ohmykat makeup

back to basics

2010-05-25T08:23:00.001+01:00

i've really neglected blogger and this blog - since i became a student again i've done nothing but workworkwork - its made me into a brilliant web designer, no lies there, but i do miss beauty blogging.

so - a fresh start. i want to post more of what i really love - make up, beauty, cosmetics, FOTDs and EOTDs (face and eye of the day), reviews - i keep getting sent goodies to review and try out, and whilst i make my youtube videos (in Polish) i really miss the beauty community - in English.

so this is me.

i'm kat, i'm 24 (25 in july!), i'm a web design student and i absolutely love it. i make great sites, i won't be modest - it gets you nowhere.

i love makeup, i have done for years - i've been making youtube videos in Polish for about a year and a half, i take occasional haitus breaks when i have a lot on the go, but i have hundreds of vids/views/subscribers, i really like it.

i have a huge (and scary) mac cosmetics collection, mac is where my heart lies in the cosmetics world. i think i tend to focus on eyeshadows, i love the colour selection and payoff. i'm also a big fan of the pigments (loose and pressed), eyeshadow bases (i loooove paint pots so much!), mineralize skinfinishes, lipsticks... oh, i love the whole shebang.

as for skin care, i'm a clarins fan. i use the hydraquench range for every day (lots of hydration), i also use other products including their pore serum, hydramatte lotion, beauty flash balm, exfoliator, both toners - i have a lot of their skincare range, i'm keen to experiment. clarins just really suits my skin, my lifestyle and my budget!

i dabble with some benefit, e.l.f., chanel, body shop, drugstore stuff; i use herbal essences shampoo & conditioner in one, i use GHDs and i love them.

so thats me, in a nutshell. i hope to bring you some useful reviews and swatches, general chat, makeup fun and generally get back involved in the beauty community!

happy new year!

2010-01-01T16:07:00.002Z

Ok, i really want 2010 to be a year where i truly blog regularly and keep track of what is going on. therefore, i want to share the following, on what will become "quote friday" days:

Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right. ~Oprah Winfrey

Well, she's probably right, nobody can argue with the great Oprah, huh.

I have a bunch of resolutions, but I want to see if they pan out at all, before I share them! One did include eat healthier, but I've eaten half a box of After Eights this afternoon, so that one might have to start properly when I go back to the UK...

ohmykat na live tv!

2009-08-26T09:10:00.001+01:00

ohmykat zaprasza na live tv!

3 wrzesznia o 18.30

http://www.lookr.tv/

i'm going on holiday from july 12th til july 26th 2009! x

2009-07-12T05:17:00.000+01:00

vivaaaa

2009-07-02T09:16:00.005+01:00

we're going on holiday soon! july 12th, to be exact.

probably not the best idea to be going on holiday during a recession, when our jobs are kinda wavering and our money needs to stretch (a lot) further, but we're impulsive, boyfriend and i.

we're going to:

spain!

or more specifically:

benicassim and barcelona!

benicassim is a small-ish seaside town, a few hours train ride south of barcelona. the reason for going there is fib - an international music festival (fib = festival internacional de benicassim!). i went a few years ago in 2005 with my friend lucy, and had one of the most amazing holidays. this year, wayne and i going!

we're go to benicassim for a week, from monday to monday, and spend the days frolicking on the beach with the warm waters and hot silky sands; spend the first few evenings exploring the town, and then from thursday to sunday night there'll be music at the festival. like a hotter, sunnier and cleaner glastonbury!

after fib, we're going to barcelona for a week. staying slap bang on the main street, ramblas, i've planned 3 days of our trip (la sagrada familia, bus tours, the parcs - anyone?) and wayne is planning 2 days (theme parks apparently!)

with just 10 days left (7 working days!) which will no doubt fly by, i'm making more and more lists, and trying not to spend a penny during the days at home. so excited!

sadly, because we'll be living in a tent for a week (and then living in a hotel right in the centre of tourist and pick-pocket filled barcelona) i cant take any of my good cameras, my lovely nikon and darling holga will both be saying at home, so no real photography... i'll take my cheapy little canon, and hope i get something decent!

dear cupcake!

2009-06-19T08:53:00.002+01:00

head on over to http://dear-cupcake.blogspot.com - the more art/design/photography/make up side!

away day!

