Inside Kimmy's Mind

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.

I finally cracked and bought Animal Crossing New Leaf. After Kat bought it I totally made plans of getting it myself, it’s unbelievably adorable and I couldn’t resist.

The weirdos also have it and when I went to visit Jobro’s town I stopped by his museum and to my surprise his T-Rex matches one at work. We call him Y Rex and he’s a bobbed tail dino. I found it hilarious how they matched, also isn’t my character cute? Nina gave me the buns and minty hair color, seeing as how I can’t have it in real life I can live vicariously through game and art doodles.

This is definitely a game I’d suggest if you own a DS. It’s the kind that never ends, so you can put it down and pick it back up without worrying about starting over. Plus, customizing things is always fun, so if you’re a fan of that option then that’s another reason to get it. You should totally save up and buy yourself a DS if you don’t already own one. If you don’t consider yourself a gamer then again, this game is perfect for you and you will have tons of fun. Unless you’re the type that gets bored easily or hates games with no actual ending or point then this isn’t for you. -.- I get excited over simple things so easily, but I don’t care I find it fun. Here’s Kat’s character and mine watching tv in her house. Since I just got mine, my house is still small but reservations are in the making. The siblings and I always start off conversations with, “I got stung by bees…”Or “I missed an appointment…” So now as a rule we have to start by saying, “In Animal Crossing…” So we know we are talking game not real life. XD I’m late to the game but oh well. Ok, enough playing…off to bed I go.

Lastly, I gave my first dino tour on Saturday, and the next two dino parties I will run on my own. I will have a trainer shadow me, but I will be in charge. >.< I am so freaking nervous. My first impromptu tour was not too terrible but I did not know how to time myself and went too fast. It should be 45 mins long. :/ I think I made it to 20 but that’s because my trainer kept reminding me to slow down. I know I will just need to practice, but I wish I could already be a the point where I know what to do. Here’s to practicing and improving

Kat and I went to Half Price Books last week where I found this comic illustrated by Matthew Forsythe. I had several books in my hands that I had planned on buying, but after I found this one I put the others down. I’ve been looking to illustrators a lot lately, they are again very inspiring and I really wish I could express myself creatively through illustrating.

Doesn’t mean I won’t attempt it. >.< I’ve been doodling a lot for fun, but I find myself getting frustrated when a picture doesn’t come out as well as I had hoped. The photo is from the comic mentioned above, how adorable is the art style? The artist is a one of the head illustrators that works on Adventure Time. Here’s the synopsis according to the cover of the book:

After eating everything in sight, Voguchi is sent to the market where a chance encounter introduces her to Jinchalo-a mischievous shape shifter. He sets our hungry heroine on a strange adventure into the sky, leaving her home far behind.

A little girl who eats everything?! Totally made for me. Speaking of which, my place is definitely in need of some groceries. -.- I keep putting it off, I’ve been eating cream cheese on graham crackers for dinner. Hopefully on my trip to the Kroger’s I don’t have to deal with a shape shifter. 😛 The ending sort of confuses me, so if you’ve seen it, I’d love to hear your interpretation of the ending. There are no actual words so the entire book is made up of pictures and your interpretation.  Moving on to Anya’s Ghost. Vera Brosgol is wonderful, she worked on Coraline and Paranorman, I can definitely see similar art styles there.  This and her comic, “What were you raised by, wolves?” is a bit darker. Anya’s Ghost is about a Russian immigrant who is trying to fit in her American high school, she’s bullied a bit and tends to see life in a negative way. And one day, on her way home from school she falls down a hole where she isn’t alone. Frannerd recommended this novel in her vlog a couple weeks ago, and it seemed interesting so I had to go and pick myself up a copy. I’m glad I did. I’m really loving this limited color pallet, along with watercolor. I want to start buying more Copic Sketch markers, they give off a watercolor effect. But they’re pretty pricy so it might take a while for me to get a decent collection. Plus I want to be able to use them correctly and I don’t think I know how to at this point. Also, I’ve been loving these illustrated notebooks from Scout Books. This post totally turned into things I’m currently loving.

I haven’t been keeping up with my disposable camera challenge, but the month isn’t over yet so I will make sure to try and get some nice pictures. I’m excited not knowing how they’re gonna turn out. Thinking back, that’s what I loved about it when I used them on class field trips back in the day. XD Of course, we would always wait years until we got them developed. I don’t intend to wait that long with this one. Let me know if you’re attempting the challenge.  That’s all for now, until next time…

Thanks for reading and commenting.

I’ve always loved blog entries where the blogger shares the contents of their bag. I don’t know why, I guess I find the photos interesting so I figured I’d try my hand at posting my own.

On a normal day out, I’ve been using my olive green satchel that I bought from Forever21 a couple months ago. It’s on the smaller side so I can’t carry as much as I usually do. This bag causes me to condense the items I choose to bring with me so I enjoy that. Sometimes I add or remove a few things from the list, but this is what I carried in my bag the last time I went out.

1. Pocket Juice: This is my favorite new thing, as long as I remember to charge it after using it. It gives me enough battery power to last the day after I use my cell to take tons of pictures and navigate me on my travels. It’s a nice thing to have and a good size, I’ve seen smaller but this one is rechargeable by outlet not double AA batteries. I absolutely love it.

