I have Moved the BLOG!

I finally moved my blog to typepad, you can get to it from this link, Kiki I'm still tweaking the design but it's good enough for now, hope you like it!

Office Drama

Speaking of Office Drama.... Yeah, I did this page to vent on the issue a bit. It helped. I'm trying to get it published right now so if it mysteriously disappears you will know why ;) I took this picture of myself after a really bad day because I just felt like I had to document how I was feeling. At this point I did not want to go back to work!!! The situation is better now but I had to go to measures that I did not want to have to go to! It's jus sooooo FREAKING LAME!!!!!!!!!!! It has made it clear that I do not belong in the typical office setting and I need to find a job that is not traditional! Or work all by myself in a home office without any stupid infantile co-workers and a puppy! I just don't CARE!! I don't CARE about some dumb report I have to finish because the marketing council is pissed off about special events parking at UCSD!! It's just bureaucratic NONSENSE!!!! I don't give a rats ARSE about it!!!! I care about the fact that primates are an endangered species, I care about women all over the world being abused, mutilated and sold, I care about dog rescue, human rights and getting rid of sweatshops! I don't give a damn about whether or not it is difficult to find parking sometimes for some stuck up A-hole professor!!!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!! Sigh... I just don't really fit in...

I ROCK!!!!!!!!!!! I just received an email yesterday from simple scrapbooks requesting THREE of my layouts for their upcoming Digital Scrapbooking 4 issue!!!! It will be out in November! This is sooooo Great!!! I really wanted to get at least one layout requested for this and I got 3!!!! YAY!!!! I'm sooo excited and I needed this because I have been really hating work due to office drama! I can not express how much I HATE office drama!!!!! It really gets to me, why can we not just be adults??? Is that kind of behavior really needed??? But who cares, I'm getting published, 3 layouts woooohooooo!!!!!!!! Oh and I FINALLY GRADUATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's been a good 2 weeks!! Now on to figuring out if I want grad school or art school or what next... 

REMOVED FOR PUBLICATION!!!!!!

removedforpub
Originally uploaded by Kiki Tiki.

YES!!!!! That's right!!! I recieved my 1ST call from a magazine today on my way home from work!!! I thought they were calling me about by subscription but, they want one of my layouts!!!! It's super secret so I can't give any details but as soon as I can, I will!!! I'm soooooo excited, I don't suck!!!! YAY!!!!! I LUV you guys!!!!! I can't wait to tell you more and REALLY hope this is the first of many calls!!!!

Very Stressed!! I'm The King of the World!

Ok, so I took this down when I entered it in the HOF contest but now I can put it back up! This was my first ever all digital page & I still like it! How crazy! But I think it's because they are great pictures! Well today I have a midterm, I am very sleepy and nervous, but I know the stuff, so it should be fine. I finished designs for one of my best friend Heidi's wedding invites!!! I love doing stuff like that for my friends! I have to finish putting them together tomorrow and send them out to her. I must also catch up on massive amounts of reading and start working on my final project for senior seminar. I also REALLY need to stop daydreaming about what I want to do after graduation and focus on finishing!! I have also been tempted by typepad to move my blog over there. I think I'll try to focus on graduation though and worry about that later. I really want to play with the templates and customization this weekend though, need to design... If I didn't have to sleep I would have PLENTY of time ;) Let's see, I filed for graduation last week, so that's all on track and I'm half way through the quarter, so almost there! I think I'll be checking in just to vent and de-stress a bit until graduation because my life is just sooo crazy right now and I will be going to a wedding in July and Kris B. will be having a big Taiko drumming event in LA in June so I will want to promote that. Ok I think that's enough rambling for today, I miss my friends and sleep...

Me as a South Park Character

Katie SoutPark
Originally uploaded by Kiki Tiki.

Am I devilshly cute or what?? This is my new avatar for message boards and I had to share. Also just to update everyone on my life at the moment, I am still working full time at UCSD and this quarter I am taking my last 2 required courses and graduating.... FINALLY in June!!! So YAY!!! But, I won't be able to do much scrapping for the next 10 weeks because I have to study and write papers and stuff! But then I plan on scrapping tons, learning more, getting better, maybe taking some design courses and re-locating! I will be job hunting in Portland and the bay area and will decide where I move based on where ever I get the best job! I can't wait to MOVE!!! San Diego is great and all but I'm OVER it and ready for something new!!! Thanks everyone for checking in and checking out my stuff!!! I hope to see everybody soon and oh if I get published I will post it!!!!

Katie

ROMA!!

