hide and go seek

Moo always wins.

The Love Tree

We bought a gigantic christmas tree!

Matty and I cut out tons of hearts

and made a love tree.

Looks like it's working!

Thanks to everyone who shared their lovely winter stories with me! If you ever find yourself getting angry at the cold, just read through the comments and you'll be given 392 sweet, fun, and silly reasons to love winter again. It's so hard for me to pick just one person but I'll definitely have more fun contests in the future! =)

MAD Museum

This Thursday I'm going to be a guest artist at the Museum of Art and Design!

If you live in nyc, come by for a night of hands-on art with myself and three other artists, live music, drinks, and a tour of the museum (which has an amazing exhibit on paper art!). It would be great to meet you and make some fun projects together. I may even break out some dance moves, wooooo!

Read about the details here.

Winter is coming!

It may be freezing outside but there's a million reasons to love winter: hot chocolate, pretty christmas lights, excuses to get lots of warm hugs...

My favorite thing is that I get to wear fun colorful tights!

So let's play a game, what's your favorite thing about winter?

I'm going to send a little present in the mail to whoever has the loveliest answer. I will pick someone on Wednesday so make sure to put your email or a link to your blog in the comments so I can contact you!

Tree Lighting

I went to the tree lighting in Rockefeller Center last night.

I had time to spare so I found some paper and made pretty filters!

I wish christmas trees always looked like this!

Where's Rob?

For our latest Improv Everywhere mission, our friend Rob pretended to get lost at a Knicks game.

He went to get some snacks but when trying to find his way back, he kept appearing further and further away from where our seats were.

His friends were constantly keeping an eye out for him and would start screaming his name every time they spotted him.

The people sitting around them started to notice that Rob was lost and decided to join in.

and the crowd grew,

and grew,

and grew!

Suddenly hundreds of people were shouting for Rob.

Can you find Rob?

People were completely unaware at the time that they were pretty much playing a giant game of Where's Waldo.

When Rob finally found his way back the entire place exploded. More people were cheering for Rob than for the Knicks!

The video is absolutely hilarious. You must watch just to see everyone's enthusiasm and all the fun chants the crowd made up.

Bits and Pieces

of a lovely day.

I'm on my way home for the holiday. Happy turkey/tofurkey day everyone!

Scraps

I thought it would be fun to make something from the scraps that were left over from some of my previous projects.

So I grabbed my bag full of old ripped up paper and threw them all over my boring table.

I then put a clear plastic tablecloth over it, cut it to the size of my table, and then taped it to the sides. (Moo totally photo bombed my picture!)

All done! Now I have a super fun table that I can add to every time I have some left over scraps.

Let's eat cookies!

Tent

I built a big tent in my apartment to escape the real world for a bit.

But I love it so much I don't know if I'll ever come back!

Tweet Tweet

I'm on Twitter now!

I'll be updating daily with lovely things I see, fun projects I'm working on, silly thoughts, and cute pictures of Moo.

Woohoo!

Paper Planes

I have a sneaky feeling that my apartment turned into an airport while I was sleeping.

Airplanes have been flying by my head all morning,

and all through my living room.

I think I even saw my family fly by. I can't believe they're going on vacation without me!

Animal Family

Not only is my brother part monkey,

He's part whale as well!

It's not like I'm jealous or anything because I can fly...

...with a little help from Matty.

Q and A

Why did you want to become a photographer?

To create fun images to make people smile, of course!

Did you go to photography school? I really want to become a professional photographer but I don't live near any photography/art schools. Do you have any advice?

I went to FIT in Manhattan for photography although I learned most of what I know by just going out and shooting. Sitting in a classroom learning about technique doesn't work for me! I spent most of my four years in college looking for unpaid photo jobs and internships on craigslist so I could get as much experience as possible. So I personally don't think it's necessary to go to art school. There are tons of great books, online tutorials, and internships to learn from. I use to even model for photographers just so I can watch them and learn how they shoot ;)

Where on earth do you get your fantastic ideas?

From constant daydreaming.

Can you give us a few examples of things that you are inspired by?

Strangers that help strangers, adults that are children at heart, an honest smile, a child's imagination

Do you have a place where inspiration arrives or is it more of a spontaneous thing?

