Mmmm... raspberries!

My favorite food... now an Etsy treasury...

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4ca56254088a8eef78804dee/raspberry-deliciousness?index=0

Happy Thursday.

Love,

Katery

Druzy Love

Inspired by mother nature... and beautiful druzy-ness... a new treasury! :)

http://www.etsy.com/listing/57133367/sterling-silver-set-aqua-druzy-necklace?ref=sr_list_39&ga_search_query=druzy&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_page=11&order=&includes[0]=tags&includes[1]=title

And so to make my own pair of earrings similar to those above... I just purchased a strand of these lovlies on Etsy. Yesssss...

I've loved the beauty of a druzy since I was a little kid. I remember in elementary school in Colorado taking a field-trip to Keystone Science Center -- an outdoor science camp. We explored the wilderness, and I bought my mom an amethyst druzy stone in the gift shop. She kept it for years and years, and now it's floating around our condo somewhere, along with my other collections of crystals and druzies.

A fond memory... I think that was the first thing I ever bought for my mom on my own accord. I'm still drawn to the natural sparkliness of druzies, and they also remind me of her.

Love,

Katery

Favorite-ness...

I heart Etsy. It's been one of my favorite web sites to play on since my bicycle crash, and today I used credit to pick up a couple cute things I've discovered during my time off...

This "Made in Oregon" t-shirt is so adorable...

and added bonus -- there's glitter involved, here. :)

Check it out... from indigofeet here in Portland.

And how cute are these rings? Peanut butter and jelly...

found while looking at "grape" items on Etsy for that treasury in my last post.

Created by Charlie Carter.

In the meantime, I've been reading quite a bit... and trying to get out of the house a little more, too. Squires pointed me to an awesome web site... www.paperbackswap.com -- I've joined and been mailing out books and getting free books back in the mail. It's awesome! This week I received'Wuthering Heights' and 'The Other Boleyn Girl'... and shipped out 5 books in the last week, too. Still to come -- 'The Devil Wears Prada'. In addition to that, Patricia sent me a few books.. and Jen also sent a trilogy of fun Chelsea Handler books. This morning I finished 'Are You There Vodka, It's Me Chelsea'. Fun times. Now I'm working on 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo'.

Speaking of booze, tonight I had my first dose of hard-A since crashing my bike into a cement pillar -- a lovely margarita at a random Mexican joint on 82nd. Yummm... and yay!

Now if I could just get a decent night's sleep. It's been insomnia central for me... first from coming off the narcotics, now seemingly from resting so much, not being drugged up, and being uncomfortable. What a fabulous combination! Hopefully I'll be able to get some good rest before I plan on heading back to work Monday!

In the meantime today I was a vertically-moving machine on my crutches. Woot!

Goodnight-ery...

Love,

Katery

Color me *P*U*R*P*L*E*

Got some good news today... can start using crutches immediately (as I can handle, anyway), and can start putting weight and attempting to walk starting October 1st. Yippeeee! I'm also planning to go back to work (starting part-time) next week... Good day!

So, I made a treasury... enjoy!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c9ac37088108eef429bed2f/alexander-the-grape?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Treasury&utm_campaign=Share

Happy Wednesday evening... <3

Love,

Katery

What a lovely day...

...for a rainy wedding! Despite the dreary weather, Ben and Teresa's wedding ceremony proceeded outdoors yesterday afternoon at Skamania Lodge in Stevenson, Washington. The bride was stunning, the groom was stoked, and the guests were soaked!

Enjoying the view from my fab wheelchair...

The happy, newly-married couple!

(Note the photographer dashing around with his umbrella, too...)

An indoor reception... :)

...and a wonderful time had by all!

Love,

Katery

I'm loving...

...Jamie Joseph jewelry right now! I first discovered this designer when my good friend Preston bought his girlfriend, (and one of my best friends), Melissa a Jamie Joseph ring this year. Uhh, jealous much? :) How cute... and note white cocktail ring on her right hand...

A few of my favorites discovered online...

What a lovely collection!

Love,

Katery

Another day, another treasury...

Pretty things that are also orange...

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c8e9b8ce9916d91a44f4822/orange-you-glad-i-didnt-say-banana

Also, happy birthday Sarah-Mony!!!