Speaking of Italia, this is also another HOF reject, hoping it might get picked up. More collagey then my usual style but I think that style fits the subject! My adventures, alone in ROMA! {Journaling } Roma- Getting off the train and stepping into Roma, I immediately lost some of my confidence. The Roma train station was very different from the one in Venizia and it made me uneasy. To top it all off it started raining, in Roma, in June. Even with all of my planning and maps I wandered around in the rain and could not figure out how to get to my hotel. At that point I was scared, wet and tired and I just wanted to get to my hotel, so I decided to take a cab. I had read many negative things about taxi cabs in Italy but I was so frustrated I did not care. I get in a cab and of course there is NO meter, but he knows where my hotel is and 3 Seconds later we are there!! Then the cab driver tells me it will be something like $30.00 American, not knowing that I perfectly understood the conversion. I argued with him stating that we only went 3 blocks and he thinks I just do not understand what money to give him. Eventually he got the picture that I was not buying it and miraculously he said ok, student discount and the price was cut in half. I did NOT give him a tip! At least I made it to the hotel and I did not let the guy get away with robbing me blind. My hotel was beautiful and I went up to relax a bit. I realized that I was a bit too intimidated and frightened to go out and explore Roma all on my own. Instead I turned to my trusty Rick Steves guidebook and found a reputable, off the beaten path tour. After a few deep breaths I ventured out to find the office and sign up, It was not easy and I was often scared, but I finally found the office and very proud of myself returned to my hotel. My next challenge was to get myself by train to the meeting spot for the tour, but at this point I had regained some of my confidence and was ready to go. Roma was one of my most challenging moments during my excursion alone in Italia and at the same time the place where I learned the most about myself. I reached out to strangers and met them to visit the Vatican the next day and they even walked me back to my hotel. I pushed myself WAY out of my comfort zone and ended up having a Great time! One of my favorite moments (besides standing up to the cabbie) was negotiation down a street vendor on a book I really wanted! YAY for me!

This is page 2 of the Cinque Terre spread!! We had sooo much fun!! Sigh... Italia... 

Cinque Terre

This is page 1 of a 2 page layout about Dennise and I's adventures in the Cinque Terre, in Italy. I designed all of the background paper in PS CS and then printed it out onto cardstock to add the jewels and pictures etc. Also hoping this will get picked up as it was a HOF reject.  {Journaling } The five towns on the Italian Riviera, Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza & Monterosso al Mare. Dennise & I stayed in Vernazza, which after hiking the cliffs through the five towns was our favorite. Climbingthe seemingly endless stairs to Corniglia was definitely an experience! I wasn't sure we were going to make it but, I have to say, it was worth it! Dennise introduced me to the most amazing invention of all time here, PESTO! Pesto I discovered comes from the Genova region, which is very near to the Cinque Terra. We had pesto soup, pesto pasta & the ultimate, pesto, tomato & fresh mozzarella sandwiches! The local people of these towns were so kind & friendly. Dennise & I met a lovely older Italian couple who ran a store in Moterosso & they told us all about the wines of the region. they gave us a great deal on the wine we purchased. Each town makes a label white wine and there is a Cinque Terre wine as well. They are also famous for their sweet dessert wine, “Sciacchetra”. We of course felt it our duty to sample them all! Dennise & I rented this gorgeous “room”, it was HUGE, with shuttered windows that opened out to the one main street through town. It was a paradise, one of my absolute favorite places in Italy and we didn't want to leave.

This is a page I did a couple weekends ago using Diane Rigdon's Petals & Patches kit. All other elements, dots, circles and distressed border on photo done using brushes created by me. My little sis and brother with is big vans skateboard! 

Another HOF reject, this was an assignment. You were supposed to do a page about what you thought your best attribute was as a scrapbooker and why you love to scrapbook. This is actually one of my favorite pages that I have ever done. This one is all digital, I'm really hoping it gets picked up.

This is another HOF reject, the assignment was to do a layout about where you thought you would be one year from now, hopes dreams etc. This is all digital, I still really like it a lot, we will see if some other publication feels the same. 

This was an assignment for HOF, another reject. This is one of my favorites, the assignment was to do a photo shoot of a subject that is important to you and scrap at least 4 of them. What can I say my sister is stunning!! I ADORE these pics and I LUV this lalyout, hopefully someone else will pick this up!! 

Another HOF reject, this was a free assignment. I love these pics, and I think it's funny because of my tiki obsession. 

This was a free assignment for the contest, another HOF reject. I love this page though because I love the pictures and the subject. This is a paper layout. 

