kapachino

Author: Kathleen

  • link roundup / 2

    Today I’m sharing some stuff I found around the internet. Enjoy!

    > somehow I always end up with more craft supplies than I need. It’d be fun to take this crash course to get ideas on how to use up what I have.

    > a lovely anecdote + thoughts about eating at the table, something that is so important to me.

    > did you know that Craftsy offers some free mini classes? I didn’t! I signed up for the basic quiltmaking one.

    > something serious for you if you’re up for it: a raw and honest update my friend Nora wrote on her feelings of grief as she processes her mother’s death.

    > and something totally not serious: hamsters eating tiny burritos. Ahhhh

    > have you heard of the free app Artkive? It’s a place to store photos of your kids’ artwork, which you can then make books out of. I have a stack of Meredith’s “art” that I intend to one day photograph, and I like that I could have a dedicated place to store it.

    >I’m in love with this photo/story book. It looks intense to make but so special.

    >breakfast casserole is my love language.

    >two home diy’s that I want to try: a hanging mirror and three-tier indoor rope planter

    >I am just obsessed with this dress, I want it sooo bad! I don’t think it’ll ever happen though.

    >more and more I want to try art journaling…

    That was a lot of artsy links this time around. I must need a creative outlet! I hope I can fit something in this weekend. I think for Mother’s Day I might just ask for a couple hours off. If only I could have a couple hours where my kids would just play happily in the same room as me without demanding anything from me…then it would be perfect. :)

  • goodbye eddie

    goodbye eddie

    This morning I woke up to find that our dog Eddie had died sometime in the night. We are sad.

    As you may know, Eddie has been struggling with severe anxiety for the last several months since Cleo died. We had been trying everything we could possibly think of to help her and I thought we were on the right track, but in the last week she relapsed and became destructive to our house and furnishings. We don’t blame her; we know she was suffering and didn’t know how to deal with it. It’s possible that she was physically sick but we were unaware. She had been checked by the vet and there wasn’t anything obviously wrong other than her mental anguish. Either way, she was no longer the calm, happy dog that we knew.

    Today I am remembering Eddie. I am grateful that she was a companion to my husband from the time she was a puppy, and she saw him through some incredibly difficult years prior to the time we met. I am grateful for the joy that she brought to our lives. I am grateful that she died at home instead of forcing us into a heartbreaking decision. I am grateful for all her years of delighted devotion.

    It’s so strange to go from having three dogs just a few years ago to having none. There are reminders everywhere. The house will be much quieter and calmer now, but emptier too.

  • printing photos for project life

    printing photos for project life / kapachino

    Today I want to talk about the options of printing photos for Project Life. When you commit to doing this you really need to figure out what works best for you, because you are going to be printing a lot of photos and if you figure out how to stay on top of it you’ll be well on your way to keeping up. In my opinion it’s OVER half the battle. I’ve tried a bunch of different routes and they all have benefits and drawbacks, so let’s discuss.

    Mail delivery

    One option is to use an online service to have your photos shipped to you. Many companies offer this; I have done it before using Snapfish and I’ve heard that the quality of Persnickety Prints is awesome. I’ve also used the PostalPix app on my phone for Instagram prints and that was fun, too.

    Benefits: higher quality (usually), cheaper per print

    Drawbacks: wait time, paying for shipping (but you may be able to find a deal)

    This is a good option if you are going to do a bunch of spreads in bulk, that way you make the shipping cost worth it. If you are trying to keep up with weekly or bi-weekly spreads it might be harder since you’ll need your photos quickly.

    Same-day pickup

    This is kind of like the old one-hour photo. You still use an online service to place your order, but you choose to pick them up in-store instead of having them shipped. This is the option I use most frequently, and I’ve had good success with Snapfish. You can also do this directly through the photo lab that you choose, like Walgreen’s or Costco.

    Benefits: get your photos quickly (usually within an hour), still affordable

    Drawbacks: quality is very dependent on the photo lab you choose and might never be quite as high, the price per print is higher, limited sizing of prints

    I like this option because it enables me to complete my spreads in a timely manner but it’s still fairly affordable as far as prints are concerned. If you are going to choose this route I recommend trying a few different photo labs to test the difference in quality. I’ve found that my local Walgreen’s does a decent job and it’s super close, so I use them. I tried using Wal-Mart once and there was a whole fiasco so I stay away from them!

    Printing at home

    This might be an option to consider if you are someone who needs a lot of flexibility in your creative process, or if you aren’t going to be printing a whole lot of photos (because it can be pricey).

    Benefits: flexible, get your photos at any time almost instantly, quality can be very high depending on your printer, easy to print different sizes

    Drawbacks: the combination of initial investment in a printer, paper, and ink can get expensive

    Personally, this option is too expensive for me to rely on for all of my photos, but I do like having it available to me. I have a Canon Selphy which prints a max size of 4×6. I love it. The printer itself wasn’t too expensive, it was incredibly easy to set up, it’s quick and easy to use (I do all of my printing wirelessly from the app on my iPhone), and I love being able to use it when I just need one or two photos here and there.

    These are the main ways I know of to print photos, and I use a combination of all three depending on the situation, but same-day pickup is what I use most often! Did I miss anything? What’s your preference? Have I convinced anyone new to try Project Life yet? ;)

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  • whole person health : starting out

    whole person health

    I consider myself a fairly healthy person overall, but some areas are definitely better than others. After having my second baby and changing jobs I really felt a change within myself. The extra time in my day and the lower-stress job I’m at now have made me feel like I have a whole new life. I really want to make the most of it. There are some habits that are very important to me that I haven’t been doing since before I had kids, and that needs to change because the kids aren’t going anywhere (I hope)!

    Anyway, I’ve been making some adjustments in my life and have more planned to become a healthier, more whole person overall. I want to share with you my progress as I go, and hopefully some of you can relate. I’m going to focus on three key areas:

    Spiritual – my relationship with God is the most important part of my life, but I have let it slip to the background.

    Physical – I need to take care of this body, not only because it’s the only one I have, but because I want to feel good!

    Emotional – this is a broad topic but for me the main issue is stress!

    Thanks for listening as I work through these issues and get healthier! What are your problem areas? Have you made any changes lately or do you have any planned?

  • a self check printable worksheet

    Last week I was driving and my head just started spinning with all the things in my life I needed to keep straight. There are things I need to do to keep our lives running day to day, areas that I want to focus on for my own personal growth, projects to tackle, relationships to improve. All of a sudden I had the overwhelming need to separate it all out and have a space to do a little bit of journaling about where I am in each area of life along with a place to note any actions I need to take.

    I wanted something physical that I could hand write on and tape up where I’ll see it. This is what I came up with:

    how am i doing worksheet

    Filling this out was incredibly therapeutic. It allowed me to gauge where I’m at in a bunch of different areas and write out the next step that needs to be taken to improve in them. I have it posted in my bathroom so I can ruminate on it while I get ready in the morning and wind down at night. Then I plan to go through the action steps and schedule them into my to-do list. I think I’m going to take the time to fill one of these out every month or so!

    Have you ever done anything like this? Do you compartmentalize your life or is it all jumbled together? For me things tend to flow one into the other and I’m always juggling a ton of different lines of thought, but sometimes separating them out helps. If you’re interested, I wanted to make this chart available to you to customize. You can access it as a Google doc here, or click on the picture below, then just save a copy and edit the categories however you like!

    self check printable worksheet