last minute valentines

If you waited until the last minute and need some quick and easy printable valentine ideas, I have plenty for you in this post! First up are some printable business-card sized valentine freebies! They fit on Avery business card paper or you can print them on regular card-stock and cut them out the old fashioned way ;) They're available (I repeat, FOR FREE!) at kitschy digitals here.

ps. I'm including free printed versions of these with all sweet and lovely orders this week!



I also have some Flapper Doodle valentines, too! These have cute little 1920's sayings on them ("Gee, You're Keen!" is my favorite) and my flapper illustrations. They're available in my etsy shop here. By the by, all of the printables in my shop now have instant downloads! I'm using crafthub, a service that automatically e-mails the files within 2-10 minutes. It's pretty nifty!



My sweethearts art print is now available as a printable download, too! At checkout just let me know what names you'd like and within an hour (provided I'm not asleep, which is usually between 4am-11am EST) you'll receive a custom PDF that you can print out and give to your sweetie pie! It's available in my etsy shop here.



If you want to listen to some lovey dovey tunes while you snuggle up with your loved one (or cat) this sampling of 1920's songs is perfect! They're all super sweet and lovely ;) This download is available in my etsy shop here.



Last year I scanned my dad's collection of vintage valentines from when he was a kid! They're all available (for free!) here. You can print them out for some unique cute cards or use them for blog posts, digital scrapbooking, etc. They're available here.



Finally, if you have some extra time on your hands tonight you can whip up this easy little embroidery pattern! It would be perfect to give to that special someone that you don't get to see often enough in person. You keep one embroidery and they can keep the other! It's available in my etsy shop here.

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a purrfect valentine

I've been wearing valentine-themed outfits all week (surprise! ha!) but so far I only had a chance to take pictures of this one. I got these kitty heart collar clips from i love crafty, and they are just purrfect for valentine's day! For me especially, since I adopted two of my cats on February 14th! Tomorrow we're celebrating Chloe's 10th anniversary (!!) and Hubble's 1st! I got Hubble some new toys and then went all-out spoiling Chloe with her favorite foods and treats. I mean, 10 years is pretty big so she deserves to be spoiled.

Off subject, but I just have to mention this cardigan. I'm on a constant quest to find the perfect cropped cardigan and oh golly this one is BEYOND perfect. It fits well, has just the right neckline (sometimes they're too low, too high or weirdly shaped) and it's warm enough for winter but light enough for spring and fall.  I wish so badly that it came in more colors!

dress and shoes - asos | cardigan - c/o modcloth | collar clips - c/o i love crafty

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polkadots and moonbeams

When I first got this dress a couple years ago, I didn't like the way the skirt was more fitted than I'm used to... but I loved the print and color so I left it in my closet anyway. I took pictures of it for my last shop my closet update, but then I had a change of heart and decided to try it on again one last time. And I fell in love with it. I love when that happens!

Today there is still snow on the ground from the blizzard, but darn if it doesn't seem like spring. I have the windows open, there's a cool breeze blowing in and the sun is out in full force. I usually suffer through spring (thanks, allergies!) so I really enjoy the few days we get in the winter that are spring-like without the sneezing

dress- vintage | shirt - modcloth | shoes - from my grandmom

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stickygram

Last month stickygram sent me some magnets from my instagram photos, and they are pretty incredibly awesome (most of the photos I picked were pictures of my cats, though, so they may have had an unfair advantage in the awesome/cute department.)

I've been trying to do one photo a day on instagram -- not participating in any photo-a-day projects or going with any specific theme, just aiming for at least one picture each day if possible. I think I've only missed one day so far this year, but it was just a crappy day that I didn't really want to document anyway (I think those days should get a free pass with 365 projects, don't you?) Sometimes I just scroll through my photo history in the app and get lost in cute pictures of my cats and happy memories. It's nice to be able to have physical copies of those photos on display now! I have a couple of these on my fridge and a few on my message board near my computer. Right now when I glance up I see Hypatia, Chloe and Hubble peeking out from behind my monitor. I love it!

If you're on instagram too my username is kategabrielle! :)



magnets c/o stickygram

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friday favorites

I'd already be sold on these shorts if they were just high-waisted and mint colored, but the fact that they also have pink ice cream sundaes printed on them totally seals the deal! Cutest shorts ever!



