Inside Kimmy's Mind

I haven’t updated in awhile and  it’s been driving me crazy.  But I’m changing that now, here I am attempting to update a short post. I have so many things that have happened in the past month and I still haven’t had a chance to update about any of it. But for now, I’m just going to post a little update and some random thoughts I’ve been having. Such as knitting! I created my own jellyfish pattern, I updated about it awhile back and I’ve been improving it. I even gave one to a new friend that I met on campus. I’m thinking of selling them on Etsy. But I’m a bit scared about this whole selling items I create. But I’ll just keep practicing and improving.

Another thing I’m excited about is forming the knitting loop on campus! It might take awhile for it to develop into what I hope it turns out to be, but I know it’s heading in the right direction. I’m alsoexcited to meet new people. I’ve made several new friends already this semester and it’s a wonderful feeling. Especially since it hasn’t always been very easy for me.  But I actually have friends that I can meet up with on campus, do you know how much I wished for that when I first started UH. It’s wonderful to have it now, so in that since I’m glad I’m still in school, even though I met two of my new friends outside of school. We just happened to attend the same college.

I said I would do my best to make this a short update, I need to make time for my blog. I’ve missed it, and I still have tons of drafts that are waiting to be finished and posted. Ok, it’s late, until next time….

I’ve been wanting a lot of things recently. And most of these things are related to crafting in some way, especially since I now work in a craft store. My inspiration meter has been going off the charts. I just want to create all the time, sadly I’m not left with the energy to do so on some days.

After work, I try to head on over to my desk to doodle or knit something, ANYTHING really. And it’s weird, because there are times where I want to create and have the time but I’m not feeling motivated to do so. Now I have the motivation and the inspiration and I just don’t have the energy. My eyes are heavy as I type this entry out. Blogging is another way I can feel creative, because I’m sharing something with others. And recently I’ve been adding doodles to entries so it makes me feel happy when I can post my progress on the whole doodle front. And when you see progress that always makes you work harder, even if it’s small improvements. Like this knitted jellyfish I made. I bought a crochet version that I mentioned here awhile back and I’ve been wanting to recreate it in a knit version. I’ve finally gotten around to doing so and here is the first prototype. It’s pretty raw, but I am proud with how it came out. Need to work on fixing the stitches on the i cord tentacles, and then need to stuff it with a more sturdy stuffing, I didn’t have anything aside from yarn, so that’s what I used. Still pretty good with no pattern. I a basically created my own pattern for it, based on techniques I have learned in the past. Go me!!! I’m really excited about this. Because usually crochet is the skill you need in order to create cute little plushies. I mean, not always…I’ve seen some talented knitters created plushies by changing a pattern into a knitted version. I’ve still got long ways to go, but this project has made me feel really good about my knitting skills, even with all of it’s flaws. It’s nice to pinpoint the areas I need to focus on the next time I knit one. Hopefully, that one will be an improvement.

 Real quic, so NBC has this new show, it’s called A to Z, which doesn’t premiere until October but Hulu has the first episode on it. Watched it right after Sailor Moon, and it’s a bit cheesy, but I love Cristin Milioti. She was the perfect mother in HIMYM and I’m glad to see her in another show. I just hope America can embrace the cheese and give it a chance, because what’s wrong with sappy rom com tv shows? I know they sometimes create unrealistic expectations, but that’s why you escape to fiction in the first place. For something that doesn’t always happen in reality.

Go watch the episode, let me know your opinion on it, I think it could be cute and interesting. That’s all I wanted to say in this post, until next time….

Thanks for reading and commenting.

Today’s doodle illustrates how I feel after every shower, and then I have to flat iron the hell out of my hair in order to tame the wild beast that is my hair.

I was gonna go on a rant about my frizzy hair but now I’m just putting it in for some comic relief, not to downplay the topic I  will be discussing. Plus the doodle looks angry and well I was pretty angry the other day. I apologize in advance, but this is my opinion and of course I would love to hear yours.

