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Psych Blues #4 – film review!

by Kaylah Stroup December 30, 2019

Earlier in the year, a person I follow on Instagram posted some incredible film photos that they had taken with rainbows light leaks across the frame. It was so cool looking! It’d been a while since I’d played around with film that wasn’t instant but this made me want to get back into traditional film immediately. Luckily, it was pretty easy to find out what she was using based on her hashtags. That’s how I discovered Psych Blue Film.

Psych Blues Film is a pre-exposed experimental film. There are different batches that are exposed to different things that you shoot over resulting in totally unique images. It’s a regular 35mm film so you can use it in any camera (…that takes 35mm film, of course) and it can be developed anywhere the processes film.

We were just about to leave on June’s epic roadtrip so I used that as my excuse to splurge. I bought two rolls, #3 and #4. Although all their films look really neat, I was most excited about #4. This film has been pre-exposed to holographic paper resulting in a wide array of colors that fade in and out between the frames. I could not wait to use it in the desert!

I’ve attached all the images from the roll that weren’t already included in this post so you can get a better idea of how it all turned out.

Overall, I feel a bit like the dinosaur below about the results. He looks super stoked to you, right!? I feel like he looks like he just saw his two best dino pals get engaged. I think they tuned out really fun. At first, I was a little underwhelmed with them, or perhaps, I was overwhelmed with how busy it made some of the frames. Now every time I look through them I like them more and more.

That being said, I’m glad that I shot this vacation with other cameras and didn’t rely solely on this roll of film to capture my memories because of course, it is an experimental film. If I had been counting on a certain shot to look a super specific way, I’d be disappointed. Nothing really turned out exactly how I pictured but that’s what’s so fun about it. It’s all a surprise! I love how unique they all are.

Would I purchase Psych Blues film again? Absolutely! I’m super excited to shoot another roll! It’s completely renewed my interest in traditional film so expect to see lots of film on the blog in 2020!

Shot with Pentax K1000 on Psych Blue film #4. Developed + scanned by The Darkroom.

Friday Favorites #544

by Kaylah Stroup December 20, 2019

This post contains affiliate links. Check out our disclosure policy for more details.

This spooky movie coloring book! SO CUTE!

I’m already a really big fan of little glass boxes but um, hello!! This coffin one is incredible!

LOVING this sweater! (& matching my nails to it!)

These earrings!

You already know I love any planter with a cute little face.

Don’t these pajamas look incredibly cozy!?

How rad is this backpatch!? (Also, kinda hilarious how this post is showing how all over the place my tastes are. Heart jammies then spine backpatch!)

This stool! It comes in other flavors too! Best of all, UO has 25% off everything today only sooo now might be a good time to grab it (or that darn snake lamp!)

This washi tape!

Link love…

This cicada enamel pin is perfect! I love it so!
Digging this colorblock sweater.
This bralette! Hello!
This electric lighter is so dang cool.
I lol-ed over this raccoon mouse pad.
Love these sheer striped socks.
These socks have dinosaurs rollerskating on them!

In shop news this week, aside from my small collection of one of a kind bags, I also made a handful of these moon phase key fobs. I LOVE THEM!

Happy Friday! xoxo

raiding my scrap basket

by Kaylah Stroup December 19, 2019

I had definitely planned to blog about The Dainty Squid shop and my sewing projects A LOT more this year. Obviously I did not do that. I managed to squeeze in a few posts about it here and there but it wasn’t even a fraction of as much as I had imagined. My sewing machine and I have definitely been busy though, especially this holiday season.

When I first re-opened back in January, the one thing I promised myself is that I would allow myself to play. When I had a sewing business before I burned myself out by just concentrating on making stock, making stock and…making more stock! I felt like it was a waste of time to experiment because I already knew what made money so I should just keep doing that. That eventually led to a period of about three years or so where I didn’t touch my machine at all.

This time around, I wanted to make sure that I had fun. I enjoy making regular pouches, they’re satisfying but without a break, it can definitely get repetitive.

baby basket king

November and December have been wild! I had a goal – which I crushed. I made a stretch goal and somehow squashed that too! I thought I was stocked up and prepared for the holiday season but I completely underestimated how quickly the things I had made would sell. (Seriously, thank you!) There was obviously a part of my brain that was like “SEW. NOW. MORE STOCK!” I even cut out a ton of fabric to do another big update before the holiday rush was done but came to my senses that if I were to actually tackle it, I’d probably hate myself.

