perfect. if there is a mistake, i scrap it. my garbage can is always the most full in our house. and since these invites were going to fall into the hands of people i respect, i knew that this would take a while.

and it did.

after scrapping four invites and four envelopes {about 30 + minutes of work} i finally got all sixteen done {in about 3 hours}. my hand hurts like crazy.

but it was fun. i love drawing with all of my heart, and my mom promised that in return we would redo my bathroom this week, so i guess i won ;)

since i didn't really have time to do much else today {i worked at the library all this morning} i figured i may as well share the fruits of my labor.

i wasn't going to include this last one cuz one of the envelopes is washed out but i had to. my desk is cracking me up right now. please note: rubiks cube {i am in love with rubiks cubes...i've gotten down to 2.5 minutes}, jar full of the barrettes you put into two year olds' hair {they have pretty colors!! i have to wear them!! and everyone loves a good plastic bow}, madeline and pepito piggy bank {saw it at a garage sale. madeline was my childhood hero so i couldn't say no. you don't want to know what's in it}, kate sutton band-aids {i almost hate to use them they are so pretty}, cubby full of archie comics {from my younger years}, and deoderant {always good}.

does anyone else have such a desk?

teehee okay i am done now. hope wednesday is brilliant.

-kate

{i want to marry joshua radin}

2009-06-09T11:07:00.006-05:00

because all of his songs are amazing. seriously, listen to them. they are exactly the kind of no frills songs i want some guy to sing to me one day. one of my favorites is i'd rather be with you...the lyrics are great but so is the guitar ;)

i love it so much!!

soooo i decided to make a book {gasp i know it's about time, aren't you proud of me??}

{today i'm likin'...}

2009-06-08T17:48:00.003-05:00

i meant to sit down and make something pretty dang awesome to share today but didn't have enough inspiration...so i did two things.

first. i made this little baby for my sister out of a map i tore out of a magazine (just in case the world ever grows spikes you could use this to get around. i'm just saying.). pretty fantastic stuff called modular origami, definitely great if you're watching a long movie and have too much paper on your hands. if you want instructions to make your own, look here {if anyone attempts the epcot ball i will be your friend for life...craziness right there}.

second. i browsed the internet for a while and found some fantastic awesomeness floating all around. i just had to share! i'm going to do a post about my favorite blogs later, but this may give you a bit of a taste.

1. askinosie chocolate
oh my stars i want this chocolate so bad. not only are the names tantalizing {come on, el rustico, del tambo, sonconusco...who wouldn't want to sink their teeth into something with a name like that?}, but the packaging is so. awesome. if you look all the way down the products page you will find this chalk-late bar, which i think is totally brilliant.

2. diy headband via once wed
this is such a cool idea! i love this kind of headband, especially the sparkles and feathers, and this project is so simply beautiful. you could whip one of these up for cheap in about five minutes...so fantastic!

3. debi treloar photography via design is mine
there are no words to describe this woman's amazing artistry...please go check her out! i am in love with every single one of her beautiful shots.

4. i want this house via love. obsess. inspire.
i am far from having my own place to live, but when i do, i want it to look like this. dale saylor and joe williamson are geniuses...this place is subtle but so beautiful. i would do nicely waking up in this house every morning.

hope you all had a fantastic monday!

-kate

Could it be?

2009-06-05T14:01:00.007-05:00

yes, yes it could.

i am officially back for the summer of 2009! possibly beyond that, but i'll cross that bridge when it comes.

i have so many ideas for the summer-plenty of good projects, give aways, adventures, and inspiration. i'm looking at possibly drawing a new header in the next week, too...maybe this one was bad luck?

i'm pretty much the notorious winner of the worst blogger ever award (the wbe, it's quite a lofty accomplishment, i've gotta admit) but have absolutely missed my blog and my readers more than i thought was possible. please drop me an email to tell me how you all have been!

it's gonna be a good summer, i know it.

-kate

ps. ignore the lack of rounded corners if you can. i completely forgot to put them on the picture...i'll get back up to format par soon, i promise *wink*

{what? when?!}

2008-10-02T21:49:00.003-05:00

hold the phone.

are you serious?

september is gone already? it's really, truly october?!

why was i not informed? where did september go? and, more importantly...

why is it so stinking cold all of a sudden?

that's right. under my very nose, fall, and october, has crept into my town. and somehow, i missed it. when was the first day of fall, anyway?

fall is my favorite season. i love the colors of the trees (as fast as they seem to shed around here), wearing long sleeves, the colors and styles of fall fashions, and the smell of fall. it has a smell, you know. like burnt leaves and pumpkin and apples and molasses. it's truly incredible.

so i thought i'd share a few things, for all of you people who love fall as much as i do, i'm currently loving to help usher in the most beautiful season.

like i said earlier, it's cooling off fast here in illinois. it literally jumped from 74 down to 60 in one day. with a wind chill. this is kind of a remarkable change. so when i got my anthro catalogue yesterday and saw the most beautiful pieces of clothing i can't afford on my meager budget set against these beautiful fall backdrops, i went gaga (what is it about expensive clothing that makes it so appealing?). especially for this hat and this scarf (scarfs=love. seriously. i can't buy them fast enough.).

and...since my dad gives me such a hard time for wearing winter wear in the house (it's not my fault my room is the coldest of them all! my bed covers the heating vent!), these little babies from a fabulous etsy shop would do any person especially sensitive to cold. or if you're like me (okay, i'll admit) and just really love to be hot all the time (and wear winter things), buy yourself a pair. seriously. they're merino wool. sigh.

then you can settle down by your window and watch the leaves change color with this beautiful mug from (my favorite!) starbucks, sipping this tea (my new obsession). i mean honestly. it's perfection.

then, when you've gotten down to the bottom of the mug and still feel like you haven't gotten enough fall fix, feast your eyes on the work of this artist. especially this photograph. and this one. oh, and this one. it's so inspiring, i just don't know what to do with myself.

maybe, with the beautiful things mentioned above, missing september won't be all that bad. october could shape out rather beautifully, if you ask me.

{finally! creativity!}

2008-09-11T21:31:00.006-05:00

wow. actual creativity to post. on a weeknight! when i had a class! people, this is a breathrough. i'm as stunned as you are.

but today i had ten minutes of homework which never happens, like, ever. and when i have time on my hands, i start to think. and when i start to think, i need to write things down. so i decided to make something. now, this isn't the first thing i've made in, what is it now, a month? no, i've made some little things i never got around to take pictures of, and *gasp* finally got dain's book done (by the way, she has been making some awesome stuff lately, so go and check her out if you haven't done so before!).

anyhoo!

i was thinking today about how busy i've been, and how it's been all my fault for not remebering what that word means where you say you won't do something. i think it's two letters...possibly starts with an n? can someone help me out?

oh yeah.

no.

so basically i'm doing a billion things. and i was thinking about how i have no room to complain because it's all my fault, and truly, i should be slowing down. because i'm deathly afraid my junior year is going to fly past me and i'll look back and realize i missed it. that i didn't enjoy anything, just spent my time worrying about what i had to do next.

so i decided to break out what i have "fondly" called my "gosh-darn-frustrating-but-so-pretty" stamps to kill a couple of hours and really slow down. and, yeah. hoo boy, did those stamps take a while. but it was a good exercise because i am what you would call a *ahem* impatient person. oh yes. very impatient.