So I didn't win my big contest but neither did a lot of talented designers I look up too, so I can't feel too bad. I will be posting my HOF (Hall of Fame) entries to my blog but also sending them out for publication, again if they get picked up they will disapear. This was an assignment, 10 pictures, 1 title, 1 journaling block & 3 accents. I think this was my least favorite entry, but I ran out of time to do something else. The pictures are fun though! 

This was my try at the dreamy montage look because I just think these pics are beautiful. All designed by me using brushes from 1greeneye.net, vbrush & 8nero.net. 

Did this one last weekend, all designed by me using Mr. Retro's Machine wash filters and brushes from 1greeneye.net. Diamond shape brush from Rhonna Farrer's Sweet Pea kit. I took this picture in July, a few weeks before Buffy passed away. 

Did this one a bit ago, but a Auto FX dreamy filter on the pic. All paper designed by me using brushes from 1greeneye.net, vbrush & 8nero.net. Adore brush from Rhonna Farrer's Sweet Pea kit, DOGS monograms from that kit as well. I did a photoshoot with my sister can you believe she is 19??? This is the puppy right after we got him at xmas, who could resist that face???

Just did this one last weekend, me at age 1. All designed by me PS CS, using brushes by me!! Green embossed tag in corner by Rhonna Farrer, Peace Out kit. Also used the nifty filters from Mr. Retro Machine wash filters. I raised the contrast in the pics for that bleached out sun/summer look and warped some of the text. 

My family's new puppy Cinnabun, a doll, LUV him!! This layout was made using a digital paper kit from Rhonna Farrer, the blue background I made using brushes from Rhonna Farrer's Peace Out kit. Other brushes for the inked edge effect from 1greeneye.net and staples from the shappy princess shabby fall kit. I forgot where I got the ribbon but I don't think I'll get sued. 

This is a fun layout from a trip to NY to see Bella!! Also had fun adjusting the pics in photoshop, all PS CS my design using brushes from 1greeneye.net & colour-rouge. LUV layer masks!! 

I am FINALLY updating my blog, so that my friends & family can see my new work. All of these upcoming pages have been submitted for publication so if they get picked up they will be removed. This layout was done all digital using PS CS, all designed by me using brushes from 1greeneye.net, vbrush & colour-rouge. 

burnttrees2

burnttrees2
Originally uploaded by Kiki Tiki.

Yet more of the trees, I like how in this picture the color of the sky is so pretty and the trees are burnt remains.

sepia tree

sepia tree
Originally uploaded by Kiki Tiki.

More of the tree experiment.

colortree

colortree
Originally uploaded by Kiki Tiki.

I like how this one captured the color of the sunset.

b&W tree

b&W tree
Originally uploaded by Kiki Tiki.

More of me experimenting with different shutter speed, motion etc. I like how this one turned out.

bluesky

bluesky
Originally uploaded by Kiki Tiki.

These are my "nature pictures". I took these of Lake Quimaca on a weekend of the reamains from the San Diego Fire of last year. It is so interesting how amazing even destroyed nature can be.

dennise

dennise
Originally uploaded by Kiki Tiki.

This picture you will see in one of the layouts I'm sending in for the "Hall of Fame". I love this picture of Dennise, some of you know her and know how difficult it can be to get a picture! I just love the angle of the shot with the line of the chopsticks and that it is candid but yet looks like a modeling picture!

Farah & Zahra

f&Z
Originally uploaded by Kiki Tiki.

This is another favorite of mine! Zahra has recently left us on the west coast to go to Yale and she came back for her sister's party as a surprise! I love the color, the lens flare and how it captures the joy of their relationship.

farahtable

farahtable
Originally uploaded by Kiki Tiki.

I love this picture, I really like the composition and the desaturated effect on the color. This is a picture of some of the food at the party!

farah dancing

farahdancing
Originally uploaded by Kiki Tiki.

I am posting some of my favorite some what recent photographs. I am trying to become a better photographer. This is a picture of one of my best friends sister at her Roaring Twenties 30th birthday bash! It is one of my favorites because it really captures her having fun and I had a lot of fun with special effects in photoshop!

YAY for Kiki Ink!

At the suggestion of a FABULOUS friend in Australia ;) I have started my own blog. I will be posting photographs and scrapbook pages for my friends, family and anyone interested in those two hobbies! The hope is to get Kiki Ink off the ground in 2005 and have a blast sharing techniques, advice, stories and news. Stay tuned there will be a lot more coming soon! *Katie K* AKA Kiki