eye heart ewe

here's my first attempt at using polyvore! it was super easy and fun to throw a dream outfit together!


this upcoming valentine's day will be my 8 year anniversary with my man -- and now fiancé =) if i could choose the perfect anniversary outfit this would be it! of course living in seattle means there would also be a heavy jacket + scarf + gloves in the equation...but in my dream world the sun will be out and the weather will be warm and dreamy. 


my perfect anniversary/valentine's dream date: a wilderness walk followed by picnic lunch and goodwill jaunt...later we would go see an action movie, play with a herd of puppies, then eat some delicious cupcakes and end the night by snuggling on the couch watching our dvr'd tv shows. ahhhhh sounds perfect!


what's your dream date this valentine's day?


~kara

my new year's goals

my own best friend

the other day i went online and ordered my usual bumble & bumble curl creme, and when checking out i decided to try something new...i took an extra second and selected the "free gift wrap" option =) normally this would be something i just breeze past, but this time i thought it might be nice to send a gift to myself! i even went the extra step and wrote a little note to myself to be included on the card.

a week passed by and i received my package in the mail...by then i had already forgotten about the whole thing and when i opened the box i got such a sweet surprise! the products were beautifully packaged and i was wondering why...until i opened the card and saw my note to myself. such a small thing, but it made my day. now i have some really cool packaging to re-use and a great tip to use when making future purchases online.

here's a peek at the cute packaging:

beautiful graphic gift packaging

a simple note to myself =)

i urge you to give this a try next time you shop online...it's the little things in life that seem to matter the most sometimes!

~kara

forgotten treasures

i was updating my youtube channel last weekend and found this flash animation i created during my first quarter of art school about a year ago...still makes me smile.



the starz series, spartacus, was my inspiration for this creation...andy whitfield you will be missed...

~kara

Fall's Hottest Trend: Car Sweaters!!! (UPDATED)

i was looking at my car the other day and it dawned on me that little ol' subie-doo (my subaru impreza) has been running around town...*gasp*...NAKED! unfortunately, they don't make subie-doo's shirt size in any of my favorite clothing stores...so i had to improvise =) thus, the car sweater idea was born! and, with fall right around the corner, how appropriate would a car sweater be!?!?

with a little creativity, and a trip to my trusty goodwill store, i purchased 11 afghans and started brainstorming the construction of this enormous sweater. i wanted to complete the entire sweater in one day, so thank goodness the weather was bright and sunny on the day of creation! when the sun went down i brought out the head lamp we use for camping - and trudged through the night until i was done!

here's how it all went down:

step 1: layout afghans and arrange in place
step 2: use binder clips to attach seams temporarily
step 3: use serger to sew seams together strategically
step 4: break serger
step 5: use sewing machine to sew seams together strategically
step 6: break sewing machine
step 7: use yarn and a plastic needle to hand sew seams together strategically (for hours and hours and hours)
step 8: step back and admire how cozy your car looks! =)

take a peek at the actual process:

laying out the afghans

lots of trial and error and on-lookers!

here's the finished product being modeled by subie-doo:

lookin' good on the street!

front view of car sweater

rear view of car sweater
(note the antenna is covered too!)

hope you enjoyed the making of the sweater...perhaps your car would like some style this fall too!

~kara

Recent Work

hi there! lots of good things are happening this quarter in school =) i thought i'd share my most recent work with you guys...

i am taking computer drawing this summer and it is incredible! i cannot say how obsessed and in love i am with adobe illustrator! *swoon*

i have created 3 projects in illustrator this quarter: an editorial illustration, a type-based illustration, and an info-graphic. heres a look at my finished works...

for a detailed look at my creative process on each of these, head over to my school blog: karabou-illustrations

Open publication - Free publishing - More bee

                            Open publication - Free publishing - More based

Open publication - Free publishing - More graphic

currently i am working on a photo-realistic illustration of the following photo:

i'll post the finished product at the end of the quarter =)

thanks for stopping by!

~kara

Oh, how I've missed you!

hi there! this past quarter has been a whirlwind!! i have missed the luxuries of free time and especially blogging! i just started my summer quarter this past week and my first assignment in each of my classes was to start a...blog!! i figure if i can manage two blogs for school, then i can squeeze in a new personal blog post here and there! yay!

this past spring quarter i took TYPOGRAPHY and COLOR THEORY. both classes were a.m.a.z.i.n.g! i was sad to see them end...but i learned sooooooo much! in color theory i learned to paint using gouache. that was probably the biggest challenge i have experienced in art school so far. i can only equate the process of learning gouache with learning to speak fluently in a complex language such as japanese! with about four weeks left in the quarter i began to start to grasp the technique needed to create a successful painting. here are some of the paintings i made:

gouache on bristol using triad color system 

gouache on bristol using triad color system

gouache on bristol triptych using tetrad color system (work in progress)

typography was intoxicating for me! call me a nerd, i don't care! i loved every second of that class. while my classmates were fighting the urge to fall asleep...i was on the edge of my seat enthralled by the notions of kearning, leading, specing type, indicating layouts, and much much more! my teacher was very particular that we should learn to appreciate the intricacies of typeface and the rules of typography. he made us ink by hand all of our assignments, and expected nothing less than perfection..."i don't want to see any caca!" was his favorite phrase. i walked out of that class armed with so much applicable knowledge. here is some of my work:

ink on transparency design using symbols, numerals, smart quotes

ink on transparency indicated layout with graphic

ink on transparency leading excercise

ink on transparency indicated/spec'd layout

i got a three week break before my summer quarter began...i crammed it with two trips and a whole lot of zumba! i got to visit my family out in orange county, ca for a week, and also attended the zumba convention in orlando, fl for another week! i also got to create a costume for myself and my mom that we wore to the "glow party" at the zumba convention. the theme of the party was white - the sky was the limit after that! immediately we knew we wanted to be birds for the party so i set off making us some costumes that could be transported easily across the country.

zumba warrior birds =)

i think they turned out great! we fit in perfectly with all the other crazy zumba people!

i just started my summer quarter last week! this quarter i am taking COMPUTER ILLUSTRATION and SURVEY OF DESIGN. i am super excited for both of these classes. you can check out my new class blogs here:

COMPUTER ILLUSTRATION - karabou-illustrations.blogspot.com
SURVEY OF DESIGN - karaboucreations.wordpress.com

speaking of class...i better get back to my homework! it was so good to catch up =) i will try to be better at my blogging habits this quarter...like i said, i have no excuse since i will already be blogging for my two classes! hope you're having a great summer!!

~kara