Still wanting to sew but wanting to give myself a bit of a break, this week I pulled out my scrap basket and sorted out some fabrics I might want to play with. I realized almost everything I pulled fit into a nice little color palate so I narrowed it down a bit more and decided to give myself a little challenge – make as many bags as possible from the small amount of fabric I had in there.

making the straps. (& in true Kaylah fashion “If I’m making them in this fabric, I should just go ahead and whip up some others…”)

The result was a collection of seven one of a kind bags. I managed to squeeze a pencil pouch, three wristlets and three clutches out of the scraps. I am so pleased with how they turned out!

I love anytime I can just piece together different fabrics then play around with decorative stitches. I also really enjoy making things that are bigger than my normal bags. The clutches are my favorite because they hold so much! I made one for myself a while back from other scraps and it holds all my stamp carving supplies. You can spot it in this post. I just think it’s a really useful size!

The seven one of a kind bags are live in the shop today if you want to get your hands on one! xoxo

silver lining

by Kaylah Stroup December 16, 2019

I go back and forth on what I want The Dainty Squid to be these days. There’s a big part of me that wants to back away from sharing personal things on the internet. It’s not always the friendliest place. There’s also a huge part of me that misses when my blog was just a mish-mash of anything and everything that was going on. I could talk for days about this and it’s definitely something I’ve wanted to address for a while. Maybe another day.

I started writing this in an Instagram caption then decided nope, I want this on my blog. So, here we are! Let’s get personal!

2019 has sucked. I mean royally sucked. My mom died. I say it to myself about a million times a day because it still doesn’t seem real. How can you start to heal when you still feel like maybe someday she might come home? First time I’ve said that aloud. It kind of feels like whatever nice thing happens theres always a black cloud over it because deep down (or maybe not so deep down) I’m really struggling with the loss of my mom.

I was trying to explain to Jeff yesterday evening that although the year has sucked and I really just want my mom back, some positive things have come out of the whole experience. I’ve become better in the kitchen, my dad (aka most picky eater in the entire world) has opened himself up to new foods, and most importantly – putting those other two things on the list to shame – is that we spend way more time together as a family.

At least once per week we get together, eat food and just hang out. Sometimes it’s working on the bus, ziplining or dump digging. Other times it’s just sitting around watching old home movies or helping straighten up the house. It doesn’t matter what we’re doing, it just feels good to be together.

Yesterday my family came to Cleveland for the day. We watched fail videos (something you’ll inevitably end up doing at some point if you come to our house!), ate chili, went to the beach, got hot chocolate, went downtown to see the Christmas lights and took lots of photos together. It was a blast. It felt so… refreshing? I don’t know. I can’t find the perfect words for how I feel but I just feel good.

I think that in the past I may have rushed experiences like these ones or just been ready to call it a day after only a couple hours together but these last few months, I can’t get enough family time! Even this morning I feel so tickled about what a nice time yesterday was.

Sharing the places I love with the people I love is so wonderful. Spending time with my nieces and talking in valley girl accents fills my heart with joy. These past few months have been hard as hell on all of us but together we’re building bonds that make us so much stronger. In the beginning, it kind of felt like we were doing this for my dad, to really show support for him, but now getting together every week is something I look forward to big time.

Oh gosh, this is so cheesy. For real, I can totally see it. Buuuut, it’s true and being able to look at it, acknowledge it and write about it makes me feel so thankful. I love this group of gassy weirdos.

I’m already looking forward to seeing my family again even though it just yesterday we were together. I’m also very much looking forward to lots more silly family photos but with the bus in them!!!

I guess every cloud does have a silver lining.

gift guide for your ~weird~ friend

by Kaylah Stroup December 14, 2019

This post contains affiliate links. Check out our disclosure policy for more details.

tooth planter

skull sleep mask

16. crescent moon jewelry dish
17. tooth magnets
18. dead man’s bones candle
19. bird leg side table
20. hand skeleton model
21. skull scissors
22. articulated cat skeleton
23. winged skull ring
24. skull mug
25. bat enamel pin
26. sloth skull shirt

future ghost shirt

clear cat jaw model

Even more!