So I’ve notice several articles/videos  over the topic of street harassment. It’s definitely not a fun topic to discuss but I feel as though I should address it today. Several videos that I watched are found here, here and here. Now, I can only speak about my personal experience as a woman. And seeing as I am a woman, I can only voice from my side of the situation. I am in no way saying harassment doesn’t happen to men. Now that we got that out of the way lets move on.

… continue reading this entry.

You know what’s annoying? Gnats! These little boogers have moved into my apartment and I can’t seem to get rid of them.

 But any way, so I’ve started working at Paper Source, and I’m really enjoying it and so far all of my co workers have been really nice and helpful. I still hate that I don’t know where everything is but eventually I’ll know how everything works. I’ve gotten used to ringing up customers but doing refunds is still a mystery…I’m hoping I’ll get the hang of it soon. I’m also not sure when I’ll be able to clock in, they still haven’t given me a clock in number…I’m just hoping that they are keeping tracking of the hours I’ve already worked because I’m not working for free. >.<

On to the next topic, so there’s this girl I’ve seen who lives in my apartment complex, the first time I saw her she was by the pool with her camera and a tripod. That usually means two things…

1. She’s a vlogger and was recording a video…
2. She’s a blogger and was taking pictures for an OOTD post…

Ok, there might be some other reasons as to why she had a camera but come on!!! We must be kindred spirits! And I’m making it a goal to befriend her the next time I see her. I probably sound really creepy, but I love finding new blogger friends. After finding Cloudy Chase, we are soooo much alike and it’s wonderful, I hope to find more Houston bloggers. The second time I saw her she had her camera and tripod again and was setting it up on the sidewalk outside our complex, it would have been the perfect time to go up and ask her what she was doing, but all I did was gawk and then walk away. -.- I didn’t know how to approach her or even how to ask her if she was in fact a blogger. And besides, you can’t just ask a blogger for their URL. There’s like this unspoken protocol if you don’t already know each others blogs. But that’s under normal circumstances, bloggers don’t just advertise their  blogs to the public IRL. You wait until the subject of blogging or something similar is brought up and then the switch is made…usually easier when both parties blog. But if only one blogs then that’s a different story. I don’t know about you, but my personal experience with those that do not blog isn’t all that great. They usually look at you and say….”That’s nice.” Or “So, you talk about yourself?” -.- I hate explaining myself when it comes to my blog…and you usually don’t have to explain it when speaking to another blogger/kindred spirit. It’s a nice feeling when people just seem to understand you…not that, that is the only way for people to be friends. I still have friends that aren’t bloggers and I’m in no way implying that my friendship with them isn’t great. I’m probably making this more difficult than it really is. I find it hard to make friends nowadays, they usually don’t last and then I’m left thinking…what happened? Relationships are difficult…romantic and friendship wise. -.- But what’s the worst that could happen? She isn’t a blogger and just says no? Might give me a weird look but I’m used to that. He he….o.O

Alright, I’ve rambled on long enough for this post. I’m off to work, let me know if you’ve experienced something similar in the friend department. That’s all for now.

Thanks for reading and commenting.

I tried my hand at coloring in my drawings in photoshop, pretty time consuming and they are still rough seeing as I have no idea what I’m doing. But I do feel like I progressed during each drawing so that’s encouraging, just have to continue practicing and watching youtube videos for techniques and whatnot.

So here’s doodle #1, still doing the mint hair and meat buns! Eyes are not the same shape, I use my Wacom tablet thing but even with the pen it’s still pretty difficult to outline my sketch. I tried doing this with a different doodle but my lines kept coming out shaky and weird looking. I think this is a lot better than previous attempts and I’m excited to see what future attempts will look like.

Doodle #2 the eyes are the same, because duh, I’m in Photoshop…I can duplicate and flip things. Yay!!! In this one I focused more on the eyes and hair. Didn’t do the copy and flip thing with the actual glasses frame, I was lazy even though it would probably be quicker than trying to outline the second frame again. Why do they both have rosy checks? Well, why not? Ok, I do it because I like the pink and mint color combination and because it makes her look cute… and because I’m inspired by Fran.

