Epiphany anyone?

So this week I have had a major breakthrough in my realization of "what I want to be when I grow up." It involves some major focus, some big improvements, organization, new equipment, and pouring my self completely into something instead of being crazy-all-over-the-place like I have been until now.

I am pretty excited about it. 

I just felt like I needed to make an announcement. 

I will share more later when I have actually accomplished some of these improvements. 

Just know, that I AM PUMPED. 

And my family is visiting tomorrow, so I am pumped about that too. I get to see this sweet face. 

 

Be happy...and pumped. 

-Katie

Summertime

So I am not the biggest fan of Summer. I love Spring and things blooming and changing and wearing sandals, but I do not like my dead grass, crunchy brown flowers, and pitiful garden that come with Summer...not to mention my face melting off every time I get in my car. Despite all that I tried to embrace it yesterday and soak up a little sun on these pasty legs of mine. I went out with my book and a snack, and wasn't this photo just screaming to be taken!?

I could not have planned those colors any better...just sayin'. 

Be happy...and embrace the now. 

-Katie

We have shelves, people!

So a few weeks ago I mentioned that I was getting shelves put up in the living room. Well, that project turned out to be a much longer project than anticipated. We got the boards painted, and some of them warped...blah, blah, blah...several days later we had replacement boards, I painted them, and the mr got them up for me before they even had a chance to warp. Finally I was able to go through all the stuff piled in my dining room, and I found a place for almost everything!

This was my poor dining room table: 

This was my blah wall in the living room: 

And this is my fabulously cluttered shelving with all my junk treasures!

That brown suitcase on the bottom left is going to have a graphic image painted on it soon, and I have to figure out what to do with the birdcage area because that is an air vent in the floor. Even though I am not totally satisfied with all of the arrangements I came up with, I am very happy with how the shelves turned out...and I am pretty sure it doesn't look as junky in person as it does in this photo. Yes...I am positive it doesn't.

And I even incorporated all of the mr's books...including Batman and the Pearls Before Swine treasuries.

Be happy! 

-Katie

Happenings lately

It has been a productive day around here. I got really stressed over my camera not working properly so I dove into some projects that weren't even on today's to-do list. I did some cleaning in the basement, put the first coat of paint on my piano bench project, and painted and reupholstered my vanity bench. I continued to be stressed and stress-ate a bunch of chips and dip. Then I called Canon, and the super nice, helpful guy helped me fix the problem...I think. So then I got on the treadmill and kicked my personal best's booty [good thing after all those chips and dip...and the hot dog], tested out my camera some more, and put my bench back together. One large photo order and some important emails later, and I am feeling pretty good about this Saturday...and it isn't over yet!

While testing my camera I thought these shoes deserved a photo. They are awesomeness. They make my jog so much easier...okay that is bologna, but they do make my feet feel better while jogging than any other shoes ever.

This is the kinda ugly piano bench that my mother-in-law came across and gave to me. She knows I love ugly junk...it is like a challenge and very exciting to me. I especially love hate the nice gold strip just below the seat.

It has had one coat of paint, but needs another coat and some detail work. It is also super tall, and I plan to cut the legs off a little bit. 

My other bench project started out like this.

I bought this years ago at Hobby Lobby, and I remember being so proud of it. It went perfectly in my horrendous gold and black bedroom. Truth is I paid way to much for it, it is pretty tacky, and I have just grown so used to it that I didn't even notice until recently how much I hated that "Cafe" cushion. Not to mention I noticed it looked like this! 

But after some remnant upholstery fabric and a coat of dark walnut spray paint it looks like this. 

Tada! Yeah, so it is nothing amazing or anything, but I think it is an improvement. And it was free so I would say it is a success. 

What does the rest of the day look like? 

Dishes. Shower. Movie. Yarn pom poms. Accordion Wheels. Waiting hopefully for a certain email. 

Be happy! 

-Katie

It's been a hot one!

It has been really busy [and sweaty] during the last week. We were busy at the bakery, had a HOT 4th of July softball game, and went to the antique stores at the West Bottoms on Saturday where I came very close to spontaneous combustion. Things cooled down a tiny bit today, and I was very thankful since I had a photo session tonight. Runae's story brought me to tears when she first emailed me, and I was honored to capture these images for her family. 

A few bugs and some itchy grass, but overall a successful shoot...even Miss Averi [cousin] got in on the fun too! How cute is she?!

I am looking forward to some cooler weather and busy fall sessions!

Be happy!

-Katie

hello

I am still going...

Be happy! 

-Katie 

i love prints

I have been doing a lot of sketching ideas for prints lately. I really enjoyed making the "pour your heart out", "i love my glue gun", and "let's spoon" prints, so I have decided to pursue that medium further. I want to "get myself out there", and while I am not exactly sure how to do that [since my etsy thing has been a bust thus far] I am not going to stop creating and doing what I love.

I am thinking this might get blown up and hang over the couch...but who knows...

Be happy! 

-Katie