“These Are A few Of My Favorite Things!”

This year is coming to an end. Everyone is already posting resolutions for what they will do in the new year. I don’t have any of those. No resolutions,just getting shit done!

Speaking of getting it done…here are my favorite photos from this year. I didn’t shoot a ton but it’s been fantastic to be creative and work with every single one of you! Hopefully next year I can work with you all again and some newbies! I have so many ideas in my head,I just can’t wait!

“You don’t take a photograph, you make it.”
~Ansel Adams

Art piece of me by the awesome Alex E Quintero

“And the worst thing was, there were no mirrors out there in the wild, so the princess was left wondering whether she in fact was still beautiful… or if the fall had changed the story completely.” ~Scott Westerfeld

Keymoon Photography

Keymoon Photography

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Bill Welch Photography

“This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.”
~T.S. Eliot

Kenneth A Kivett Photography

“We went down into the silent garden. Dawn is the time when nothing breathes, the hour of silence. Everything is transfixed, only the light moves.”
~Leonora Carrington

“I was born on the night of Samhain, when the barrier between the worlds is whisper-thin and when magic, old magic, sings its heady and sweet song to anyone who cares to hear it.”
~ Carolyn MacCullough

Bill Welch Photography

“I spent my life folded between the pages of books.
In the absence of human relationships I formed bonds with paper characters. I lived love and loss through stories threaded in history; I experienced adolescence by association. My world is one interwoven web of words, stringing limb to limb, bone to sinew, thoughts and images all together. I am a being comprised of letters, a character created by sentences, a figment of imagination formed through fiction.”
~ Tahereh Mafi

Bill Welch Photography

“If I could save time in a bottle”

~Jim Croce

Quicksilver,X-Men Days Of Future Past. Kenneth A Kivette Photography

I hope everyone had a great year! Going forward let’s put all the love and happiness we can into today,tomorrow and super charge that going into 2017! I appreciate every one of you for being here and following me on my journey through life.

Love Always,

~Moonkitty

“Shake Up Christmas”

“There was a story that I was told
And I want to tell the world before I get too old
And don’t remember it, so let’s December it
And reassemble it, oh yeah…”

Photography by William Wyrick

Photography by William Wyrick

It’s Christmas Eve….EVE! I don’t know about you but I’m super excited! It has me looking through older Christmas themed modeling photos and remembering good times from season’s past.

Dragon’s Lair Photography

I feel lucky to have been able to host a few of these Christmas shoots at Castle McCulloch. Those were always a blast! It’s a great space to have a shoot. You can do anything from lingerie and sexy implied to ugly sweaters!

I love shooting in the castle windows.

“Once upon a time in a town like this
A little girl made a great big wish
To fill the world full of happiness
And be on Santa’s magic list…”

Photography from Brent LaFever

Every gal likes to dress like a sexy Santa every once in a while! I like to dress like several versions. I was thrilled to be able to use my xtra-xtra long Santa hat for once!

“Shake it up, shake up the happiness
Wake it up, wake up the happiness
Come on all, it’s Christmas time…”

I both started and finished my shopping this week. Being out in the crowds was interesting this year. They really didn’t seem so bad! And the retail working were pretty jolly. I had fun!

Each year I participate in SantaCon. If you haven’t heard of this….lemme fill you in. It’s a huge organized Christmas themed bar crawl! Everyone dresses up,sings dirty carols,plays games and gives out treats to the random people we encounter. WE descend upon bars and bring cheer and happiness!

“‘Tis the season to smile
It’s cold but we’ll be freezing in style…”

“I know you’re out there,I hear your reindeer
I see the snow where your boots have been…”

“I’m gonna show them so they will know then
Then love will grow and
They believe again…”

I love Christmas themes obviously. I think I tried to fit them ALL in. Haha.

“Shake it up, shake up the happiness
Wake it up, wake up the happiness
Come on all, it’s Christmas time!”

I hope everyone is having the best season ever!! Loads of love to you all and I’ll see you all in the new year!

Happiest of holidays…

~Moonkitty ❤

Lyrics taken from “Shake Up Christmas” by Train

 

Strong Roots And Ever Changing Wings

Growing up and up and until recently I didn’t even realize how bad shit had hit the fan.

All of a sudden Barbies caused body image problems…horror movies caused murderers.

I’m 35. I collected barbies,I still have 100’s of them still in boxes. They are beautiful…and yes I longed for what they had….those crazy amazing dresses!! So I started designing them myself. It led to my love of the arts,a college education and a career. Did Barbie have bigger boobs than me? Maybe…I was a kid. I didn’t question her lack of job stability either. Was she skinnier than me? I recall she had a weird pelvis situation….