More? You got it! Here’s a list of nearly 100 more weir d finds I’ve compiled.

Boom! No excuses not to find something perfect for that strange person in your life. I know I’m a little late in the month to be posting a gift round-up but there’s definitely still time for presents to arrive in time for Christmas (and even if they don’t, at least you’ll have bought something your pal is sure to appreciate!) xoxo

enamel pin gift guide 2019

by Kaylah Stroup December 10, 2019

This post contains affiliate links. Check out our disclosure policy for more details.

pins by Asilda Store

I guess it’s an annual tradition now that I create a pretty little round-up of enamel pins around the holidays. This year I’ve teamed up with Etsy to showcase pins that are all from awesome small businesses across the globe. It was so hard to narrow my final list down! I could browse pins on Etsy forever.

I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it again – I seriously LOVE enamel pins as gifts. They’re inexpensive and there is basically one for absolutely any interest you or your pals might have.

Enjoy! xoxo

1 // create something new 2 // space cat 3 // homebody 4 // angry cat no banaya 5 // lemon drizzle sheep 6 // flatwoods monster 7 // sasquatch alien 8 // i like cats 9 // words fail me 10 // not joining ur pyramid scheme 11 // screaming conure 12 // meowdy 13 // spent all my time worrying… 14 // be a nice human 15 // snail 16 // high five 17 // skater raccoon 18 // plant mom 19 // i have no idea what i’m doing 20 // you do you 21 // springtime possum 22 // guinea pig with succulent 23 // anti-anxiety magic 24 // fiddle leaf fig 25 // ace ventura 26 // you are boobiful 27 // booty 28 // idiot screen 29 // blue mushroom cluster 30 // pretty bird 31 // honduran bats 32 // cat cake 33 // the no sleep gang 34 // four-eyed sphynx 35 // shy and ready to cry 36 // starmadillo 37 // doodle noodle 38 // dusty moth 39 // rad teeth 40 // jackalope

enamel pin display

adopt a cat pin

pins by Hemleva

PS. Make sure to click around. So many of the pins linked are made by folks who have tons of other fun designs. If you’re viewing on a desktop, Etsy will recommend you similar items from the same shop at the top of the listing which is a great way to quickly get a peek at the shop’s other goodies!

things I loved in November

by Kaylah Stroup December 4, 2019

▴ hooded sweatshirt + matching leggings. I shared about these on my Instagram account a week or so back and joked about how wearing leggings and a matching hoodie that aren’t black feels like I’m dressed for a cult. I still haven’t changed my mind on that. It’s probably not something I’d wear out of the house. At home though? I wear them constantly. Maybe like every other day. Seriously.

Comfortable! Cute! The leggings keep their shape and don’t get baggy after all-day wear. They’ve already been worn and washed a bunch of times already yet haven’t faded. And dare I say, it’s kinda nice owning leggings that aren’t black!? (These come in black plus like eight other colors if ‘merlot’ isn’t your jam but I kinda dig the culty vibe of this color…)

This has basically been my uniform for the past month.

▴ striped sweatshirt. It’s a cozy hoodie, what’s not to love!? When I’m not wearing the sweatshirt I mentioned above, I’m probably wearing this one.

▴ LaPen. I am constantly on the hunt for my favorite new writing instrument. Right now it’s LaPen! I recently used one for the first time and despite the fact it was orange and who in the heck ever needs to write in orange(??!?) I was hooked. I bought myself a handful of black ones and haven’t touched another pen since.

That being said, for me, it’s always a short term thing with pens. I’m seriously always looking for the next best thing. So tell me, what’s your favorite pen? My only requirement is that it writes smoothly. (I feel like that should be a given but if so, then how are there so many pens that skip!!)

▴ L’Oreal Paris Quick Dry Primer Spray. Not a new discovery for the month but one I ran out of and didn’t even think twice whether or not I’d repurchase. This is my favorite heat protectant spray I’ve ever tried and it’s cheap! It does its job, doesn’t make my hair greasy even when I use a bunch of it, and smells nice too.

