For the Love of Arrows

I really love mugs. Our apartment kitchen is blessed with three glass cupboards suitable for mug and tea pot display and trust me, they're put to good use! Even though I keep telling myself to stop collecting them, I just keep finding new tea cups that I feel are necessary to own and will somehow enrich my life at some level. Luckily I am also quite the avid tea drinker and since I set up a mug rotation schedule to match my tea consumption each one of those lovely cups gets used! Hooray! It's okay to own 20 or 30 different mugs if you use them all right? Well I think it's time the collection increased by another one thanks to this charming hand drawn arrow mug from Mollie at Wild Olive (link):
 

(source)

Ah! How adorable! I love how she turned a plain old mug into something extra special with some simple arrow doodles! I may need to be copying this in the near future...what do you think?

http://wildolive.blogspot.ca/2012/07/my-new-mug-also-more-love-of-arrows.html

Hoops!

Look at these beauties from Lilac Saloon!

How Kate like!

Good thing she is coming back tomorrow...Right Kate?

You're coming back?

Mug Wall!

As many of you may know, I like to collect things. From jewelry to salt and pepper shakers I've got a wide range of items - and one collection I've been working on for quite some time is mugs! Perhaps years of working at Starbucks is to blame, but mugs are just so neat! And with all the tea I drink, they get put to good use too! Hooray! I'm sure you can imagine how I felt when Lindsay showed me this wall of mugs:


Ah! Isn't it perfect? I love how they double as an interesting focal point and how cool they look all hung together like that! Wouldn't that be fun? I would be a little concerned with how dusty they'd get (after all, I'm just one girl so I wouldn't go through using them all that often) - but a little extra cleaning is small price to pay for that awesome of a collection on display! What do you think? Do you have any interestingly placed collections?

So I found Xavier from a random site yesterday while I was looking at these beauties!

Are you sitting here thinking "Salt and pepper shakers....what gives?"

Well, Kate loves salt and pepper shakers. Actually LOVES them so much she has multiple shelves full. When I was visiting last we debated the merits and shaking abilities of each set prior to choosing one.

And if you were at all doubting Kate's salt and pepper geekery I can promise you that she is going bonkers over these shakers!

Robots! Collections! And wind up toys for the triple win! These are from my favourite online store, Suck. (Don't worry it isn't questionable, just shopping goodness.)

Do you have any collections?

Stamp-tastic

Now that the postal strike is over (yay) I am finally receiving mail again (double yay!). Before the strike happened I had ordered a whole bunch of stuff off the internet and I am so thrilled that it is finally trickling in! Sure I am aware that when I order handmade goodies from across the globe they aren't going to arrive instantly, but when I ordered a skirt from Hong Kong in the beginning of May I didn't expect it to take until July to arrive. Mind you, the weather hasn't been very summery and cooperative this season so maybe it is a good thing it took its time because I am finally able to wear it! Hooray!

Another awesome part of online buying (besides the comfort of at home pj browsing) is that once your mail arrives (also an amazing feeling) you sometimes get the unique pleasure of seeing what cool stamps other countries use! Check out these rad bird ones from my skirt package:


Aren't they neat? I mean check out that owl! Oh my! It is like five little pieces of art happily attached to the corner of the envelope! Doesn't it make you wish you collected stamps? I have a collection going back in about 1992 but it has lost momentum since then. Luckily my wonderful mom is still an avid stamp collector so I will have to pass these avian beauties onto her!

I think animals are my favourite stamp subject matter and I'm really loving the stamps Canada Post is currently selling for US, oversize, and international packages:


Aww. Aren't those cute little foxes, ducklings, and baby polar bears just darling? They are certainly a step up from the boring olympics logo ones I still have a million of for within Canada letters. Note to self (and you if you are a Canadian stamp buyer): do not buy a roll of 100 stamps. Sure they seem like a good deal at the time but then you are stuck with them for 100 letters. Trust me, you'll get bored of them before the roll is empty and will be wishing you splurged the few cents to have a little more variety.

So what do you think? What are your favourite stamp themes? Do you collect them? Don't you just love neat stamps on mail? Heck - while we're at it does anyone out there want a new penpal? My pen pals are all failing me at the moment (except for Edwin. He's doing a great job) and I'm always up for some new letter writing friends! Let me know! I'll get my pen ready...

