100% that witch

Hey, long time no see! I promised you guys that in my next outfit post I'd be wearing a dress I designed and I did not mean for it to take two months but HERE IT IS!! 💁🏼‍♀️

I've had quite a lot of setbacks in the life department and, more relevantly, in the "having a room to take outfit photos in" department. The shower upstairs sprung a leak and flooded my studio several weeks ago! My pretty pink rug was ruined, my ceiling is all brown and peeling and falling apart, and I can't use my light because the water was pouring down through the fixture. The sky was literally falling, LOL! As you can tell by the grey wall-to-wall carpet here, my room still isn't back to normal yet. I actually have a replacement pink rug ready to go as soon as the contractors finish working on my studio. But I figured I'd waited long enough to share some of these dresses with you guys, so grey carpet be darned, I'm posting them!

This particular dress was the culmination of years of searching for a Halloween dress that wasn't black, dark, or orange. I wanted something really cute and pastel but also Halloween-y, so I designed it myself! I think this one is going to get a lot of wear in the next couple weeks. I also paired it with a brooch that I made (Veronica Lake from I Married a Witch with "100% that witch" written in her hat. I HAD TO DO IT.) I have my laser cutting machine up and running and I'm having so much fun coming up with new designs for it!

Oh, and I'm back to pink hair! I'm in the process of trying out a new method for dying it so that it won't be like neon pink, something a little more subtle. This was step one and I have step two sitting on my head as I'm typing this! If it all works out I'll write a little post with details about what I did :)

dress - my shop | brooch - my shop
cardigan - amazon | shoes - bait footwear

DIY (ish) lapel pin display case

I keep one of each pin that I design, and originally I had them all displayed on a cork pin board. That was all well and good when I had about 30 designs but now that I'm nearing 200 I realized I needed a better way to store and/or display my collection. Now that I finished this project I think I'm going to do the same thing for my embarrassingly large collection of Disney pins, too!

I found these jewelry cases on Amazon, but really any case meant for displaying rings or brooches should work fine. The fabric in the case has a cork/cardboard like backing that is perfect for securing my pins in place. I just make sure that I attach them in between the rows, not inside of the groove, or else they won't be secure. Each case holds about 60 1" - 1.25" pins, give or take.



Since the pins attach securely into the case, I can choose to display the case upright on my dresser along with my other brooches and jewelry! Or I can stack them up neatly and put them away for safe keeping. I love that the glass lid keeps them dust-free but also lets me see my whole collection at a glance.

I hope this little DIY tip gives you some ideas for how to store your own lapel pin collections! And if you're like "wow, I love this idea, but I need to build a pin collection first" (wink wink) they're buy-3-get-1-free in my shop right here.

don't you forget about me

Just a little reminder that my shop is a great place to find holiday gifts for your friends and family (or you know, treat yo' self!) You'll be supporting an independent artist, and getting a totally unique gift. Plus I promise my packaging is way more fun than Amazon's ;)

I'm offering 30% off all orders with code MISTLETOE. The sale ends tomorrow 11/26 at midnight, and you can shop right here.

posh frock black friday!

Happy official start of Christmas season, everyone! There are a lot of sales going on today but just two that I want to mention here --

First of all, there's my own sale in my shop! I have lapel pins, Christmas cards and ornaments, art prints, patches, buttons, pocket mirrors, all kinds of stuff! It's all designed by me (and packed by me!) and it's all 30% off with code MISTLETOE. This is actually the biggest discount I've ever offered in my shop for Black Friday because I am really itching to pay off some medical bills, so I'm hoping 30% will be tempting enough to make that happen! ;D You can shop my sale right here.

And secondly, MODCLOTH! In my year of near-impoverishment I've very much cut back on spending, and I've been SO looking forward to having a little Christmas money from my parents and grandmom to treat myself! Modcloth is offering 30% off $100+ orders and (wait for it) 40% -- yes FORTY PERCENT -- off $200+ orders. Including sale items!! If you're a Modcloth fangirl like I am you know how rare that kind of discount is! You can shop their sale right here.

I have my eye on these socks, this sweater, this cardigan, and this dress. Also, the dress I'm wearing is from Modcloth and if I didn't already own it you better believe it would be on my wishlist! ;)

dress - c/o modcloth | shoes - aldo

DIY Christmas tree enamel pin display

I thought it would be fun to make a little enamel pin display using a small (2') Christmas tree! It started off as an idea for an instagram photo, but then I thought I'd do a DIY in case anyone else wanted to make an enamel pin tree display, too. It's such a cute way to show off your collection this time of year! And enamel pins are the PERFECT size for small trees. I got my white one on amazon here.



