Manolo who???

I am beginning to have a serious obsession with Trashion Fashion. I keep walking around my apartment looking at things I can redo or add some Kelby-flair too. I spotted these lime green shoes underneath my bed and knew that these HAD to be my next project. I slapped some teal paint on them (a few too many coats probably) and then added some of my favorite Martha Stewart glitter mixed with Modge Podge (my FAV) to keep the glitter on the shoe!

Side note--I've decided my life would be oh so boring without Martha Stewart glitter. Thank you Martha for bringing it into my life.

I do not feel like these shoes are quite complete....but I just love them so much and wanted to wear them to work today. I need to finish up a little bit on the trim and just make them look more polished. But you get the general idea.

Live it. Love it. Make it.
Kelby

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what's in a bag?

In an effort to kill some time at work, I decided to clean out my purse. And then I decided to take a picture of it. And then the decision was made to blog about it. (I'm not saying these were great decisions...but decisions nonetheless).

So this is what's in my purse...
The latest InStyle magazine. InStyle brings much joy and inspiration to my life. Every time I open my mailbox and see a new issue, it's like Christmas. I just got the August issue this weekend and haven't event cracked it open yet. Looks like this is what I'll be doing on my lunch today.

My planner. Yes, I have an iPhone AND a Blackberry (for work). My iPhone is connected to my hand at all times. But yet, I have to have my planner too. There's just something about writing things down that I thoroughly enjoy. And if you were to open this bad boy, you would see that things are color-coded (birthdays, anniversaries, etc) and that even the littlest, most non-signficiant thing is written down. That's just how I roll...

Hairclip. For those of you who haven't seen me in awhile, I'm like freaking Rapunzel over here. Ok, I may be exaggerating a wee bit, but the hair is obscenely long...and I love it. But it's also 90 degrees everyday here in Nap-town, so homegirl has to put it up. Hence the bedazzled hairclip.

Lip Gloss. This is Mary Kay's Beach Bronze lip gloss and it's my absolute favorite for the summer. Dab a little foundation/cover-up on the lips first and then gloss it up! love it!

Checkbook. Yes. I still write checks (sometimes). I'm not ashamed to admit it. I embrace the fact that it's 2010 and I have a debit card...and I still write checks. What are you gonna do about it?

Coach Wristlet. My sister got me a badass wallet for Christmas (along with this purple purse but more on that later) and it broke over the weekend. So bummed. So now all my stuff is in this little Coach wristlet until I find a wallet I can't live without.

Camera. Life is funny and fast and full of memories. I always carry around my camera just in case something happens at the most inappropriate time and I need to catch it on "film" forever. And if you were to flip through the pictures saved on my camera, you would see that I still have pictures on there from Mardi Gras. 2009. Over a year and a half ago. Oops. I may want to start deleting pictures....

Black and White wristlet. My crazy talented sister made this for me last year and now it moonlights as my makeup holder. In it you will find: teal mascara, 2 tubes of regular mascara, three things of nail polish (including the Navy Baby that I'm currently rocking), coverup, five other things of lip gloss, a brow pencil, eyeliner, a mirror and of course...a Sharpie. I'm random. That's all I can say.

Marc Jacob Sunglasses. I have a fetish with sunglasses. I love them. The bigger, the better. These things take up like half of my face...and I don't even care.

The Purple Purse...aka The Doris. Like I said, my sister got me this purse last year for Christmas. I love purses...well, let's just be honest...I love any type of accessory. I love this purple because it goes with everything (for example, today I'm wearing white linen pants, a baby blue t-shirt with a gray cardigan and the purple still goes with it all!) Burg ordered it from the boutique she works at and it's literally called... The Doris. This is funny for a lot of reasons...most of which I'll just keep to myself.

Anyway...what's in your bag today?

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lately I've been Crafty McGee....

Ahhh, I LOVE crafting!!! I know this is not a shock to you devoted bloggers, but I love it. It is totally my stress reliever and my release. I love taking just yarn and creating a masterpiece. But lately, I am totally in to taking something without much charm or magic, and making it magical!! Refashioning trashion is totally my favorite! (It totally helps that my hot glue gun has become my most trusted companion....)

Look at this sweet little clutch!! I bought this brown, poop-colored clutch at Goodwill today for $2.99. I have been looking to add more clutches to my accessory wardrobe, and thought I saw a little magic left in this brown, boring old clutch. So it went home with me! I got out my trusted Martha Stewart glitter (hello!! totally my fav!) and mixed it with some Modge Podge so that the glitter would not flake off. I painted several coats on the clutch (after I Febrezed it) and let it try. Then I painted some fake flowers and leaves with that same MP/Glitter mixture and hot glued those on. It wouldn't be complete without some feathers and rhinestones. Voila! DoNe!! I seriously LOVED the way it turned out!!!

