this is art: COLOR STUDY

we were challenged to find color combo inspiration from anywhere. we chose some we liked, didn't like, and had to randomly choose from a pupil's color studies.

My results:

My prized kitchen aid/mixing bowls

prized vintage scarf #1

prized vintage scarf #2

random pupils color study (came from a photograph she had found)

print/story of my life

(I had chosen this as the color combo I didn't like. however, when I was finished with it I did!)

and the finished big project:

(I got docked big time on this one. Newspapers background was pushing it or something...)

*it was fun to see the classes take on the assignment; how we all get told the same instructions but the results were drastically different. Mine was the least collage like. And I'm pretty sure I spent 10x more time on it than anyone else (although....It was during my bed-ridden days so that might explain it).

MEDIUM: paint chips from home depot, glue, newspaper.

Did I mention...

I'm applying for BYU's visual arts program next month?

Well I am.

And I'm pretty darn thrilled about it! It took me 2 years of college and 3 drastically different declared majors to figure out that what I want to be when I grow up is what I've always wanted to be:

an artist.

I need to create in any form possible.

Did you know I take photos? (duh.)

But did you know I make jewelry? Stained glass? Paint? Sketch? Sew? Cut, paste, and build?

Well I do.

And I guess I'm saying all this because it's a part of me that I've kept locked up for a while. {Not exactly sure why... }

For the first time in 3 years I'm taking an art class. And it's opened Pandora's box! (probably not the best metaphor. Lets pretend Pandora is an artist and her box is full of a myriad of art supplies :) Well the box has been opened and the reality of me doing anything other than create seems almost hysterical. I'm really excited about the projects I've been working on and as soon as I get some photos I'll share them with you.

for now, a sneak peek:

:)

I'm back! And I must admit I missed this. This being blogging. Funny how it's so enjoyable to ramble my silly self along. And I must also admit I missed stalking you all terribly. And my attempt for guest bloggers proved unsuccessful (thanks sissy and B!) although my mom did a pretty good job huh?! I think she's a wonderful writer. She writes children's poetry. She's as quick and witty as they come!

I vote she starts a blog.

The yard sale was a success! Not only did we make a months rent, but we cleared up a TON of room in our cupboard and my parents house. Thanks for all you lovelies who came!

This past week was crazy! School, work, new job training, labs, yard sailing, photo shoots, editing, oh and kidney stone(ing?). But good news! Guido is MIA! Doc couldn't spot him on the Xray which means that instead of having surgery this morning I went to work and dressed mannequins in the loveliest of outfits :)

Banana Republic's Fall line might just be the best...

and I of course walked away spending a portion of the days earnings on this little beauty:

It makes my finger feel like a present :)

I LOVE MY JOB

Happy Belated Birthday Dad!

{in law}

You are an amazing example to me and I love you very very much! I'm so grateful you were born, so that Brandon could be born, so I could marry him :) Glad we got to spend some time with you yesterday doing the things you love most! And we hope you enjoyed the curry we made you for lunch today!

xoxoxo

your daughter

p.s. I love this photo Elise took of you two on our weddin' day!

YARD SALE!! COME RAIN OR COME SHINE. JUST COME.

!!!YARD SALE TIME AGAIN!!!

Saturday, September 25

8:00-12:00

1865 North 690 East Orem

Yes, once again, Claire has forced, er, helped Mama Thor clean out cupboards and closets. There remains not even a bone to fetch, and so the poor doggie has none. Here are some things we DON'T have:

*baby clothes because we have no babies

*baby furniture and brick-a-brack. See above.

*large furniture

*the usual plethora of shoes. I have cut back drastically on my buying. Well, a tad, perhaps.

We DO have:

*Claire clothes. Because she lives in a cupboard, you can imagine the size of the closet.

*Lots of dishes. Matched sets of white.

*vases, glassware

*The usual yard sale treasures. Must see to appreciate.

So, please do join us on this last of the few fine days we have left of early fall. It will be another year before we shall open the garage doors to you dear friends. I shall be manning the cash box. Chatting is welcome!

