live . craft . learn

Windy Corners harvest banner

I posted the last project for our private Kenner Road Windy Corners class this morning and I am so in love with the harvest banner I created for it. I created a pdf download with for this one with some exclusive elements and now that it's finished i'm on a roll to keep adding to our sparse Thanksgiving decorations.

 

The class will be open all month and you can get access by either purchasing the Windy Corners kit as the class is free with kit purchase or you can just purchase the class pass. both items are available {{here}} and we'll add more class passes as they sell out.

Happy Sunday!
xo

filling the well

last thursday, before i headed to ucsf for my mri of which i'm still awaiting results {i'm taking this as good news btw as i'm sure i would have heard something by now if it was bad} i decided to go and refill my creative well with a visit to the one place that always inspires me, the legion of honor in sf.

it's a stunning building and houses some of the most beautiful and breathtaking {in my humble opinion} art in san francisco. i can enjoy the de young in golden gate park and i am always inspired by the moma but this is where the european classics are stored and it's where i first fell in love with art on a grander scale right before i started college. and, it is here that i was ultimately pushed to be an art history major.

it also houses my most favorite painting in the world, the russian bride's attire by konstantin mokavsky {the color is so off in my pic, click the link to see the stunning version}. the painting is huge, spanning 9 ft x 12ft. and although it's amazing to just sit on that bench across from the painting and soak in the vibrant color and intricate detailing it's when i stand a mere 12 inches away {the guard is usually nice as long as i keep my hands at my sides} and gaze at the brush strokes and the way the light and dark shades of pigment are stacked and blended that my heart truly starts racing. i only had an hour and a half the day i was here, and i spent over an hour with her. it was worth every penny of my admission ticket. every penny.

rodin's three shades cast statue in the grand rotunda. i think this visit was the first time that i noticed the spotlights were on and their shadows were dancing on the back arched wall. it was truly wonderful.

happy friday.
xo

 

only treats

owning kenner road means that there is alot of product package recycling that i do each month. from the cardboard that the product is shipped in down to the individual product plastic packaging and sleeves; all in all it amounts to alot of waste {all of which we recycle aggressively!}. last month, after i finished kitting the windy corner kits {there are still a few left here} i had about 24 of these cute plastic boxes from the maya road chandelier trinkets left and i knew exactly what to use them for... halloween treats for all of the littles teachers and friends.

 

it was the quickest school project i have ever made. the candy corn was put in first and then i simply cut a 3.5" x 5.25" piece of pink paislee pattern paper down and slid it right into the back where there were built in sleeves from the mr product card. then i wrapped an older {2008?} piece of making memories glitter paper around, stapled it to secure in the back and added some seam binding ribbon and cut out sassafras lass monster frames.

 

the entire process from start to finish took only 1/2 an hour and i've been so happy to see the thrilled faces of all of our recipients. these three are all we have left and are for three special monsters we will be trick or treating with tomorrow night. mr aviator goggles is by far my favorite one of the bunch!

i'm heading out to go watch a beautiful pega-corn parade around her school {while a mini peter parker watches in jealousy} and then hopefully i'll be able to resist the coma inducing 1st grade candy party that will follow.

happy friday!
xo

hey mummy!

the little man and i finally made it to the pumpkin patch on monday with his preschool class. it's the cutest little farm called "grandmas" up in healdsburg and it's one of our favorite patches ever. there are gates everywhere so the littles can all run like the wild animals they are and the parents don't have to worry that they'll break out.

i have to let you know though, as much as i loved the pumpkins and walked around the property this is was where the little man was for practically the entire 2 hours we were there {although he did go sit for the snack & picture!}. he's such a boy!