i just love how it turned out so simple, but pretty. i really like it.

i suppose you want to see it, so here you go ;) (the rest of the pictures are on my flickr)

um, yeah, there we go.

and if you're wondering what posessed me to put the urban outfitters card upside down, don't ask. i thought it would be funny to turn it upside down. sometimes my sense of humor is so lame i can't even believe myself. but i like me that way :)

and if that wasn't enough, here are some highlights from my week (boy i am over achieving today!!):

1) i got hired at the library! (this is a good thing) this means that i'll be working 15 hours a week (which, granted, is a lot) but making so much more money to put away for college. and spend on art supplies *insert evil laugh here*
2)picked out one of my christmas presents at urban outfitters. this baby. i am so excited!! this is like, the first time ever that i am actually excited for winter. go figure! (see, when you live in the midwest and get about 30 feet of snow accumlutating throughout the winter, and below zero days, it gets old really. really. fast. especially when winter lasts throught the spring.) but i can't wait to start using that lovely!! *sigh*
3) read three books over 300 pages in three days. truly, it was spectacular. good gosh, i love books. (my most excellent year, suite scarlett, airhead {and yes, pretty much all chick lit. i cried in my most excellent year. seriously, guys, you've got to love mary poppins and the cutest deaf kid ever. sigh.})
4) made a fool out of myself on many occasions, but what else is new?

okay, i've fully over exerted myself today. i hope your fridays are fabulous! i'll be back later this weekend with a september calendar and where i've been inspired lately :)

ciao!

{guerilla art. and my town. good combination.}

2008-09-06T22:57:00.003-05:00

hmm. seems like i have a little problem with this deadline thing. i think it's because i really don't like to be predictable. so basically, i think i'm going to stop making deadlilnes. i do believe that you are going to have to be surprised.

another plan deviation.

i was going to share a bunch of stuff today about my trip, how i built a bookshelf (shocking, i know. the dent in my wall is screaming at me, but it actually holds books. now if only i could heal the cut on my hand...), how i finally mailed postcards and a package (again, shocking. but i got to use the self mailer with cool buttons at the post office. suddenly, mail is more fun. can i send someone else something? i had to buy extra stamps!! takers?), the september calender i'm working on, and many more exciting things about my unexciting life (such as the hostages from the bank downtown yesterday and the SWAT team...) (which actually happened. look it up on google)...

but.

my mom came home this afternoon from running errands and told me about a public art project downtown. so basically, i had to go. because i love guerilla art so much, it hurts me. and finally, finally, my town was in on the public art campaign. i started dancing.

for all of you who are scratching your head and asking "what the heck is guerilla art?", well, this is something you need, need, to know. this is technically guerilla art, but i see it in a broader sense, more of like art that gets everyone involved, not just the artist. here is where it all began for me. go there. then go here. then, go here, here {some of these are rauncy, i know, but i love the concept!}, here, and here. and here. hopefully i will start similar projects someday. i've been working on my own guerilla art projects on my own.

anyhoo! (funny how i get so sidetracked. wow.) my town!!

this guy that goes to our church is a graphic designer, and all because of a shoelace, he was inspired to do this fantastically cool art project all about his love for the city. you can find out more about it here. while you're there, select the three things that describe you. if for some reason tates ice cream comes up in where you should shop, i'll scoop it for you, since that's where i work (but i had an interview for a new job last week!!! will be discussed later. hopefully.).

but this mural. is. awesome.

he put all of these stickers on a huge mural, and it's pointillism, people! you can peel off all of the stickers that describe you. if you step back, it reads "what is wheaton?" i took off wild, poetic, bald, and vintage. i'm not really bald, but i thought it was funny. they're also cutting out blank spots to do something else wild with it. it's all terribly exciting.

i did not find the unique sticker. i saw it, but i didn't grab it. my sister saw it. she did not grab it. i got home, went to the website, and found out about the prize. needless to say, we were terribly disappointed. some kid has probably grabbed it by now.

sigh.

but still. feast your eyes on these pictures and then i'll tell you why i love my town so much.

11 reasons i love my town: (11 is a well rounded number, no?)

1) it's a college town. it's so fun to have all these kids running around. they hid the bench in our garage once. but that's another story. there was no raid, thankfully.
2) we're in the guiness book of world records. for having the most churches in one square mile. but, still. it's a good thing, people. really. and as a person who attends one of these churches, i can fully attest to it being a good thing.
3) our downtown is cool. kids try to bubble the fountain. and always get caught. it was fun to hang there in middle school. plus also, there are thrift stores. funness.
4) our library ROCKS. it's in the top ten for small town libraries. and it just got renovated. seriously. it rocks. (and i cave, i'm going to work there. starting in october. in the children's floor. eeeeeee!!!!!)
5) six words. lots of bigger and better hunts.
6) it's a small town. you know a lot of people. it's awesome. it's got such a great feel to it.
7) we get four seasons. snow in winter. 100 degree summer days. rain in spring. awesome crispness in fall. it's so fun. except that i don't like snow, so that can be an issue, seeing as though we get A TON of it.
8) two highschools. cross town rivalry. nuff said.
9) we have the most awesome art store downtown. i can't even explain it.

10) we are a 20 minute train ride away from chicago. a 45 minute drive. do you know how good this is for a high school girl? can we say michigan avenue on the count of three? or ice skating with friends in the winter? yeah. it's really, really great.
and finally...
11) exciting stuff happens here. like when bill clinton came to our high school last year. and when the psycho took hostages yesterday. or when we were on oprah. or when football players from the college go to the nfl (which is sort of a big deal here).

or when we get art exhibits. in the middle of town. for the world to participate in.

seriously, people. i live in the best town ever (which not a lot of people can say!). come to wheaton. it's great.

ciao!

{!!!}

2008-09-02T16:48:00.002-05:00

i know. i am bad. i have been missing! and you (hopefully) have been missing me!!

but i will have to disappoint you for a few more days.

i have much to catch up on, much to take pictures of, and much to do.

my to do list is a mile long, and school does not help.

currently, i am trying to learn how to balance my life with creativity. it's very important to me, one of the reasons i have a blog in the first place. to kara and all the rest of you teenage blogger girls in school, i totally admire you. and i am nearly there! i feel so bad for abandoning you, all my readers. right now, it's just a matter of cleaning my room, doing my homework, and charging my camera. then it will just be you, me, and a bunch of paper, people.

can we wait till friday? i have so much to tell you!!

i hope you don't hate me too much. because i love you all.

xxx kate

{nearly there...}

2008-08-22T17:15:00.006-05:00

good news! i'm almost over my jet lag!

too bad this couldn't have happened before i started school. ah, well. soooo. updates!

my room still isn't cleaned. only half way. after work tonight i will start creating! i can't keep you guys in suspense for too much longer now, can i? haha. oh! for all of you who gave me your address for a postcard...i have them! i wrote them in switzerland. but because i couldn't speak german, i didn't get stamps. and i was unable to send them from switzerland. i hope you don't hate me! i have them on my desk and will be mailing them to you this weekend. just, they might have an american flag stamp on them, which is kind of weird, come to think of it, but hopefully you'll be okay with that. please?

i haven't uploaded switzerland photos quite yet. but my momma has! here are a couple i really liked (sorry they don't have my signature round corners! i took them from her flickr):

this is the clock tower in town. it's clocks disappeared every other day. i can't for the life of me figure out where they went! it's quite a dilemma.

these message walls were everywhere. i just thought they were the most awesome things ever. people stapled/tacked messages to fences or walls, and tore them down when they were done. i loved them. just loved them.

this was the view from our hotel window. we hiked to that waterfall.

basically, switzerland is the most beautiful place in the whole world. it is the place of my dreams, i think. really.

truth.

haha that painted fire hydrant there? that's sven. i named him. after a viking. and yes, inside of that innocent looking sign to the hotel were dolls. evil dolls. i had nightmares about them.

so that should tide you over for a while!

coming soon: pictures. of many a thing. creative stuff. etsy finds. gifts (thanks allison!! you're such a sweetie!!). other random niceness.

ciao!