Mama Thor

mom

Hello to all Claire's little blogging friends. (I have heard the term "blends" before, but I cannot get myself to use it. Same reason I must use correct punctuation whilst writing this.) This is Mama Thor, guest blogger. An honor, I am sure. As you know, Claire is on a self-imposed ban from blogging, stalking, peeking, etc. until she has completed the following:

1. Get rid of Guido. He was uninvited and is unwelcome. I say pfffttt to Guido. I tried to insert a picture of a kidney stone so you could all gasp and say, "I had NO idea! That poor, poor dear wisp of girl! The injustice! The suffering!" but my efforts were futile. Just imagine a gravel looking bit with hooked barbs. Yep. It's as bad as you are picturing. Just one of the many sad traits I passed along: kidney stones, flat chest, poor math and reasoning skills. BUT in my defense, exquisite taste in shoes!

2. Has her yard sale this Saturday. All are welcome. Bring a guest. No cover charge. Must leave with at least one unneeded, unnecessary item. I can help with that.

3. Catches up on a week's worth of missed school. Good luck with that, sweetie. If you need any help with music theory, I'm your woman. Beyond that, sorry.

4. Lets me reclaim her basement bedroom. Progress is underway as I type. I am envisioning a zen-type retreat.....oooommm. With a mini fridge. double oooommmmm.

In a week, after a visit to her urologist (what 20 year old has a urologist, for pity's sake?) it will be determined whether she will have another surgery or if the scalawag, Guido, is on his way out of Dodge. Or Claire. Preferably Claire.

Feel free to send a message her way. I will make sure she gets it. Unless she is already peeking.

Mama

lucky the ladybug

I have NEVER been more depressed about school in my life.

let me explain:

Guido (thanks angie) has been dormant the past 2 days.

Dormant meaning no pain what-so-ever. (happy me & happy happy husband)

However, I've kept up the diet of monkey and moose bars and my tummy has found other excuses to moan. Not to mention that I had two amazing dinners and two amazing deserts tonight. Mom and Roma fed the hubs and me silly. I could probably pass as three months prego.

I'll spare you the pics.

My mom reminded me of my age old remedy to tummy aches: Lucky.

Lucky is my giant sized ladybug beanie babie (remember the craze? I also had her in normal size and McDonald's happy meal size...) she was my go-to stuffed animal as a little girl. I'd rest her on my tummy and her lucky powers would heal me.

serious.

I've pulled her out from under my bed in my old room. She'll be sleeping with me and the hubs incase I have another kidney stone scare. (oh how I hope that doesn't happen).

When I had the first scare, two weeks before my wedding mind you, I thought there couldn't possibly be a more inconvenient time to be bed ridden. I mean...I had a wedding to plan for crying out loud!

well folks, I was wrong. THE ABSOLUTE WORST TIME TO HAVE A KIDNEY STONE is when you are a college student. Missing a day of classes in college (when you are serious about your grades/applying for a program/really really need to impress your teachers) is about the worst thing you can do. Missing a total of 5 days of classes is suicidal. Especially when after you explain your health situation to your teacher and she has no sympathy and gives you a C on your art assignment that took you hours and hours to complete. which, for the record, was a pretty swell piece (i'll share it later).

Basically I'm so far behind in school that I'm scared to go to classes tomorrow. My work load to catch up is so big I don't even know where to start. I've been slugging all day at my parents house. Complaining. I'm depressed. But more like just having a huge pity party. Luckily my family is nice and they pity me. and they told me I better not complain on my blog, cause people hate reading about other people who complain. amen.

that all being said I've decided in order to get caught up in school (sigh) I must give up blogging for a week. Not only will I not post but I wont blog stalk either (which is going to be really really hard, since stalking you all is one of my favorite past times.) But in order to keep you all very entertained (ha) my Mother, Sister, and Husband have all agreed to guest blog. I won't be screening anything they say nor will I read it until this blogging fast is over (next sunday) so who knows what revealing things they might share with you all.

so stay tuned!

and since I already broke two of my blogging rules

1. don't write long boring posts

2. don't complain

the least I can do is follow this one:

3. always ALWAYS post a photo

just chillin with the cattle. no biggie.

