Dipped in Rococo ~ lifestyle in analog

to all of those listening

noreply@blogger.com (Kasia Górska) — Mon, 06 Apr 2020 07:51:00 +0000

I found myself accidentaly checking out the blogger page and what struck me was that people were still reading my ramblings, even though a few years had passed. It's incredible. I find it hard to believe, but still the Internet itself is something that never lets things go. They're always there.

Were you wondering where I ended up? I came back to my hometown to continue working as a dentist after I finished medical university (in 2017). Last week I got info that I managed to get into an orthodontics program, so in three years time I will be becoming an orthodontist. I could say that this is the biggest achievement of my life - since only about 10 people each 6 months can get into this program - in the whole country. I probably take it for granted though. Now it's not the time to celebrate. We are all concerned, we are all anxious what tomorrow may bring. The numbers of new infections and new deaths are echoing in my head.

I found love in 2017, after being single for some time. It was unexpected and even though at first I treated it lightly - because of my pesimistic side, definitely - now, 2,5 years later, I am still happy and still in love. Planning my wedding later this year (if covid lets us, of course).

Because of the Covid pandemic I currently stay at home and don't work. It makes me really scared sometimes, because there are so many things that need taking care of - money-wise. I also started revisiting old places, like this site. I find myself reminiscing of the old times a lot. During my break from writing on that blog, I made some portraits that I am really proud of. Those are the ones that you can see in that post. Unfortunately later on I found it hard to find new people that I could photograph.

If you are still there, please let me know.

And as you can tell, I still adore a good bokeh, even though I am shooting mostly digital camera now (with a manual lens Helios on - God, I love that lens. I'd had it since the very beginning)

all the summer dillemas

noreply@blogger.com (Kasia Górska) — Wed, 20 Jul 2016 13:01:00 +0000

When summer vacay hits in and you have so much time on your hands. What do you do to make the constant dillemas stop flowing your way? So much time to think about stuff is not so good. This year, unfortunately, I spend my summer at home, where the weather is very unpredictable. We get a lot of rain and rare truly summery days. I found the most comfortable place ever to pull through it, my bed. It's been so long since I wrote anything. It must be because I have this weird thing about not being able to reach perfection. Once I realize I cannot reach perfection, my motivation drops. This is very unhealthy to live such a life.

There is a bunch of things that you don't know, because I haven't had a chance to tell you. First of all, I am getting closer to the day that my kitty is finally with me. I was counting the days, but then something unusual happened. The owner of the cat cattery messaged me that she perhaps had an even better kitten to fit me. I looked at his photos and I fell in love. I was very motivated to keep my decision the way it was - I initially picked the first kitten available, but since she reached out to me - presenting me with Mon Cheri, kitty who was slightly lighter colored, had this cute little pink nose, and was presumably more calm and people loving. This is when I thought, hey, maybe this is how it should be. You can see Mon Cheri at 8 weeks below.

I still don't know how I am going to call him. There are names like Simba, Dexter, Frank at the back of my head. I just cannot make up my mind. I'd better do it as soon as possible. I am about to pick a pet id tag for him with his name engraved on it as well as my phone number. Maybe you have any ideas? I don't know why but I feel like choosing a name for a female cat would be much easier!

I felt bad sort of 'leaving' my initial kitty. And I swear my heart broke a little bit when I saw his status on the website change from "reserved" to "available. I still feel a little guilty. Then my love said something very wise and true to me. "Listen, it's not like you took him home and after a week you decided that you wanted an exchange. He doesn't know you." It's not a real loss for him, it's right. I truly hope he will find a loving family real soon. He is still very young and has plenty of time for a new family to find him. If I only could, I would get both of them. Unfortunately this is not the case.

My sister is 14 weeks pregnant. This was such a happy news to my family. I literally had tears falling down my cheeks once she told me. The idea of a new life beginning inside her is amazing. For now it's 75% possible that it's going to be a girl. She will be born sometime in January of 2017. Our little princess.

Our family will be bigger by 3 soon. Myself having a kitten, my sister being pregnant and my mum buying herself a new Yorkshire terrier after we lost our previous Yorkie to kidney and heart failure earlier this year. It's all going to work out, I hope. Those three just must get along!