{oh my, my, my. you've got yourself one tired girl.}

2008-08-20T18:33:00.004-05:00

hello again, my friends!! i'm back from my second european trip, finally.

and very jet lagged. very, very jet lagged.

because i got home monday night at 5p my time. realized it was midnight swiss time. crashed on my bed. woke up at one, realizing that it is 8 swiss time. couldn't fall back asleep. showered at five. then! started school at seven twenty.

that's right. apparantly, my junior year has started.

i've been asleep for most of it.

but i'm slowly leaving this fog behind me and remembered my little blog. eeps! people are waiting for a post! and i have so so so so so much to post about!

oh, my, my, my. can you tell i'm still a wee bit tired?

i am. tired enough to not have uploaded photos yet. or cleaned my room. or even made enough space to pack away all my etsy purchases and make something. because my creativity is itching. itching!!

and dain, you're first, you lucky girl! i loved your list. i'm so excited to make you your book. it's going to be fab. i'm already jealous of you ;)

i know this doesn't exactly qualify as a real post, seeing as though my brain is still muddled, but i thought i'd give you a sneeky peeky (i get kind of lame when i'm tired) of what's to come in the next week (drumroll, please)...

1) details of my fabulous trip. and all the paper i garnered. and/or stole.
2) details of my first week at school. and all my fabulous supplies i decked out in fancy, fancy handwriting.
3) details of etsy finds.
4) details of the bountiful barn.
5) details of dain's book.
6) details of a clean room (hopefully)
7) details, details, details.

and finally!

8) details of a fabulous new blog where i am lucky enough to be on the design team!! hooray! very, very, very excited. but i can't think straight enough to make anything yet. forgive me, patty! i'm working on it!

but right now, i need to sleep.

it's only 6:45.

i think i still have problems.

good night, good friends!!

{i wrote you a note}

2008-08-06T14:43:00.006-05:00

goodbye, all! just so you know, if you do want a post card, i will actually get you one. just post your address by 10-ish so that i can check it.

and sorry for all who wanted to see my thrift finds! coming when i get back. see, this is what happens when you put off packing to the last minute.

and sit at the computer blogging when your suitcase is calling your name.

*sigh* i'm coming, i'm coming.

i'll miss you all! ciao!

{and the winner is...}

2008-08-05T19:22:00.004-05:00

hmm, who could it be? i couldn't resist. i had to make something today (even though i have about a million other things to be doing...)

drumroll, please...

and

had

sister

pick

number

and

it's

very

special

girl

who

happy

say

is...

number 10!! congrats to dainjb!!

so. email me so that i know your email and we will chat about how you'd like this to go! congrats!

thanks to all you wonderful ladies who commented. i had no idea that 21 people even read this blog! wowza! i'll be back tomorrow with one final post before my big trip...about great thrift finds i (found?) today...loveliness...!

ciao!

ps...wow. this is my first day that i had two posts. hooray!

{i'm feeling random.}

2008-08-05T09:06:00.002-05:00

today is going to be quite a day, seeing as though i'm already kind of random, and it's only 9. i have a feeling i'm going to be freaking out by the end of the day. oh well! i wanted to blog last night, but it got to be midnight after i finished my calender (which you'll see in a minute), so i just decided i'd do it in the morning. so.

my night

~my tshirts finally came in! i designed them for our switzerland trip (which is in two days!!), and they came back from rumpleshirtskin yesterday! i really like how they came out. i'll explain it in a second:

okay. so the hills are alive with the sound of music (the music notes), since we're going to be in the alps. i made up the font because i couldn't find a font on my computer to copy that would match the sound of music box. and finally, those people. well, i personalized all of them so that they'd look like the people on my team. we all have a picture! :) can you guess which one is me?

~then, after the meeting (which was interrupted by a huge storm that made the national news this morning {did you see it??}), i realized that school starts two weeks from today and that i really needed to get organized. am ordering my supplies from vera bradley this morning. but last night, i made a calender for the month of august. i love it!! it turned out totally me. i took a lot of pictures (you can see them all on my flickr):

yeah. those last few are the days i'm excited for and i'm not excited for. can you guess which? :/

~so also, at the meeting last night, we formed a band called las papas (yeah, yeah, you already knew i was odd, right?). that will be fun while in europe...but we made up a song about a cow. i was kind of on a sugar high from the fabulous jewel brand brownies, so i drew it on my hand. i woke up this morning and just laughed at the sheer strangeness of it all. so i took a picture.

please don't think i'm too strage. i mean, i guess i kind of am, since i did draw it, but i like to think of it as more loveable, or something. *sigh*

okay, so according to my calender, i have a doctor's appointment in an hour. and i'm still in my pj's (which i stayed in until 2 yesterday! hooray!). plus also, we have to go and find a way to get rid of a turtle leagally today.

wish me luck.

oh! my drawing for the rak from yesterday will take place at 7p tonight. so if you haven't commented on yesterday's post, do it! yeah. okay. ciao!

{she...is creating, reading, and giving...}

2008-08-04T10:08:00.010-05:00

so i've decided i really have to stop telling you when i'm going to post next. because that is really not working out for me. and now i feel all guilty about not updating you on my rather boring little life! :)

i kind of forgot how i had to work like 26 hours between the ice cream shop and babysitting this weekend. basically, this leaves little time for creating, let alone blogging! so while i gave myself a nearly strained wrist after getting it stuck in a tub of ice cream, and a serious migraine after playing barbies for 3 hours straight, i silently hoped that none of you would hate me too much for not posting for a while.

and then on saturday, before i had to go babysit, breaking dawn came out! finished that one in seven hours. but i'm pathetically sad because i don't get any more edward and bella vampire drama! i'm pathetic, i know. but i love reading. and i love those books!

i love reading so much that as i tried to shove my new book purchases onto my bookshelf, the back split open. this is a problem. i have to get a bigger bookshelf. and now my books are on my chair, with about twenty i loaned to friends coming back soon. and a bunch shoved into my closet.

books are dangerous. but really fabulous.

anyhoo...now things have calmed down.

but!