2009-06-01T09:20:00.002+01:00

these are some of my friends on one of the crazy scary rollercoasters at alton towers - we went yesterday (sunday may 31st), a group of 11 of us, and it was really really lovely!

bottom row in the yellow shirt - paul, next to him is an empty seat, then next is helen, and on the end is daz, who was "flying".

i'm badly sunburnt after this weekend, but it was lovely!

happy birthday...

2009-05-21T10:12:00.002+01:00

happy birthday to you,
happy birthday to you,
happy birthday dear wayne,
happy birthday!

tag!

2009-05-20T14:07:00.002+01:00

i've redesigned/renamed the tags for this blog - see them on the right handside.

this may mean that older posts kinda make no sense, now that they're tagged with something a bit different. doesnt really matter! :)

it's boyfriend's birthday tomorrow, i'm more excited than he is. my gorgeous boy will be the grand old age of 23!

graphic electric roses

2009-05-19T12:20:00.003+01:00

i'm addicted to creating these electric graphic roses. mostly i prefer the black and white versions, though i've made a few and played around with the colour curves. so satisfying.

i think its a bit of a throw back to my teenage years (sounds old when you talk about it like that) when my best friend gavin and i would listen to music in the dark, with the computer screen flickering images like these, on windows media player.

to a couple of 16 year olds, this was the coolest thing ever.
secretly, it sometimes still is.

bank holiday on monday, thank goodness, i'm really ready for a break.

focus?

2009-05-11T15:35:00.002+01:00

took me too long this afternoon to find a background colour i liked for this blog... therefore, content is going to suffer (this afternoon, at least).

did create a tumblr this morning - i'm katskii if anyone wants to... what do you do there? follow? friend? i dont know. anyway it looks really cool and inspiring!

7 may 2009

2009-05-07T15:35:00.002+01:00

i think in order to maintain a regular blog stream, i'm going to answer these questions every few weeks - it should give me a kick to update more often, and give me something to think about...

The best thing about this week: all the amazing food i've had - nasi goreng, sunday dinner on tuesday, chinese, sweet chillil chicken - obviously not all at once
The worst thing about this week: my parents are away so i'm getting up 45 mins early to tend to the dog/house
Next week I am going to: work?
This weekend I am going to: the beach with the boy and the dog
I really miss: my parents
I can't wait to: go out to eat tonight... damn i eat a lot
The best purchase this week: gig tickets to see jamie t
I love: designing knitting patterns
I can't stand: not knowing!
I am: excited for download festival; benicassim festival; life music in general!

fairytale castle

2009-04-24T14:23:00.002+01:00

isnt this the morning beautiful castle ever? (real castle, i mean, i know its no disney castle, but its real!) this is bamburgh castle, a thousand year old castle in northumberland, england. we're going tomorrow (wayne, sally & i) - i cant wait, and whilst i dont think we'll have such perfect weather, hopefully it wont rain!

i want right on the sea front so much, rather than a 15 minute drive. could be worse! will hopefully take my D-SLR and get some seriously good photos. mind you, photos i take on my phone and blackberry turn out amazing too. ahhh hurry up friday, yr boring me now!

podrobki z mac na allegro/ebay - learn how to spot MAC fakes online

2009-04-22T14:12:00.002+01:00

2 polish films, on how to spot fake MAC products on websites such as ebay and allegro

2 filmiki, o tym jak poznac podrobki z MAC na allegro/ebay/podobne

stolen from caroline who stole from zoffe...

2009-04-06T22:10:00.001+01:00

The best thing about this week: i'm in warsaw right NOW
The worst thing about this week: sending my poor dog to the kennels yesterday :( & missing my boy
Next week I am going to: enjoy my jollydays in warsaw
This weekend I am going to: bialystock, in very eastern poland, for easter
I really miss: my dog and my boyfriend :/
I can't wait to: make some new videos for youtube
The best purchase this week: daim bars at schipol airport earlier today
I love: the proper polish kabanos i've just eaten
I can't stand: people who stand holding their boarding cards for an hour, staring at them, then put them away... and when they get on the plane, spend 10 minutes looking for the card again, to find out what seat they're in >:(
I am: quite content, apart from my contact lenses acting up!

travels

2009-04-06T21:56:00.002+01:00

for once i'm actually packed, to go to poland tomorrow! leave newcastle at 9-something in the morning, get to warsaw at 5-something in the afternoon... clearly i'm taking the long route.

so happy :)

april fools (what a cliche!) + a tutorial

2009-04-01T15:52:00.003+01:00

nothing particularly april foolsy to talk about, but like half of the people in the north east of england, i'm keeping my fingers crossed that the rumours about alan shearer joining newcastle united are true (the other half of the people in the NE are scumderland fans haha).

anyway, have a tutorial - neutral day make up, suitable for work, school etc; in Polish

happy new year?