Also, hey, my Creative Market store is doing pretty well. With pricing that low, I am definitely not earning much, but it is so cool to see people buy my works every now and then! :)

hello back!

noreply@blogger.com (Kasia Górska) — Sat, 07 May 2016 09:30:00 +0000

Lately I do feel this weird blockade that I cannot find my way to pass while expressing my feelings. Actually, recently, I don't have power or will to express myself at all. This is why I didn't write much, because every time that I tried, was a failure. Maybe the crisis that I am facing it's happening because I feel like adulthood is just around the corner? And I am nowhere near settled. I focused more on my businesses, marketing my photography work. And it paid off :) Maybe it's just like any other morning, that caffeine will make me go eventually. And the mood swings, they will go away too. Of course I have so many photos to show you. Maybe I wasn't shooting too often, but since I've been gone, I completed a couple of rolls. Switched back to my beloved Helios lens. Hello again, bokeh times!

What I want to share with you is that there is a high chance that this summer I will become a cat lady. Well, hopefully not the crazy type (though I cannot particularly change how crazy I am already, right?) On next Tuesday at 7am I have my allergy tests that will be the last step before my final decision. Over the couple of weeks I did some great amounts of thinking it over. Some people were truly excited about it, just the way I am, and I am so thankful for that. Others, sceptical, only motivated my ambitious self to make it all work out. I am currently watching one Birman cats breeder where they are awaiting kittens around May 20th. Keep your fingers crossed for me! And if you have any words of encouragement... Now this is the time to share! I've been asking myself many questions. I haven't had a cat before, so I'm on this constant search of information on how to raise one. I will keep you updated on this topic.

So after I went back fully manual to use my Helios 44/2 lens again, it was around the time when everything started to come alive and sooner after that - blossoming. I went on a shooting spree of all types of trees and flowers. But as you can tell, my photos are still lacking actual people. Of course I've been photographing strangers like crazy. Another happy news is that my Instagram account recently hit 5000 followers! A particularly huge deal for me, since it's been my goal since last Autumn to hit that number.

on how I decided to start selling images as stock

noreply@blogger.com (Kasia Górska) — Sat, 12 Mar 2016 08:58:00 +0000

Monetizing my own images was somehow always at the back of my head. It wasn't until my friend Allie made an Etsy store with her own photographs that I finally decided to to the same. Etsy wasn't such a great idea though, because later on I found out that people choose this site to go for stock images very rarely. For about a month now, I've had my Creative Market store opened, and this time I truly feel its potential, as my photo was handpicked and is getting some views and likes finally!

I have decided that if I want to buy myself a new camera, my own photographs should work and pay for it. We will see how it goes, I am very motivated and happy to be on this path though.

Have you ever heard of term stock images? Stock photography? It's photography done by another person, that once being purchased, can be used by you! OF course there are different types of licences. Some do and some don't include commercial use. If you're a lifestyle blogger like me, and you struggle to take high quality images to feature your posts and wonderful thoughtful texts, then you might just love stock!

There are so many places to go for stock photos for free, then why to buy it in the first place? Well, I strongly believe that there are people out there, who want something unique. By setting my prices as low as I could, (Creative Market lowest is 2$, and I am prepared to create photo bundles for that price too!) I want to give people a chance for getting cheap, unique photography for their websites. You know that when something's free, immediately a lot of people have it and use it. I wouldn't want my blog to look like somebody else's that's why I started taking my own photographs when I started. Analog stock photography is even more unique!

Anyways, I am leaving you today with a link to my store and some photographs that are already up for sale! :) Happy browsing, I hope you find something for yourself!

Visiting Mocak - Modern art gallery in Krakow

noreply@blogger.com (Kasia Górska) — Sun, 21 Feb 2016 23:16:00 +0000

While in Cracow, we visited a bunch of galleries, because most of the usual exhibitions are now available at a reduced price for students, what a cool perk! Modern Art Gallery called MOCAK is the first one that I will be talking about and sharing some photos.