surprisingly, i actually managed to make something on friday between babysitting and working. and...i really really love it! wow. it's a bunch of "she" statements that i either made up or was inspired by, all about me. i didn't mean for it to become really long, but it turned out to be like 20 pages, 40 if you count the backs. so, naturally, i was not about to put a picture of every page on flickr. but they are all on my sis, which you can get to from the link on the left. i took some of my favorites to show you:

i had so much fun making this that i decided that i would host a giveaway. at the end of the post, i'm going to write all of the statements in my book. if you leave a comment with another "she" statement about yourself, or just any comment in general, within the next two or three days (giving myself a window!!) i'll do a random drawing and make the winner her own book. the winner can decide what statements she wants or add any others. i could even leave it blank, if she wanted to write them in.

i'll also be in switzerland from the seventh to the eighteenth of august, so i'll be gathering paper there. i'll use most of it in your book, so you can say you have a bit of europe in your autobiography! ;) you'll just have to wait a teensy bit to get your book in the mail.

so comment! i want to hear you guys talk about yourself, rather than just me rambling on about nothing :)

okay, here are my statements:

she always dwells in possibilites. she is the heroine of her own story. she made her own magic. she's got a little world hidden in her heart and hands. she knew there was never a dull moment. she's at the beginning... she looked to the future with bright eyes. she loved imperfections. she knew she'd do foolish things, but she wanted to do them with enthusiasm. most of the time, she was almost too happy to breathe. she could be a fancy pants, but she knew bad style happens. she had her cake and ate it, too. she spun recklessly and sometimes fell down. she always got back up. sometimes, mindless decisions were hard for her. she wanted to travel the world. she appreciated simple beauty. she often paused her pursuit of happiness to just be happy. life was the best party she's ever been to. oh, can she live! she was guilty of running with scissors. of making mountains out of molehills. of painting with her fingers. of indulging. oh, could she smile! easy things were sometimes her biggest problems.but at least she never gave them up. she loved fashion. often, there was love on her mind. she was a rather silly girl.caffeine saved her as her ideas raced late into the night. she was the queen of her castle. she was sometimes confused. she giggled. oh! she was such a silly, silly girl. she knew life went on. she stared at simple objects, reveling in the possibilities. she stopped to smell the roses. and the daisies. and the lillies. sometimes, she felt like there was a storm in her head. she tried her best to live without being afraid. she was right to dream such dreams. she frolicked, twirled, and dilly-dallied. she tried every closed door, just in case. she made a million wishes and believe they'd all come true. she tried her best to be a real artist. she was tickled pink. a pink ruffle. a pink bow. but never a pink eye {sally jean}. she batted away the clouds. she always had hope. she never stopped believing. she knew the journey was the reward. sometimes, all she wanted was red velvet cake. and the only reason she'd make it would be to lick the spoon. her motto was to say nothing, be silly, act natural. she hoped she wouldn't miss anything. she fancied herself sugar, spice, and mostly nice. she skipped to her lou. sometimes, she was reckless. she really liked her feet, but didn't know why. she had great friends, and when they got together they laughed and laughed. she appreciated the fancy, but adored the fancily simple. she sometimes was an artist behaving badly. she loved art. she loved life. she loved herself. she is me.

so yeah. even if you have no blog, have never commented before, or have never even read this until today...comment! i want to make you something so badly (so i guess this is a rather selfish rak...)!!

ciao!

ps. longest post ever on this blog award! woooot! :)

{i can't get anything done}

2008-07-31T10:11:00.006-05:00

okay. i had a list. i made it on monday. i wanted to clean my room. get a new phone. make some new minis for a journaling project. catch up on my email. get some school shopping done before i leave for switzerland. among other things.

but absolutely nothing got done, so far. and i have to work today and tomorrow, which leaves me little time until the week is over. i'm starting to panic.

here's another confession: i am the world's biggest procrastinator.

this probably isn't hard for most of you to believe, seeing as though i ramble on about practically nothing in most of my blog posts. actually, right now i'm supposed to be drying my hair. and getting dressed. and attempting to clean my room. here's how my thought process went:

hooray! my makeup is done. ooh, looks good. i'll go into the bathroom to dry my hair. what's this? nobody's on the computer! let's check blogs. ho-hum, nothing updated. that's too bad. oh, no email either. ooh look! a rubber band! that reminds me of a video i saw!! let's go watch it again. oh yeah! that was on the distractions blog! i love that blog. blog. ooh, i was supposed to post on my blog. i made two minis, but i don't like them. so i might not take pictures. what the heck am i supposed to write about? i've done nothing! ooh, i'll post about that! here i go...

and in the meantime, my room is still messy and my hair is airdrying ugly-ish. *sigh*

does anyone else have this kind of problem? now that you've heard how weird my thoughts are, do you think i'm rather freakish?

hmm, that's okay. i kind of am. ;)

anyway...i've just decided i'll take pictures of one of the not-so-loved minis and show you tomorrow. and that's a promise. because i know that you all just pine for more of my ramblings when i'm stuck doing nothing at home. or scooping ice cream at work.

and for all of you people like me who are so easily distracted, here is that fabulous video that i remembered after seeing that rubber band. i kind of love this one.

power to the procrastinators!!

now i really need to go dry my hair.

{confessions...}

2008-07-27T15:39:00.005-05:00

okay, i'm awol no longer! sorry i disappeared for a while...it's been quite a week ;) and i thought summer wasn't supposed to be busy? not a chance.

anyway, i thought i'd confess two things in today's post, to account for my missing-ness and my latest mini. and then maybe some randomness, just so you know me better (*chuckle*).

1) i am addicted to books
truly, i am. i devour books, and very quickly. it really is like a hunger, sometimes. that's what's been mainly distracting me this week :) i decided to jump on the bandwagon and try reading twilight, because target was having a sale. holy. stinking. cow! i read really fast, so i finished it in 6 hours on wednesday. i drove back to target on thursday, and bought new moon. i finished that one in 7 (it was a little slow in the middle...). i had work to do after i finished it friday morning, so i had to wait till yesterday to get eclipse. finished that one in 6, too. i am so surprised at how much i actually ended up enjoying them. because they're not really well written (yesssss i am an english nerdlette...thank my mother for that one...), but they're so creative! and addicting. i can't wait till next saturday to get breaking dawn! seriously. read them. and share with me book suggestions! :)

2) i tend to be a perfectionist.
okay, this is one of my bad-kate traits. i am kind of obsessed with not messing up. i work way too hard at school to get good grades-i actually exert so much energy into everything to make sure i don't let people down. or myself, for that matter. so naturally, this year (my junior year) is going to end up killing me unless i lighten up a little ;) (surprising, i'm actually really a very easy going person. i just like to do things really well.) so yeah. i'm kind of fearing failing on some decisions right now. i'm really trying to work through these faults, so i made a mini to get my thoughts out. really helped. you can see all the pictures on my flickr.

3) i'm probably taller than you.
i don't know if i've mentioned this before, but i'm over six feet tall. it's pretty useful. also annoying. if i ever meet you, please try to refrain from pointing out this observation. i really don't mind (that much) if you forget, but seriously. i get told at least once every day (a lot of times by strangers) "wow! you're tall!" i never do, but i'm always tempted to say "really? i've never noticed that before! you see, we don't own a mirror in my house..." yeah. but it can be totally fun (when i'm not sticking out like a sore thumb...), especially in shoe stores. and target. i always try on really high stilettos and walk around the store, pretending to look for my friends to ask about how they look. people are hilarious!! they have such funny reactions! little kids have pulled on their mothers' shirts, pointing, one guy tripped over a shelf one time, people have stopped conversations. it's hilarious. and in europe...well, i think i endangered people in the middle of the street who forgot to look where they were going, just gaping at me. ha! yeah. fun times.

