Hello... is anyone there?

Wow. I guess it took awhile to return!  Is anyone still checking in?

Since my last update, I...

• had a baby
• received a promotion at work
• started a doctorate program
• found out Jaffery has thyroid cancer
• made a bundle of projects

and SO much more. 

I'm thinking about writing now and then. No promises, but please, let me know if you are still around! Would love to hear from you.

Lost in a Sea of Paper

I have been lost in the above, which if you remember, should look more like this beautifully organized art studio. It is sad. Yet, I did finish enough items for a craft fair, posted a bunch on Etsy, and have been helping Alan with his website (as it is "McRib Season").

I have also been prepping for Thanksgiving. Well, in prepping I mean thinking about what I need to buy and what parts of the house still need cleaned ;) I have found myself with a lovely cold/sinus infection. I could feel it coming on last week, however the last couple days have been brutal. I have made several broth soups and tonight Alan took me for Pho. This helped tremendously and I'm hoping does the trick.

I have a bunch of fun holiday posts in mind. I'm excited to start on those soon. What upcoming holiday crafts, scrapbooks, or projects will you be working on?

Late Halloween Post

This year, Halloween brought us our very own Darth Vader Dog and Yoda Dog. 

 We love dressing Dakota and Jaffery up for their Halloween walk. The adults might think we are nuts, however neighborhood kids love it.

Weekend Flair: Halloween

Do you decorate for Halloween? I typically mush Halloween into the "fall" category and let nature take care of it.

However, this year I decided to be a little extra creative. First, I bought 2 rolls of white streamers from Target and a little clean packing tape and started wrapping my front door.

 I wrapped for what seemed like hours (likely a few minutes), and found myself only 1/2 way down the door and out of streamer paper. I made a run to another Target picked up a couple more and thankfully was able to finish the job.

I traced a couple large white circles using mixing bowls and a couple small black circles using soup bowls to make the eyes, and there appeared a mummy front door! 

Last year after Halloween, I of course made my way through the clearance. I found these wonderful  window decorations for a couple dollars. 

If you happen to already own orange plastic table cloth and black paper, you might be able to make your own!

I still have a giant spider and bat with glow in the dark web to put out before the big night, however I  must say I'm pretty happy with what I have gotten put out. A huge step up from nothing. :)



How did you decorate for Halloween?

Project Life: October 8-14 2012

Supplies

InLinkz.com

Expect an amazing return

Hello loyal blog followers.

I had planned to take a couple days away from my blog to finish up my Etsy store, rest, and clean my messy house. Here we are, nearly 2 months later. My Etsy store is open, however I still haven't rested up and to be honest, my house to rarely clean.

Life is never boring. I'm still working on pushing forward in certain areas of my life. My 2012 word is "do", and while I wish I had a longer list of done I am making measurable progress by remembering to simply "do".  My art studio (aka: crafting space) is a big pile of mess. I have to admit some beautiful things come out of the space, but holy moly it is a disaster area!

I have been fairly active on twitter and Instagram, now and then on facebook, and like I could really walk away from Pinterest :) I did a fun guest post at Mom It Forward. However, even with all of this, I really want to pick up on the blog again. I love sharing my little projects area the house, crafty experiments, crazy work happenings and random photos of Dakota and Jaffery.

My plan is to return, full force, on October 15. Yes folks. I will be back.

True Story

This morning I was typing at my computer and someone rushed by my office. Nothing odd this time of year, until I heard his sneakers come to a screeching halt. Brisk footsteps could be heard moving back my direction. I look up to see a man, presumably a student, standing in front of me.

Assuming he was one of the seemingly hundreds of students looking for the hidden computer lab, I begin to open my mouth to say "C3026 is." but before I could even peep, he says with a mix of question and astonishment, "You are the youngest looking teacher here!".

"Thank you" (what else does one say?). I reply. "I get that a lot". Though I'm thinking, no one else has literally ran back to my office to tell me.

He goes on, "I could say you are 25, but that would be too old".

Oh. To be 25 again...

Happy Fall Semester.

Weekend Flair: Wall of Plates

I randomly would see ideas for Plate Walls on Pinterest, and loved the simplicity, patterns, and COLORS!  I  began collecting plates from thrift store adventures and after several months, decided to give it a try!

Honestly, I didn't measure. I'm terrible at measuring. I organized the plates on the table below, and then starting with the one in the middle, started attaching them to the wall with simple plate holders.