P.S. I'm considering doing a side bar of lingo translations so things like Hank, Guido, B, the Cupboard might make a little more sense.

loving this

photo/new-image (which is really a return to the classics) Tommy Hilfiger has taken on

oh how I would love to be the design specialist for this shoot!

or the creative mind behind their bios

or...maybe be IN the shoot....

{I can pull of hoity-toity right?!}

psh...a girl can dream.

*has anyone else noticed similar things going on in the fashion industry? seems people are finally catching on to the timeless classic pieces that got them started in the first place. I've done a bit of a 180 in my wardrobe as well. the items i put on in the morning are less focused on bold fashionable pieces and more focus on ME wearing them. less jewelry. zero bling. i've always thought, real fashionable people can make jeans a white tee look good.

Dearest Husband,

Dear Mr. Hubs,

you are fast asleep right next to me and it's only 6:22 pm. I can't imagine how exhausted you are after taking care of me last night. I'm pretty sure i woke you up on 3 separate occasions. selfishly woke you up, just so that you'd know I was throwing up. you'd come with me to the bathroom and pat my back and hold my hair back and grab more meds for me. Then, after 5 or so hours of broken sleep you got up at 6 to make it to your 7 am class. And of course you didn't leave until pampering the guts out of me and kissing my tummy where it hurts the most and making sure that I'd be okay while you were gone. There was no way I could have made it to my morning classes but I insisted on going to one. You came with me cause you thought it was a bad idea. You were right, I should have stayed home; throwing up in public bathrooms is a whole lot worse than in your own home. bleh. Maybe this doesn't sound like a love letter, none of the things mentioned above are mushy/gushy romantic. But I just wanted to let you know that i know you love me. sounds backwards. I guess that's just how i feel right now. Me being sick doesn't make it easy to express my love. In fact, it kinda puts me in a grumpy mood and brings out the worst in me. But me being sick brings out the best in you. The protective, caring, gentle man that you are. At the end of the day, your magic kisses, loving looks, and unwavering patience are all the romance I could ask for.

I sure love you mr.

xoxo

your wife

P.S. mom named the stone this time. His name is gwedo. only it's not spelt like that. i can't spell worth a dime, let alone while drugged up...

Robby and Nikki

A few Saturdays ago, Brandon's cousin Robby married the gorgeous Nikki! We were thrilled to attend their sealing in the Timpanogos Temple. And I was so happy I brought Hank with me to snap some candids of the happenings of the day.

Congrats Robby & Nikki!

We love newlywed friends!!

And we especially love newlywed family!!

{the colors were navy and green. I had no clue that my outfit would match!}

{the best men, groom, and bride all wore sperrys}

{mom and dad {inlaw}}

{the bridesmaid all wore these killer pumps I couldn't get over. They said they killed. Literally.}

{Father of the Groom}

{Mother of the Groom}

{Sissy (Missy) of the Groom}

I loved the Groomsmen's suits!

A very lovely wedding/couple/family/reception/MARRIAGE!

so happy we got to be a tiny part of it :)

*I was not the hired photographer for this wedding, just the crazy cousin with a camera. Had I been there would have been more photos of the bride/groom/group etc. Please note that if I were to photograph YOUR wedding, there would be a whole lot more photos :) e-mail me if you are interested in seeing a full-blown wedding from start to finish! thanks

xox

Kitty

open house!

The mister and I worked really hard to clean our room this past weekend.

(and when i say we i mean him. i sat back and ate monkey bar after moose bar after monkey bar. they really are the only thing that truly appeasing kidney stone pains.)

he's such a good mister, that husband of mine.

anyway, like i said, we (he) got it all nice and clean.

& knowing us, it wont last long. So we decided we better host FHE at our room tonight and invite the family to take a look while the lookin's good!

this means that i, kitty, might just maybe be finally posting some photos of our lovely mansion.

(and when i say mansion, i mean 3oo sq foot closet under the stairs).

.

.

.