4) i'm hardly ever sad.
it's true. i say this to people all the time, and they totally underestimate how i'm not lying. i really am hardly ever sad. i can get contemplative, and sometimes i do get down...but it only lasts five minutes, tops. i'm really quick to forgive, too...so i'm hardly ever mad at people either. i'm convinced it's totally God's doing. it's like that song i used to sing in sunday school..."i've got the joy joy joy joy down in my heart..." yeah. if i meet you, i'll like you. if you make me mad, i'll forget it in a second. but only if you promise not to call me tall (kidding!).

5) i talk a lot.
but you could probably figure this out from my ramblings. :)

okay, that's it for today. ciao!

{lately...}

2008-07-22T11:14:00.006-05:00

so, as i promised, here's a post dedicated to what i've been inspired by lately. it's kind of a hodge-podge, so try to stay with me! ;) (i'm sure you'll have no trouble...)

1) the proust questionnaire from jayson home & garden

i love this little guy. okay, so mainly i love the color of the cover, but the idea of journaling by answering questions really appeals to me. i'm working on a mini that will entertain this idea. you'll see that pretty soon.

2) the plastic fantastic collection from studio jspr

okay, no picture for this one, but seriously. check it out. how fabulous are those chairs? and the couch? i mean, look at the colors! if i had more room in my bedroom (and money...) i would so get a white or pink one.

3) this picture by daffie @ flickr

wow. i can't get enough of this. have you noticed how i really like pink? and this camera. swoon.

4) the heidi merrick fall collection

i know this has been a big one going around, but if you haven't seen it already, go look. i love it. it totally speaks for itself.

5) story beads by fieldandsea

okay, seriously. how genius is this? she wrote a story, cut it into lines, and made beads out of it. i just love the idea. i've got to get me some of these.

6) the visual dictionary

this whole idea is fantastic to me. people take pictures of words and send them into this site, which makes a dictionary out of the images. i want to make some moo cards out of these and do a magnetic poetry type thing.

yeah, so that's some of what i've been loving lately. i could go on and on but figured possibly i should stop. i'll do another one of these later.

oh! one more thing! the fantastic fashionistas over at SIS featured two of my minis on the catwalk this week! i'm totally freaking out. i just wanted to thank everyone over there for their fantastic comments and encouragements. you're the best!

till tomorrow, ciao!

{mamma mia!}

2008-07-21T17:16:00.005-05:00

hooooo boy! just saw the new mamma mia movie with my chicas today. oh my goodness gracious, i think i'm in love! it was completely fantastic. i'm pretty sure half the theatre absolutely hates me because i was just shrieking with laughter the entire time. the music of abba is totally fantastic, too-i just can't get it out of my head! the above clip was one of my faves, because i just got a kick out of the dancing on the dock. i know it's not good resolution, but seriously. it. was. hilarious. go run to the theatre now!! actually, no. read this post first and then go.

i also made a layout last night for the one little word challenge. the word this week was "if", so i found a bunch of quotes (reoccuring theme with me!) and whipped up something simple really fast. my handwriting was kind of wonky, but i am a firm believer that the imperfections of something make it better. so my quirky little lo is growing on me (i absolutely hated it at first).

i also promised to post things that were inspiring me lately, but i'm going to have to do that tomorrow. so that's something to look forward to! i'll have another mini coming later this week. so keep reading! and i absolutely adore all of your encouraging comments. everyone reading this is so nice! i didn't even expect any readers other than my mother after only a month of blogging. it's sort of unfathomable. *blows a big kiss*

okay, till tomorrow! ciao.

{thinking...about tonight!!}

2008-07-19T13:15:00.004-05:00

sooo...i got creative this morning! i dreamed up a babysitting job. i woke up early early (very hard, since it was raining and rather darkish) to go and babysit, but apparantly it was the wrong day. not one person was up, and i woke them all up. and i embarassed myself. apparantly i was supposed to babysit them two weeks from now, or something. ga. that is just so like me!

but i also got creative in the scrapping department. made myself a little journal to commemerate this week where i decided to just be. it's a journal of all that i have been thinking about this week. i really wanted to use the sewing machine, so i whipped up a bobbin and sewed most of the pages in some way or another. i used that fantastic bag from the thrift shop as the cover. like?

you can see the rest on my flickr. link is on the left. it was totally fun to make. took up a good three hours of my morning :)

but now onto my night. i am going to the american idol concert tonight!! i'm totally excited! my family is totally into reality television. it's totally sad, i know, but we are. this is one of our faves, so the chicas in our fam are going with one of my friends and her mom. ack! it's going to be fab! plus also i love jason castro and can't wait to get a picture of him... ;)

it's going to be fantastic! i'll post pictures tomorrow and give links to where i've been inspired lately. till then, ciao!

{how many can you think of?}

2008-07-17T18:01:00.009-05:00

i'd kind of been in a creative slump for a while, but i finally dragged myself to my desk today to make something. i have a long list of projects i want to do sitting there, but seeing as though the week is almost over i decided to do the prompt from the art is found. which is about notebook paper. which i love.

i took eight pieces and layered them to do a lo and then decided i'd encompass one of my own challenges in there. i do these things from time to time to get my creativity going where i set a creative goal for myself. this time i wanted to think of 50 unique things one could do with notebook paper. so i went to town and wrote a list on the layered pieces of paper and added some envelopes for texture/dimension. it's not the best thing i've ever made, but i really had a fun time thinking up all of the different things one could do with paper. so i kind of love it.

how many can you think of?

if you want to know what it says, i can write the list here. but it would take a while and frankly, i don't have the energy at this moment. next i'm going to work on a yes/no mini. i think this should be amusing. i'm also going to make some more atc's to put into my quote book. this will come probably saturday since i have to work tomorrow.

until then, ciao! :)

oh wait! did you see project runway last night? what did you think?? i loved it besides the fact that they recycled a challenge and let two weirdos stay. but other than that it was a pretty inspiring episode. i love recycling to make art! especially how kelly did the bleaching on that vacuum bag. pure. genius.

okay now i leave you.

{insert excited shriek here}

2008-07-16T19:30:00.004-05:00

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
that is me releasing all the utter fabulousness from my day into this post. did you feel it? cuz that was quite a strong "ah". very. very. strong. it was a good day. here is a recap:

1)i got my drivers license! finally. and i mean, finally! not only have i had my permit for over a year, but also i've been sixteen for four months. it's really about time. plus remember yesterday when i told you that i didn't have my night hours? so i went last night with my dad to drive around for two hours (we got pulled over by the police in a parking lot where i was paralell parking. i was embarassed. my dad got a kick out of it. so did the police. the cop and my dad were making fun of my complete lack of skills. i was mortified then, but now that i think back on it, it probably was one of the more hilarious experiences of my life. seriously. because i was quite a site, seeing as though my dad is a terrible paralell parking teacher!), so that this morning we could go to the dmv to get my license. we get there after a twenty minute drive and realize oh! i left all the paperwork on the island of the kitchen! silly me! soooo after another hour, we get back. to make a long story short, i am now a proud carrier of a certified license from the secretary of state. hooray! *bows to all the fake applause*

2) i got four shirts from a plato's closet for twenty three dollars. if you don't know what that is, it's this totally cool place that carries extra clothes from stores like hollister, forever twenty one, american eagle, etc. or donations from girls with cute clothes who don't want them anymore. it was totally great. i am so excited to wear all those things. is it possible to wear four shirts at once? plus the one i got from american eagle after that? i wish there was. i love new clothes.