I love organization...and I love fun things. So this dry erase board was the PERFECT mixture of the two!! Yes, it's a dry erase board. I can't take the credit....I got the idea from this blog but it was so cute that I had to "borrow" it.

I found a "pretty" frame from Hobby Lobby in their 80% aisle...it was $10. Bought some cute fabric to go underneath it. I painted the frame to match the fabric, hot glued the fabric to the cardboard from the inside of the frame. And it's done!! Use a dry erase marker on the glass, and it works perfectly as a dry erase board. Seriously, these are my new favorite things. Watch out...friends, you might be getting these for Christmas gifts. They are so cute and so useful. LOVE them!!

Last but not least, I am in love with these flowered cuffs. Again, this is not my original idea...but I did add some "Kelby Flair" until it not only looked like something I would make...but something I would wear. (Thank you Ruffles and Stuff for the idea!)

What do you guys think?? Like it? Hate it??

Live it.Love it.Make it.

xoxo

Kelby

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tramatic morning.

Let me tell you a wee little bit about my morning today. Woke up. Made coffee. Did my Bible study. Showered. Got dressed. Headed to work. Walked the three blocks to my office. Sat down at desk. Picked up iPhone to call Sister.

And that's when the trouble began.

I couldn't hear the phone ringing. All Sister could hear was crackling.

GASP! Could it be??!?! Is my iPhone disfunct????

With butterflies in my stomach, I waited patiently (or impatiently...whatever) until 10am when the AT&T store opened. I ran to the mall. But those ladies COULD.NOT.HELP.ME. Told me I had to go to the Apple store. GASP!

Let me back up. I could seriously do EVERYTHING on my phone except make outgoing or receive incoming calls (unless I used the speaker phone). I mean, everything else worked. Facebook.Twitter.WordswithFriends.Texting (PTL).Everything. I was seriously panicking about not being able to answer my phone without using the speaker phone.

Anyway, I hopped in my car. Drove to Keystone. Walked to the Apple Store. Got slightly distracted by everyone using the iPads. Crap...focus Kelby! Found one of the friendly Apple employees who told me I needed an appointment. Seriously? (again, I was distracted by the iPad he was holding. Forgot why I was there for a minute.) Made an appointment for this afternoon.

Poo. I really just wanted my phone situation resolved.

But then. Oh but then. The Apple gods smiled upon me once again....and my phone start working. Seriously. I thought I'd test it once just to see. And it did. It worked. I called Sister and everything.

Seriously....I had no idea I was so obsessed with my phone.

And now I want an iPad.

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...before....after

I love my little apartment. Seriously, it is probably one of my favorite places that I've ever lived in. And I love that slowly....over time...it is really starting to resemble me and my taste. My crazy, bedazzled, jeweled, loud, rocker-chic taste. (rocker-chic...that's my look I've decided. More on that later....)

Anyway, in just looking around my place, I realize I have tons of stuff that I like...but not love. So I'm redoing them until I love them. These are just three of the things I redid yesterday afternoon. (Sunday Funday was a pool day...and then the storms rolled in. So I turned on the NCIS marathon, got out my craft table...and crafted the afternoon/evening away. It's so therapeutic. Seriousy. Love it.)

Brought To You By The Letter K...

I LOVE monogrammed stuff. I LOVE having my intials everywhere. I LOVE when I find "K's" that are pretty and scripty. I purchased this K a few years ago at Archivers. It was tremendously on sale and I thought...heck yeah! I can always use another K in my life. But I've been looking at it recently and the plain black just isn't working for me anymore. Sooooo....I got out some turquoise paint (actually, I mixed a few colors until I got it just right), my Martha Stewart glitter and got to work. (First of all, I'm slightly obsessed with this glitter. It's glitter, but not really. It's smaller and finer and AMAZING. God Bless Martha Stewart.)

And here's the final product!!! Doesn't it look awesome next to my Harry Potter collection... :)

Oh La La...the French Have Invaded My Kitchen!

I got these two sweet little towel holders from the Pier One outlet store YEARS ago. I just love them. However, I don't love the color scheme of them. It just isn't "me". So I was talking with my wonderful sister earlier this weekend and I told her I wanted to paint them. I was thinking about painting them hot pink or turquoise, but then she said that a silouette of them would probably look really cool. Gosh, she's brilliant.

So I took her advice. I painted them metallic black. And then got out my handy dandy Martha Stewart glitter again (this time in black--I find it essential to have it in every color). And voila! The final products turned out better than I could have imagined!!!

Live it.Love it.Create it.
xoxo
Kelby

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Trashion.Fashion.Ruffle.Redo.

Long time no blog!! Holla....Kelby's back...with avengence!