2. Keys: These don’t really need an explanation, apartment, mailbox, bike lock. That’s it.

3. Mini wallet: This is what I carry when I use my smaller bag. It has my Q card, debit, license, campus id and some loose change. It’s actually falling apart so I’ll be needing a new one soon. But it’s a nice size.

4. Ipod: I love having my ipod around, it’s an older one so it only holds 1000 songs but it saves me from having to use up my cell battery listening to music.

5. 3DS: I love my Ds, and after buying Bravely Default I have been carrying it around more often but I don’t always carry it with me all the time. Especially when the weather is poop.

6. Altoids: I love mints compared to gum, and I love Altoids, but these are pretty chalky so it does get in my bag…I miss the sour ones but those were more like candy than actual mints. I’ll probably switch back to Tic-Tacs…got to have some type of mints.

7. Nivea bliss chapstick: a kiss of shimmer, I love how soft these leave my lips feeling. But I also have a fruity one that tastes yummy but sort of defeats the purpose of chapstick. So it’s nice to have this on hand, I have very thin lips so lipstick looks odd on me and lip gloss is messy. -.-

8. Star Wars Moleskine: When I use a bigger bag I carry my Star Wars planner but with this bag I like to carry this smaller notebook. It’s the perfect size and having something to write notes or ideas in is important.

9. Cell: HTC DNA. Like everyone else, my cell phone is something I carry with me everywhere. It’s my GPS, and contact with the rest of the world. Makes meeting up with people a lot easier. Of course I remember a time before cell phones were a necessity.

So that’s pretty much all I carry in this particular bag, like I said it changes when I change the bag I use. Now I’m off to make some dinner and finish washing some clothes. I start my first event on Thursday for Houston Press. I’m hopping it goes well, I’m a bit nervous about it. Wish me luck and 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.

This past weekend was Pop Shop, which is this amazing craft event that lasts two days and happens twice a year. They have smaller events known as Mini Pops that I’ve mention in the past but this was even more amazing and being apart of it was absolutely wonderful.

My sisters and I were asked to host a craft table, we share an art blog known as Mind-Speaks where we each post creative projects that we are working on. We wrote a guest post over at the Pop Shop blog. And of course Mija updated about it over at M-S and on her personal blog as well.

It was a blast, I was afraid people wouldn’t be interested in it but luckily there was a great turn out. There were a couple of people who were very enthusiastic about it too. They came back to make more or they brought along friends with them. It was a nice feeling to inspire someone creatively. I hope we managed to do that if not more. The little kids were adorable, the ones that were old enough to stamp the corks down themselves were still young enough to find it magical. But who am I kidding, even the teens and adults thought it was magical. Their excitement after stamping a background pattern was just priceless. There were a few people who just weren’t interested and that’s fine, but some of those who weren’t interested ended up returning after seeing tons of people with the cork necklaces. Even vendors started looking for us.

Jellyfish by Nothing but a Pigeon//etsy//blog

Mug by The Barking Bunny//etsy//site

On to the goodies! I bought this adorable jellyfish to ease the pain of losing a great stewardess bag that only cost 12 bucks!!! >.< I waited and of course someone else bought it. But Mr. Jelly totally made me happy. How cute is he? The artist was unbelievably friendly. Being a knitter myself I always find crocheters fascinating. One day I hope I can learn how to crochet. Correction….one day I WILL learn how to crochet. Moving on, this adorable mug was given to me by my friend Ginger. I was debating whether or not to buy one after she had purchased a set of mugs from The Barking Bunny. But before I went off to buy it, she handed me her bag and said they were for Kat and me. How wonderful is she?! I absolutely adore her.
There were so many things I wanted to buy this weekend, but things tend to be more pricey at craft fairs. For understandable reasons.

Along with the craft fair, Sunday just so happened to be Star Wars day. I didn’t get a chance to go to the Star Wars art fair that was happening a couple blocks from Pop Shop. But I stayed up all night making this skirt. It was completely rushed and had so many flaws, but I love it nonetheless. It did its job and served me well. I’ve learned that I should always have trimming, no matter what. I need to buy that stuff in bulk. You never know when you might need something trimmed with pretty ruffles or pleats. Any who, it’s filled with tons of mistakes if you examine it closely, so don’t do that. I need to buy more Star Wars fabric so I can better prepare for next year. I ran out of fabric so I had to use some left over galaxy fabric I had. But it came out alright for doing it in one night, rushed and messy but I was glad I made something to wear. Did some buns too, Leia buns look more like cinnamon rolls but doing the whole sock bun makes them all round and perfect, so I went with that approach. I was hoping we would make it to the Star Wars art fair, but the line was too long and we were all tired from being at the studio two days in a row. So we went out to eat instead and just relaxed and talked. It was a wonderful weekend, we had so much fun and we hope to continue doing these fun art fairs.

I think I should end this entry now. But before I go, a few small things that I’ll talk more about on my next post. Went to an interview for Houston Press on Wednesday. Got the job, and this Thursday was my last day at the deli!!! Also…I’ve passed two of my grades so far with an A and a B!!!! I made a B in Biology!!!! Crazy, I was afraid I wasn’t even going to get a C but I managed to get a B!!! Damn, I’m so happy. This means I won’t have to retake it for my science credit. Yay!!! I’m such in a good mood. Ok, more next time…until then.

Thanks for reading and commenting.