 

and congrats corrine! you won the spot in dina's graffitti of my life class. email me kl [at!] kenner [dot!] com your info and i'll pass it along to dina asap!

a creative spark {{giveaway}}

it's not often that you meet a fellow artist that you feel has been a part of your life forever, from the moment you met. someone who understands your quirks, supports you when you just need to vent, holds your hand when you are feeling sad and inspires you to make things every time you view their work. dina is one of those people to me

she is in my top five of inspiring artist friends. i've taken every single one of her art journaling classes, and each and every time i am inspired to paint. to create. to document. to explore and stretch. to leave my mark and dive deeper into my heart and soul.

so it's no wonder that i am extremely happy, extremely honored and extremely humbled to be able to giveaway a slot into her new art journaling class "Art Jounraling 301 : The graffiti of my life" to one of you, my sweet friends and readers. Just leave a comment before tuesday, october 27th at midnight pacific telling me three words that matter most to you and i'll pick a winner tuesday night and post here on wednesday, october 28th.

{Please note winner will have 48 hours to claim prize so make sure you pop back to check so you don't miss out!}

here's some more info from dina about Art Journaling 301 :

Are you ready for an artistic challenge and adventure? In this project-based technique class, you will learn how to create a stand-alone art journal from start to finish! First, you’ll identify words that matter to you—quotes, advice, song lyrics, mottos, life lessons, anything that is important to you. Then we’ll use them to create grungy, painty art journal pages on loose watercolor sheets.

When we’re done with the pages, we’ll assemble them into signatures and bind the art journal with an easy chain-stitched spine. Art techniques included are: color field wash backgrounds, manipulating stencils & inks, making inclusions to tip in, confined collages, and book-binding. Don’t worry if you’ve never bound a book before…there will be extensive written materials and how-to videos to help you every step of the way.

and lastly i'll leave you with three of words that matter most to me :

humility | compassion | home

happy weekend!
xo

truly i do

dear in-n-out ...

i love you. no, i adore you. you save me on a minimum of one night a week when my littles know you as "the tuesday night special". there has even been a lazy sunday {or two. or three...} when i get in my car, drive 15 minutes on 101 south and pick you up for dinner.

i love you that much however ... there is this one teeeeeensy little thing that drives me nuts. nuts!

you need a "double wrap button". seriously. you do.

it would make it so much easier than asking at all three points of interaction with your staff along the in-n-out path to goodness drive through line "could you please make sure those are double wrapped? thanks."

cause this is what i do. every. time. cause 75% of the time, when i am finally holding my box of deliciousness, they aren't ... double wrapped.

but don't get me wrong. i adore you.

and other than this one small thing. this teeeeeeensy little thing like adding a double wrap button to your register system that will SO make my-life-&-the-rohnert-park-in-n-out-staffs life better and happier.

i think you are good. really, really good.

xo
one cheesburger animal protein style
+ a few sips of ben's split chocolate shake

eta : have an mri appointment set up for the 29th but neuro feels strongly that this is a benign behaviour and something i'll just have. i think some stress reducing strategies will be enacted soon. thank you SO much for the love & support, really. i'll keep you updated ;)

exactly perfect

for the last few years i've had plans to sit down and create a halloween countdown calendar and it just never happened. either time got away with me or i just couldn't figure out exactly what i wanted to do. two weeks ago i finally made myself just sit and start playing. i couldn't be more pleased with the end result, giddy actually.

 

i've had a 12" x 20" piece of sheet metal that i picked up at the local hardware store {about $4.} and i covered it with some vintage wallpaper that i have been hoarding, i'm sure you can see why. lol. after covering the sheet metal with the wallpaper i trimmed it in black dennison crepe paper that i sewed and then fringed and added a little black velvet scallop ribbon at the top and bottom. the coolest part? the sheet meatal was jsut the right weight that i could punch a hole in each top corner with my crop-a-dile so it can hang easily.

 

each of the daily calendar objects are magnetic, although i have to be honest, we'll never really take them on and off. but it will make storing the calendar after halloween is over easier and help keep each individual item in great condition becuase i can remove them and wrap each item in some tissue for protection.

