art equals happy.

a studio in september.

Hey, it's a wednesday and it's close to the New Year, so I thought I'd share with you some photos I took in September which were supposed to be for a Workspace Wednesday, but I never got around to sharing them:This is my home sweet home, where I do 'homework' and hang out with friends and design fun new things for my etsy shop (below is my packing station!).It's been such a dream this year to move from a teeny tiny halls room to a space of my own with TWO rooms! Haha, it's a one bedroom flat and most of the living room is completely full of what I like to call my 'Studio'. I feel so blessed to be able to sit and work with all my beautiful things around me and decorate as I please and play music and cook the food I like and snuggle with my cat. It's one of those things that I am thankful for everyday of my life.So here is to re-decorating, organizing, playing, creating, alone time and most of all, a new, happy year!

just a hello to say...

...that there are a few little updates on my 'Kim does Illustration' blog. [: there's a little stop frame video of my doodle book and some little drawings.
I'll be back here later today with xmas pictures. [: (I got a new lens for my camera!) I hope your christmas was warm and just a little bit lazy! kxo

new clothes!

Winter has been about new clothes for me. More out of necessity rather than anything else. Suddenly I realized I needed new shoes, new jeans, and a new coat as my usual ones were getting too worn down to keep my warm. So, here's what I found. [:The shoes are my fav, because I kind of wanted to get some oxfords (like everyone has) but then I found these, and with the laces up the back and the comfy casual look, I couldn't say no.The coat I found at my favourite vintage store in London, and it's the perfect mix for me because it's got long sleeves, a hood, it's really warm and cozy, brownish and it's got a bit of fur on it. [: I'm not brave enough to have a full vintage fur coat & too many people have those scarf fur things now, I didn't want to anyone to think I was copying them. So. Perfect for me. (And here is an upclose of my hair with little curls in it!) It doesn't look that cold outside in these photos but it was! so so cold. And we got a lot more snow after this, but I love the green peeking through! I wasn't really sure what I was going to get, cause I didn't have a tri-pod either. Wow. look at me yapping away. Here's some more 'outtakes':
I hope that didn't bore you to death, haha. Have a really fantastic Christmas eve!

the first of the exciting things!

If you follow me on twitter, you'll know that I've been really into my knitting lately (more than ever, really!) and that last year I went to a knitting group a couple of times. [: Well... Ladies and Gentlemen let me introduce you to Wednesday Knit- a London knitting club (well, two really. one east, one west) that is dear to my heart! The lady who runs it is Jackie- who is a babe. And the exciting news is that I'm going to be helping out with the blog!We'll be posting projects and inspirations and all things wooly over at it's new home: Wednesday Knit. To get the party started, Jackie and I have introduced ourselves and I'm sure there will be lots of 'what did i knit for christmas' posts coming up!So hop on over if you love knitting. (here's a screen shot of the blog with my intro post!)
It's fun being able to work on something with a friend and fellow blogger. :D kxo

camberwell blog outtakes

I found these funny 'outtakes' while I was going through my files. [: haha, enjoy!I really do feel this happy when I'm working in my studio in my beautiful little flat with my kitty cat and good music. Do you have a space that makes you feel good?

tried something out...

Something new with my hair. I have lots more photos to share, but here is a peek [: (and in the sidebar)! I've been really inspired by silent films and 20's/30's in the past few months, went to an exhibition about ballet back then and also been watching a lot of Buster Keaton films haha. This dress is a new one, well new to me, that I picked up for £3 at a market near my neighborhood. It was literally like a huge pile of clothes that you dig through. But it was amazing, I also got 3 different  Psych dresses which look like they probably belonged to a mama cass type person- so I'll have to take them in, but better too big than too small! I couldn't believe no one had picked them up just for the fabric! anyway, time to have some curry and watch a christmas film with my folks. have a good evening!

more friendly creatures.