I also loved all things scary. I couldn’t sleep w/o a Michael Myers story and mom told me Jack The Ripper stories as fast as she could make them up. I’m pretty sure I was in love with Pinhead and Freddy (yes,I know…odd) So far…I haven’t been tempted to kill anyone.

What I’m finding is that I did indeed have something that is seemingly near extinct. A strong family base for roots. Through this I was taught that I was my own person,thought for myself and that I was responsible for MY OWN ACTIONS. Society,T.V.,friends and magazines were not scapegoats in our household. I was taught that everyone is different in their own ways and yet we are all the same and beautiful. No one told me “Blue is for boys” or “You can’t wear that,you’re a girl.” I also didn’t have anyone kissing my ass. Everything I did wasn’t perfect. That prepared me for the real world. So as I grew my wings,I grew them as I saw fit and changed them as needed.

I was encouraged to go out on my own and learn to support myself…that’s how I ultimately FOUND myself. It wasn’t sitting in some huge apartment mommy pays for,traveling to places only others want to go or my being pampered 24/7. I fought for this. I wouldn’t trade that for anything in this world. It’s my blood,sweat and tears. MINE ALONE.

You can be anything you want in this life. Choose to be an amazing person,accountable for your own actions, that tries everyday to see the best in themselves and others. And when doesn’t,works to correct it or to uplift and help. And then,PLEASE,pass that down to your children.

The world is severely lacking………….

~Moonkitty

“Winter Is Coming” : A Mood Board

“My old grandmother always used to say, Summer friends will melt away like summer snows, but winter friends are friends forever.”
~George R.R. Martin

Winter is almost here…even in the Greensboro area. Up until a week or so ago we still had temperatures in the 60’s and 70’s. I’m so ready for cold,it’s ridiculous. I love my boots,blanket scarves,comfy hats and sweaters!

I didn’t used to be a Winter gal but now I own it!

“Nothing burns like the cold. But only for a while. Then it gets inside you and starts to fill you up, and after a while you don’t have the strength to fight it.”
~George R.R. Martin

I spent two Winters in Blowing Rock,NC. I now live in Greensboro. Here we tend to get ice versus snow. I really do miss it.

“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, “Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.”
~Lewis Carroll

“Because the birdsong might be pretty,
But it’s not for you they sing,
And if you think my winter is too cold,
You don’t deserve my spring.”
~Erin Hanson

Most everyone has their Yule/Christmas tree up by now! We put ours up around Thanksgiving…I can hardly contain myself! Ours basically just has Nightmare Before Christmas ornaments on it. I haven’t really taken much time to get anything else. I lived many years with just a 2 foot bright pink tree in an apartment so having a big tree again has been fun 🙂 It’s kinda bare but we make due 🙂 There is usually a kitten up in it anyway! She’s the BEST ornament! She’s only broken three so far……………..

“Snow flurries began to fall and they swirled around people’s legs like house cats. It was magical, this snow globe world.”
~Sarah Addison Allen

Don’t warm drinks just taste a million times better when it’s cold out?? Hot chocolate,frapps,cocoa….cider!

Most everyone has their favorite Starbucks seasonal drink! They have more and more to choose from each year. Mine is a tie between Peppermint Mocha and Chestnut Praline. You can get the pep mocha year round but I only have it during Winter anyway. This year Starbucks has thrown in a super special “Fruit Cake” frapp for THIS WEEK ONLY!

Fruit Cake Frapp, Hazelnut creme,cinnamon,dried fruit,caramel and matcha. These ingredients lead me to believe you could probably order this year round if you like it enough 🙂 Photo courtesy of Starbucks. 

I don’t like fruit cake but why is it that since Starbucks has made it into a frapp…I’m now dying to try it? Haha. Oh well,I’ll be checking this out today 🙂 I can’t resist a new frap.

Anyone else find themselves wanting to bake more when it cools down outside? I made gingerbread men for the first time this year!

That’s me in Winter…leggings,boots,blanket scarves,cookies,frapps and all the Christmas music and peppermint bark I can handle!

Hope everyone has an amazing upcoming Yule/Solstice/Winter 🙂

Until next time…

Warmest wishes,

~Moonkitty

 

 

*Photos in blog are not owned by me. These images are found on Pinterest.

 

Winter Song

“This is my winter song to you.
The storm is coming soon,
It rolls in from the sea…”

SONY DSC

Winter has steadily worked its way into my heart. If someone had told me even three years ago that this was going to be fact…oh I would have laughed! I lived in the sun and heat. I hated sweaters,boots,snow,the way the whole city would close down…anything Winter related.

Once I moved to Blowing Rock,NC though I got used to it. Snow was common and Winter was VERY cold. You begin to like living in coats,comfy hats,boots and scarves. You continue to do whatever you need to no matter the weather. If you stopped when it snowed..,you’d never do anything in the mountains haha. Now Summer in Greensboro NC feels like Hell to me.

