one year

I miss you.  ♥

my mobile office!

Last week I took my mobile office on the road and finally managed to snap some pictures of it in action! I'm very lucky to be currently making my living selling my artwork online. It's the reason I'm able to take trips -- and it's also the reason I need a mobile office. I can't afford to put my business on hold while I'm on vacation, so I simply bring it with me!



My little workspace is fully functional -- I have all of the supplies that I need to make, pack and ship all of my products. I have a mobile printer so I can print art prints and shipping labels at my hotel or a rest stop and then I put it all together in the trunk.

The main components are two white organizational cubes from Michaels, which house my envelopes, note cards, business cards and stamps. I added polka dots and spray painted the handles green because, well, I just can't leave anything alone. The floral board sitting on top of them is used to cover the front of the shelves while we're driving (held in place by a bungee cord!)

The heart garland is simply for decoration and only goes up when I'm parked and working.. just to make me feel more at home (at work?)



On my first test run I realized it was pretty easy to make a mess of the carpet in the trunk and not so easy to clean it up on the go. So I cut out foam board to fit in my trunk and then covered it with faux wood laminate flooring. It's SO easy to clean and it has the added benefit of actually looking more like a desk ;)

A lot of my ideas end up falling totally flat, but this one worked and I'm so glad it did! I mean, the only thing better than laying on the beach is working on the beach.. right? ;)

let it go

I had planned on blogging while I was on vacation but my hotel's wifi didn't work, so a little unexpected hiatus ensued, whoops!

I was so excited about disneybounding as Elsa from Frozen during my trip but my outfit didn't work out entirely the way I had planned. The aqua colored dress I had originally planned on wearing didn't really fit properly, so I changed to a white dress (that reminds me of snow) and blue tights instead. I spray-painted my shoes silver and covered them in glitter, but when I unpacked them at the hotel most of the glitter had fallen off :( My super sparkly vintage 50's cardigan looked so pretty on the hanger but on me I just kind of felt like an 80 year old who should be hanging out by the slot machines at a casino. The only thing in my outfit that I was really 100% happy with was the ears. I attached glittery white snowflakes to my silver sequined mickey ears and they came out exactly the way I wanted. Perfect Frozen ears!!

I felt so "blah" about my outfit when I was wearing it but looking back it's not too bad. I still wish it could have been perfect but I guess I need to just let it go ;)

dress- modcloth | cardigan - vintage | bag - asos | shoes - asos

chloe + mr. hubble!

Yesterday was 11 years since Chloe joined the family! I don't have words to express how much she means to me. I love my human family members to pieces but (shhh! don't tell them..) Chloe is the main reason I come back to hang out at home almost every single day ;) She's such a happy camper now that she's the only cat in the house. It makes me happy to see her so happy! She was abused before we adopted her so she's never been very comfortable with being picked up or smothered in kisses but oh how I wish I could just cuddle her for days and days. She's such a lovable, adorable fluffball! I'm so lucky that she sauntered into our life one chilly Valentine's Day 11 years ago.











Yesterday was also Mr. Hubble's anniversary! He joined the kitty brood exactly two years ago. He is SUCH a character. He's ornery as heck -- if I come home to find chewed up toilet paper strewn about, I know instantly who the culprit was. But he's so ridiculously sweet and affectionate I end up forgiving him in a heartbeat. Can you blame me? Look at this face! He cuddles with me when I go to sleep, and when I wake up I usually find that Arrietty joined him sometime overnight. It's so cute my heart almost explodes from the adorableness each morning!







Happy Anniversary, kitties!!

be mine

I wish this picture had come out better! It's been so ridiculously overcast and everything is coming out fuzzy and grainy. I just had to post an outfit today though (bad pictures or no) because THIS BAG. It's just so perfect for Valentine's Day!! Kailey is wearing it in her outfit today too! :)

I'm still feeling a little blue, but better. Me and Kyle are taking a little road trip to Florida next week and I know for a fact that Disney World never fails to cheer me up ;) I'm going to bring work with me in my mobile office (I built an office in my car trunk when I went on my road trip last summer) so hopefully I can finally snap some photos of it this time. I'm so happy with how it came out, I'm actually looking forward to using it again.

ps. Modcloth is having a sale today -- 14% off everything with code "CUPID" They don't have coupon codes very often so if you've been eyeing something now's a good time to snatch it up :)

dress - modcloth | shoes - modcloth | cardigan - forever 21 | bag - aldo

2013 revisited

Like I mentioned last month, I keep a good things jar each year. Whenever something good happens, I jot it down on a piece of paper and put it in a jar. On New Year's Eve, I open the jar and read about all the delightful things that happened in my life that year. Its one of my favorite traditions!

Of course once the year is over you're left with a big pile of slips of paper -- what do you do with them? I like to put mine in a scrapbook along with photos that correspond with my 'good things.'



This year I decided to use Project Life supplies to make the task a little easier, and I loved it! I got a tiny scrapbook and used 6" x 8" page protectors. I bought two different packs -- one is broken up into one 4" x 6" photo and two 3" x 4" photos, and the others are a collage of four 3" x 4" photos. This way all I had to do was order 4" x 6" prints at my local photo processing center and I was good to go!