2009-03-31T16:25:00.002+01:00

of the month, end of the financial year.

good year? hell no.
bad year? picked up a bit.
looking forward to next year? only if i'm elsewhere.

eyelashes!

2009-03-27T08:37:00.003Z

i actually used false lashes in a tutorial! hurrah! fear conquered!!

its by no means perfect, but i'm happy :)

in an effort to be here more...

2009-03-24T09:41:00.002Z

i've started updating my livejournal almost daily (usually 1 line updates...) and my youtube as often as possible, my blogspot needs some love now.

all i have to say today is well done dorothy perkins for making a dress that is actually half way nice, and wearable, and a decent price... (£40 or so). i still wont buy it, but DP send through so many emails to my work address, and this caught my eye.

posting from work

2009-01-08T14:01:00.004Z

feels like a monday :( thank goodness its a thursday!

in between job hunting, reading my gmail and youtube messages and lunch, i do sometimes manage to do some work. sadly.

i'm back to job hunting, wildly grasping at straws (perhaps not so dramatic but yaknow, i dont want to sound boring) and my goooooodness its quite difficult :(

what do i want... well... i want a decent salary (for a graduate), i want something in newcastle ideally because i like working here, i want something fun and creative, i want something that i'll be happy in and a job that has real career prospects with some awesome chances for progression.

so really, i want what most people want. bit of a bitch that theres so much job crunching going on at the moment, with poor people losing their jobs left, right and centre.

on the plus side, i just got a new calender for my wall at work. that is actually the highlight of my day at work.

how sad.

someone hire me please?? i promise i won't piss around on blogger/facebook/youtube/twitter/bbc/livejournal - this is just a blip, honest!!

p.s. more videos and photos soon, keep checking www.youtube.com/user/ohmykat and subscribe there to get info on the newest videos!

eye, aye, i

2008-12-17T18:58:00.003Z

more eyeballs today - not much to say, i've got bronchitis at the moment so am feeling sorry for myself. couldnt go to work today, havent been able to do any tutorials for a while, just generally ill :(

so now = i'm going back to bed (well, technically i'm in bed at the moment, so i guess i should say i'm going back to my book - sophie kinsella <3>

who am i?

2008-12-01T14:11:00.004Z

so, its that time of the year again - i start pondering who i am, who i want to b and how i could get there... and quite often when i feel like this, its when i'm really "into" something - i get so involved in so many different projects, hobbies and passions that i get confused about who i am.

so yeh... right now, i'm really into doing make up tutorial videos on youtube - as a result, i neglect this blog. when i would focus on this blog, i fell out of the loop with other sites. maybe i'm not the superwoman i thought i was, and maybe i really can't juggle so many different hobbies and sites... or maybe i jus need to learn to juggle it all.

my hobbies include... making make up tutorials on youtube and cosmetics, blogging, knitting and ravelry, craftster, stamping, card making, photography, facebook. i jus dont know if i can keep up with it all.

however - this is as good a time as any, to finally upload some eyeshadow pictures...

that'll do for now, especially as blogger wont let me make the pictures smaller :/

please feel free to check out my youtube, and let me know what you think :)

Bath time!

2008-08-14T14:23:00.002+01:00

Y'know, I'm a nice girl - really nice. So nice that I thought it would be nice to share my bath with you.

Yep, this is the bathwater from my last bath - before I got in, I hasten to add!! Its all thanks to this bad boy - Mmm Melting Marshmallow Moment, from Lush. Amazing. The pinkest bathwater ever.

I really hope I'm not the only person who sees this as super exciting - pink bath water should become standard - especially when it smells so good!

88 colours

2008-08-09T20:43:00.003+01:00

I'm a big MAC make up fan - well, i'm beyond a fan, I'm happy to admit I've gone beyond the obsession stage. I love make up in general - colours, textures, how they blend, how different shades work together.