Doodle #3- I sort of did 2 and 3 at the same time but finished this one up last. The eyes are a bit too far apart, it sort of makes her look like a bug. >.< But again, it’s a work in progress. I’m sure if I keep practicing I’ll look back at these and think, “what was I thinking?” Heh, just kidding, hopefully I’ll be positive and excited for improving. Of course I’m not very good at repeating drawings. So if I wanted to do a daily doodle of a cartoon me, she would look different every time. These three came out different because I actually intended it that way, but I’m pretty sure if I tried to duplicate either one of these, it wouldn’t happen. Plus, I have no idea how to handle different expressions yet. After I find the face, body will be next followed by scenes. Who knows?

I’ve always wanted a travel size watercolor kit along with an aqua brush and ever since I saw this particular post over on Michelle’s blog, I’ve been on the hunt for supplies. This is part of her blog series that she calls Journal Diaries,  she features a guest artist and their journals in each post. Seaweedkisses has always inspired me, she’s one of my favorite bloggers. And the other day I stumbled upon the greatest little art store.

I was very bad yesterday, I spent so much money….but let’s just ignore that part and focus on the goodies. 😀

Decided to stop by this fabric store in midtown, I’ve gone in a few times but have always walked out empty handed. One reason being, I’m still a novice when it comes to sewing so I get really intimidated when I enter this store. But today I finally bought some pleather, that’s right pleather. And I haven’t tried to make anything with it…yet. But I’m already in the mood to work with real leather. Perhaps a bit too ambitious for me, but we shall see.  Anyway, so I bought a yard of that and some sturdy interfacing.

After hitting that store I made my way to the Houston Press office to pick up my first paycheck, have I mentioned how much better direct deposit is? -.- Well it is. But on my way to the office I noticed this art supply store, I’ve must have walked by this building a million times but have never really noticed what it was. To be honest, I thought it was abandoned and was excited to go and look around. Sitting on the counter was this chick, her head was shaved minus the top part that she pulled into a ponytail and it was this neon green color. She chewed on a pen when she talked to me and asked if I needed help finding anything. I was so overwhelmed with the store that the words aqua brush came out without me even realizing it. She showed me the different ones they had in stock. While I was looking over which one I wanted she asked me if I was looking for anything else, and again my voice just answered on its own. It was as if my brain were on autopilot, answering the neon girl’s questions while I examined the brushes.  She showed me the only travel watercolor kit they had and then returned to her position on the counter. After deciding which brush I wanted, there were multiple sizes and I have decided on buying more later, I looked at the watercolor kit. Luckily, she offered me a 20% student discount. Didn’t actually help too much though but I was still very grateful and I’m in love with the items I purchased. I painted a few pictures using the brush and my normal watercolors. I also have tube watercolor, I’ll pull those out when I’m home and use the pallets for when I’m out and about. Still painting my character with minty green hair, I think it’s a great color and would love to sport it myself…if only my job would let me. >.< I’m thinking of getting some extensions and just dying the ends of those and then use those as a compromise, I’ve never dyed my hair before so I don’t know how it will react to it.  Also, my drawings tend to come out with an awkward smile, almost as awkward as mine in real life. hehe

 Well, I’m off to paint some more, let me know some of the art brands you like to use. Also, if you’ve dyed before, did you notice a huge change in your hair? Until next time…

Thanks for reading and commenting.

Like all hair cuts, I doubted whether or not bangs would look good on me. Questioned it over and over again and then finally I took a chance and went with it. Now here we are five years later and I still have the trendy fringe. However, when you take on this particular hair style then it’s something you have to keep up with. Because hair grows. And seeing as how it can block your vision it cannot be ignored. So occasionally, I daresay…I trim it myself. >.< I know, if there were ever a life tip that you should follow it’s NEVER TRIM YOUR OWN BANGS. Unless you are a professional hairstylist or have some type of knowledge of hair cutting and how to do it correctly. Because let’s face it…I do not possess that skill. Not that all hairstylist possess it either. :/ (This comes to mind)