.

maybe someday we'll have a real open house and all you lovlies will be invited!

a good idea me thinks :)

xo

kitty

(a blurry photo, just to tease)

today i

am frustrated.

equally with myself and my kidney stone

(whom i have yet to name)

doc says i gotta try and pass this one on my own. this could take anywhere from 24 hours to a few months. and there is no saying when i might be in horrible pain or how often.

if said kidney stone decides not to budge (like last time) it will result in a surgery whose price is more than brando's and my livelihood put together x 10.

luckily for right now i am OFF pain killers.

(mostly because i refuse to further clog my bowels....i'll spare you the details)

although part of me wishes i weren't, so that i could use it as an excuse for my otherwise LAZY behavior.

i have a lot of bad habits.

most of which deal with poor time-management.

all of which need instant dropping.

it's a saturday.

oh how i wish brandon and i were on a picnic.

instead i'm finishing odd end tasks that should have been done weeks (some months) ago.

enough of me complaining.

what i really need is HELP!

so readers, please please please:

what little tricks, treats, bits of magic do you use to help manage time?

&

bad habits: how do you rid of them?!

i desperately need your help, advice, encouragement

pretty please :)

xoxox

Kitty

and the stone

The Return of Spike

Tonight I am supposed to hop in a van full of my cousins and head to Southern Utah for the RED ROCK RELAY

a 186 mile run. I, of course, would be running the easiest of lges (only a total of 10 miles) by choice. I am not a runner. It doesn't come easy for me (does it for anyone?) So it took some training, of which I haven't done so well at. So in my hurried attempts to be ready for the race, I took a good long hard run on tuesday evening. I felt fine until I stopped moving and realized a horridly familiar pain on my left side.

Kidney Stone.

It had to be. I'm a champ stomach acher, I've had just about every one in the book. Kidney stones are distinctly different. I've heard they are worse than giving birth. I haven't given birth so I wouldn't know. All I know is that the pain makes you wish you could cut yourself open and rip out your kidney so it would all feel better.

I was in denial though. I thought maybe if I didn't acknowledge it was a kidney stone that it would just go away. Ya know, mind over matter. Didn't work. I'm a wimp. I have a very low pain tolerance. The meds I took kept coming back up and I knew I was in for it.

I refused to go to the hospital that night so Brandon played me sweet songs until I fell asleep. The next morning we went to the docs where they hooked me up with an IV and all sorts of drugs in order to "stabilize" me. It worked. Since then I've been popping the pills like the good old days, eating a diet of only monkey bars, moose bars, and saltine crackers. Oh and lots of water. So much so that I fear I might drown myself from the inside out.

Oh and did I mention I'm missing school?! The second week of school. Just a week after all of my teachers threatened us with a whole grade letter if we were to miss class.

Yes. This is no fun at all.

And as much as a part of me is secretly happy I don't have to run, most of me is extremely sad since I've planned on running this race for a year now. And I was thrilled that I got to run the very first leg and was so excited for the lovely photos I was going to capture and most of all to be with all my family.

Alas, this weekend will be filled with crocheting. Somehow my fingers manage to function properly whilst the rest of me slows down due to the drugs. In fact, it's easier to type than it is to talk....

I would post a photo but there is nothing pretty to be photographed right now.

oh gee that sounded so depressing....

lets see what I can find...

aha!

this photo is for you Mr. Spike.

One Fine Day

Brandon and I are really grateful Peter McGuire started Labor Day. It's one of our favorite days because

1. we love NOT going to school.

2. we LOVE LOVE LOVE sleeping in and watching LOST when we wake up and eating pistachio ice-cream for breakfast

3. it's tradition for us to go to the Spiral Jetty on Labor Day and have a yummy picnic and take funny pictures.

and when I say tradition I mean that last year when we had been dating a mere 3 weeks I convinced him to go to the Spiral Jetty with me. A day trip that almost killed us (literally) but resulted in one of the most memorable days of our lives. So we decided to seal the tradition deal this year by going again! Hopefully we'll get the chance to go every year. And if you haven't checked the Spiral Jetty out, or even heard of it, read more here!

more photos from last years excursion here

What are your plans for labor day!? Please tell me you aren't working...