“My voice; a beacon in the night.
My words will be your light,
To carry you to me…”

These photos by Anora Crescent capture the heart of Winter for me. The stillness,the chill that hangs in the air,the natural death of trees. These are a sort of mourning . Perhaps the loss of Summer or of the Autumn foliage. As I look through the, they almost seem to be telling the story of a lost love or sister.

“They say that things just cannot grow
Beneath the winter snow,
Or so I have been told…”

SONY DSC

“They say were buried far,
Just like a distant star
I simply cannot hold…”

“This is my winter song.
December never felt so wrong,
‘Cause you’re not where you belong;
Inside my arms…”

“I still believe in summer days.
The seasons always change
And life will find a way…”

“I’ll be your harvester of light
and send it out tonight
so we can start again…”

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

“Is love alive?
Is love alive?
Is love alive? …”

Lyrics taken from “Winter Song” By Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson.

Photography by Anora Crescent

Second model Bailey Re

Until next time…

In love with the cold,

~Moonkitty

 

 

 

Influenster Maybelline Colossal Big Shot VoxBox!

My latest FREE for testing purposes VoxBox through Influenster came on Saturday! They are always super exciting to receive BUT in this one they mentioned including a surprise. I was SO curious! As usual I was NOT disappointed.

For more information on or to see if Influenster is right for you then check out my first blog about it here : Influenster VoxBox!

The boxes are always so cute!

So I knew this campaign was for the Maybelline Colossal Big Shot Mascara so I expected that. Let’s see what else is included!

So let’s look at the contents of this latest free box 🙂

Maybelline Volum’ Express Colossal Big Shot Mascara in Very Black. Retails for $8.49

Super difficult to get a photo of this guy due to the shiny AF packaging. It’s like New Years bling…beautiful!

The formula works great for me! I have nice lashes to begin with so most everything,including cheap stuff,works well. But occasionally there are exceptions…mascaras that just wow me! This one does. I find that products with the thick round brush typically rock my world. This one gives great volume and length! There was no flaking after a full days wear.

I’ve included a dufus photo so you can see the magic that are my lashes. BIG SHOT!

hehehe

Next as an added bonus I received the Master Precise Curly Liquid Liner in Black. Retails for $7.99.

This product is a trip! I can honestly say that I’ve never used anything quite like this for lining. I’ve been wearing winged liner since middle school and I always judge a liner by how well it wings out. This guy rocks it! I am pretty impressed. I saw a lot of reviews on the website stating that the color washes out pretty quickly. So far I’ve had no issues with that.

So…a value of $16.48 in free products! Never have to pay for shipping either!

I was running SO low on eyeliner so this came at a great time!

All opinions in this blog are obviously my own haha.

Until next time…

~Moonkitty

“She’s Mad, But She’s Magic. There’s No Lie In Her Fire.”

“You must burn. Burn higher.
Burn for everything you have ever wanted. For everything you have ever lost, for every crack in your heart and every fraction of every irreplaceable moment. Burn high for love. For fear. For life.
Burn as fast and as long as you can.
You must burn, burn higher.
Because nothing in this world will kill you faster than a dying fire.”
~Mia Hollow

I play with fire…there I said it 🙂 I started my obsession with my first trip to Burning Man back in 2002. it was a magical,burning,enlightening display of art and life before my very eyes. I came out a different person and I believe some of me is still there …in 2002…in that very space. It’s impossible to explain.

How do you connect such an experience to THIS world once you’ve left that temporary one? I use fire. I’ve found no matter what the issue I can usually dance my way out of a funk with fire and movement. It may just be a quick temporary fix but it’s been a life saver on a few occasions.

“I want more of this feeling – fire and wings.”
~Jean Rhys

These photos are taken from performances in Raleigh NC. The Black Flower,a local bar,was nice enough to host a few of our fire community events there. Inside we’d have burlesque,hypnosis,shibari,hooping then outside….FIRE!

“Man may have discovered fire, but women discovered how to play with it.”~ Candace Bushnell

When I post these photos the most common questions are

1. OMG how do you dance around with fire in THOSE shoes?  Well…very carefully…haha. No seriously those are very comfortable shoes!
2. Aren’t you afraid the long hair will catch fire? No…the wig is synthetic. It actually melts vs catching any sort of flame.
3. That’s a lot of exposed skin! Doesn’t it burn? Haha yes…I mean if it comes into contact with my skin it can burn me. But I’ve not once had a serious burn of any sort. That’s what practice is for. I would never suggest anyone just pick up a flaming object and go at it 🙂
4. BUT what happens if you do catch fire?  I am all about safety. What you don’t see in these photos are awesome assistants equipped with emergency items in case anything should happen. We got this!

Like a fire tornado I’m about to bring down 🙂

I love seeing what images get captured on camera. The fire trails have a life and are an art all their own.