I'm really low on funds at the moment (still job hunting!) but I'm going to save up and buy this (suprisingly cheap) palette of 88 eyeshadows from coastalscents - they dont deliver to the UK, so I'll get mine via eBay. In the US, they cost $25 - thats what, 28cents a piece? Amazing.

When I do get mine, I'll review it - I've heard the colour payoff is so good. Yummy yummy yummy.

One day!

No thank you, Monday!

2008-08-04T16:02:00.006+01:00

No thank you, we're not interested in having Monday today.

Maybe next week?

We're perfectly content to drift back... to... zzzzzz.

P.S. Also - we don't care its after 4pm as this is posted, we're still not interested in welcoming Monday. Good day!

sunday night poll of currents (not currants!)

2008-08-03T19:45:00.002+01:00

# Mood: relaxed, thanks to being in my jammies
# Lipstick: Lush lipbalm in "chocolate whipstick" - its acting as dessert
# Fragrance: vanilla bubble bath, from the body shop
# First thing I heard today: BBC news

# Latest makeup find you’re telling anyone and everyone about: Lush lipbalms
# Outfit: jammies
# Lovin’ it: The WI Guide to Brothels (C4 tonight @ 9 or 10 i think?)

# Something you don’t know about me: i'm desperate for a job!
# Goals for the week: Find a job! Read, knit, bake, be a housewife to myself.

kickstart me!

2008-08-02T20:02:00.000+01:00

I need to kickstart myself - much like Waynes old car, I need jumpleads every morning and I cease to function in the rain.

I've spent 2 weeks in Poland - I always come back motivated and energized... how I wish this motivation would last. I'm determined to make it.

Nap first though!

Renting a dress?

2008-07-07T12:25:00.003+01:00

Yep, I've got my dress (gown) and hat (mortarboard) rented for my graduation ceremony for Wednesday 16 July 2008. So excited. I was tempted to rent it for a week (only £10 more!) and wear it for my birthday, the day after graduation, but decided to keep the £10 for something... else.

I'm off to find some fluff and start spinning, though in all likelihood I'll just end up back on Ravelry and Craftster; come and see me there :)

no accident

2008-07-01T12:23:00.003+01:00

so, i decided to challenge myself and see if i could honestly take a break for blogging - writing and reading, as well as other aspects of the 'net, for 2 months. may and june. and i did. and i'm actually really sad that my first blog post after this break is such a negative one.

on sunday i went to alton towers with my boyfriend and 5 other boys, all of them my really good friends. we had a great day, with plenty of (gentle?) mocking towards me (i wont get on a rollercoaster, ever) and lots of laughts and jokes.

on the drive home, there were four of us in the car - wayne driving, me as front seat passenger, tony and paul in the back. we dropped tony off first and then were heading to drop paul off and then drive to the next village over, where i live.

as we were driving along the A1231 road, doing 70mph (or there abouts), some kid threw a rock larger than my fist, at the car window. we hit it at such speed that it was a miracle that it didnt actually come through the window - we have the laminated glass to thank for that.

wayne was amazing, he kept his cool and the police told him it was a miracle that he didnt crash into the central reservation as a result of the shock and the force of the rock.

i had between 40 and 50 shards of glass fly into my right arm and hand, and if the rock had come through it would have hit me either in the middle of my forehead or in the right eye.

i've never experienced such shock, and i broke down at the police station, shaking so much. wayne spent the night at the hospital with me, getting home in the early hours of monday morning. he spent yesterday with me, taking a day off work.

in the picture you can see the size of the rock because of the size of the impact - the windscreen crystallizes instead of shattering completely, but we still got a massive amount of glass inside the car. it has been valeted twice already (in 1 day!) on the inside only, and theres still glass. the cracking on the screen literally spread across the entire front.

we're so lucky to be alive, i'm so grateful that we're ok. and really, i cant spend my life thinking "what if we hadnt gone alone that road" etc - i wont think like that, because this is entirely not our fault and entirely someone else's fault - a premeditated act, where this person intended to cause harm to us - the police said it could be called attempted murder, which whilst a quite strong term, is true - why else would you throw a half a brick at a moving car windscreen, other than to kill someone?

i'm not going to dwell on this, cos it doesnt deserve my sorrow. i just wish my brain would stop picturing it.

want want need!