This stuff has earned a place in the rank of products I will always have on hand and *need* to do my hair each day, like Hask Placenta.

▴ CordaRoy queen bean bag chair. This is honestly like 85% of the reason I wanted to write this specific post. I am IN LOVE with this bad boy. It’s a bean bag chair (not actually full of those little beads you’re probably imagining but shredded foam…stuff) that comes out of the cover to turn into a queen-sized bed. Super rad, right?

I was interested at first because we always need extra seating when guests come over. When we have friends crash here I always let them sleep in our bedroom and to be honest, I hate sleeping on the floor sooo it’s pretty clear how this bean bag solves both of those problems.

In the cover, the bag is super cozy. The cats love it. Basically, if I’m not in it one of them is! Out of the bag, in the form of a queen-sized mattress, is where this product truly shines for me though. Jeff and I have this thing on our floor… almost always. It’s not exactly cute taking up our floor but gosh darn it, it’s cozy. Like the coziest thing ever. Do you love the feeling of being in a nest? Yeah? You need this baby!

They are pricey, I will be the first to admit that. You probably won’t catch me spending that much on a non-essential piece of furniture very often and to be completely transparent, I received this in exchange for providing the company with some photos BUT we love this thing so much that when it needs replaced we will absolutely purchase another without hesitation!

We’ve had this for about two months now but with the cooler weather (aka cuddle weather!) we’ve been using it like crazy lately. It’s our favorite place to curl up and watch TV in the evenings. We haven’t sat on the couch in like a month.

Welp, that was way more than I ever meant to type about one product in this post but I’m very very jazzed on this bad boy. I’m literally laying in it now typing up this post. Feel free to ask any questions you may have about it!

▴ Dead Rising 4. I guess I should preface this by saying that I’ve never played any other Dead Rising Games. This was free to play with Xbox game pass (which isn’t free but totally worth it!) I figured I had nothing to lose by giving it a shot. Turns out I had like 72 hours to lose because that’s how long it took me to beat the game. I was, still am, obsessed. Like, play until 3 am obsessed.

Zombie games aren’t normally my jam and I’m extremely particular about video games in general. The list of games I truly love is minuscule but this one makes the cut. What I enjoy the most about it is that it’s not terribly challenging. It’s fun to just collect things, and rack up zombie kills. It’s a blast. There’s also so much comic relief mixed in that it’s not stressful (which is a huge turn off for me with games. I wanna relax, not be tense.)

I’ve already started playing a second time through just to collect everything!

What did you love in November? Anything I should be adding to my Christmas list? xoxo

abandoned route 66 trading post

by Kaylah Stroup November 26, 2019

It’s blowing my mind that I still have photos from June’s roadtrip that I haven’t sorted or edited yet. We stopped so many places and saw so many things that trying to tackle the photos in one chunk, or even a couple, was just too overwhelming. Admittedly, five months is a really long time for me to sit on photos no matter how many there were. The upside is that its been a really fun way to relive the post and it satisfies a little bit of my travel urge. Jeff and I are currently trying to save for a house so I’m not quite sure when the next time we’ll be doing something like this will be. I mean, I never quite know since we’ve been known to plan trips like this in less than a week soooo…

We spotted this abandoned structure from the freeway not too long after getting into New Mexico. If you recall, we were driving from Phoenix, Arizona back home to Cleveland, OH. A thirty-hour drive – not including any stops! New Mexico and Arizona are neighboring states which means we had not been on the road too long at all. Although we were both excited to check out all sorts of things on the drive home, I guess I had thought maybe those stops would happen a little bit further into the thirty-hour drive to break up the time.

BUT the building looked too good to pass up even from a distance. We hopped off the freeway and went to go check it out. It was well worth the stop! Although fairly small, it had lots of different things that grabbed my attention. The safari wallpaper, the nearly completely collapsed ceiling, the murals on the exterior! It was fantastic.

Be sure to check out the video near the end of the post for a tour!

Perhaps just as exciting as stumbling upon this excellent stop by accident was realizing that it actually has some pretty cool history. The building that is standing here today was finished in the spring of 1954. Claude Bowlin, who owned and operated Bowlin’s Old Crater Trading Post, was not only a well-respected merchant but operated such a successful business that he expanded, opening five more stores along Route 66. Although he catered to a lot of tourists, he made it his mission to educate those passing through about local tribal cultures.

