art equals happy.

A 'Howe' Cake. :: Yummies!

One of my lovely Bristol friends, Sophie,  is in London doing an work placement and it happened to be her big sister's birthday last weekend- so we decided to make a multicoloured cake for her as a wee surprise. I've been wanting to make a sweet crazy cake ever since I saw Dainty Squid's cupcakes. yum! So- we had a go!Mixing the batter was my favourite part, [: I love making pretty colours- whether it's hair dye, paint, tie die, ink, or food colouring!Blobbing it into the pan... and cooked!Sophie iced it all up and added some sweet stars to the top. [: I don't have a cut-piece picture (hopefully someone took one before it got eaten!) but it was super fun to make! Here's some cute pictures of Sophie Howe and her sister and me last year- just for smiles.

Weekend Crochet :: Book Review.

It's New Holland Publishing Book Review time!
The Big Book Of Weekend Crochet
by Hilary Mackin and Sue Whiting 

The Big Book Of Weekend Crochet is full of really timeless pieces, from little boleros to baby jumpers to bedspreads. All of the patterns in here are styled for a contemporary look, but could also be easily made for a more vintage feel- making it a great stockpile of patterns for any budding crocheter. Before we are introduced to making sweaters and tops, the book starts off with great step-by-step instructions for basic stitches, which would help the most beginner to get to grips with this craft. However, as the book progresses, the patterns get more complex, which allows for more experienced crafters to stay excited. As the title suggests, the projects would be great to work on during a weekend, as the book is nice and big, and would go perfectly with a coffee table, a comfy chair and a new ball of wool.

Here's the deal if you'd like to snag a copy of your own from their website... Just enter the discount code: Happy at the checkout to receive 20% discount and free P&P. (Free P&P available to UK residents only!) Offer ends Sep 1st 2011.

Marsha Marsha Marsha!

Casual springtime for me means pigtails and nice cool t-shirts... and watching the Brady Bunch while I have lunch. [: haha. I wore my hair in what I call 'Marsha Brady' pigtails today, instead of my usual braids- with little bows. It's a perfect hairstyle for chilling around my flat, seeing some friends and doing a bit of knitting or lazing in the sun.There's a little silly montage I made, kind of like the credits... I'm ridiculous, you don't have to tell me, haha. [:
The shirt I'm wearing is from RedVelvet and it's super comfy. The yellow wall is in my house, but after I took these, they kind of remind me of the RedVelvet lookbook video... I think it's the shade of yellow, haha. Funny when that happens. Oh well, still cute!

p.s. is it Marsha or Marcia? I never know...

Louie is back!

Today was a beautiful sunny day, and I couldn't wait any longer to tell you all that I passed my CBT (compulsory basic training) this weekend and I'm road-legal again! This is HUGE step for me towards feeling more independent since I fell ill with CFS/M.E. (chronic fatigue syndrome) nearly 3 years ago.

Just being able to get over the hurdle of doing the CBT was huge for me. It's a full day of intensive motorbike skills and on-road-training, something which I would never be able to stick-out completely normally- but I planned it out and did the first half on Saturday, rested on Sunday and did the 2 hour ride to complete it on Monday. The instructors were really nice and understanding and super thorough. I was with three other guys for the first half, and not-going-to-lie, I totally kicked their butts with my awesome skills. haha. :] Nothing quite as empowering as being a girl, on a bike, who knows what she's doing. To be fair, I had a bit more experience, but... it's all good fun.

Being back in that environment, on the road, with my parka, wind (and bugs!) in face, and listening to my scooter's engine when changing gears... it made me happy. Gave me a super big boost of metaphorical energy- a big mood lifter- which made the rest of the day a little easier. [: Nothing like the smell of that blue two-stroke smoke.

behind the scenes knitting designs!

Thought I'd share with you some scans of messy colour work knitting designs. [: I've got a few stacks of graph paper with lots of drawings on them. These were a few of the first. The top two were inspired by Fantastic Mr. Fox and the bottom two by Star Trek. haha. I know, I'm a geek.On the Wednesday Knit Crawl, I was working on some swatches and I got loads of feedback from people- which was totally helpful! This has been the first project that I've been kind of scared to show people- so it was really encouraging to get positive feedback from people other than my parents/tutors. :D I love the process of transferring a drawing into a pattern and then into knitting- all of the step produce such beautiful results, that I can see I'm going to have to showcase all of them, not just the final result. Anyway, I'm rambling now. Hope you're having a good week!
Kimxo

The Louie Story Part II

2008 was a big year for me and Louie. I was doing more work for my classes than ever before, I was the photography technician at school, I had several friendship groups to juggle, I was getting ready to open up my etsy shop, I was in a band, I was in a scooter club, I was art journalling every day and blogging and... who knows what else.
It was great to have the freedom of my Vespa to scoot around to friends houses for parties or band practice. I remember, once I got more comfortable, I could ride into Bristol and get my colour film processed during lunch and grab a subway.
I wore my parka basically everyday and was completely in love with Mod fashions. At school there was a 'bike shed' with an overhang where a couple of little motorbikes/scooters would be parked. I was the only girl. It was pretty funny, but the spiders were no laughing matter. yuck.
I was also just getting into Lomography for reals. I swear I never went anywhere without my LC-A. Such a magical time.When summer came and exams were finishing, it was all about going to Harriet's house for movies and band practice or heather's for chocolate milk. A load of my friends loved Louie too, and I'd give them a secret little ride (just around the parking lot) if they were lucky. haha.Harriet and I (right) used to sing 'Lola' really loudly.
The pictures kind of speak for itself so I'll leave it there for now. Part III coming soon!

Read about Part I here.