It's been a while since I've done an Instalife Lately post! I'm much over due. Life has been busy as always, but particularly exciting lately. With Halloween, my birthday and other life shenanigans going on we've been going non stop (big surprise huh?)




I've been having a lot of fun coming up with creative ways to display things in the store. Conrad and I went to the circus with several friends from work. I took Conrad to his first play last month and he LOVED it. We saw Texas A&M Commerce's production of Big Friendly Giant. It's was so fantastic! I've rediscovered my passion for drawing for fun. Its funny how some things can become a chore when you have to do them so much for work. A recent design porject that I've been working on lately has inspired me to create some of my own hand lettered pieces for my shop. (more on that project later!) My hair has gone from red to orange and now plum. It seems like everyone's birthday is in the fall so we've been attending lots of kiddo birthdays.

I recently joined Ipsy! It's so exciting! I love snail mail and fun packages. I also love makeup, so this was a math made in heaven. Try it out if you haven't before! Basically you get a new little cosmetic bag each month filled with different things based off a short quiz that you take when you sign up. So far my favorite thing that I've gotten is a gold nail polish, liquid eyeliner pen and the prettiest shade of wine colored lipstick for fall!

Anywhoo - lots of photoshoot planning, christmas shopping and craftiness in my near future! What have you been up to?

I can finally share the exciting news now that the papers are signed and all that jazz! I'm opening a studio + shop!!!! *Insert my super happy dance* It's been a dream of mine for literally 10 + years to open a studio + shop. I plan to sell my vintage goodies in store as well as handmade items from local artists and crafty peoples.  I'm very excited to not only be opening my dream shop, but also to be able to share it with the community. I already have plans for art shows and community events. So keep your eyes and ears open! Great things are to come. I will still be selling online AND keeping my "day" job so panic for me yet. haha. It's going to be tough and a lot of late nights hours to be put in but I'm beyond stoked and anxious and terrified.


Photos 1-5 : My soon to be studio + shop!! From the original tile floors and tin ceilings to the exposed brick walls, it is beyond what I could've ever dreamed of having. Bonus: it also has a large private back patio with a mini stage. I see many acoustic shows and get togethers happening here. So if you are crafty or an artists and interested in consigning your creations contact me! howdy(at)gypsybeard(dot)com !

Other than PLAN PLAN PLANNING and dreaming, we've been enjoying the summer while we can.  From hanging at the park to going to Brand New concerts life has been full of fun these days. This picture that my mom took of my son in the pool is by far one of my favorites from summer so far. We've had lots of soccer, movie marathons and water gun fights. Conrad's new favorite activity however is catching fireflies. =) I was so excited to get this pretty rainbow picture a few weeks ago. I love photographing rainbows.


I have a fairly HUGE client right now that I will be in it for the haul with so I'm super excited and blessed to be working with them. They couldn't have come along at a better time in my career. Here's a peak of one of the many projects we currently have going on.



Well that's it for now! I better get back to work!
Happy Tuesday!


Kat

So.... are you as obsessed with Instagram as I am? I know a lot of bloggers, including myself, have a feature that in some fashion features Instagram photos. I have "Instalife Lately" to show my photos from the past month or so. So when I saw this cool new idea I was stoked to share it with the world.

Tens created sunglasses that basically change your world into an Instagram photo! I'll admit that I own a few pairs of sunglasses that definitely give my world a reddish or orange hue, but to take it to this extreme is very interesting and super awesome in my book. I immediately went to buy but unfortunately you can only preorder them now. I thought the video was super cool. Check it out!

  

It's been a super crazy few weeks with starting soccer, field trips and work but hopefully I'll have lots of great things to share soon.

Tata for now.

Kat

We spent this past weekend at Canton First Monday! I was excited since I hadn't been in awhile, but ended up being disappointed that the prices were so high, even for the junk (which is what I go for). It's kinda of sad in a way to see that people are marketing and cashing in on things that used to be free on the side of the road or scrap wood. More power to them I suppose. I just wont expect to come home from there with a full load ever again. I did end up talking a guy down on his prices just as the rain began to sprinkle. I ended up coming home with a bag of pretty painted metal letters and a stack of wire baskets ($25 for 5 woo!)

