outfit; two

29 Oct:

1 Nov: 

2 Nov:

3 Nov:

life recently

I've been embroidering some dish towels for my boyfriend's parents, which is tedious but very fun and exciting. I can see myself improving, which is awesome, and I really love the ideas I came up with - and how they turned out. 

They met while they were stationed at Nellis AFB, so I made one towel with an outline of Nevada and a heart over Nellis' location. The second towel depicts portraits of their dogs, a rescue mutt named Nellis and an English bulldog, Bentley. Here is a more detailed shot of the dogs:

This project was so much fun! My boyfriend and I really love making gifts, and these turned out so wonderful and personal, something you just wouldn't be able to get in a store, and I can't wait to give them to his parents! I'll be visiting before returning to school in a few weeks, so I still have a bit of a wait, but until then, I get to admire my handiwork :)  The dogs were designed by me, though for the bulldog I had a bit of help with references found through Google. I completely freehanded the other dog, though, and I am so proud of how they turned out. To transfer my designs on to the towels, I traced the reverse onto the papery side of freezer paper, outlined with a fine-tipped Sharpie, and ironed the freezer paper to the towel. Then I could see the design and trace it with disappearing ink onto the towel.

life recently; Christmas edition

I got the idea here: Julie Nolan Jewelry.

Just a few things I've been working on... Presents for a few family members (my mom loves pigs).

Sharpie mug

Today is my friend Ashley's birthday. I wanted to get her a present but I wanted it to be personal, so I decided to jump on the Sharpie mug craze (I've been wanting to since first spotting the tutorial on A Beautiful Mess) and design a mug for her.

Here is the design I came up with:

I first planned on putting her initial centered a little bit over the swirly stuff, but after a suggestion from The Boy decided to incorporate the initial into the swirled design, so the As at the top are my first ideas. 

I love it how the mug turned out! To transfer the design I poked holes in it, taped the paper to the mug, and used a fine tip Sharpie to color through each hole onto the mug. Then I played connect the dots! I used a black Sharpie oil paint pen, which was sometimes quite frustrating because it didn't always draw evenly. But I think it turned out great. I filled it with Lindt truffles and made a tag to attach to it. I also put the date on the inside of the handle for an additional little personal touch.

I haven't tried washing it yet, but I have scratched at the design with my thumbnail and it's holding up. I decided on the Sharpie paint pen after reading many comments that regular Sharpies don't always hold up, so I'm hoping this will last. The tutorial I actually followed is from Scribbles from Emily, who recommended the Sharpie paint pen. She says hers is dishwasher safe, but I'm going to recommend that Ashley hand washes her mug.

This was a fun project, and I was able to complete it really quickly. I would definitely suggest it as a Christmas or birthday present project. I'm actually thinking of making a lot more, and maybe a couples set for me and The Boy :)

autumn.

A few weekends ago the boy and I went on a quick adventure to the gorge. It's located behind his apartment building, and has a gorgeous waterfall and river which leads to the Hudson. We took some time exploring the ruins of the old water power plant, which we've always been curious about but have never checked out on our previous trips. It was a nice way to enjoy the dwindling days of autumn. 

farm things

I wonder if I will ever make this blogging thing part of my routine. I am horridly sporadic in my postings and I've been wanting to renovate the blog and make it all pretty for about three months... Ah well. Life gets in the way.

Life, though, is pretty good, so I don't mind that it keeps me too busy to write on here regularly. My family visited me this past weekend, which was great. My sister was back in the states for a conference (she's been studying in Ireland) so she was able to come visit as well. We looked around campus to show my brother what it's like - he'll be graduating high school in May - and then headed an hour south to my boyfriend's house. His family is incredible, and I adore spending time with them on their little farm, and it was a great weekend.

We mostly relaxed, but then on Sunday we took a trip to the nearby State Park and took a hike, which was great. I finished two rolls of film that I've been working on for over a month. I also got to see our chickens, and my mom saw them in person for the first time. She's been wanting to get chickens for a few years now, but the area my family lives in is too suburban for that.

click for Flickr

life recently

Yikes! It has been ages and ages since I've written here. ROTC camp went pretty well - it was actually a lot more fun, and a lot less stressful than I was expecting. After camp I went to Ft Riley, KS for three weeks. I'd rather not revisit that trip - it was awful. When I finally returned home I was able to relax and recuperate for a couple weeks before returning to school. I bought a car, the boy visited, and we road-tripped back to NY to spend a week with his family. The last few weeks of summer were wonderful.

Now school has begun again (I'm almost done with my fourth week) and I'm loving the cooler weather. ROTC is hectic and demanding, but I'm in a great position and overall I'm having a great time. This weekend the boy and I are heading to his home to catch a much-needed break from school. I can't wait to spend time on their little farm. I'm hoping to use up a few rolls of film so I can get them developed. And then perhaps I'll share a few here.

Trip to Clear Creek with my brothers.

(click to go to my Flickr)

It's almost the weekend!

xxKatie