“Let the spark in you catch fire and burn into the air, so that it may light up the sky.”
~Saim .A. Cheeda

Yes I even spin fire in polka dots and pearls. #classyAF

Until next time…

Dancing in flames,

~Moonkitty

 

“And I Won’t Fight In Vain I’ll Love You Just The Same…”

“And oh this too shall pass
This loneliness won’t last for long”

Boudoir photography is one of my favorite types to model for. It’s always been able to instill more confidence within me. For this particular shoot we are utilizing the Proximity Hotel in Greensboro NC. It is a beautiful hotel,perfect for such a shoot!

“So when you hear my voice
And when you say my name
May it never give you pain”

I love boudoir “costuming”. You can wear lingerie or corsets and lace. In the past year I started making my own lingerie to shoot in and added it into my existing clothing line. It has been a great experience!

For this shoot I’m using a corset and lace top and also one lingerie set I got off the clearance rack at Rue 21. I’ve used a ton from Rue 21 in modeling,their clearance racks are amazing! Clothes used for modeling never have to be expensive!

“‘Cause I don’t wanna go
But it’s time to leave
You’ll be on my mind, my destiny”

I had straightened my hair for the event but the photographer in charge wanted “sexy hair” so…next thing I knew my hair was big again! I can’t get away from it! I guess it’s just time to own it 🙂

“And I won’t fight in vain
I’ll love you just the same
I couldn’t know what’s in your mind…”

It’s always so hard to choose between color and black and white images! I can’t pick a favorite!

This was a really fun shoot! I had an absolute blast! All the photographers really worked their magic! As always I love the varied images that different minds and styles create when they come together.

“But I saw the pictures
You’re looking fine”

Lyrics taken from “Gale Song” by the Lumineers. I’ve been obsessed with their newest music!

Until next time….

Feeling sassy,

~Moonkitty

 

“My Eyes Were Glued On Life And They Were Full Of Tears.”

“What is that feeling when you’re driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? – it’s the too-huge world vaulting us, and it’s good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies.”

Once again Jack Kerouac is on my brain and I had to give in and tell his stories. Quotes from his works visit me often in life. “The Road Is Life…” …that it is Jack…that it is.

It’s a rainy day in Jamestown NC,I have three cats running around trying to murder a Xmas tree and I have coffee. Life is good 🙂

These photos are all courtesy of Anora Crescent Photography. We used her home and the area around it to shoot them.

“The air was soft, the stars so fine, the promise of every cobbled alley so great, that I thought I was in a dream.”

There are only a handful of times I model with curly hair. It’s usually just a pain to deal with it in its natural state. But looking back… I  actually like it in these photos! We rarely like what we have,eh?

“Houses are full of things that gather dust”

The clothing for this shoot was very simple. I purchased the cream lace dress off a $5 clearance rack at Rue 21 and the boots came from a thrift store. I’m not typically a “cowboy boot” type of gal but I love how they look in photos!

My hair is showing out in this photo. Curls for days….

“I came to a point where I needed solitude and just stop the machine of ‘thinking’ and ‘enjoying’ what they call ‘living’, I just wanted to lie in the grass and look at the clouds.”

All quotes by Jack Kerouac

Until next time…

“It’s good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies”,

~Moonkitty

“If You Could Say It In Words, There Would Be No Reason To Paint.”

“A blank canvas…has unlimited possibilities.”
~Stephanie Perkins

The human form is the perfect temporary canvas. The lines…the curves…they all lend themselves to amazing one of a kind art.

This particular painting was done by Living Brush in Greensboro NC for a First Friday art show. I was painted beforehand to model one of Madelyn’s awesome costume/headdresses. Madelyn is one half of Living Brush. She is a fantastic person and artist of all kinds!

Crappy cell pic of me and Madelyn ;P

“Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known.”
~Oscar Wilde

When you’re going to be walking around in front of children,etc then you must have appropriate coverup. I’m not typically painted in underwear….I believe this is my only experience with that. It’s a tad but different from being completely naked. It’s not as freeing but it’s still fun.

The event was hosted at Chakras Spa and we had a great turn out! Lots of my friends came and we had a blast! My job was basically just to walk around and look awesome!

I walked around downtown Greensboro for a while before the event. I got a ton of weird looks,comments (good and bad) and I posed for pictures with many people and tour groups. I mean…I stood out just a tad 🙂

“Blessed are the weird people:
poets, misfits, writers
mystics, painters, troubadours
for they teach us to see the world through different eyes.”
~Jacob Nordby

One model was painted during the event. It was fun to watch that happen as well.

“If you could say it in words, there would be no reason to paint.”
~Edward Hopper

All professional photos by Bill Welch Photography

Until Next Time…

In paint,

~Moonkitty