All you need for each ornament is one enamel pin and one ornament hook. THIS IS SO EASY.



Loosen the backing a little bit, loop the end of the hook around the pin back, pinch the wire closed and then push the backing on tightly to secure the hook. This definitely works better with pins that have rubber backs since you can press them tightly to keep the hook in place. I actually keep extra rubber backs on hand in case pins come with clutch backs, since I like the rubber ones better. I got mine on amazon (50 for like $5) here.



And that's it! Then just hang your ornaments and admire your tree :D If you make a pin tree display and post a photo on IG please tag me (@kategabrielle) I'd love to see it!

Also (shameless plug alert) all of the pins on my tree are from my shop, here.

clever girl

Are you sick of me counting down the days until my trip yet? Because I am leaving TWO WEEKS FROM TODAY. WHAT.

I'm supposed to be getting my information packet in the mail either today or early next week, which will give me a better idea of my itinerary and the logistics of the small stressful things like getting from the airport to the hotel. I have my luggage sitting out in my room now, kind of like a semi-exciting-semi-daunting visual reminder that I need to start figuring out what to pack. I bought a power adapter. Things are happening.

Also, totally unrelated to my trip (except I guess for the fact that if you buy one you'll help me to eat food and not starve myself while I'm in Europe) my clever girl lapel pins are new and improved, and back in stock! I have a limited number available for my first run -- if you're interested you can snatch one up right here. And don't forget I have a blog reader discount code! You guys can always take 10% off any order with code "Brilliant" :)

dress - asos (similar) | shoes - vintage | blouse - asos

lapel pin - my shop (10% off with code BRILLIANT)

cutie pi

Guess who is designing her own dresses now!?! THIS GIRL!

As of today it's official - dresses are available in my shop, right here. I decided to start out with a design that I've wanted in my closet for years, but could never find anywhere else: a pi dress! So this features an all-over pi print designed by yours truly. And I'm clearly over-the-moon excited about it :D If you're interested, you can read a lot more about the dresses, production, size charts, etc. right here.

Now, I know that very few people share my obsession with pi, so this dress isn't probably going to go over very well, but I'm totally okay with that. I wanted my first dress to be something me-ish, something that I couldn't find anywhere else, something unique. I'll be adding more designs soon, so if this particular one doesn't float your boat just keep an eye out, because I'll be doing outfit posts each time I design a new dress. (Side-note, though, if you *are* interested in having this dress for Pi Day, order soon because they are made to order!)

Also, unrelated to the dress, I think I figured out my hair conundrum. If I let my hair air dry and keep my natural waves, I'm actually kind of okay with this haircut. It was looking particularly unruly the other day and my mom said I looked like Debbie Harry, which was pretty much all I needed to hear to finally accept (and maybe love) this hairdo, haha.

dress - designed by me! in my store here! yay!

shoes - bait footwear | shirt - h&m I think? | belt - asos
purple rug - amazon

bon voyage!

When you're reading this I'll be completely surrounded by ocean without a single spot of land in sight!! I'm away on my very first cruise (and the TCM Cruise, no less!) So exciting! I'll try to stop back and share snippets from my vacation, but if I can't then I'll definitely share more when I get back.

In the meantime, I left my shop open during my trip and I'm doing my absolute favorite store promotion while I'm away! If you make a purchase using the coupon code "SHIPAHOY" any time between now and November 7th you will receive 15% off. If you are a US resident & you make your purchase using this code before November 5th I'll also send you a hand-written postcard while I'm on vacation! I'm so happy with how this postcard design came out (pictured above.) If you're interested in taking me up on the sale offer, you can shop right here.

creative blog hop!

I was recently tagged by Mary from Inside My Hideaway and Laura from I Love Crafty for two separate creativity-themed blog hops and decided to combine them into one post. I love both of their shops so much, so I'm really honored that they tagged me! I'm actually going through a little blue spurt with regards to my art and shops so maybe this will cheer me up a bit!

1. What have been the doings/makings/scribblings at your desk this week?

Last week I was in Disney World so I didn't get too much making done! But before I left I was knee-deep in projects. I just finished a custom flip book for a customer, something I don't normally do but I was too excited about working on it to say no! I took a lot of progress video so I'll probably be sharing that on my art blog this week.

I also just finished 20 new fan club designs last night. I included a few where I'm pretty sure I'm the only one on the planet who will want them, but I guess that's the benefit of being someone who makes things - sometimes you're allowed to just make things for yourself! :)

I'm also trying desperately to get my 2015 calendars done in a timely manner this year. All of my previous designs are available with 2015 dates in my store but I like to release a brand new set of illustrations every year as well. I'm also working on a sweet and lovely one that I'm really excited about, too! There just aren't enough hours in the day, haha!