What caught my eye immediately after we left our coats in the cloakroom were the exhibits that we could see in the main corridor of the gallery, before even entering the exhibition part of the building. Guess it is all one big piece of art. There were vending machines standing in the hall, each of them in different color, filled with canned drinks of some kind. As I came closer, it struck me that it was indeed an art piece "Satisfaction Guaranteed" by Joanna Rajkowska, a provocative work involving vending machines with elements of her body for symbolic consumption.Each drink type was something unusual. Representing a human need, things somehow so appealing, yet sadly not achievable by some liquid in a can. That was a very cool project in my opinion. "melon flavored drink with an extract from the retina, strenghtening the vision. edition limited to 500 cans."

In this post you will find some photos I took in this very gallery. You will probably notice that I just love stalking strangers who contemplate art in such places. This time I didn't get busted! :) As for the architecture of the whole building - I loved the feeling of how vast it was. The rooms were big and spacious. Too bad there was hardly any place to sit. Modern art is tirying, you know? Especially when there are a bunch of movies playing. You could stand there and watch for hours. MOCAK exhibitions are very various. There are some photographs that you just must take while in this gallery. I tried my best at doing those art works some analog justice.

there's something about these movies (1)

noreply@blogger.com (Kasia Górska) — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 01:01:00 +0000

Every now and then I stumble upon some wonderful works of film makers. A few of the recent ones that I've found are based upon people's anxieties. Some were there to make my days a little more brighter. One is an exceptionally beautiful piece about having a soul of a traveller. So I've decided that every few weeks, I will be showing you one of those movies. It's not going to be long, just a moment of your time. Hopefully by doing so, you will get to know some new amazing directors and experience the ideas behind those videos. So here we are today with the work of Paul Trillo that caught my eye on my facebook feed today. Thank you for sharing Natalie! :) I share so many thoughts with the main character, scary.

If you watched it and liked it, why not share this post onto facebook or twitter, so other people can see it? Let's share the love for short movies full of inspiration! Your K.

travel diary: kraków

noreply@blogger.com (Kasia Górska) — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 11:30:00 +0000

You know what indicates you have just had a great trip? When you come back home and all you want to do is to start planning another one.

This is honestly the first photo I have taken in that amazing city. It wasn't well thought over, just a capture of the first thing my eyes saw when I entered the Main Square of Krakow. See the wall on the left? I just refused to wait until we pass it by completely. As always the camera that accompanied me was Canon AE-1 Program and photos in this post were shot with Agfa Vista 200 film, Fuji X-tra 400 & Kodak Ultramax 400.

We did a bunch of things during that trip. We visited a Cat cafe, oh what a horrendous experience. We did lots of sight seeing and museum visiting, which I loved. We grabbed Japanese fast food - takoyaki, which are made from batter and squid - also called Octopus balls :) I finally saw the Lady with an ermine painting, which is a life must see I guess. I will definitely split the whole story into a few posts at least! So if you are interested, click the read more and let's start!

First of all, yes, I know my photo compositions are not the best, but I sometimes find it hard for feelings not to get in the way of photo shooting. I capture everything on spur of the moment. If I were to sum up what my favourite locations were I would say the city centre with its beautiful main square and lots of charming alleys, especially with the snow that we got a couple of days. I loved taking photos of those beautiful tenament houses. I basically never travel in winter, so it's safe to say there was never any snow on my travel photos before. Of course it was nothing very convenient to be exploring in a snowy weather, but it was definitely more magical this way and pretty unusual too.

I love how travelling makes you feel alive. Marking more and more dots on your map, exploring, getting to know people in the weirdest places. For example in the apartment that we lived were three separate rooms for people to rent, two Chinese girls happened to be our flatmates and since they had some sort of problems with their room, we offered that they could use our bathroom. At the end of our strange encounter, they said that they were studying in Prague and if we ever get a chance we should come and visit them in return for our kidness. I was really surprised at how things turned around. Prague soon? Why not? I certainly loved it the last time.

If you love art, then you should definitely visit Cracow. I have decided that I will prepare a separate post for our art adventures in Cracow, but let me just say it already, no matter what kind of art you are a fan of - street art, Religious art, Ancient Greek or Egyptian art, Renaissance, Modern, there is something waiting for you in Cracow in each and every of those types. We gladly saw as much as we could. Of course most of these were not available for picture taking, but some of them were, so I definitely have something to show you! I also finally know that stalking people in art galleries is definitely my thing.