We also took a very unnecessary trip to Ikea and the Vans store. I splurged. I've been a shopaholic lately.. I really need to stop. But I finally got a bed after 10 years spent sleeping w/ my mattress on the floor. Now, before you gawk at me, this was by choice. I've always loved sleeping low to the ground.

I did a lot of tv catching up this past week too. (Game of Thrones and True Blood marathons) THe animals like to cuddle for tv time of course.

About a week ago I began trying to get in shape and eat healthier. I jogged/walked 3.5 miles last Friday! This is a HUGE deal for me. I've been using the app Run Keeper to track my walking and running. If you are anything like me, (i.e lazy, procrastinator, tv marathon watcher) Seeing my miles, times and the actual little GPS tracking of my path is motivating and has helped me to stick with it. I also switched it on while walking around the flea market to see how far we walked.  I've also been using Lose It to help me track my calories and exercise. If you're thinking about getting healthier these apps are awesome.


I guess thats it for today. =)

Happy Tuesday!

Kat

It's be a while since the last instalife post! wow.. I think it was before Thanksgiving! We've been so adventurous lately that I had quite a few I wanted to share.

 1. an afternoon spent in the country helping cut/haul wood.
 2. Valentine's day treats!
 3. My new ZELDA WALLET!
 4. We saw the Lego movie! It was a life changing event for Conrad and I both.
 5.  The last little snow day we had. My front yard looked so lovely.
 6. My first attempt at homemade tortillas. They needed more salt apparently lol
 7. Action shot of Conrad's new favorite daredevil to do at my parents house.
 8. Future archaeologist digging for gems. I'm in awe of his love of nature and exploring.
 9. I keep cutting my bangs. I'm loving them lately.
10. This past weekend at the flea market was completely perfect.. great weather.. just relaxed. We found some great furniture and lots of  books that I'm excited to read.

What have you been up to?

Kat

Work has my life pretty occupied lately so here's a MUCH overdue instalife update. (I can't wait to share what I've been working on!!)  I can't believe how fast my pup is growing!!! And whose pumpkin do you think is the best? My boyfriend and I have a bet going to see what you all say haha.

Kat

Life has been a bit hectic lately... school is about to start for Conrad and I both again... Summer is almost over (what the HECK!!!??) It's been a busy past week getting things ready for conrads birthday party, (more on that later) and I'm honestly feeling a little bummed because I didn't accomplish much of anything that I wanted aside from work.  I had great plans for traveling and adventuring but it didn't really go as planned. I'm hoping to cram some kind of weekend trip in there before school starts.

So here's life lately accord to instagram. Basically it was a lot of time spent indoors because of the 105+ Texas heat, playing with Murphy, shipping off orders, new vintage finds, LOTS of shopping =) and party planning.



Also, one of my favorite blogs to follow these days is Polka Dotted Pixel. She posted a fun little survey type thing via  Whit B. Nimble that I decided to take part in. There a huge part of me that is stuck in 90's of feeling out web surveys with useless info about myself and getting butterflies in my stomach every time I heard that infamous Aol instant messenger sound that meant you had a new IM. oh my....



Making : PLANS!
Cooking :anything on the grill.
Drinking : way too much caffien as always.
Reading: Anne Rice's Violin and Kari Chapman's The Handmade Marketplace for the 10th time.
Wanting: a change of scenery.
Looking:at more and more houses.
Playing: lots of legos.
Wasting: nothing.
Sewing: maybe some new curtains soon?
Wishing: for an adventure.
Enjoying:lots of HGTV
Waiting: for the next step in life.
Liking: feeling good.
Wondering:  how this semester will go.
Loving: myself. My family and job.
Hoping: to travel soon
Marvelling: at all of my blessings
Needing: to take care of business
Smelling: fresh air.
Wearing: this great blue and orange sea horse dress.
Following: my dreams.
Noticing: how people change.
Knowing: a bit but learning more every day.
Thinking:  constantly. about everything.
Bookmarking: - houses for sell
Opening: my heart.
Giggling: at the kid movies with conrad.
Feeling: excited, optimistic and determined.

til next time guys,
kat