This is so simple and absolutely brilliant! White chocolate + yellow m&m + pretzel sticks = bacon and egg candy!! GENIUS! And perfect for Ron Swanson fans. Even perfect-er for vegetarian Ron Swanson fans who don't eat real bacon (yup, we do exist!) You can grab the recipe here.



Speaking of awesome tv people... Barney Stinson. ♥  I'm pretty sure I need this hanging up in my room. I love the quote (although I think when Barney said it on the show it was betraying how sad he actually was, but that's a whole different me-over-analyzing-sitcoms story) and the embroidery and the fabric! It's on etsy here.



I am SUCH a sucker for novelty things, and this is no different. It's a purse that looks like a ladybug! Not quite as amazing as the unicorn shoes (which are now in my closet.. surprise, surprise) but still pretty darn cool!



I'm kind of in love with Kailey's workspace. Ever since I saw this on her blog I've been staring at my desk contemplating which necessary item should be replaced with a pink ice cream lamp. I'm thinking the printer can go.



I love this DIY valentine bunting from Now That's Pretty! I might whip up one of my own using these vintage valentines I scanned last year.



Marianne Faithfull as a doll. She's one of my favorite singers and a pretty awesome person -- there's a documentary about her life on Netflix and I highly recommend it. I loved her interviews in the film, she's just such a strong, spunky and super talented lady!



Isn't this beautiful? I found it on pinterest but it just links back to an endless stream of tumblr reblogs and I can't find the original source. I hate when that happens! If anyone knows who made it, please let me know so I can add a credit :)



Color Me Katie has a super cute tutorial on how to dye rainbow flowers! If you haven't visited her blog before and have some time on your hands, just go through her entire archives. It's a guaranteed smile-maker and for anyone who loves color as much as I do, a feast for the eyes!



I wish that all elementary schools all had this hanging up in their classrooms.

My parents always taught me to say "thank you" if anyone called me weird (the fact that they felt the need to give me this advice must have meant that they knew what I was in for in school?) and I did.  I distinctly remember during one recess in 5th grade, this girl Andrea came up to me and just said "You're weird." I was so excited and said "Thank you!!" with a huge grin on my face. She gave me a strange look and then walked away -- probably even more secure in her belief that I was weird. To this day though I still see it as a compliment. I'm very happy with who I am (and who I was in 5th grade) and it's mostly because I was taught that being weird is kind of awesome.

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2012 revisited

Last year I kept a "good things" jar. Every time something neat happened, I wrote it down on a little slip of paper and put it in a jar in my bedroom. On New Year's Eve, I emptied the jar and relived all of the good memories I'd had throughout the year. It was a really fun project (and one that I'm currently doing again for 2013) but when it was over I didn't know what to do with the my memory notes. At first I bundled them up with a paper clip and put them in a zip-lock bag in a drawer, just until I could come up with something better. And then it hit me - duh! - a scrapbook! :)



I gathered up all of my notes, purchased a pretty 8" x 8" pink scrapbook and ordered photos to go with some of the occasions I'd written down, like my day trip to NYC with Amber last June, my trip to Disney, adopting Hubble, etc.

My mom and I used to do real scrapbooking -- like the kind where you have tons of gadgets and paper-cutting tools and patterned papers and stickers and embellishments and the pages look like they could be in magazines -- but I wanted this to be more like a journal, kind of messy and fun! I just used washi tape and some cheesy stickers from Michaels, and then doodled a bit on the pages. The result is a sort-of-sloppy but definitely fun little peek into my year, and, I think, the perfect way to preserve all those happy memories!

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shamrock shake

I'm a little (okay, a lot!) tardy to the party, but this week I tried a mcdonalds shamrock shake for the first time! My grandmom loves them and I always thought they looked really pretty when she'd order one but the idea of a mint milkshake just seemed kind of bleh. For some reason though I randomly decided to taste one the other day and boy am I glad I did! It's so delicious! Also as someone who gets super excited about holidays WAY in advance, it was pretty awesome to get a little taste (literally) of St. Patrick's Day almost two months in advance ;D  It must run in the family because yesterday my mom was perusing her recipes for boxty and colcannon! yum!! :)

dress- c/o ever + mi crush | sweater - forever 21 | belt - from another dress

shoes - asos | brooch- under the shade of a bonsai tree

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