 

creating each of the individual items was really the most fun i've had in a long time. i have a vintage card catalog that i have divided all of my little vintage and scrap odds and ends into. each drawer is sorted by color and for this project i simply brought out the orange, silver, red and black drawers. i pulled the base of each piece out first and then decided the order and how i wanted them to look on the calendar. then i simply rifled through the drawers for the layering items as i went along.

 

i also have two plastic bins that have all of my halloween and christmas themed scrap items in them and i of course rifled through the halloween bin as well. i'm a holiday freak and i think having everything together really works for me. and it gets me to use items from past years and i can see what new items i want to add to the lot when the new seasonal scrap items are released. the monstrosity sassafras lass {of course} was the highest on my list this year and i used alot of extra elements from the cautionary kit we sold at kenner road last month as well as some additional miscellaneous elements from past kenner road kits {which i store all together too}.

sigh, doesn't it just make you happy to see all of this together?

happy tuesday!
xo

kenner road : october

we're on our way to ucsf for my neuro exam but though i'd pre-post these lovelies so there was only goodness happening here while i'm in the office. this way {or so i keep telling myself} i'll just simply have to think of these things if i start to get nervous.

i'm adoring the kaiser crafts birdhouse SO much! it's in the windy corner add-on {ala lucy's home in a room with a view} and the cool thing is that we'll have another kenner road private class using this add-on, cool eh?

 

gi. simply perfect. and i have to add that she is telepathic too. not 10 minutes after i finished this she called. seriously. and it had been too long. too. too. long.

 

two years ago we had a family vacay in southern california and we decided to go to Disney {well, actually we always go to Disney, lol} and there was no one there. it was drizzling and empty and it felt like a crazy dream day. no lines. no crowds. no one at all. magical, i'm telling you!

this was my crazy pattern experiment with the wallpaper stamp. not quite sure if i'm in love with it {i like it but don't think my concept came through exactly as i wanted} but i loved this day in solvang. stuffed pancakes and the family driving down 101 to los angeles. sometimes digging back through the older photos to scrap really makes my day.

happy thursday!
xoxo

kenner road : october sneak peek

windy corners add-on

whew... i am barely making it this month. With everything that has been going on i have barely had time to sit and take pics and still make sure that everything is ready for tonight during the Kenner Road reveal. goodness gracious!

In other news I have a neuro appointment tomorrow morning at ucsf that i am anxiously awaiting. I'm a little nervous but also looking forward to talking with someone about the tremors and hopefully finding an easy solution or explanation, wish me luck please as i'm sure tomorrow morning i'll be jittery and feeling a bit scared. maybe alot scared.

i also drew a name for the halloween craft giveaway so make sure you check the post out below for the winner!!

xo

A Hambly Halloween Giveaway

eta : Congrats Jessica Dougherty you won the halloween giveaway, make sure you let me know which one you would like and email me your addy kl [at*] k8tykat [dot*] com :)

I have a really fun vintage inspired Halloween project up on the Hambly blog today {sneak peek above} that you just have to go see. I think I could craft for Halloween for the rest of my life and never get tired or bored and I could seriously marry these little skeletons that are on the new Hambly Halloween kraft stickers, I LOVE THEM! 

here's more evidence of said Halloween crafting, it's another version of my tutorial that I created for the blog.

I also wanted to thank all of your for your love & support with my last post. It's strangely comforting to know that I am not the only person who has dealt with medical issues like mine and/or the instant doom & gloom thoughts. It's just one more wonderful thing that blogging can offer, isn't it? The coming together and the sharing of stories.

So to say thank you I'm giving away one of these two Halloween pieces vignettes that I created yesterday. Just leave me a comment telling me what your favorite costume ever was and I'll pick a winner on Tuesday, October 13th. You'll get to choose which one you want, so make sure you note that in the comments too, ok?

Thank you again my sweet wonderful friends, I so appreciate you!
xo kl