In 1973, the trading post suffered the same fate as many other buildings along Route 66 and was closed shortly after the interstate opened. The owner enjoyed a few years of retirement before passing away. His widow sold the property with a stipulation in the deed stating it only be used for religious purposes. That’s how in the 1980s & 90s this building was used as a bible school and church. In 2006 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Spots like this are my absolute favorite. I don’t know why or what the big draw is for me but waking up early in the morning, grabbing a coffee and stumbling upon gems like this with my favorite person in the world is my perfect day!

More posts from this trip;

Check out even more road trip posts under the ‘travel‘ tag.

The Dead Moms Club – a book review

by Kaylah Stroup November 21, 2019

It has been SO long since my last blog post about books. It’s one of the most popular post requests I get. The thing is, I just have not been reading very much lately... at all.

I have to be in the mood to read and on top of that one bad read will set in motion months of not reading. So, that’s how it’s been lately. Read some crummy books a while back and just haven’t picked up one since. BUT I have been feeling the urge to find a book about grief. (Please don’t stop reading, I swear this book could be beneficial even to those who haven’t lost yet!)

It was one of the first things I did once I stopped crying every second of the day – look for a book that would help me through this terrible time. I was specifically on the hunt for something secular, no mention of religion, spirituality, of my mom being in a ‘better place’, etc. I also didn’t want a self-help book that was essentially just going to tell me to do yoga and volunteer. I read tons of reviews but came up empty-handed.

I had basically given up on it when I got a DM on Instagram recommending The Dead Moms Club by Kate Spencer. The name really struck me, I looked it up immediately.

‘Kate Spencer lost her mom to cancer when she was 27. In The Dead Moms Club, she walks readers through her experience of stumbling through grief and loss, and helps them to get through it, too. This isn’t a weepy, sentimental story, but rather a frank, up-front look at what it means to go through gruesome grief and come out on the other side.’

Honestly, the name alone made me want to buy it but after seeing she lost her mom at 27, I had to buy it. I felt like maybe she could offer some nuggets of wisdom for me since we lost our mothers at a similar age.

*my mom’s plant that I rescued from near-death*

I feel like this is a really weird place in my life to lose my mom. There’s obviously no great time but as the great Britney Spears once said: “I am not a girl, not yet a woman.” (LOL) For real though, I’m married and have been out of the house for 11 years at this point but I still depended on my mom for so much. At her funeral someone said to me “Kaylah, now you have to take care of your dad.” and it completely blindsided me because I’m the baby! Who takes care of me? Grief brings up ugly selfish feelings and I just hoped that The Dead Moms Club could help me understand and deal with those. Spoiler – it didn’t solve everything but it certainly helped!

I was merely a couple of pages in before I knew it was the book for me! I want to say ‘I tore through this book’ but honestly, it was too relatable. I could barely read a chapter each night and most of the time I needed a couple of days in between each of those. I sobbed through it. There were times I had to quit midchapter because I couldn’t see. But… it felt good! I laughed. I cried (A LOT!) and most importantly, I felt understood. I realized some universal truths (wow, that sounds dramatic) and dealt with some shitty feelings.

Grief is super lonely. At some point, you’re going to lose someone important to you so these are feelings that everyone feels, perhaps in slightly different ways but still! In the depths of it though, you can’t imagine that anyone has ever felt that way too. Reading a book by someone who has gone through the same thing is so helpful.

Being able to pick up this book and put it down as I pleased was just what I needed. Talking to a real live human is obviously ideal but sometimes I don’t want to talk about it, and other times maybe I do but don’t want to unload like that on my husband. This was almost like a workbook for me. Reading it in small doses gave me time to think about and process what she had written.

I don’t know that this is the book for everyone because I recognize that we all go through and deal with grief differently. The Dead Moms Club was 100% what I needed though. I can’t recommend it highly enough!

xoxo

More posts on grief, my mom and loss in general –

▴ my mother’s plants ▴ grief & road trips ▴ I cry over four leaf clovers ▴ grieving in the digital age ▴ the greatest loss ▴ six months / things I want to tell you

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