3) we had home run in pizza while watching jon and kate plus eight for dinner. need i say more?

okay so those were the highlights. but when i checked my email just now, the day got even better!!! ooh i am excited.

so sistv is starting their project catwalk tonight!!!!!! piggy backing off of the challenges for project runway (best. show. ever!!!!) which is also starting tonight! ooooh in ten minutes! i'd bettere wrap this up. so everyone, you need to read the challenge at ten tonight and email your work of pure stylish art within 72 hours. i will show you mine tomorrow night. and also ramble needlessly about the awesome designs coming out of project runway.

thank you for listening to me ramble away. i'm so happy right now watching aiden and leah pat alligators on the television while sketching project ideas that i just can't think straight. i hope you find it adorably cute instead of annoying, which i am fearing. i promise promise tomorrow's post will make up for it.

dude, i am so excited. five minutes left!

ciao.

*******edited************
okay so i was feeling totally like a loser blogger so i decided that i would give you a couple of links. happy now? :)
1)quizilla: this keeps me entertained for far too long.
2)flip: i love. i've made some seriously sweet stuff on here. and gotten total fashion inspiration from all over.
3)sis: go and start challenges!!
4)project runway: eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!
5)papa louie: bahahahaha. another one of those stupid websites that keeps me entertained.
6)polyvore: i. love. this. site. so. much. true true true love.

there. have i redeemed myself at least a tiny bit?

********edited again************
just realized that licsense is spelled license. mom, please don't kill me. holy cow, maybe i do need to go back to school. ack.

ciao for real!

{good day}

2008-07-15T19:07:00.008-05:00

okay okay okay. i lied. sort of. i said i'd try to post every day this week. i fully could have done so yesterday, but i really didn't have the energy. because it was like midnight. and i was very very sad.

i was sad because i was supposed to go this morning to get my driver's licsense. but last night i took a tumble down the stairs, ripped my social security card, and then realized that i was short two night driving hours to get my licsense. so obviously we had some work to do today. i was very mad at my parents for making me be honest about my hours, but okay, i guess i see how lying to the government might be sort of an issue. oh well. tonight i guess i will drive around town for two hours. oh joyous.

but today turned out to be quite a fantastic day! my friends are all back from their vacations, so we got together and had just a simply fantastic time at katie's house. i tried a wii for the first time, and was totally hooked to this racing cows game. oh and the boxing. but especially the one with the cows. because seriously, could there be anything more funny than watching this cartoon guy with an afro kick his legs up on the back of a cow every time the cow hit a scarecrow or jumped a hurdle? or watching your totally hilarious and awesome friends make crazy weird movements when trying to seriously maime the other person on virtual boxing? (we're talking seriously hilarious movements. seriously.) umm, no. i didn't think so. it was entertaining in every sense of the word.

also this morning i got this email from sistv about the class (unpredictable requests) held next week by the totally awesome ashley wren (hooray hooray hooray!!!), and i totally signed up. for twenty dollars for ten days, it's totally worth it. so excited! i've never looked forward to a monday before. so seriously, anyone who reads this (probably not that many people yet, but still), sign up here! i totally can't wait to see what comes out of that class.

and finally, like a cherry on the top of my good day, my ap us history test scores finally came in the mail. i was totally totally totally nervous, becuase i remembered how stinking hard the test was, and how scattered all of my essays were, and how wrong all of my answers seemed, but...(drumroll please...) i got a four!! a four!!!!! (that's really good if you didn't know about ap scoring.) i was so happy. am still happy. wow.

so now to the pictures. another great thing that happened last night was one of my friend's dad (who works for a print company) gave me all of these fantastic paper sample books their company gets inundated with from wausau papers. they cost like 9 dollars normally. i was so incredibly happy and excited. the colors, shapes, and textures are fabulous.

also, like i promised, some sketch book snapshots. there's a game i played with my friend marilyn on a plane, and some other random doodles i did. it's more of a doodle book. i love drawing.

wow, that was a long post! anyway, i hope your days are all fantastic! until tomorrow...ciao.

{longish post coming your way}

2008-07-13T23:14:00.005-05:00

i've got a lot of ground to cover in this post, seeing as though it's been a couple of days. i went up to wisconsin to get my little sister (who i haven't seen in a month!) from camp, and i had a great time re-living the memories from when i was a camper. i feel totally old, even though i'm totally not, because it seems like that was just me, like last year. riding up to camp, eating so many m&ms i got sick, missing home like crazy, marvelling at the beauty of creation, getting pelted with hail, shooting a gun (they trusted me??!!), camping (um...yuck), missing camp like crazy when i got home. it made me a little sad. but not too much.

anyway, i got some great pictures of the boats there, among other things. i got this one picture of an otter that really made me laugh (what is it about otters that is so funny? am i the only one with this problem?), but i didn't upload it. i took way a lot of pictures. especially at the hotel pool that night with my friend and sister...yeah. you can't see those either. but you can see some of the boats! because they were so colorful and pretty.

then i came home and made a journal from my scrap box. my scrap box is huge and has many many many many many random pieces of paper in there. i love it probably most out of all my supplies. i meant for it just to be beautiful and reflective, but it turned out to be beautiful, reflective, and pretty personal. so i decided not to take pictures of all the pages. it felt so great to get some journaling done, it's been a while. i did decide to take pictures of the cover, though :)

i made it out of: scraps of patterned paper, a business card, catalog pages, an invoice, a page of a french map, a greeting card, an envelope, a library card, an awesome pink playing card, post it notes, my favorite post card, an index card, and a 3d coloring book page. i love it. i'm going to make another one, later, and take pictures of the blank pages. maybe i'll even give it away.

you can see the rest of the photos from this weekend on my flickr.

i'll try to post every day this week, but no promises. i'm working on a pretty great project now that you can definitely see. plus also i think it's time you took a look at my sketch book. so pictures are coming your way, too. so until tomorrow, ciao!