So, I've been blog hopping lately and found this blog that I'm absolutely in love with. Check it out. I'm getting so many ideas from here, I can't even stand it. All I want to do is stay home and craft my life away. But alas, I cannot do that.



However, it is Sunday afternoon and I've already spent 3 1/2 hours at the pool today. Soooo, I decided I would allow myself some crafting time. I received, from my awesome parents, the Limited Edition Project Runway Brother sewing machine for Christmas this past year...and I haven't made good use of it. So I put the crochet hooks down and decided to sew something. I call it my Trashion Fashion Ruffle Shirt (it's a working title). And I got the idea from this tutorial and I'm in love. Look out friends. Looks like I may just be wearing one-shouldered ruffle shirts ALL SUMMER LONG.



Live it.Love it.Create it. :)
xoxo
Kelby

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red wine. and a single thought.

I'm sitting at my make-shift desk in my cozy living room. NCIS is on in the background. My cute little pup is walking around the table, sniffing everything in her path. And licking my face. I have a pile of laundry on my zebra-print couch. I have pictures that need to be hung on my slate-gray walls. I have a glass of red wine to my left. And a semi-cold cup of Starbucks Grande Americano. (I love that the Starbucks guy always calls me "flower".) I'm wearing my new skinny black jeans and my brown flat boots. I'm typing this on my hot pink laptop, while my iPhone with its hot pink cover sits next to me...beckoning me to check my Facebook or Twitter one more time. This is my little life. I feel as though you need to know this inside information--for me to paint you a picture of my surroundings; my environment. You see, God is calling me for a grander purpose. Something larger than my little life. Something that I can do with the gifts He has given me, to glorify the Kingdom even more. So things are about to get personal. Real personal. Today and more days to come.

I went to a Bible study tonight at church--my first in a long time. We watched a video with Priscilla Shirer. And things she said spoke to me in ways that only the Holy Spirit can reach. I've been struggling with this thing for a while now. This one thing. And finally today...on the fourth day of this new year...I've found peace. And a new calling. For the past 24 hours, God has been trying to tell me something. In my waking thoughts--it my sleeping dreams. During my yoga meditation (yes, I do yoga on Mondays. don't ask me about my Downward Facing Dog). Through my dear friend Mary, even though she has no idea what she said to point me in this direction. Crap, even I don't know. The power of God is in me....and I'm ready for this journey.

The one thing I've been struggling with....is being single. I'm 28 years old and single. S.I.N.G.L.E. I spell it out for you because I feel you need to understand the importance of this. Understand the importance of this season of my life. I always thought I would find the man I was supposed to marry in college--get married--have babies--quit work--have more babies--be happy and married (with a giant rock on my finger...c'mon now, let's be honest). But alas, that is not my life. That isn't even close to my life. It never has been. And the single life isn't as glamorous as Carrie Bradshaw would lead you to believe. Sometimes it down right sucks. It sucks having to have your parents as your emergency contact people. It sucks worrying about where your next date will come from...or your next NCMO :). It sucks being on one income, paying all your own bills with just one income. And yet, still having to live up to the same expectations as all your married "coupled" friends. Yes, there are definitely some upsides to this singlehood--but they are shortlived. Yes, I can pick up and leave whenever I want (after I drop Yankee off at my parents). Yes, I am independent...I know I can support myself and I know that my life is not dependant on someone else. These are all important lessons. But c'mon...who wants to learn lessons all the time?

So what is my realization, you ask? Good question. One single thought. Are you ready? Seriously, are you?

Being single is the season of my life right now. And this is exactly where I am supposed to be.

As a Christian, I know that God never gives me more than I can handle. This knowledge is good to know when you're going through a rough time...but why do we look at being single as a rough time? As a Christian, I should know that God always puts me exactly where I need to be. Even better? He has prepared me for this season of my life. I am 100% prepared for this journey. Why does it take us such a long time to understand the simplest of lessons?

So here's what I know. I am single. Because I am single, I am somewhat an expert on this topic. I am outspoken. I have an opinion about everything and nine times out of ten, you will know my opinion. I seriously view my outspoken nature as a gift. And lastly, I love God. WIth my heart. Mind. Soul. Strength. Have you put two and two together yet? I am feeling very much led to be a voice for us single, Christian woman. I am feeling led to educate you on how we feel when we hear sermons telling us that we should be married. I am feeling led to enlighten your world on our thoughts. Our struggles. Our victories. Our lives. We love the Lord. We want to serve him. And if I'm being honest...Proverbs 31 gets on our nerves (or maybe that's just me). We're independent. We're vocal. We're honest. We're trying to be content, no matter the circumstances. Stories about Ruth (being "redeemed" by a man) and Mary/Martha (being a hostess with the mostess) kind of drive us crazy. We are strong. And we are a revolution.

Welcome to my journey. I hope you enjoy the ride.

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