On to more woes…

I had trouble sleeping the other night, causing me to not get enough sleep. I woke up late for work and very sore, everything hurt this morning. I also had to race to try and catch my bus. But on my way to the bus stop I felt my ankle roll, there was no stopping me from falling. All I could do was fall and hope that it didn’t hurt that much. I scrapped my elbow and knees but more importantly I missed my bus because of that fall. -.- I laid on my back for a second and thought, “The minute I get up I will see bus 10 pass before me.” And sure enough, I got myself up and there went my bus. I of course let out some colorful words and just huffed a bit trying to walk off the additional pain I now felt. I walked in the opposite direction to try and catch a different bus, but as soon as I made it to the corner of the street there went bus 14. Some more color. I proceeded to that stop seeing as how I was already there. I ended up being 45 mins late for work. :/ I had three parties that day so being in a bad mood when having to deal with children is not good. So I made sure to lighten up my mood once I got there, was not going to let my bad morning ruin someone’s birthday party. Each party went great, the kids were adorable and for the most part well behaved so no complaints on that end. But I am exhausted, everything still hurts and I’m also sick of the horrible weather we have been having. It’s too hot! I miss sweater weather so much. I almost melted on my way to work. So gross.

I’m exhausted so I think I should end this entry here. I have a meeting at the museum at 3 today, so I don’t have to wake up too early which is always nice. I’m going to keep on doodling. But I’ve also wanted to try the disposable camera challenge. Have you heard of that going around on the blogosphere? I’m kind of interested in trying that out. Until nest time….

Thanks for reading and commenting.

I have been in a very artsy mood, all because of Frannerd! If you haven’t seen her vlogs or read her blog, then you are definitely missing out. Other illustrators I’ve been admiring are Mary Doodles and Courtney Wirth[it].

Fran’s simplistic style is fresh and just adorable, I wish I was an illustrator, but unfortunately I can’t just draw from my imagination. Mary’s style is like Grimm meats Tim Burton. Very sketchy but I love her use of watercolors. She does this one series where she doodles something without looking and then makes something out of that doodle. It’s amazing, and I wish I could attempt something like that. So I’ve decided to go and buy myself a sketch book, something small so I can take it on the go. I want to challenge myself and just doodle something every now and then. Like Fran, she doodles her daily tasks. I want to get in the habit of doing something like that and then move on to creating something out of a just lines and curves like Mary does. Courtney’s work is just beautiful, my favorite has to be these comic strips.The doodle above is something I made, after being inspired by Fran. In her latest vlog she mentions wanting to dye her hair pink, which I’m sure is the reason why she doodles herself with that hair color. So if I could dye my hair a bizarre color, it would be a minty green color. Very mermaidish. My doodle even has my awkward smile. It happened unintentionally, but hey that happens whenever I try to smile in pictures as well. So yay doodle me, for being somewhat accurate.

Other illustrations that I’ve been swooning over have been from games. Child of Light came out recently and it has a beautiful style that I have been enjoying. Also want to point out Don’t Starve and Bravely Default as well. I just recently purchased Bravely Default, I know, a bit late in the game but I can’t always purchase the new games when they are released. Bills to pay and whatnot. So I usually just admire from a far, or in the case of the 3Ds, play the demo. Which I did, and lucky too because it carried all of my street passes and that comes in handy for when I rebuild my village.  Loving it so far, Kat got Animal Crossing which seems like a less stressful game, and I’m sort of wishing I got that one too. But I can wait and perhaps find it somewhere cheaper/pre-owned. Of course, nintendo points are bonus if you purchase games new. -.- First world problems…I know. But anyway, so I’ve been in a major artsy mood, but have yet to figure out a way to get my art fix. Which is why I’m gonna try the doodle challenge. I don’t know if this will work out, I usually get discouraged when it comes to drawing/painting. And I turned the apartment upside down because I couldn’t find my small paint brushes. They will probably turn up when I’m not looking for them.

So, who are you artistically inspired by? Do share. And if you have any drawing/painting exercises to help improve my “skills” then I definitely want to know. Until next time….

Thanks for reading and commenting.