{accidental adventure day!}

2008-07-09T15:40:00.004-05:00

so today i woke up thinking i will make a mini-journal today using all of the great paper i gathered from around the house at midnight last night! okay, maybe not in so many words, but that's fully what i planned to do. it hasn't happened. yet.

but! i went on an unplanned adventure downtown with my sister today and came back with some fantastic stuff from thrift stores. such as vintage simplicity/mccalls patterns, some various scraps of paper for journals, a gorgeous purple bracelet i'm kind of obsessed with, and some stolen goods from the library. yes, stolen.

see, i've been looking and looking for old due date cards all over etsy and the internet, but i have found none. and i can't get them from our library anymore because we went *gasp* digital last year (meaning that we have computer chips inside our books for checkout instead of cards) and i haven't seen those little cards in a long time. sadly. if only i had been a smart little child and taken every single card out from the books i checked out! but of course i never thought i'd be a scrapper back then.

anyway, we went up to the second floor and poured through all of the books no one ever reads, like the tolstoy/aristotle collections. this worked really well, because there were a lot of forgotten cards with hardly any stamps on them because seriously, who ever looks at those books? (sorry if you're some kind of philosophy lover...) i basically squealed every time i found one, and felt such a rush as i shoved them into my bag.

okay, i can see how that is totally lame. honestly, i need to find a different way to rebel.

i also found random scraps of paper/bookmarks in the books up there, so i pilfered those, too. i didn't take pictures of them because some of them are a little creepish (such as this possessed-looking kitty with a bottle. i know. it's weird.) but it was totally more fun than it should have been. and we totally made the librarian up there really mad. so i guess that means our mission was a success.

and that's not the end to the fun, either, because when i got home, there was a crisis concerning the mail. my youngest sister is at camp right now, and her rare letters are a very celebrated occasion at our house. but today my mom happened to drop one of them under our porch, through one of those teeny tiny slats, and we could not for the life of us get it out.

we eventually had to tape a dust pan to the end of a rake, break a window in our laundry room, cut the screen with a razor, and shove my sister in there with the rake to try and get it out. it was entirely the most amusing sight i have witnessed this entire summer. i'm just thankful my mom got it on video camera.

that book hasn't gotten made yet. and i'm going to wisconsin tomorrow for a few days, so it might be a while till you get to see pictures. sorry!

oh well, i love not doing much in july. and random adventures. and summer. and shopping. and rakes. and purple bracelets. and stealing library cards. and arnold palmers. and paper. and dustpans.

basically, i just love.

ciao!

{one fine wire}

2008-07-07T22:41:00.006-05:00

my head was all in a jumble today. i felt like there were about a gajillion things on my mind (okay, actually not a number, but you catch my drift) all waiting to burst out at once. my head had one little rest when some of my favorite girls came overfor a couple of hours to watch sydney white and the seven dorks (again! oh how i adore that movie!), but as soon as they left it started hammering again (like seriously, hammering. am i the only one who feels like gnomes pound away at my head with little hammers? okay, so maybe i am the only one).

so needless to say, i was absolutely stir crazy the rest of the day...until i was playing double solitare with my sister (which gets pretty heated in this house, let me tell you, because i am the reigning champion and everyone tries very hard to beat me). i actually wasn't doing so good until my mom popped one of my favorite cd's into the stereo system (colbie caillat!!) and one fine wire started to play.

it was like a miracle. it totally summed up how i had been feeling all day, so as soon as i whooped my sister's toosh at our game i dashed to my room, shoved aside the junk from my other projects, and whipped up this baby. i wanted something really simple, really clean cut--to ease my mind and make it easy on my eyes next time my brain was driving me crazy. i totally met that goal--i used no glue (only staples), and only one catalogue! my toast catalogue came while i was in costa rica, and i had been swooning over the pages since friday...so its pages became every single page of my book. except for the cover, which came from my stash of vintage sheet music:

you can see the rest on my flickr.

please excuse the photo quality--it's dark out here and i don't have great lighting in my room. and i know it's not fancy, but it was perfect for what i needed. my mind is totally at ease now. so if you're undergoing some serious brain trauma right now, don't freak. put colbie on your ipod and you'll be fine in no time.

ciao.

{flickr faves}

2008-07-06T22:09:00.004-05:00

well, today was sort of a non-productive day. i had to work today (ga!), so that should explain a lot. who ever knew that scooping ice cream could be so tiring? or boring? oh how i wish i worked at the library.

but that is a different story.

i'm absolutely fine with my current state of unproductiveness, since i'm still recovering from my 28-hour travel day on thursday/friday (i think i'll be using this excuse for a while, since it sounds so shocking coming out of a sixteen year old's mouth. isn't it the kind of thing you'd expect a hotsy-totsy guy in a business suit with a blackberry and bluetooth to say? i like to shake things up). i'm totally at peace right now, so that's all good (obviously).

in the creative department, i've started on one of the projects i plotted out on the plane while gaping at a demonic chihuahua (how do you spell that?!), but it's nothing i want to photograph yet. hopefully in the next few days, but i promise nothing. i'm currently living up to the teenage stereotype of getting nothing done (and i kinda like it).

in the meantime, while you await my fantastic creations (typed with sarcastic fingers), i decided i'd share with you some of my favorites on flickr. i absolutely adore flickr. have i mentioned this before? no? well i do. i could spend hours upon hours drinking in all of the photographs i wish i took. maybe someday i could be that good...

these are my current faves, mainly because of the colors:

you can see who took all of them on my flickr. hopefully drinking in all the lovliness will tide you over till i can show you some of my own creations.

until then, ciao!

{i'm back!}

2008-07-05T15:52:00.004-05:00

and in one piece (barely)! costa rica was the absolute best trip of my entire life. i can't even think of where to begin to write about it (and certainly can't write it all!) so i'll start with some pictures.

these are some of the fantastic kids i got to teach the first week. my spanish skillz came in handy, but the fact that all of the kids are learning english kind of helped (a lot!). costa rica is on a different season schedule than those of us north of the equator (they're in winter right now!), so they had their winter break the second week. the girl in the middle of the last picture cried and cried when i left. she kept saying "kate, you're leaving me? i don't want you to go! don't leave me." it made me cry. i miss all of them so much!
i went to a zoo, and the parrot wasn't in a cage. it was pretty much amazing. when you spoke to it, it said "hola!", so i thought it deserved a space on the post. plus also i really liked the colors ;)

we did construction our second week. we dug ditches (shown here) that took forever, and i had a run in with a cement mixer we "fondly" called gordita (little fat woman, for those of you without spanish skillage). i have many bruises and sore muscles to show for all of this. plus a cement sidewalk and ditches for pipes. hooray!

costa rica was incredibly beautiful, and so were the people. even in the poorest parts of the city, eveyone was so welcoming and kindhearted. i could totally see the work of God everywhere. i felt so close to Him there-man. it was just the most amazing thing ever. i wasn't homesick once (much to my surprise {and my parents' dismay!}) and bawled when we left (our plane was delayed and we had a 28 hour travel day coming home with 4 hours of sleep, so i guess that's what i get!). i want to be a teacher when i grow up, and i can totally see myself teaching english on the missions field there. more on this later, but i just feel so full of spirit right now. best experience of my life.

in the creative department, i sketched project ideas out the whole trip. a couple of things are in the works. actually, many things. expect an influx of pictures coming soon!

i miss costa rica terribly, but it's good to be home.

ciao!

