Let me start off by saying that I'm using the term "spring" loosely here, because the weather here in Vegas has been quite up and down the past month. I find that one day I'm in shorts and a tee, and the next I'm bundling up with a light scarf. As such, my "spring" wardrobe still includes a good amount of layered items. You can see my winter wardrobe here.

I'm also not going to hold myself to a specific timeline for wearing these items, because soon enough it will be sweltering here and I'll be opting to wear as little as is socially acceptable. And dresses. Lots of summer dresses.

Without further adieu, here's a look at my spring capsule wardrobe for 2015, a total of 44 items (which now seems like WAY too much...) * denotes a new addition, ** denotes a carry over from my winter wardrobe.

TOPS: Wild tank from Ross*, lace tank from Rhapsodielle*, grey vest, walk write wander wonder tee**, you me oui! tee**, black top* (similar here), black tank, taupe jersey top*, natural white jersey tank*, target vintage v neck tee in yellow**, striped jersey top*, blue long tank from marshall's*, striped tunic from ASOS, camel waterfall cardigan from target, striped Tory Burch shirt (hand me down), military jacket from H&M circa 2005, target vintage v neck tee in plum, grey cardigan from Forever21.

BOTTOMS: grey JCrew shorts, blue JCrew shorts, green old navy shorts, jersey skirt*, Hollister jean shorts, white Gap shorts.

BOTTOMS: aztec maxi skirt (hand me down), old navy rockstar jeans**, Hollister jeans, old navy rockstar jeans, Coral crop pants from Hottie, white jeans from Hottie, black leggings**, RBX cropped activewear pants from Marshall's*.
SHOES: mint converse, canvas leopard loafers from Target, Gizeh Birkenstocks*, Nike runners**, black converse, gold sandals from Le Chateua circa 2009.

And that's it! 44 items, which is a little more than I anticipated, but I need to keep my bases covered in terms of warm days and cool nights.

If you've blogged about your spring wardrobe, please comment below as I'd love to see yours!

A couple weeks ago I talked a little bit about my experiences with ink pads, which to use and when, and mentioned that I've fallen in love with stamping in my Project Life spreads. Today, I wanted to give you a look at how I've been using my stamps lately.

To begin, here's a short video showing you one of my favorite and most recent uses.

Here's a closer look at the photo that I stamped in the video above.



Here, I used just the box portion of a wood mount stamp from Kellie Stamps, and stamped onto white card stock. Then I added a date stamp and attached it to the photo.

Here, used a few different Kelly Purkey stamps on white card stock to create a journaling spot, then added  simple date stamp.


Lastly, I like to stamp directly on a filler card, like I did here with a stamp from #kelliestamps Hashtag set. Add a quick underline, and done!

A few weeks ago now, I had a really rough day; not in the bad-day-at-work kind of way, rather an I-can't-do-anything-right kind of rough day. It peaked around the time that I pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store one night and turned off the ignition, and I knew that things could go in two ways: I could walk in there, fuming for twenty minutes over a bad day, or I could do something to snap myself out of it.

I chose the latter.

I picked up my iPhone and opened the camera app to take a selfie. I took my time, fluffing my hair to give it some more volume, reapplying my lipstick, and positioning my hand just-so so that you could see my blue colored nails that I had painted for the first time in weeks. I snapped the photo.

Because I had enough time, I shared my photo on Instagram along with the following caption:

"In true Kara Haupt fashion, I'm channeling some babe vibes + trying to show myself some love! I don't know about the rest of you lovelies out there, but I am SO hard on myself. I curse my oily, acne prone skin and crazy eyebrows I can rarely tame. I hate my small breasts and my curly hair that I would so much rather be straight. I worry too much about what others think, compare myself and my life to others far too much, and would change about a million other things about my body. But today, right now, this photo makes me feel beautiful. Maybe sometimes I just need that reminder."

The idea of "self-love" is all over the internet these days, making it hard to ignore, and I'm thinking that it's time that I really start to pay more attention to how I'm spending my time, meaning: what I'm watching or reading or viewing that is not contributing in a positive manner. And, my self-talk can certainly use some work as well (that voice inside that says: I'm not good enough, my work isn't good enough, I'm so boring, etc). I come from a past that was riddled with insults and teasing from peers about my body, and that kind of thing stays with you, and affects you more than you sometimes realize. It's something that I grapple with every day, and something that I have been (finally) working through in my own way.

Self-love is defined as: regard for one's own well-being and happiness (chiefly considered as a desirable rather than narcissistic characteristic).

To me, it's knowing that you have to be happy with yourself, and love yourself, before you can love anyone else. I'm finally taking steps on my journey towards true self-love, through some serious studying of my internal self, and through the new #myselfiescrapbook project, and I truly want everyone out there reading this, to take a long, hard look at how you feel about yourself, and to join me in channeling some serious babe vibes.

And taking selfies sure does help.

I'm so excited to be sharing with you some recent spreads from my creative team. These eight girls each have their own distinct style and ways of showcasing my products. From the way they embellish my journal cards to how they put their spin on the sets, I hope you'll find some inspiration in these pages each month.

Grab a tea, coffee or your other favorite drink, and get ready to be inspired.

These releases include some of my favorite stamps sets to date, and some colorful cards to show off what you're buying (or not buying!) this month.

As always, I love seeing what you do with my collections. If you post on instagram, be sure to use the hashtag #bigcityquietdesigns so that I can see your lovely creations!