art equals happy.

A letter for a friend. :: My Life & Mail.

Meredith did a little post about us being penpals. :] Love it.  (My letter & postcard to her on the left) I love sitting down with quill and ink and penning a letter to a dear friend. Especially if I don't see them very often. In the case of my online pals- it's a fun way to get to know them a bit better, and feel connected in the 'real world'.
(Photo by One Sheepish Girl.)

Ever had a penpal?
Kimxo 

Enjoying the little things.

When your health forces you to slow down, but your brain is still going 1000 miles an hour- it can be hard to really appreciate what you've got in front of you. It's a lot easier to get frustrated with all the things you can't do. As I was looking through my photos from Feb, I found a lot of things to remember to cherrish. Here are a few of them: Wool collections and working in bed. Being able to wear pigtails. Tiedying at home. Learning new skills. Snail mail. Friendly cat nuzzles. Sweet smelling candles. Painting my fingernails. Quilts to snuggle under while I watch movies.Hope you remember to take things as they come. kxo

p.s. The entertainment for tonight, while I'm knitting, is either catchup on Grey's or a Judy Garland film... [: Pretty sweet options.

collecting.

Collecting. Gathering. Rearranging. Organizing. Arranging. Ordering. Documenting. Archived. Making. Liking.

Take a peek at what came in the post today. [: Wool is my favourite craft/art supply to play with and rearrange.  

My Sketchbook 2011

Hello everyone! So- I uploaded my entire Sketchbook Project to flickr today (and also my Camberwell Blog). You'll want to have a look at flickr for the whole story! I thought I would show you some of my favourites, although, it's kind of hard because there are a lot! I had mum holding the book while I took the photos and playing with my new lense! It does amazing things. Anyway, here are some of my favs: For a lot of these pages, I had done the drawings while out and about and then when I sat down this week to fill it up, I added the colours and the collages and it came together really nicely as a fluid book, but still jumping from one thought to another. The theme was on '...you'd be home by now.' which I thought was really relevant to some personal things that happened in 2010. it's kind of an exploration of living by myself and learning to love being alone and dealing with the loneliness when it comes along. But I'll never see this pretty little book again because it's off to America now! Kind of refreshing, actually- to put all those thoughts down and send them off. [:Which are your favourite pages? [:
kimxo

p.s. hee hee! one of my friends from college, Alice Tye has done this too! Look at this funny picture she drew of me! pretty sure she drew this from a photo we took in Budapest. I love it when friends draw me.<3

There is one sketchbook somewhere between here and brooklyn.

I mailed my 'The Sketchbook Project' sketchbook off today! It's kind of nerve wracking knowing that it's somewhere between here and brooklyn and I'll never see it again unless I go to the Brooklyn Art Library in America. But.... That does mean that all of you USA lovelies out there have a chance to go and see some of my art work up close and in person! For a full list of where The Sketchbook Project 2011 is touring, check out their website! And you can also get involved in one of the Art House Co-op's cool projects. [: Here's my profile in case you're doing it too and want to connect.
I'll be sharing more of my book a bit later on, when I've edited all the photos of it I took this morning. Just a peek! [:

candy!

So, it's about two weeks until I'm 20. Yikes. I still feel like a little kid at halloween though. [: Being born on this day of witches and spooks and pranks and plastic spiders in ice cubes, I kind of associate american candy with having a fun time. Since moving to England, I've had amazing birthdays, but there is nothing like the taste of Hershey's candy and Tootsie rolls and 'how many licks to the center...' and getting Reese's from the rich houses. So, I asked some friends on Twitter if they wanted to help me out, and several of them agreed to do a candy swap! Which is great, because now, not only can I get my american munch on- but I also get to give some happy too!! 

I received my first package this week, and had to share! (Going to share some of the packages I sent out too!)Isn't Patty the cutest- check out those creepy spiders and lovely birthday card!Negative got a little excited when she saw all the colours and heard the crinkle of the wrappings. haha.I love having some sweets around my flat for nibbles, decoration and when guests come over.EEK! I'm excited (as if you couldn't tell!) for this season. Lots of hard work and I'll probably be exhausted for 80% of the time, but I'm happy so it's ok. :] Plus, who can't love having PopRocks for the first time? LOVE kimxo

A busy time, a simple journal.

I shared some of this with Viv's Journal class a few months ago- but the time has come to give you the full tour...So, when I moved to London (Sep 2009) I wanted to be able to keep a record of my days, without having to spend a lot of time on each page. I didn't know what this was going to end up looking like until the situations I was in forced me to be quick and easy about it.A lot of the pages are just little reminders about things that I did/bought/saw. It was a time for exploring, learning, trying to make a long-distance relationship work, coping with a new environment  and being on my own.I made this book out of lined paper and just stuck things in when I needed to. I found I didn't carry this with me at all, but stuck things in when I got home and wrote notes in it, while I was working & listening to music. It gave me a space to be messy & I honestly didn't think I was going to show it to anyone- but it ended up being part of my portfolio! I love it when mistakes and messes turn out good.Each of these 'random' things that I've stuck in all have memories. I really like how they probably mean nothing to anyone, but me & the people involved. It adds a bit of mystery. 
Thanks for letting me share this! (I'm still showing things about my relationship with Jon, because I don't regret a second of it and I think it's all part of the healing process- plus I think they're beautiful, I hope you don't find it awkward or anything.)
 
Maybe this will inspire you to be a bit more 'loose' with your journalling sometimes, especially during busy periods of your life.


 I have some really exciting things that I'm working on todayyyy!!!!
See you tomorrow for Workspace Wednesday no 3!!!

***P.S!!! I totally forgot to mention that you can win a full set of my paper over here!!! go go go!
 
  

the giveaway!!!

YAY! It's here!My favourite thing right now is scraps of paper and handpainted paper. [: (also, randomly, like pink a little bit.) For this giveaway- you'll get everything pictured! 

 To enter; Please comment on this post with you name, and tell me what you'd like to see more of from me (photographs, drawings, journals etc). You can also get bonus entries if you tweet about this giveaway (@killerxkim) or blog it- just let me know.

Here's a little more detail into what you're getting. [: These are screen printed onto handpainted/recycled papers. 1 A4 print of my 'feel like shit' diagram and 1 A5 piece of woodgrain paper, printed on a painted old planner. [: Also, a bunch of scraps of other handpainted paper. some are watercolour, ink, coffee, or acrylic.And some other odds and ends, like felt cutouts, a 'wages envelope' and some telephone message slips, not to mention that cute BEA plane card. [:
 
I think I'll post the winner next weekend, so you've got a fair amount of time to spread the word. haha. Don't worry- I'll keep blogging untill then. I have some really fun things lined up.love, kimxo