{goodbye, USA}

2008-06-21T15:58:00.005-05:00

no pictures today! hope you can live with all the pain and suffering of a tired girl's ramblings.

so, i leave tomorrow morning (at 3 am) for my big missions trip to costa rica. i was planning on making a cutsy little collage to take a picture of (to say goodbye, and all that, to my nonexistant readers), but i've been packing all day. and i have to go to work soon. it's not going to happen. anyway, after wrestling with suitcases all day long and trying to round all of the neccessities up, i am beat. work is not going to be pretty.

i felt like i should do something for my readers who don't exist, so i decided to post some of my favorite random sites. i take such pleasure from randomness! *insert spontaneous hooray here* hope you enjoy:

1) bembo's zoo: hooray! funny animals made out of letters! clever. clever.
2) sweet gifs: wow. this is totally pointless, but very creative. and colorful. and rather impressive. ooh, i love the guy with the glow in the dark glasses! how many are there, anyway?
3) human clock: bahahahahaha. i just like this utter pointlessness and inspiration. what time is it, anyway?
4) stripe generator: perfect for knitting projects. or just for nothing. but still clever!
5) free rice: great idea. good way to get your vocab up. pile up that rice, will you?
6) internet archive of books: exactly. i love it. this link is to the children's section. somewhere around here you can even see old french fairytales. i love this!!

hopefully that will keep you entertained till i get back.

see you on july 3rd! ciao.

{hodge podge}

2008-06-20T13:56:00.003-05:00

phew. these last few days have gone by in such a blur. so many things to do! and truthfully, i should be packing right now, but seeing as though procrastination is my middle name, i guess i'll blog about what i have been doing and what i should be doing. i should be getting ready for my trip on sunday. i have to leave at three in the morning (a scandal, i think, even for adults--even more so for those of us under twenty who don't function fully until 10ish) to catch our plane. and i have to bring two suitcases. i must admit, normally i love my suitcases (hello, pink!), but right now they are talking to me from my bedroom and i am trying to drown them out. i got them very cheap at tj maxx (hooray! bargain!), and they have seen me through some exciting adventures, to say the least. but i am not a fan of them right now. this is why i took such a hideous picture of them:

in other random news, i made another little card for my quote book. i don't like this one so much, but i have this thing where i won't throw anything i make away. hopefully i can think of something better for the next slot. i'm thinking layers of paint and a paper bag (*evil laugh here*).

also, on thursday, my littlest sister and i went to the library to stock up on reading materials for my trip. there's this gorgeous park next to it that i adore. i have had many...erm...interesting experiences in the fountain in the center (*another evil laugh here*). the reading nook (atleast for me!) was especially appealing that day. i wish i were there right now instead of putting off packing.

okay, this has been a pretty cruddy post. that's what i get for deciding to do anything but pack. i'll leave you with a random self-portrait i took on wednesday. this one makes me laugh. i went totally overboard with the editing, but i don't care!gotta love taking pictures of yourself in your bathroom mirror! ciao.

oh! i lied. one thing more. millions of thanks to this girl who is amazing. hers is probably my favorite blog evah! thanks for everything, kara!

{project prompt} & {getting ready}

2008-06-18T20:54:00.002-05:00

so i have a confession. i've never actually made anything for a prompt before. so that project that i mentioned yesterday (for the art is found) was a totally new experience for me, but yes, it did get done! in one day, no less (this is a rareity, but if it didn't get done today or tomorrow it wasn't going to get done at all). i wasn't expecting to like what i made, but surprises of surprises, i did! i was really drawn to the colors in the boden catalogs i saved (love love love!), so i decided to do a mini on my obsession with color. the hardest part, i think, was the button and ribbon, inspired by a journal i gave my sisses for christmas two years ago from ten thousand villages (which, by the way, is a totally cool company you should fully check out). so here are some of the pictures (the rest are on my flickr):

in other news, i went to target today to get ready for my trip! hooray, everything is finally falling into place. the most hilarious part of the day was how we decided to make my bed (since i am not going to get one there!) so that it could fit into my suitcase-we bought a floaty raft for my mattress and then a cheap throw pillow for couches for my head. at least i color coordinated them! *sigh* this is going to be a memorable trip. ciao.

{feeling artsy}

2008-06-17T11:09:00.006-05:00

i love summer. finally, time to do things. namely, artsy things. *sigh*. i was super excited this morning when my rss feed demanded that i poke over to the art is found (don't rss feeds seem a bit...forceful, sometimes? with that threatening bold typeface?), one of my favorite scrap prompt blogs. this one is about (my favorites!) magazines and catalogs, which are basically all i use ever. i like finding my paper rather than buying it-much more inspiring (and cost effective, mainly. i don't have a whole lot of money to spend on paper if i want to clothe myself). yeah, so i pretty much freaked out and started coming up with ideas. i immediately got out part of my stash and started ripping.

i also have a lot of inspiration bouncing around in my mind, waiting to actually come out as projects, but i'm starting a few things. one of them is a little atc mini using a perfect-sized business card holder from target (woot woot!). it's about quotes. i worked a little on it yesterday. i'll post the end result up, eventually.

i'm also toying with the idea of starting my quilt again (post on this comes later), but that will have to happen after i get back from costa rica (i leave on sunday. yikes, i am so not ready!). i'll leave you with a picture of the random strawberry patch found growing by our fence. ciao!

{hello, i'm kate} & {a creative sunday}

2008-06-15T23:17:00.006-05:00

hi there.

i've wanted a blog for a long time, but the time never seemed right. probably because i am still a teenager, and blogs seem to be for the adults who know what they're doing. i'm not entirely convinced that anyone ever knows exactly what they're doing, so i think i've got a pretty good shot at getting this right.

whatever that means.

anyway, i'm kate. i'm young, lively, creative, and pretty complicated. that's why i like to make things, to get everything out that's pounding away in my head. i draw, paint, scrap, sew, embroider, among other things-you name it, i've tried it. i hope to use this blog to hold me accountable to make things more often. oh, and i like to talk. a lot. most of my posts will probably be me rambling on about nothing. if we were talking, though, i promise i'd entertain you with amusing facial expressions (my specialty). so try to picture that as you read, if possible (basically think of a girl making a fool out of herself).

when i said before that i wanted to make this blog to hold me accountable to create things, i meant it. and it's already working because i was pretty creative today (since our power was out for 7 hours and i didn't have the computer to distract me). i made a mini journal and a blog header for my mom. you can see all of these on my flickr, hopefully in better resolution. but maybe i did it wrong. okay, here's where i show you the pictures and let you rest your eyes. i hope all of you people (meaning basically just my mom since no one else will read this yet) have a lovely rest of the night. all 20 minutes worth. i need to go to bed.

Effervescent Teenage Something

i've moved

{a bit of weekend inspiration}

{invited}

{i want to marry joshua radin}

{today i'm likin'...}

Could it be?

{what? when?!}

{finally! creativity!}

{guerilla art. and my town. good combination.}

{!!!}

{nearly there...}

{oh my, my, my. you've got yourself one tired girl.}

{i wrote you a note}

{and the winner is...}

{i'm feeling random.}

{she...is creating, reading, and giving...}

{i can't get anything done}

{confessions...}

{lately...}

{mamma mia!}

{thinking...about tonight!!}

{how many can you think of?}

{*insert excited shriek here*}

{good day}

{longish post coming your way}

{accidental adventure day!}

{one fine wire}

{flickr faves}

{i'm back!}

{goodbye, USA}

{hodge podge}

{project prompt} & {getting ready}

{feeling artsy}

{hello, i'm kate} & {a creative sunday}

{insert excited shriek here}