instagram

Some of my recent photos from instagram! In case you missed my post last month, I stopped posting on my old account and created a new private one in October. I was being harassed on my old account and wanted a safe, private place to share some of my favorite moments and interact with friends. I've been enjoying instagram so much more now! I'm sad that I lost all of my followers and about 3 years of photos (my favorites of which I'm starting to re-post for throwback thursdays :) but the peace of mind that comes with a private account is wonderful.

Originally my new account was "scathinglybrilliant" (for obvious reasons) but last week I realized that if I logged back into my old account and changed the name it would free up "kategabrielle" again and I could snatch it for my new account! It probably caused some confusion (even *I* feel confused trying to explain it lol) but I just really wanted to be able to use my name again.  SO long story short, my new private account is now kategabrielle. I'm approving most follow requests from public users and if you're a (nice, kind, friendly!) private user who wants to follow just let me know your username in the comments so I know to approve your request :)

ps.  I think I win the award for blog post with the most mentions of the word "account"
pss. I doubt anyone is interested but if the new drawings in my photos caught your eye, they're available as prints in my etsy shop. blah blah blah

stickygram

Last month stickygram sent me some magnets from my instagram photos, and they are pretty incredibly awesome (most of the photos I picked were pictures of my cats, though, so they may have had an unfair advantage in the awesome/cute department.)

I've been trying to do one photo a day on instagram -- not participating in any photo-a-day projects or going with any specific theme, just aiming for at least one picture each day if possible. I think I've only missed one day so far this year, but it was just a crappy day that I didn't really want to document anyway (I think those days should get a free pass with 365 projects, don't you?) Sometimes I just scroll through my photo history in the app and get lost in cute pictures of my cats and happy memories. It's nice to be able to have physical copies of those photos on display now! I have a couple of these on my fridge and a few on my message board near my computer. Right now when I glance up I see Hypatia, Chloe and Hubble peeking out from behind my monitor. I love it!

If you're on instagram too my username is kategabrielle! :)



magnets c/o stickygram

snapshots from a lovely day

Saturday was so lovely, I thought it deserved another post. These are just some of the photos we snapped during our evening by the ocean. I especially love the one with my mom, brother and Grandmom walking Abbey Road style along the shore... they had no idea I was taking pictures but sometimes that makes for the best ones, don't you think? :)







ps. Aren't trees with twinkle lights are one of the best things ever? They make my heart go all a-flutter!

me and my date

Call me crazy, but I think having a date night with yourself can be pretty darn fun. That's what I'm up to tonight! I went to the grocery store earlier and stocked up on my favorite goodies -- natural popcorn (trust me, soo much better than buttered!), mandarin oranges, chips and hummus and, of course, grapefruit juice -- and I'm all ready to get cozy with my cat and a stack of dvds. Does anyone else do this? I even put my makeup on so that when I walk by mirrors I don't think my date is hideously ugly ;-D

ps. I know I don't flip my photo booth pictures.. I look better this way :)

impromptu trip to new york

I'm petrified of elevators, especially ones that go up 80+ floors, so I gave my brother my camera and asked him to snap some photos for me when he got up to the top of the Empire State Building. Isn't the view breathtaking?!


Close up of the purple M&Ms in the huge candy department in the NBC store. My mom's favorite candy :)


The Empire State Building at night. There was a really bizarre sky that night... it seemed as if there were black clouds floating above.


I take one of these every time I go into the city, don't I? Oh well, it's one of my favorite places to go, I think it's so lovely!


Friends section of the NBC store. Love this shirt! My brother wants the "How You Doin?" shirt, and I also saw one with the infamous "pivot" sequence. If I was a t-shirt kinda gal, these would have been coming home with me ;-)


My view from our seat at Olive Garden in Times Square. It was so much fun to look out the window while we were eating!


