fumble mumble

one drawing a week. that's the deal.

i moved into a house and i have lots of free time, but all i spend it on is staring at the walls. not. any. more.

23 23 23 23 23

happy birthday to me.
best birthday weekend. the willy wonka party i always dreamed of and...



AND




ly and alex wrote not one, but TWO songs about ME! (this is not good for my already over-inflated ego!)

a francoise kind of day

blackbird

//where's the rest of it?//

windsor knots

Look Mom, I can make ties now!

thanks, purl bee!

the whole world (in my hands)

What to do with an outdated globe? (I'm pretty sure the U.S.S.R. is no longer in existence, right?) Turn it into a chalkboard, duh! I think I've finally given myself the butt-whooping I needed to start getting crafty again.

The interweb wows me again with its infinite wisdom and guidance, with a few tweaks.


Covering round things with flat things is pretty impossible, involving five parts headache and one part genius.


It's like picking off that scab you've had on your knee for a week!









All done. Now I can write stupid notes to myself like "Do your laundry." and "Don't be an idiot." Mission accomplished.

Note to those who care: if you ever intend on doing this yourself (DTY, heh), don't do what I did. Forget the contact paper. Forget the chalkboard spraypaint. Don't get impatient and instead wait for the paintable stuff to be in the store, it will make your life so much easier, I promise!

partyin' partyin'

this weekend i helped throw my sister a surprise birfday party. she's old.
a party is an excuse to order all of your favorite foods and craft. mini-craft.

tissue paper + string = streamers for days.





i ordered the tastiest marble cake (with chocolate chip surprises inside)!



did i mention i also got her a pinata?

darling embroidery

probably the best thing i ever made. proof of how crafty i once was... and maybe can one day become again? high school kim wasn't the only kim who could mindlessly stitch away, right? right.



i'm pretty sure this bag earned me my college job more so than any skills i may have (or not) had, and i am not ashamed at all.



my boyfriend embroiders too. i win, he's the best.

one million stitches (in progress)

i've been working on this cross stitch for the past five years, not that it should take anybody that long, but because i tend to forget about every project i start or want to start. follow through is something i greatly lack.

i found it tucked away in my closet a few days ago, and decided that instead of mindlessly staring at the netflix tube all day, i would keep my fingers moving making little tiny xxxxxxxxxxxxxx's until i got bored. or finished. whichever comes first.

i think i like the underside just as much as the front.

eventually i'll finish, maybe in another five years, five months, or, hell, five days?!

cross stitching is hours of pleasure, interrupted by years of sheer monotony.

black/white

lake hodges. box camera trials/failures. harumph.

cedar creek falls

cedar creek falls, julian, california.

4.5 miles down, down, down then up, up, up.

"es un gato con una pipa!"

it took michelangelo four years to paint the sistine chapel. millions flock to it every year. weep and cry, and marvel at its majesty.

it took me two years to paint my replica of "un gato con una pipa". one will flock to it. weep and cry, and marvel at its overwhelming sadness, for it is "el cuadro mas triste del mundo", well, the (second) saddest painting in the world.




this is the last reference i make to this video, i promise. (for this year, at least.)

happy linzer day

today is one of those holidays, you know, the made up ones that make people either super enthused or super bitter. i like to straddle the line between both and EAT. also use it as an excuse to try something new, like baking linzer cookies for the first time.

lots of almond meal, lots of sugar (lots of cavities), and twelve tiny cookies to show for it.

xoxofartxoxo

emily meily lymei ymiel

this is my best friend emily and her face four times.
she comes out funny when i don't look at the paper.

ten seconds

my boyfriend is fun to draw in ten seconds or less.

back to the future!

in fifty years, according to the magic of disneyland innovations, i'm going to look like this:



i predict that at the ripe old age of 72 i will be enjoying my golden years, eating raisins and cheese puffs, playing dominoes, counting the inevitable ghost hairs on my chinny chin chin, and being an overall awesome person. i would hang out with me.

don't smoke, don't drink (too much), always wear sunscreen.

cowlick

cow-tipping is a myth.
bessie is much too strong and clever.

1970-something

a terrible (but totally awesome) mobile-phone-snapshot-of-a-snapshot:
my mom (left) and my aunt being babes on the beach.

just relax

this is my number one babe.
not entirely sure where her hind leg disappeared to, though.

cabbage patch kids

multicolor microns
i think i like drawing food

winner winner, chicken dinner!!!

i am now convinced that 2011 will treat me well. yes, my friends, it is true. i can, with mine littlest eye, spy the brightest of sparks in the future. curious, are you? well, i have just been informed that I, Kim, am a weiner. Oops, i mean, winner.

want proof?


lunch on me, suckers! i'd like to thank the academy of eaters, the fried dumplings, the sweet potatoes, oh, and kumon north america, inc.

oh, the joys of owning a business. (business cards are The Awesome) maybe i will get one made with the following words: "Kim Nguyen, Professional Lunch Winner Extraordinaire"

[is it sad that this will probably be the high point of the year?]



free lunches to you and to yours! happy new year!

two zero one one

hello, friends.
it's time again (again?), time for that uplifting and inspiring this-year-i'm-going-to-really-do-it promise to myself, proclaimed to all of you via the magic of the interweb. because the internet means forever.

one: must make a meal for myself at home at least once a week, to be shared with family or friend(s).

two: must limit burrito-buying aka fast fooding to a maximum of three times per week, to be reduced in the future.

three: must keep a spending log for x amount of time, to be continually reviewed, as i am-

four: trying to save as much money as humanly possible for a fool like me.

five: focus on all the positives and not get bogged down by the inevitable minor disappointments of the world.

six: listen to the worst fortune cookie advice i ever got, "eat your vegetables".



so if you see me eating a burrito in a fancy new dress i bought looking pissed off because i dropped hot sauce on my shoe, slap me and remind me of these things. maybe i will be kind enough to pay you for your services... in LOVE.