2. Where are you currently finding your inspiration? (Influences, heroes, sources of inspiration, paths exploring)?

Right now I'm working on a project inspired by the suffragette movement, and one inspired by Busby Berkeley movies (the first drawing in that series is right here.) I'm basically always inspired by classic movies in some form or another --



And then there are some artists and people who inspire me but I've never found a way to channel that inspiration into my own creations. I am and will always be in awe of Mary Blair's work -- she designed the It's a Small World attraction at Disney World, did the concept art for numerous Disney films, illustrated timeless children's books and more. Her style is so classic and modern at the same time, and her work never ceases to make me happy.

3. How does your writing/creating process work?

When I get an idea one of two things happen - either I need to work on it IMMEDIATELY and then within a few hours I have the makings of a new shop/product/drawing, or I write it down as a future project and don't get around to it for months or years. My fan club shop came to fruition within hours after the idea struck me in the shower. In one night I already had the shop name, the basic design for the pins and ideas for my first 20-30 fan clubs.

My 90's time machine was one of the long-time-in-the-making ideas. It was shuffled around between numerous to-do-lists over the last year before I finally buckled down and designed the kit in February. It was another few months before I finally got around to even listing it in my shop!  It's funny because it's one of my favorite products and, I think, one of my most fun & creative ideas, but it just didn't have the same sense of urgency that some of my other ideas have.



4. Why do I write/create what I do?

This is going to sound so corny, but I feel like I have to. When I get an idea, it's almost like the same feeling as when you really have to pee in the middle of the night. You might want to just lay in bed and keep sleeping, but your body is like, "NOPE! We're getting out of bed and working on this bladder issue RIGHT NOW." It's an urge, something I literally cannot ignore.

When an idea shows up in my brain, I just feel compelled to bring that idea to life. It's part of who I am, and I don't think that will ever change. Ideally I don't want to be working as a freelance artist/shop owner for my whole life, but I can't imagine a life in which I'm not constantly creating things and testing out my ideas. Even if there comes a time when I no longer share everything that I make with the internet or try to make a living off of my creations, I still want to create -- I'll still need to create.



I know so many super talented ladies that it's really hard to choose who to pick for the blog hop next, but I'm going to go with Bianca from Goodnight Little Spoon and Polly from Paulie Antiques. They're both so creative and brilliant, I'd love to see what they have up their sleeve at the moment! :)

Postcards from the happiest place on earth

I'm in Disney World! yay! My shops are staying open while I'm away so I thought it would be fun to do a little Disney-themed promotion! If you use the coupon code "DISNEY15" you will receive 15% off* and a hand-written postcard from The Magic Kingdom! The orders have to be placed before August 8th at 12:01am est in order for me to mail the postcards before I come home.

This offer applies on all orders of $10 or more in all of my shops:

Flapper Doodle
Sweet and Lovely
Puns Intended
Your Fan Club

The 15% off applies to all orders worldwide, but unfortunately the postcard offer is only good for US orders. If you're out of the country I promise I'll throw in a little something extra into your package to make up for it though ;) Obviously all orders will be shipping when I get back, so please keep the delay in mind if you place an order.

Well, I'm off to enjoy the happiest place on earth! ttfn! :)

*Does not apply to bridesmaid card orders or clearance items.

a girl can never have too many etsy shops

I've been working on a new project that I am super thrilled about and I hope so badly I'm not alone in my enthusiasm, haha!

About a month ago I had a train of thought that probably started with "I'm hungry" and somehow led to "there really needs to be a garlic* fan club," which led to "there should be fan clubs for all KINDS of awesome things" which led to me starting a new etsy shop, of course.

It's called Your Fan Club - and the premise is that there is a fan club for everyone. I brainstormed and came up with about 40 fan clubs to start with, but I'm planning on adding more on a weekly basis. From the very obscure (Bradford Dillman Fan Club, a nod to Millie) to the kind of obscure (Joan Blondell Fan Club) to the cult favorites (Bill Murray and Ira Glass Fan Clubs) to the pop culture heroes (Dwight Schrute and Ron Swanson Fan Clubs) to the science rock stars (Carl Sagan and Nikola Tesla Fan Clubs.) There's food, people, animals (well, animal. just dinosaurs at the moment) and even causes like feminism and kindness.