Scrumptious chocolate mousse for dessert! I don't care if it's not real Italian food, a commercialized chain, blah blah blah... in a family where even Chinese takeout is a rare treat, eating at Olive Garden is a huge privilege and a delicious one at that!

etsy resizing

Making sure your pictures look great on etsy can be tough, since the "list view" has pictures cropped to even squares and the "gallery" view has pictures cropped to wide rectangles. But if you use this photoshop action (or just follow the steps on your own) your pictures are pretty much guaranteed to look great in both shop views.

For treasuries and front page features, etsy always uses the gallery view -- so you want your photos to be cropped to look their best in this setting. I've found that if the sides of your picture are missing a little in the square view, it's hardly noticeable and doesn't take away from the image. But if your top and bottom are cropped out, it's usually VERY noticeable and detracts from the item.

So here's what you do:




1000 x 806 is the exact ratio of a gallery-sized photo, and reducing the size to 600 just makes the upload process go a little quicker. It's also a good size for uploading to your blog or facebook.

I combined these steps into a photoshop action (aka one of the best computer inventions ever!!) so that I just have to hit the play button when I open my photo and POOF! it's magically resized!

If you'd like to download the action, just right click on the file and save it to your computer:

etsyresize.atn

Happy Father's Day!

Day 10 - a photo of me taken over 10 years ago

Day 01 — Your favorite song
Day 02 — Your favorite movie
Day 03 — Your favorite television program
Day 04 — Your favorite book
Day 05 — Your favorite quote
Day 06 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 07 — A photo that makes you happy
Day 08 — A photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 09 — A photo you took
Day 10 — A photo of you taken over ten years ago
Day 11 — A photo of you taken recently
Day 12 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 13 — A fictional book
Day 14 — A non-fictional book
Day 15 — A fanfic
Day 16 — A song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 — An art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)
Day 18 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 19 — A talent of yours
Day 20 — A hobby of yours
Day 21 — A recipe
Day 22 — A website
Day 23 — A YouTube video
Day 24 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 25 — Your day, in great detail
Day 26 — Your week, in great detail
Day 27 — This month, in great detail
Day 28 — This year, in great detail
Day 29 — Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 — Whatever tickles your fancy

Christmastime, 1992
On my way to ballet class.. this wasn't a normal outfit lol

Day 9 - a photo I took

Day 01 — Your favorite song
Day 02 — Your favorite movie
Day 03 — Your favorite television program
Day 04 — Your favorite book
Day 05 — Your favorite quote
Day 06 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 07 — A photo that makes you happy
Day 08 — A photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 09 — A photo you took
Day 10 — A photo of you taken over ten years ago
Day 11 — A photo of you taken recently
Day 12 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 13 — A fictional book
Day 14 — A non-fictional book
Day 15 — A fanfic
Day 16 — A song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 — An art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)
Day 18 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 19 — A talent of yours
Day 20 — A hobby of yours
Day 21 — A recipe
Day 22 — A website
Day 23 — A YouTube video
Day 24 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 25 — Your day, in great detail
Day 26 — Your week, in great detail
Day 27 — This month, in great detail
Day 28 — This year, in great detail
Day 29 — Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 — Whatever tickles your fancy

I love grapefruit juice :)

Day 7 - a photo that makes me happy

Day 01 — Your favorite song
Day 02 — Your favorite movie
Day 03 — Your favorite television program
Day 04 — Your favorite book
Day 05 — Your favorite quote
Day 06 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 07 — A photo that makes you happy
Day 08 — A photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 09 — A photo you took
Day 10 — A photo of you taken over ten years ago
Day 11 — A photo of you taken recently
Day 12 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 13 — A fictional book
Day 14 — A non-fictional book
Day 15 — A fanfic
Day 16 — A song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 — An art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)
Day 18 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 19 — A talent of yours
Day 20 — A hobby of yours
Day 21 — A recipe
Day 22 — A website
Day 23 — A YouTube video
Day 24 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 25 — Your day, in great detail
Day 26 — Your week, in great detail
Day 27 — This month, in great detail
Day 28 — This year, in great detail
Day 29 — Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 — Whatever tickles your fancy


This is my favorite Dirk Bogarde picture.. also my desktop background :) By the way, today he would have been 89 years old. I think this calls for a mini-Dirk marathon tonight!