These little birds are Blue Tits and we get a lot of them at mum's little feeders. They are tiny and fast and seem to eat a lot. haha. But they are cute because they flit around and hide in the hedge. Then there are the cute squirrels who melt my heart. look at that tail with snow on it! Eeee! So cute. And, that's my Mum, who loves a bit of wildlife. Her favourites are the rabbits, but they've not been around fora while- probably hibernating. Anyway, more squirrel pictures? Ok! This one is pretty casual but there is another smaller squirrel that is super frightened and runs in, grabs food and runs away again. It's pretty cute! I think he's the one that I saw in autumn running back and forth across the front drive with food in his mouth all day. haha.

All in all, it's pretty amazing to see them chowing down when I go into the kitchen to make a cuppa.
:] For any of you who were wondering how I got these shots- I used a telephoto lense that I rarely get out, but works great for catching wildlife. (Heres a photo I took when in South Africa with that lense, back in 2007) I always enjoy shooting with it- but as I said, I don't often get it out.

look who we met.

In my folk's house at the moment, they have really amazing views of the countryside, and there are often little visitors that come to say hello and grab a bite to eat (mum has peanuts, seeds and suet balls out for the birds/squirrels). This little guy is a regular, and a fast mover- but he gave me a few poses. :] He's actually a pretty special little guy (or girl, we don't know!) because when mum & dad got stuck in the snow in the car- he came to check up on them, flying past the window and hanging out- just making sure they were ok. Animals are special. <3
p.s. how cute are his long legs?! 

nov/dec photobooth time.

Christmas time is one of my favourite times of year because i love the warm and cozy feelings and all the jumpers and dresses and wearing my hair big and wavy with bows. [: Here are some shots from my mac photobooth lately.
haha. so silly, but i like it as a kind of document of my hair/clothes. just quick and easy.

p.s. have you noticed the new blog look! this is just a little update until the real one goes up. I've been feeling that my blog has been too busy on the sides and not 'flowing' properly throughout- like mix and matching handdrawn with too many different funky fonts and the colours felt flat and when I looked at it, it didn't feel like 'my vibe'. I wanted it to be simple with accents of colour and pretty drawings/text in the sides to show off some photos and my handywork.

Ideally, I'd like to have a place for 'sections' so you could view blog posts by categories (like, shop talk, photographs, london, my home, workspaces, drawings, sketchbooks, outfits etc). On my camberwell blog- I have some categories set up and some of the more popular ones along the top- with a separate post if you want to see more. Do we like that? should I add something similar here? Also, you'll see in the sidebar a little section called 'Specials' and under there, I'm going to posting some of my products that are on offer- like the Lion Badges, Potter Patterns and hopefully some Quotes.
Any feedback would be great as I'm also planning to have a super simple 'portfolio' site with favourites of my 'work' broken down into Photographs, Drawings, Words, Sketchbooks, Animations, Knitting. Well, that's the plan anyway. Flickr was doing the job great, but it's overwhelming me how many sets I have! Seriously considering simplifying that too.

Anyway, that's a lot of jibber jabber. :D Have some hot coco and curl up next to your favourite person (or animal) and watch a nice film! We've been enjoying a quiet christmas time in the Smith household. Lots of knitting and bird watching and movies. Lots of updates coming your way!
kxo 

blog and shop news.

In order to get myself together and organized and prepare for the new re-vamp that's coming in the new year, I'm going to take it a little easier!
I put my Etsy Shop on vacation mode today (If you want any of the embroidery patterns, please e-mail me and we'll arrange something over paypal).
(these pictures are 'mess ups' on the fisheye, but i kind of like them.)
I've decided a date on which all of the grand revealing will happen (after we finish a big project & essay at college) which will be: Jan 22nd 2011! You'll probably see a little bit of a change here on the blog- just a simplified version until the new one goes up! I'll still be posting every-other day with pictures and thoughts and maybe some sketchbooks and drawings. :]

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who follows my blog and comments and reads it. You really make it all worth while- and I'm so grateful that you've been understanding when I don't feel well and have lagged behind on the blog. I'm really excited about the new year, and the new projects that are forming and coming together- I think you'll be excited too when you hear about them!