Monogramed Mug Tutorial

Even though I originally saw this project well before xmas, my hopes to attempt it never actually happened (surprise surprise) but thought it would be fun to share anyways - just in case you are looking for a nice late winter present giving you may run into. Take a look at these wonderful upcycled monogramed mugs from man made diy:


Fun! And oh so easy - all you need to do is pick up some plain mugs (they got theirs from the thrift store), a porcelain pen, and a little creativity! Then you just draw up your initial on the mug, bake, and give! They even added a cute hot cocoa mix inside of each mug for an extra special touch. I'd really like to turn this idea into a more complex project by swapping some sort of design up for the monogram and have my own custom tea cup! I then realized that I really don't need any more mugs...or tea pots for that matter...just look at my cupboards:


In fact I even have an extra shelf in my cups and plates cupboard for the overflow mug collection:


Eep! So many mugs! I do use them all though (by rotating through the collection during my daily pot of tea) so it isn't that impractical of a collection right? I'll tell myself that anyways. Maybe I can make some limited edition scientific culture illustrated mugs for an upcoming craft show instead. That way I still get to dip my hands in this fun custom upcycled mug project without having to figure out what I'd do with all the finished pieces. Genius! What do you think? What wide set eye smile kate drawing would you like to drink out of?

Collected: Necklace

When I decided to do this set of collections blog posts I figured it might be interesting to share my obsessions with random things (pinback buttons, bracelets, music, etc). I didn't realize how insane it might make me seem. Especially when it comes to today's topic - necklaces. Seriously - who has such an intense investment in accessories? Answer = me. So I think I'll start off my display with a few necklaces I was given:


Oh that and I really liked how that picture turned out. I didn't realize how difficult capturing my entire collection would be, so I paired down the selection to "just chained necklaces" for simplicities sake. My bolder necklaces are all neatly organized in neat little clear baggies on the shelf by my mirror and don't get the pleasure of being displayed on a jewelery stand (or stands for that matter). Take a peek at my plethora of shiny wonders:


Lovely! Let's take one closer look for any detail lovers:


Most of these pieces are from one of three places - etsy, salmon arm, or shopping with leslie. Actually come to think of it, my sister could very well have a bigger collection than me! What do you think les? Do I need to do more shopping?

Collected: Clutch

The next round of my collections posts involves an item that is relatively new to my wardrobe - the clutch! Nothing like women and handbags to feed into a stereotype. My clutch collecting started only about two years ago when I made the red/pink polka dot pleated bag (followed by the light blue one) for some event that I was wearing a dress to. I quickly realized how amazingly handy the clutch bag is and how it adds a little pop to an outfit without being worn down with crap loads of stuff I tend to carry around in my purse. Perfect for the special (or not too special) event and a great item to purchase on etsy! Take a look at my current collection:


How lovely! This group actually just experienced an increase in size after I purchased a noteworthy four new bags on my vancouver trip last week. Yowza! I'm hoping they will all be nice additions to my "wants to wear skirts and dresses" more often summer. Now we just need that rain to go away and get some hot skirt worthy weather! Hurrah!

Collected: Bracelets

The next installation on my collections segment showcases my fear of an unadorned wrist! Nothing like a bracelet to add a little personality to an outfit! I seem to purchase these a little more infrequently but they certainly have been a worth while investment. Heck - some of those cuffs are going on 6 years old. That must work out to about 20 cents a wear! Wow! What a deal! Take a look:


Even a few etsy purchased ones in there (i.e. ponder and stitch and holly hawk). Actually, after closer inspection I now realize that a good 50% of them have been purchased with lindsay, followed by at least 30% leslie. Not too shabby girls! Looks like you're both more influential to my pocket book than previously thought! Here's to investment jewelry! Any thoughts?