It took about an hour, however I really love the results. I love that I can switch it up, really anytime I find a plate I like more.

Super easy weekend project!



What creative project will you be doing this weekend?

Pushing Forward

Always eager to help, support, encourage, and love others, I somehow have found myself in a funny spot...  I am not always doing these things for myself.

Yeah - I finally said it.


Of course I want to continue doing these things for others, however I must also remember to take care of myself. 

Not too long ago, I wrote this little piece on motivation. I find it is still holding true; a little push is often all one needs to take that step, big or small. So here it is. I'll be writing a few short posts in the coming weeks to support my journey. I hope, in the process you find it does the same for you and we can help, support, encourage and love one another.

Some topics I hope to explore are

• exercise
• family, friends and loved ones
• healthy eating
• water
• life purpose
• organization
• books
• travel
• art
• dreams and vision
• color 
• blogging and online purpose

 I'm sure ideas will pop up as I am writing, however I'm always open to ideas! Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment below. I would love to hear what areas you feel are important to explore as one is diving into this type of journey.

Wordless Wednesday

King of the Jungle scrapbook page

I have been taking a ton of Instagram photos, and of course, what better subjects than Dakota and Jaffery! This page layout was inspired by trying to figure out how to use these particular Instagrams. I have to say, I even surprised myself on this one.

For the banner, I cut a stip of paper the entire length of a 12x12 sheet, then trimmed off into rectangles. I then just hand cut the triangle from the bottom. They are not perfect, but who is looking that close? 

 I wanted the banner to pop, so duplicated the effort, making a pop up banner with 3D glue dots and stringing twine through eyelets.

 Yeah, I cut out the palm tree, twice, to make it pop! :)

What creative things have you been working on?


Supplies: DCWV Stacks: Blossoms & Butterflies Stack, Green Stack, Animal Crackers Stack and pop up embellishment stickers and green Thickers

Wordless Wednesday - so much happening in this photo

A little push

As I sit here trying to pull myself together because my dishes are unwashed, my Etsy store is empty, the laundry is piled high, and my dogs have left traces of fur all over the house, I find myself curious how my students get by day to day. While I have no idea the condition of their dishes, laundry, or furniture, I do know they are full time students working 20+ hours a week, often using the money they earn for rent and to care for family members. Loans are usually taken out to pay for school and if there is anything left over, they eat (this is why I keep a stash of juice boxes, granola bars and the fruit of the season in my office).

How can they be so damn motivated while life is spinning circles around them? Sure, some of them trip up, get behind, fail a class - yet with a little push, they are able to keep moving forward.

Huh. There it is. "...with a little push...". 

By day, I work at a community college as an "Advisor" to a group of at risk students. Some call it "intrusive advising" however it has also been known as: advisor, counselor, mentor, butt kicker, and part time mom. I meet with my students every week during the school year, and keep in touch over the summer. I make sure they are in class, turning in their homework, and wisely spending their financial aid money. Whether they like it or not, I challenge them, encourage them, check up on them, push them.

"...with a little push..." they are staying on track. Their lives are absolutely crazy, however somehow, they make it.

It is possible all we really need is someone who is always there? Someone making sure we are staying on track?

It is possible, "...with a little push..." we can all reach our goals and dreams?


Note: While this blog has had a heavy focus on crafting and photography, I wanted to try a little something different to mix it up! Thanks for hanging in there with me! I want to "keep it real", however find it hard to balance what to share about my work and personal life beyond art. I would love to hear your thoughts and how you balance what you share! ~KK

Crop Ahoy! 2012 Scrapbook Weekend!

If you were following my Twitter feed last weekend, you may have been a bit overwhelmed by crazy scrapbooking and crafting all weekend, at all hours of the day. :)

For the last several years, in June, there is a "crop" near my hometown in South Dakota. My mom and sister live nearby, so it is a fun weekend to hang out with them, take a couple friends for an eight hour road trip, and make at least a bit of progress on my projects!


This is my car before my two travel mates arrived!


Fortunately, they know I'm a heavy packer. We did manage to get everything in the car!  PS: see the tiny bag on the back seat? Yeah, that is my clothes for the weekend... everything else is for my art filled weekend.

My table before unpacking too much.

I did get a few things done!

Around 100 people attend, from Friday 9am-Sunday noon. This year's scrapbooking theme was "Crop Ahoy!" - so of course, there was a costume contest!

Have you ever attended a weekend crop (or other art/craft) weekend of fun?