2008-04-26T18:57:00.003+01:00

meet the object of my (current) desires - giraffe measuring spoons from anthropologie. love love love them... but not so much the shipping charges!

i'm such a giraffe fan - when wayne and i went to florida last year, my biggest joy was going on a giraffe safari and feeding/stroking/admiring/being kissed by the giraffes. despite an immense hangover on the day which is visible in the photo (i'm ashamed, don't worry) it was such a fantastic experience.

i'm almost inclined to use it as an excuse to justify the beefy shipping charges. almost...

iced cream wednesday

2008-04-24T18:15:00.004+01:00

or should that be wednesdae? (like a sundae, geddit?)

i spent yesterday dithering about what to make... cake, cookies, muffins, brownies...

i leafed through 30 classic cakes and quited fancied a banana coconut cake with an amazing wriggly-looking topping... but i couldn't be bothered.

in the end i decided to make ice cream! orange and lime ice cream.

in goes the orange and lime zest with a healthy amount of icing sugar

and the juice of an orange or two

a few limes joined in

i used the hand mixer to blend the juice, zest and sugar together... and now i'm inclined to believe the mixer blades are magnets for citrus zest!

in goes in a lot of unhealthy cream... well is is ice(d) cream!

its given a good old whisk. i remember when i made pomegranate ice(d) cream a few months ago, i put the mixer on the slowest setting (which took a long time) to try and calm down the crazy spray of cream that covered the kitchen for a good few months. this time, i made a make-shift cover over the whole bowl and cranked the mixer up to full blast... it took about 30 seconds.

a few plastic airtight containers later and ta-da! amazing ice(d) cream. oh, a few hours in the freezer are needed too.

grey days

2008-04-14T20:58:00.000+01:00

yesterday started off beautifully - gorgeous sunshine flooding through the open curtains (we never shut them, and when we do it doesn't make any difference - they're very thin bright white cotton); sadly this was quickly replaced with angry grey clouds.

as a token of this, todays icing colour was black (for more of the cookies mentioned previously) but i inadvertently used to little black for the amount of icing sugar. the result was something along the lines of this:

i decided to compare the colour to a mix of my eyeshadows. i own a lot of mac make up and consider it an art form. as a result, i see everything in terms of mac colours, usually eyeshadows or pigments.

the real colour of the icing sugar was most like slated - a dull muted grey colour. this didn't photograph so well - the nearest colour when photographed was contrast, a sooty, jet black. i think if the icing had actually been black, i would have been stumped to photograph it accurately, or get a mac comparison.

the eyeshadows on the left are, top to bottom: slated, free to be, meadow

the eyeshadows on the bottom are, top to bottom: nehru, carbon.

colour comparisons failed me yesterday.

24!

2008-04-11T16:08:00.002+01:00

my boyfriend's brother, little marcy (or just marc, if you like) is 24 today! i think he's following on from the likes of kate moss (who wanted to party for 34 hours for her 34th birthday) and plans to party for 24 full hours.

this is us from a few weeks ago - we're going out tonight for his birthday, and we'll probably look similarly sparkly tonight... though we both have shorter hair now!

happy birthday little marcy!

cookies, cards and ravelry!

2008-04-08T13:24:00.007+01:00

greetings! i handed my dissertation in on friday 4th april 2008 - the few weeks before that i became a tad stressed and ignored everything but the work.

now that its gone, i can get back to more important things! i'm mostly going to post some photographs of what i've been making, and well actually i'm going to concentrate on the past few days, rather than weeks, though i promise pictures from easter! so sad i didn't upload them sooner.

my mama and i went to pins and needles (there are 2 links... see what i did there? crafty, i know) on friday after handing in my work - we've been going for so many years but sadly this year it was lacking in a few areas... there was only 1 yarn stall (with quite basic and unexciting yarn), there was a lot of all-round stalls (e.g. "everything for £1" type places) and a few stalls devoted entirely to glitter (!). none-the-less, we had a nice time and each bought some nice things.

i've been experimenting with image transfers and inking and braying. at the moment i only have relatively small pictures to work with, but my colour collection is expanding rapidly.

i also decided to pilage the kitchen of every possible foodstuff used for baking, and make mountains of cookies - butterflies and hearts being my trend-du-jour.

i made so many - we'll be eating butterflies for weeks.

more @ flickr (when i get round to it!)

and finally - i'm on ravelry! finally! i joined a few weeks ago, and have 2 friends so far (my mama and her friend) - would anyone like to be friends on there? i'm katskii over there.

lots of love

2008-02-14T11:10:00.005Z

i realise valentines day is for lovers yada yada, but i find it equally nice to remember all the other bits of my life that i love, apart from my boyfriend.

the usual suspects - my parents, my girl sally, my closest friends, my food - and of course my boyfriend. with regards to the people (& dog) i mostly wish i can make them as happy as they make me.

when i was younger, sally used to buy me valentines cards, and still buys my birthday cards. last years card actually reduced me tears, it was so sweet.

she works so hard at being the laziest old puppy in the world. we've had some beautiful sunny days recently so shes spent a lot of time sunning herself... indoors

shes quite a gangly girl really, though she could also be described as bottom (& middle?) heavy...

at 12 years old, shes no spring chicken, but you wouldn't believe shes so old... shes exactly the same as she was when we got her at 7 months, though she is a bit deaf-er...

i told her, in a clear calm voice, that wayne & i are going to take her to the beach on saturday (weather permitting) and she got so excited that i'm absolutely positive that she was mentally preparing her bucket & spade.

theres so much love here!

more or less

2008-02-12T13:47:00.001Z

i really wish i could focus, and prioritise...

i need more of this

and less of this

just a shame that the call of cocktails and relaxed hours at the bar is louder than the quiet shhhh from the library.

God damn right it's a beautiful day

2008-02-09T11:48:00.000Z

by the Eels.

I love when the radio is lovely and appropriate. I just switched it on this morning in the beautiful sunshine on a pleasant saturday morning and there you go "God damn right it's a beautiful day!"

why yes, yes it is!

twin demons

2008-02-04T19:24:00.000Z

those twin demons, procrastination and distraction, have taken hold of me and held me captive (up until now). you see, i have no real reason why i haven't blogged in a month, i just got "side-tracked".

uni work has been kicked up a notch (though the moment i started to feel motivated, i come back and blog..) and theres nothing new on the internet, so i stay away from both PC and laptop.

i want to photo-document what has happened of late...

the weather has been truly january-februaryish, with 70mph winds and intermittant snow. however, the old saying "red sky at night, shepherds delight. red sky in the morning, shepherds warning" has made for some fantastic sunrises (when we actually see the sun).

most mornings start with a burning glow and fill you with energy... until about 10am when the rain takes over. either way, its still beautiful.

that being said, on one of the few sunny days we actually, my friend & i took a trip up to the beach to eat fish & chips (and then ice cream) and enjoy the sun. it was obviously bitterly cold, but so beautiful. another reason i love living 15 minutes from the beach.

another reason i've avoided the internet as of late is because my craft bug has returned. card making, scrapbooking, cross stitch and knitting have all made an appearance. it seems i really am determined to ignore my degree and concentrate on food for the soul - creativity.

the fun of baking has also been restored after the last little disaster (raw biscuits, anyone?) tho sadly this little number is straight from Asda via my friend.

still, they've been scientifically (ok not really) proven to aid creativity. so i had 2.

returns!

2008-01-05T20:41:00.000Z

happy new year!

darling blog, you thought i'd forgotten you, didnt you? not at all, but i do admit that i did swan off to poland for 2 weeks over christmas and new year, and i suffered by having no internet. a travesty, i know.

as an apology, i made a list of 13 things about me that you'd simply love to know.

1. i was born on 17 july 1985. i love 17 07, the way it looks and sounds, and i love to see 17:07 and 07:17 on my clock.

2. i was scared of cats until i met my boyfriend's cat, though i always wanted one.

3. when i was little, i thought the sea ended and there was a waterfall.

4. i'm an avid crafter, i was addicted to card and stationary as a child. whilst my skills were often questioned, my enthusiasm could not be denied.

5. i can knit, sew, quilt, emboss, card-craft, diy and create, with great gusto.

6. i'm having a life-long love affair with all things minty, especially mint chocolate and mint ice cream.

7. i enjoy procrastination more than almost everything else.

8. my favourite colour is pink. i also like grey, and grass green.

9. i believe in karma.

10. i love ice cream, and will happily eat and eat and eat it.

11. i love life, i really do, sometimes i think i'm the happiest girl in the world.

12. i love random phrases (e.g. "get my goat" and "well i wouldnt want the king as my uncle")

13. i just love it when people suprise you with something out of the ordinary. it restores my faith in humanity.

music & markets

2007-11-30T09:09:00.000Z

like most people i love music. always have done, always will. and i'm one of those people who will happily admit to changing my music tastes and interests to match my current mood and state of mind. i dont stick to one genre, i'm very much fluid and adaptable.

but!

my longest standing favourite type of music is an amazing combination of... electronica, chill out, floaty (usually) female voices, positive sounding melodies that creep up on you without announcing it.. and suddenly they fill and you they take over you and you feel as if you've never been happier.

so thats my favourite music. i have a tracker at the bottom of my blog, and one on my livejournal, that shows my most recently listened tracks. most commonly it will be filled with with the same artist for ten or fifteen songs that i'll listen to on repeat for hours, til i have to leave, and then next time it will be a totally different artist and set of songs.

at the moment? a band called frou frou. they are so suprising and interesting and capture my attention every time. if you can, check them out.

totally unlrelated note - the continental market is in newcastle this fortnight! i've been twice so far... the mixture of food and drinks and other goodies to buy is amazing...

we've had german bratwurst (sold my 2 Polish men, so we had a good chat with them), spanish churros, dutch poffertjes (like little pancakes), we've bought romanian vases, an italian scarf, an italian pashmina, french soaps (see left), we've stroked and admired Polish amber, we've gazed at russian matryoshka dolls (i have Polish matryoshka dolls, i felt it seditious to buy russian) had our noses attacked my the scents of hundreds of different cheeses, coffee beans, fruit and french crepes.

its always beautiful - a dependable kind of beauty - it desnt change much year on year.

nesting

2007-11-26T20:45:00.000Z

my life appears to have been zapped up with work work and more work - constantly finishing work 40 minutes late; writing my final year dissertation on my place of work; and having a suprisingly busy uni timetable. where did this come from?

as ever, i try to see the positive. being worked to the bone means that i enjoy moments like this more than ever. little snippets of serenity before i get out of my heavenly envelope of quilty and covers and blankets.

this was my saturday morning...

the rest of saturday was spent at texere yarns, which is always an absolute pleasure and seeing Robin really reminds you how exciting knitting can be as he always has something interesting on the go; and then the harrogate knitting & stitching show.

i absolutely love the harrogate show, as much as pins & needles at newcastle, this year was our (mama & i) first show where we went on a saturday... needless to say it was verrrry busy. but we got a lot of fantastic bargains, and embossing is my newest passion. e

xpect to see a lot of embossed things in the future..!

place called home

2007-11-17T12:13:00.000Z

living by the sea really has its merits.

sure, its colder here than inland, we get more wind and rain, but in britain - who doesnt get a lot of it? its so peaceful and romantic and every other sort of beach-related cliche possible - but its all true.

i love living here!

on a further note, uni results are coming back slowly for initial work i've done, all positive results so far!

easy wednesday

2007-11-14T11:26:00.001Z

this morning was one of those kinda mornings where you don't want to get out of bed 'til its light, you don't mind the dog's snoring keeping you awake and you don't realise what a lovely day its going to be.

its actually turned into a nice, peaceful day... and its only 11.30!

sadly i have more than enough uni work to do (strategy revision today!) so i can't go and enjoy the attempted sunshine outside.

but i can dream.

remember remember...

2007-11-08T16:13:00.000Z

remember remember the 5th of november. that was drilled into me as a child, by my english paternal grandmother.

i suspect this was partly cos its her birthday on november 5th, but mostly because of bonfire night.

i'm lucky to still have my english gran, so she got flowers, and i'm equally lucky enough to have a boyfriend who will take me to fireworks displays.

i must stress, i'm not a fan of fireworks outside of november 5th, but i like traditions, and i like organised community events where everyone gets together to marvel at the amazing patterns in the sky that hover for split seconds, and its silent other than the fireworks - hundreds of people joined in awe. i like feeling part of this impressed mass of people.

so that was then.

location location location...

2007-11-03T18:39:00.000Z

you'd be hard pressed to find a prettier city centre than here...

this gem is wroclaw, in south west poland. this thousand year old city is where my mum was born and grew up in, and where i spent my summers.

the city is one of the biggest culture spots in poland, when we stayed there towards the end of october, for one night, it was so hard to get a hotel, there are always concerts, exhibitions, conferences etc happening there.

as we were there for less than a day (a morning, to be precise) my mum & i went to the cemetary in our part of town to see my grandparents, and then went into town. it was always beautiful to me, but it just looks prettier and prettier. gosh i love it... i just wish this was 10yrs ago, so i wouldnt have to go to the cemetary.

a few more photos of the amazing old town area...

beautiful beautiful beautiful.

50,000 words??

2007-11-02T12:32:00.001Z

this month is NaNo WriMo - national novel writing month, or in my case, international.

the aim is to write a 50,000 word (or 175 page) novel in a month. simple. it works out at about 1667 words a day. and it really is about quantity not quality - the aim is to write blindly for a month, so as not to get too attached to characters and plots, just so long as you get 50,000 words.

last year it was in october, and i wanted to take part, but got a full job on october 2nd, and the shock of work killed my novel writing idea.

i did remember about NaNo WriMo this year, in mid-october, and went for a walk into Newcastle city centre, for inspiration - this photo is a huge chunk of what i want in my novel. its about a business that resides in an old Victorian type building, its a cafe, bookstore, craft store, knitting room, music store and general relaxing place to go, all in one. its what i want in my life!

this year, my first glitch was forgetting about it all together. i remembered today, november 2nd, but that hasnt put me off. 800 words in an hour or so is not bad!

wish me luck, i'm going to be doing a lot of typing this month - uni has never appeared harder!

beautiful ingredients...

2007-10-31T23:12:00.000Z

having finally gained employment in the form of a christmas temp at a well known electrical retailer, i can now officially join the gang and complain about the working day. not only am i working in the general customer service industry, i'm actually working at the customer service desk - angry people returning useless electrical christmas gifts they are already realising they don't need.

on a brighter note, i present a picture of beautiful sherberty looking beads i recently received in the post. the colours beg to devoured, straight from the packet like old fashioned sweets, when i couldn't wait until they were out of the packet.

they would make especially eye-catching additions to the multi-coloured fairy cakes i have become fond of making.

the background quilt was made by my mother. countless hours of handstitched pieces lovingly sewn together, appliqued patterns so perfectly done and colours to match every aspect of my bedroom and life.

and here i am only showing you the back! shame on me.

i don't know what i'll make with the beads... add them to the pile, i'd imagine. but its nice knowing they're mine, and that one day they will become something.

i can just tell.

silver linings

2007-10-30T22:29:00.000Z

i need my bed! as a student, i really never get enough sleep.

i flew home today from warsaw, poland, where i was having a restful week with my knitting, laptop and family (yes, my mobile phone too). flying into durham tees valley this afternoon was heartbreaking - the industrial blanket of machinery covering the dead brown land was so sad.

the upside was the amazing views of the shores of britain - they really are as wonky as they look on maps! and the way they vary in height - some of the cliffs were soaringly high, and then suddenly it would drop, and they'd be gentle slopes coming from the villages along the shore.

silver linings, eh.

no more procrastination... from tomorrow.

2007-10-29T16:01:00.000Z

in an effort to prevent, or at least document, my procrastination - i created a new blog.

prevent? hopefully by seeing the vast amount of work-dodging i do i will be shamed into heading into the direction of uni work, though i fear this may not be so efficient, and document? so at least i know, and can justify, what i do with my time.

you can call me kitty, i'm a 20-something yr old student at a business school in the north of england. i'm business-minded, but i encourage my mind to wander towards the craftier side of life.

ohmykat makeup

back to basics

happy new year!

ohmykat na live tv!

i'm going on holiday from july 12th til july 26th 2009! x

vivaaaa

dear cupcake!

away day!

happy birthday...

tag!

graphic electric roses

focus?

7 may 2009

fairytale castle

podrobki z mac na allegro/ebay - learn how to spot MAC fakes online

stolen from caroline who stole from zoffe...

travels

april fools (what a cliche!) + a tutorial

happy new year?

eyelashes!

in an effort to be here more...

posting from work

eye, aye, i

who am i?

Bath time!

88 colours

No thank you, Monday!

sunday night poll of currents (not currants!)

kickstart me!

Renting a dress?

no accident

want want need!

iced cream wednesday

sponsored by...

grey days

24!

cookies, cards and ravelry!

lots of love

more or less

God damn right it's a beautiful day

twin demons

returns!

music & markets

nesting

place called home

easy wednesday

remember remember...

location location location...

50,000 words??

beautiful ingredients...

silver linings

no more procrastination... from tomorrow.