Collected: Music

Let the collections continue with a peek into my world of music! Until recently I wasn't much of a cd connoisseur, actually I'm still not really. Why you may wonder? Because there is nowhere to get awesome (not main stream) cds in kamloops! Seriously....nowhere! The one sort of cool shop closed down a while ago (jim told me that is because I didn't buy enough albums from them) and there is no way I'll find anything worth while at wal-mart of future shop. Ick. So itunes, concerts, and lindsay's "trevor the great kelowna connection" seem to be where it's at. That being said, I have racked up my fair share of music from shows (even a few signed ones). Take a look at the stack I've compiled since the birth of this blog:


Lovely! But truly mp3 format is the way to go in my books, so let's depart from the physical and look at the digital:


Ooo! A precious limited time sneaky look at my desktop! And my itunes! Perhaps some zooming in is in order:


That's right. 8102 songs. So even if you were scoffing at the tiny pile of plastic at the beginning of this post, don't worry. I think 20.7 days of music is enough to consider it a collection (although I'm sure many of you out there would top that number). And even if I am one to listen to a song on repeat for a few days (obsessive much? perhaps...), I do appreciate having such a great vast musical selection to go to when the mood strikes. Although after seeing that zoomed in rufus wainwright number who needs that much music when you have him? (oh and cbcr3...) *sigh*

Collected: Rings

Stage two in my collections posts - the wonderful world of jewelry! In particular? Rings! Wonderful rings! What better way to add a little interest, colour, or shine to an outfit than with the subtle (or bold) statement of a ring. This collection isn't quite as old as my pinback button one, but I do have a few pieces I've been holding on for a few years at least. When I went to take a picture of my assortment I quickly realized that the hello kitty Chinese take out tin I keep them in isn't the best for showcasing...but even if you can't really differentiate they do look pretty:


Yup. Looks like a silver mass. So I decided to set them out on the ring holder fraser made for my fabric rings at my craft show. Much better. Take a look:


I love how each one holds little memories of when I got it, or where from, or what I did one day while wearing one! Such fun! And apparently I really like silver...and turquoise... It also made me realize that if I used this doweling as my ring stand I've got a long way to go before filling it. Especially at this angle:


Perfect! Room to grow! So fraser - feel free to get buying (size 6). Wait, this feels familiar, I've written about this before (here actually). Rats. I'm a broken record. Oh well, I'll build up my ring collection slowly over the next decade then. If only I had unlimited funds...

Collected: Pinback Buttons

I've been wanting to do a little blog feature on some of my collections for a while now since:

1) loads of blogs seem to be doing that these days and I just love reading about them
2) I have a butt load of things I collect (like cards! from this post)
and
3) no better way to peek into "the life of kate" than to catch a glimpse into "the mass amounts of things kate collects"! (And that is what blogging is all about right?)

So let's start off the collections posts with one of my oldest obsessions - pinback buttons! I've been holding onto these from before I can remember and they've accumulated all over the house (yup - sewing room, craft totes, multiple bulletin boards, closets...you get the idea...). Pins are great! They don't take up a huge amount of space, they're bright and fun, they don't break the bank, and they are awesome keepsakes from different concerts, events, and trips! Take a gander of sampling of my collection:


I guess you can imagine why I was compelled to make such an elaborate pinback button line in my etsy shop! Buttons are wonderful! My collection used to grow much more quickly back when thimble had their sweet "button of the month club" (shown in the lower right corner), but continues to expand nonetheless (not to worry). Pulling out all my buttons actually really made me want to start that shadowbox button frame I was talking about a few weeks back (here), but have a few too many things ahead of it on the to do list for now. But hey, next time you see a super awesome pinback button (or two) be sure to pick them up! Even if you never wear them (ahem - like me?), they're a great thing to hold onto...or you can give them to me...I wouldn't mind...I promise...

i heart buttons

Poppytalk's photostream (on flickr) is a world of inspiration. I love sifting through their albums of beautifully photographed imagery dreaming about recreating all their rad projects. One such project I'm quite fond of this framed pinback button heart:


What a sweet idea! I love how bright and colourful it is and what a great conversation piece it could be! I know all my buttons have little stories (much like amy browne's magnets) and you could be pleasantly reminded of all those good memories each time you passed this piece in the hall! The only problem for me would be deciding which buttons to use from my massive collection (believe me - I've been collecting pinback buttons forever). It also conveniently provides yet another use for my scientific culture pinback buttons! Hooray! Now to wait for a micheal's coupon to arrive so I can frugally buy a white shadow box frame...