Horizontal 4" x 6" pictures can be cut in half and then placed in two separate 3" x 4" pockets -- I love how they look when they're placed next to each other, like the photo in the top left (my mom thought I meticulously cropped the pictures in photoshop and I almost wanted to let her believe that I put that much work into it, lol!)

Big events from last year -- like adopting Arrietty, my road trip, and the Office wrap party -- got full page spreads (The Office actually got two, one devoted entirely to Steve Carell lol) and then smaller events just got one pocket each.



After I was finished I still had a little bundle of slips left over that didn't have accompanying photos (like etsy sales milestones) so I taped my extra papers to some purple scrapbooking paper and put them at the end of my book.

I actually love how this album came out so much that I'm going to re-do my 2012 album to match (my mom suggested I combine them into a 2012-2013 volume since I have more than enough room in this binder) I've heard a lot of bloggers recommend Project Life for people who are short on time and I was skeptical but honestly this took me like one hour, tops. So I'm convinced :) And now I have a pretty collection of all the wonderful things that happened to me in 2013!

ps. Your eyes aren't playing tricks on you, I took the top photo in my old bedroom! Me and the cats have been staying over at home this week while we're getting pummeled with horrible winter storms.

it's not easy being green and yellow

Thank you for the sweet comments yesterday.. my mood is significantly brighter today :) I think a lot of it is the weather, it's just so dreary and disgusting here anymore. Even when it snows the prettiness only lasts for a few hours before cars and plows turn the sparkling white into greysih brown slush that hangs around on the curbs and sideways for weeks on end. I'm going to California in April so I'm basically living off of the idea that in 2 months time I'll be surrounded by palm trees lol

My brother got me a gift card to forever 21 for Christmas and I finally traded it in last week for this pretty green pinafore. Of course forever 21 thinks its a dress that doesn't need a shirt underneath (exhibit A) but since this isn't the red carpet and I'm not flat-chested I say -- pinafore ;)

dress - forever 21 | blouse - forever 21 | shoes - asos | tights - target

let the rain pitter patter

I really have absolutely nothing to say today. I'm in a mopey mood so the only thoughts on my mind are ones I don't really feel like typing. Let's just leave it at this -- the picture of me and Hubble below is one of my all-time favorites, ever ever ever.

cardigan- c/o oasap | tights - asos | skirt - forever 21 | shirt - old navy

shoes - c/o bait footwear | hat - gift from casey | wig - minty mix

twirl around the world

A couple weeks ago I made this video for Modcloth's twirling promotion which just went live on their blog yesterday. Originally the theme was "twirl around the world" so I decided to become a tourist in my own living room, surrounded by animated versions of famous world landmarks. It looks like they changed the theme since then so my idea is kind of out of context now, but I'm still so happy with how it came out!

I know asking people to watch videos on blogs is like asking you to do 100 cartwheels while simultaneously braiding your own hair (at least it seems that way to me.. people don't like videos unless they specifically typed in youtube.com in their browser) but please, please give it a watch! It's only 32 seconds.

I am just so proud of it. It took me forever to figure out how to get the animation technique the way I was envisioning it in my head. In the end I ended up editing 500 individual frames in photoshop before I even knew if it was *possible* to layer my animation over my video. I can't tell you how relieved I was when it actually worked, lol! And now I have the animation itch again (actually, I always do!)

dress- c/o modcloth | sweater - forever 21 | hat - h&m | brooch- vintage

suitcase - vintage | sunglasses - forever 21 | shoes - c/o oasap

February giveaway: scalloped edge purse [closed]

This year I'm doing one giveaway every month (in addition to my blog anniversary & birthday giveaways) There's one catch -- to enter, you have to perform a random act of kindness today. It's on the honor system, obviously, I can't actually make sure that everyone does it, but I trust that you will. If you're stumped on what to do, the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation has a list of ideas right here!



What you'll win: One person will win this scalloped edge light pink purse

How to enter: simply leave a comment letting me know that you performed or are planning to perform a random act of kindness today (you can choose to share what you did or not, it's up to you!) and some way to contact you (email, twitter, blog, whatever floats your boat!) You must be a follower to enter (and, please, none of this follow-and-leave as soon as the giveaway is over jazz.. that's super rude!) This giveaway is open to everyone on planet earth.

For additional entries: (leave a separate comment for each entry)

1. Tweet this "I just entered to win a pretty scalloped bag on @kategabrielle's blog! http://www.scathingly-brilliant.blogspot.com" (Only counts if you use this exact tweet. Entries from twitter accounts used solely to enter giveaways will not be counted.)
2. Tweet about your RAK and inspire others to do the same!
3. Pin the giveaway on pinterest

4. Follow me on facebook
5. Follow me on bloglovin
6. Make a donation in any amount to your favorite charity

Giveaway ends on March 1st at 12:01AM EST. Giveaway has ended.

Winner: