Tinsel and Treasure October 31, 2007

My very first “real” show. I’ve done lots of home shows, but this is the first biggie…and Lord, was there a lot of work involved. I have been building this display for 6 months I think (and making product). And It took almost 6 hours to set up! (Thank you Karen and Matt for your help. Couldn’t have pulled it off without you.) But I think the booth is really fun, and I am very excited at how it turned out (albiet very nervous too–as I have no idea what to expect, and I’m not even sure I have enough stuff). The show is sponsored by the Junior League of Knoxville, and tons of vendors come out to hawk their wares. It’s at the Expo Center on Clinton Highway:

8am-7pm Thursday

9:30-7pm Friday

9:30-7pm Saturday

So come and do your holiday shopping and be sure to stop by and say hello!

 

Happy Halloween from the Ghoulish Gages! October 30, 2007

Here’s miss sassy pants. It isn’t the best shot, but she wanted to show off her costume (at 6:30am. ugh.) (Thanks again to Em, who made her shirt for her–glow in the dark and everything!) She has a heavy dogbone in hair that won’t stay…and her tights are too baggy. But we’ll do her face like brothers tonite, and she’ll be as scary as the next three-year old in a tutu.

This year I got into the spirit more than usual…I actually broke out the authentic sixties mini-dress that I wore for Halloween when I was 23, and went to a Halloween party. I laquered my hair to oblivian with the Aqua net, glued on the fake lashes and off I went. It was fun but I think I’ll be retiring the dress for good now.

Stinky boy was all about the hair and makeup once he was assured it was face paint, and NOT girl makeup, and now that he felt sufficiently “scary” his sweatsuit was deemed a legit costume (thanks to Em who made my life a little easier this year).

We had all the neighbor kids over for a pumpkin carving gathering, and no one lost a digit or singed their eyelashes…so that can go in the history books as a positive activity. Phew.

This is one crazy week…mom comes in on spook day for the fright of her life–she’s keeping the kiddos while I do my show for three days and hubby goes to a conference. Anyone have some valuim I can slip her? She’ll be needing it.

Oooooooo. He took a bite out of that bat…see the blood stains around his mouth?
Oh wait…that’s just pizza sauce.

 

Photo Fun October 28, 2007

Stinky boy and I went to a Halloween party last night. He had a ball. I forgot to wear a jacket so I was coooooold but I had fun taking pictures of all the cute kiddos. It’s funny, I remember as a child thinking I was miraculously changed into whoever I dressed as for Halloween…that surely no one knew it was really me. Now we know that costumes are made of cheap, synthetic HIGHLY flamable materials hardly suitable for the wear these monkeys put it through…by the end of the party skirts were dragging, hems undone and pieces and parts missing altogether…but the kids were magically transported to another place within their imaginations and fun was had by all. Oh, and I’m only sharing a few photos now, because I want to save some for HOOOOOOOWWWWWWLLLLLLLLOWEEEEEEN!

The photo above is of the prettiest sisters…impossible to get a bad shot of them.

Wish I was a little (ok a lot) handier at Photoshop, so I’d have a clue as to how to erase the errant bobby pin…but isn’t she a cutie? This one was mad for Stinky last year but this year, the love is gone. Girls are so fickle.

Shameless Self-Promtion October 25, 2007

The way my blog page is set up, the links to other sites that I like are not easily seen. If you scroll all the way down to the bottom of this main page, you’ll see them under the heading Blog Roll. What you’ll find is this:

Spittin’ Images (my website for custom kids logos/whimsical portaits)

Kat in the Hat Designs (my stationery/tee/etc. website)

WBIR: an article from the In Style show I was featured on when I first moved to Knoxville

Southern Living/Coastal Living: where my son’s room was featured in Southern Living

Rate My Space on HGTV.com: My home is on display under kgage

HGTVPro.com: The three segments that were shot in my kitchen, featuring Cheryl Tiegs and Matt and me (ha!). Watch “Quartz Countertops, Edges and Backsplashes, and “Kitchen Island as Furniture”. Pretty funny.

Knoxville News-Sentinal: Silly article about me and my artwork-but to view the whole thing you have to pay. Is that a racket or what?

Studio C: This is my sister-in-law’s site (hubby’s sis). She is a watercolor artist and has a line of cards as well. She has done quite well, selling to companies such as J.Jill, Smith & Hawkin and April Cornell (to name a few), and a couple of years ago, she asked me to do some holiday illustration for her. She then laid out the card designs…you will find them on her site.

And if you ask me, I’ll share the link to a medical magazine that did a story on my horrific case of Ghiardia two summers ago…I know you’re chomping at the bit to see that one! (Not.)

 I realize it seems quite vain to post so many things about ME here, but I use my site and blog like a portfolio and it’s wonderful to have a way to keep everything in one place.

Now how’s that for some obnoxious self-promotion?! Ha.

Pet Portraits October 24, 2007

I found the dog photo I was looking for, along with a cat I had completely forgotten about. Makes me think I should offer these again…they weren’t so hard to do, and they are different from typical pet portraits, don’t you think? Seriously, tell me if you think I should start doing these again…

I also found this angel. The angel is pretty significant because she is what got me really going with the card biz. I had her printed onto a square folded card, and used square craft paper envelopes. At the time, the perfect square format wasn’t popular like it is today so it was actually a little ground-breaking. Anyway, I printed a couple thousand of them, and packaged them in tens using brown mail twine and sold them at my company Christmas Bizarre. I worked for Southern Progress, so it was the whole Southern Living, Southern Accents crowd and the cards were an unbelievable hit. I sold every one except for a handful I saved as samples and made a nice chunk of change. People requested them for the next few years but I never reprinted. Made me think I could do ANYTHING which of course didn’t turn out to be the case…but that angel definitely gave me to confidence to try and make a real go of Kat in the Hat Designs. Maybe they should make a comeback? Tell me what you think…

Casa De Kat October 23, 2007

Well, the booth (for the upcoming show–and hopefully future shows) was finally erected this weekend for a trial run. The thing is HUMONGOUS. These pictures don’t include all the fixins’ (huge logo, manniquins, table etc…and of course product) but you can get a feel for the rediculous scale of it. Huge thanks to hubby who helped to build it!

Above: yes, that is my nearly 6-foot tall shadow, completely dwarfed.

The ropes running horizontally clip on and off and will hold the sample tees. Small manniquins will be on top of the two front-flanking shelf towers.

To get a photo of the whole thing, I had to go up on the hill in the backyard and shoot up at the deck. The deck has two levels; the display is on the lower level and look how high it extends over the upper level! The bar across the top front will hold the huge sign and logo. I am so happy that the hard part of it is finished (buckets and buckets of paint-and way more work than I had bargained for!) Now…to fill it up with CUSTOMERS!!

 

An Adult is in the House October 20, 2007

 

I think people assume that the only kind of artwork I do is whimsical, kid stuff. Believe it or not, I do have a grown up side and actually really enjoy this style on occasion. Here are some things I’ve done over the years and sold, some by commission…others in galleries or shops. I couldn’t find a photo of one of my all-time favorites–a dog that I did for a very proud parent…what’s funny is I used to advertise as a pet portrait artist. Anyone who knows me knows how hilarious this is, as I’m not exactly the biggest animal person. Anyway, I’ll keep digging…

Above is a portrait I did of a cat I had for years, Tucker.
He was my roomie when I got out of college.

I really got into the rotten teeth on this one. Ha.

Various versions of this one were commissioned.

 

I did these for my dining room..it was one of those “mad scientist” moments. I started out with a huge canvas, with all the botanicals painted on it…but I wasn’t happy with the composition and it ended up stashed in the far reaches of the basement. Months later, I had an epiphany and started schredding the canvas into pieces and parts that “worked” and actually went to Lowes in my pjs to buy wood and copper tacks. Paint and stain were flying and a few hours later…voila!

 

 

I did this for a kitchen that was being photographed for a magazine.

This was also done for a magazine shoot, at a home in Texas. When it was published, I got several commissions for similar pieces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rate My Space October 19, 2007

I guess anyone who is reading this and knows me, knows that I work for HGTV.com. When we created Rate My Space on our site earlier this year, we were pretty much required to upload our own. I uploaded every room, except of course, for the awful kitchen. But now that it’s done I have added it, and it reminded me to tell you about Rate My Space. It is addictive…like you can’t just eat one chip…you have to keep looking. Admittedly, some people say things that sting a little, but most are really kind and it’s pretty fun. So upload your rooms and get some great ideas! By the way, my rooms are under kgage. Here’s the link…

www.hgtv.com/ratemyspace

Enjoy!

 

Sunday too soon October 14, 2007

Wow. Fall is here. At least for a few days and then I hear the temp is headed back up. My stinky little boy had a soccer game Saturday and it felt really nice in the sunshine…except I had to keep my fingers in my ears the whole time
because hubby is such a yeller.

We were awakened at the crack of dawn today by my mother…who smartly set her alarm to watch our kitchen segment on HGTV. Of course by the time we got ourselves to the tube, it was over …we completely forgot about it.

The rest is this darn display I am working on for the upcoming show…it will NEVER be finished and I am OVERRRRR ITTTT, much the same as I was over the kitchen. It’s always something with me, huh?

Anyway, Sunday afternoon is already here and as I ask each and every Sunday afternoon, where did the weekend go?

Happy Birthday Em! October 12, 2007

Have a fantabulous day…and don’t WORK too much. Ha, right? Look forward to helping you celebrate…