Most of my ideas seem to come while I'm walking around my neighborhood, riding the subway, or in the shower!

What kind of camera do you use?

I shoot with a Canon 5D with either my 16-35mm or 85mm 1.2 lens.

How do you afford your life?

Well, I pretty much work all the time! I have tons of different jobs since I'm a freelance photographer. I shoot for Gothamist, Improv Everywhere, various events around NYC, portraits and weddings. A lot of my images are also used in books, newspapers, and magazines.

How did you do your header? I like the shadows, and the feeling of it all being in the air.

I set my camera on a timer and then threw the objects in the air when it was about to take the picture. I made a complete mess of my floor but I just love a good mess! I then combined all the objects in photoshop to create the final picture.

Is Matty your boyfriend? or fiance? or husband?

Matty is my boyfriend but I prefer to call him my partner in crime.

What is your favorite word?

Charming. But I rarely use it because I don't want it to loose it's charm ;)

If Moo still has his boy bits and if he ever has kittens, can I have one?

Unfortunately, all his bits are gone but if I ever figure out how to clone him I'll let you know!

Can you post more Moo pictures?

Of course!

Do you have a favorite movie?

Amelie

How old are you?

Drum roll please............I'm twenty-two!

Although every day I have to convince someone that I'm not fourteen, I just look small for my age.

(i'm under that coat)

What is your favorite book?

The little Prince.

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

SpongeBob SquarePants, of course.

I was wondering, you live in Brooklyn right? Where abouts... you make it seem like such a fun place I want to visit someday!

I live in Brooklyn in a charming little neighborhood called Greenpoint. There are lots of pretty apartments, sleepy store cats, and a famous bakery called Peter Pans where the donuts are the tastiest and the waitresses wear cute uniforms.

What is your best childhood memory?

Being at my mom-mom's townhouse wrapped up in fluffy blankets with the air conditioner blasting, laughing at old game shows and eating her amazing meatballs.

How are you so cute?

haha!

Which blogs, if any, do you check out for fun / inspiration?

Zoomdoggle and Cup of Jo were the blogs that inspired me to start my own blog!

Do you listen to music when you are brainstorming new ideas? What kind of music do you like?

I love listening to french singer Camille Dalmais. She has the sweetest voice! While I'm editing I like to have a movie on in the background to create a specific mood in the room.

So what do you do when you have a gloomy day? Do you ever curl up in bed, with Moo by your side, just sulking? Or do you always find a way to lift your own spirit?

I never like to sulk because I feel like I'm just wasting time and not doing anything to help myself feel better. Feeling sad inspires me to do something positive, like decorate my neighborhood with stickers. It makes me feel a lot better to be creative and to make my neighbors smile.

What is your biggest wish?

To be a crazy cat lady.... minus the crazy.

I am curious to know how your childhood influenced your bohemian outlook on life. I live in a society that prizes pure academic excellence and marginalises artistic creativity - and I really hope that despite the pressures here, my son will still grow up to appreciate the beauty in small things.

I went to a school that didn't support art and only prized sports and academic excellence as well. My dad understood that I was more of a creative person and helped me to find acting, music, dance, and art classes to take outside of school. It was really inspiring for me to be around creative and open minded people.

What's a favorite encounter with a stranger you've had?

The day Matty and I were shooting a silly video on the train and we bumped into a guy who was wearing the EXACT same outfit as us. I also love dancing with strangers.

When will you have your first colormekatie book in stores?

It's definitely something I've been looking into!

We're home!

From our fun week of exploring through Spain!

Matty and I went with our two friends Charlie ( who is the founder of Improv Everywhere ) and Cody.

We played in the ocean,

Had a big surprise waiting for us at the train station,

Saw tons of colorful birds on the street,

Did the mandatory jumping on the hotel bed,

Exploded with excitement to see so many street cats,

Had an MP3 experiment in Barcelona,

Saw lots of pretty buildings,

Had to leave our ice creams outside,

Rode an elephant,

Stopped off to pick up some bras on the street ;)

Climbed giant spider webs,

Raced through a maze ( Matty won!) ,

and met tons of lovely people including some of my readers! How fun is that?