The fan club pins are all 1" and laser-cut from black and white acrylic and feature my drawings in the center of each pin (except for the heart on the kindness pin, that was clipart courtesy of photoshop.) I'm really excited about the classic movie pins -- I've been wanting to re-purpose some of my old drawings and paintings and this was the perfect way to do it! You better believe I'm keeping a Robert Montgomery fan club pin for myself ;)

*And* I also have custom listings in case your fan club isn't listed. Want a pin for the Basil Ice Cream Fan Club? How about the Rubber Ducky Fan Club? Literally anything is possible. Technically they don't even have to say fan club! If you want to order a custom pin with different text that's totally fine!

*AND* the pins are kind of super cheap. They're only $6 each or 4 for $20. I also have a listing for 12 pins for $48, which is perfect for ordering the most awesome party favors or stocking stuffers EVER.

Ok, that's about it! If you want to check out the shop, it's Your Fan Club and you can pop over and visit right here. yay!



*I'm not kidding, this train of thought also involved me wrangling my family into attending the Garlic Festival in The Poconos in August.

UPDATE 12/2017 -- This etsy shop is now closed but you can still find most of my fan club buttons in my shop here.

It's the most wonderful time of the year

As you might know, Pi Day is one of my favorite holidays (March 14 = 3.14 = pi!) and this year is the best Pi Day EVER because Mental Floss actually commissioned me (me?!) to do two paintings to be sold exclusively in their store. Ahh! The first one is called "Life of Pi," which shows little Mr. Pi in various stages of life -- infancy, teenager, graduation, love & marriage, kids, and old age. But as we all know, Pi never dies.. it just goes on forever ;) This design is available in the Mental Floss store on t-shirts and as an 18" x 24" poster!



Mental Floss also commissioned this painting, Pizza Pi!! This one is my favorite :) Also look what they wrote for the description.. I'm blushing!

"When the moon hits the sky like a big pizza pi and you happen to know an incredibly talented artist who specializes in punny prints - well, that's amore! Kate Gabrielle, whom we met when we began selling her wonderful Puns Intended prints agreed to paint this pizza pi in the sky design exclusively for Floss."

This painting is available on tote bags in the Mental Floss shop here. Working with Mental Floss has been one of the best things to happen in my whole life. I've been reading the magazine for years and I'm SUCH a huge fan. It's all just super exciting.



And finally, my Cutie Pi brooches are back just in time for Pi Day! I only have a limited amount ready to ship in time for Pi Day so if you're interested, snatch it up quickly ;) I'll have more in stock after the holiday if you're just interested in wearing it for normal everyday math/pun appreciation.

It's available in my sweet & lovely shop here. (psst! 10% off with code BRILLIANT)

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? ;)

tick tock tick tock

I just noticed that society6 is offering wall clocks now! Some of my designs were automatically generated into clocks (they use the same images from tote bags & pillows to produce the clocks) and it was so fun scrolling through my shop to see how they look! These six are my favorite (I can't BELIEVE how well the bottom left one was cropped! It was an accident that it turned out that precise, isn't that cool?) I might maybe possibly get the top middle one for my apartment. I always feel weird putting my own stuff up but I just love how it looks!

The neat thing, too, is you can pick black, white or natural for the frame and black or white for the hands. These are my own preferences but it's fun playing around to see how they look with different colors.

try a little kindness #4

This week's free printable is a photograph that I took (with my trusty new camera! yay!) with a wonderful quote by Amelia Barr. The dimensions of this one also make it suitable as a desktop background, too, for most monitors. You can download it for free here (just right-click and save) and it's also available on society6 here.



A group of high school students went around late at night and put happy, encouraging messages on every locker in their building. I think this is such a beautiful idea, especially in high school when a lot of kids start off each day feeling blue (at least I know I did.) The students got the idea from tumblr after another group had done the same thing. It would be so cool if this idea spread and more and more school kids were greeted one morning with a sunny note pinned to their locker.



1- Have a bit of a knitting addiction? Knit some hats and scarves and donate them to local shelters.
2- Think of someone that you've lost touch with and send them a sweet note, asking how they're doing.
3-Clean out your cabinets and donate any non-perishables that you aren't going to use
4- I've been noticing Girl Scout's selling cookies outside the grocery store lately -- feed two birds with one bagel by supporting young girls and getting yummy cookies at the same time!
5- When you're at the store and someone has a lot less in their cart than you do, let them go ahead of you.

One of the easiest ways to show kindness is with patience -- letting other people go ahead of you in lines, when you're driving, etc. I tend to do this whenever possible with one major exception-- if I desperately have to go to the bathroom, kindness takes a backseat to getting home immediately, lol!