Love,

Katery

A fabulous gem-filled treasury...

...with pretty emerald treasures discovered on Etsy.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c8c7d495b268eef5abbf3cb/we-can-make-a-dimpled-smile-out-of-a

Now bedtime!

Love,

Katery

Pinup Perfection!

As I continue to be in bed constantly (ugh) recovering from my nasty August 1st bike crash (double-ugh)... I'm thanking GOD for the internet and the ability to find ways to keep myself entertained. One of those entertaining things I've been doing is creating treasuries on Etsy... this latest one inspired by pinup girls...

Check it out here!

It was so fun to find so many awesome Etsy listings featuring pinup girls... like these fabulous clothes created by Zombie Kitten O.

I also just purchased the image below in the form of a counted-cross stitch pattern from Bella Stitchery. My mom always used to do counted-cross stitch, as did my Grandma... and I busted out a stitch or two in my youth... so this pattern could be the perfect resting and recuperating project for me to do... Love it!

So, where has all this pinup inspiration come from, you ask? Another way I've been passing the time is by watching LA Ink on NetFlix for the Wii. I've watched a couple dozen episodes of people getting tattooed by Kat Von D and her crew... including Hannah Aitchison... who is quite the pinup artist... and who is also quite the pinup herself!

Check out some of my faves below...

So, a pinup tattoo may be in order for me someday, as after watching so much tattooing, I've been itching to get more ink myself. Oh yea... guess we'll have to work on paying off those medical bills first. But a girl can dream, right?

Until next time...

Love,

Katery

Photography Love: Part I

I've had a lot of time to play around on Etsy: creating treasuries, discovering new favorites, and looking through old shops I've marked as favorites over the years. I've found that perhaps my favorite kind of photography is a technique called "through the viewfinder" -- where the photographer uses one camera to take the photo of an image as it appears through the viewfinder of another, often older camera. The results are amazing, very vintage looking -- and I absolutely love them.

I'm very much drawn to the work of Scarlet Beautiful that's posted in her Etsy shop. From cruiser bicycles, to balloons and flowers -- these are a few of my favorites...

In looking around online, I've found there's an entire, quite popular movement of "Through the Viewfinder" (or TtV) photography. This Flickr group has more than 6,000 members! A simple search on Flickr finds many more TtV treasures, as well...

And, of course, playing on Etsy almost always ensures I'll find something else I love. Today it's another shop from Scarlet Beautiful called Velvet Morning... vintage portrait photo collages. Now I'm just getting distracted...

Perhaps I'm in need of taking a photography class at The Art Institute of Portland this winter. After being an employee there for six months+ I can take classes for free. What a lovely way to translate my love for others' photography into something I can do myself.

Okay, that's it for today. It's afternoon movie-time with Mara!

Love,

Katery

... A Few of My Favorite Things ...

Wanted to share... going back through Etsy faves and finding some of my most beloved listings... LOVE.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c855c83b4676d91167b889e/a-few-of-my-favorite-things

A handful featured here, as well...

My favorite local photographer, Bill, from House of Six Cats. I love his work so much, and here he captured my favorite bridge, the Saint John's Bridge, in North Portland beautifully.

Another local favorite in Portland are these floating paper poms from Pom Love. So many beautiful colors to choose from, and so many possibilities for decor. If I could open a shop or have a beautiful office or space all to myself, I'm sure these would be floating down from the ceiling.

And from floating flowers in the air.. to lovely floral accents for your feet! These shoe clips are so delicate... I wish I would have discovered them in time for my wedding. Alas, they can certainly dress up any pair of my heels for others' joyful celebrations, right? Find more lovely creations from B.Poetic.

I've been loving this local artist's work for a while now... pinups from Brenda Dunn have been spotted in some of my favorite local boutiques, and I can't wait to have one hanging up in our condo. This one seems to fit the bill... titled "Kate" and in my favorite color!

Finally, another local artist whose work I've admired in local stores and galleries -- paintings by Nancy Kremiller. I love how she uses sheet music in her multi-media artwork; two of my loves -- birds and music; makes such an ethereal combination!

That's all for this Labor Day. Back to not laboring... but resting, resting, resting for more bike crash recovery time.

Love,

Katery