It is definitely a place for food lovers too! We have tried New Zealand burgers, classic Italian cuisine with amazing service at Boscaiola, and the forementioned Japanese fast food Octopus balls at the Kyoto Takoyaki spot, which were surprisingly delicious! And imagine how many places and incredible cuisines we did not try. I keep saying that we only leave them for another trip to the city of Krakow! Now I'll leave you with some photos. Have you ever been to this city? Would you like to come? Tell me all about your winter destinations of 2016.

before travel thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (Kasia Górska) — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 22:51:00 +0000

the wonderful calendar is by Karolin Schnook

Tomorrow I am going to Cracow to spend a couple of days there. Weird, but I don't feel too adventurous at the moment. I keep wondering whether I am even capable of pulling it off like that. Anyway. It's going to be another point on the map that I'd have explored. I want to make a promise myself to shoot, shoot and shoot some more. We'll see how it goes. This little post is so I don't leave you here with no goodbye. It will take some time until I develop new film, so it may be over a week until you hear from me again. You're more than welcome to check out my other social media, as I am pretty active on Twitter and Instagram nowadays. So if you are from Cracow and you would like to hang out during my stay there, contact me via those media for the most immediate response.

I find myself angry that I cannot express myself the right way. I cannot find the right words. I don't know answers to your questions, therefore I keep wondering, and I get lost in my thoughts and questions stay just questions. I certainly know how to mess up and never set things right again. Good work, K.

So right now I don't feel that adventurous. Not as much as I normally do in summer. Maybe it is because I basically never go anywhere during my winter break. My family tradition is to stay in during winter. No skiing or snowboarding experience, sadly. So this is some pretty new stuff for me to consider.

In 2016 I want to be a better traveller. I learn something new each trip. Now I do bring my own coffee and even a small milk carton. I am certain I will not be eating in restaurants during all of my stay. On my trip's map there are also some convenience stores marked, even a McDonald's as I can't seem to stay away from those. Even with braces on my teeth. I have those little transparent boxes for carrying my shampoo and other things. I'm growing as a traveller, I believe. I also travel more lightly than I used to.

I will be back and around, hopefully inspired by things I see and people I meet there. I will talk to you soon!

If we were on a coffee date I

noreply@blogger.com (Kasia Górska) — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 19:29:00 +0000

Thanks to Allie, I got introduced to this fun linkup by Heartnatured, which is a perfect way for me to share my thoughts over a cup of virtual coffee, are you ready? That's a first for me!

If we were on a coffee date, I would tell you how much I am relieved to finally have some time off after this semester is officially over for me. That perhaps the cold, that I currently have, found me just in the right time, when I spend days under my blanket, waiting until the sleep falls on me. I hate colds. My sinuses hate colds. They somehow strip me off of every desire that I have in my mind.

I would tell you that in January I have done some work as a Local Exchange Officer of International Association of Dentals Students, which got me very interested in doing some travelling this next summer myself. I am currently looking into my options of exchange to Spain, if the language doesn't get in the way. I would love to live in Madrid or Barcelona for a few weeks. I feel like that would give my life and thinking some perspective. And certainly, this blog and my camera would love it too. This is crucial, as I always try to please those two as much as I want to please myself. Then I'd take another sip off our delicious caffeine treat and continue my stories.

I would definitely mention how my fourth year of dentistry is going. Or tell you how I managed to suture up the patient's gums after I extracted that first tooth on Monday this week. Which is a perfect example of how live needs us to take risks and shine through our fears. Ohh and I finally started to have two patients every Tuesday in my Restorative Dentistry clinic class. About the time, right?

How about the braces, you may ask. I have been wearing them for three months now. Time passes just so quickly. Day to day, I didn't even notice when my lower arch lined up almost perfectly. I definitely feel more beautiful now. It's like my biggest flaw is finally fixed. I will be forever thankful that my parents gave me an opportunity to have it. No matter at what age. If I were to save up for it myself, I would wait until I was in mid-thirties.

Also, I'd say, it has been one year since I moved into a new apartment with my new flatmate Monika. Changes were scary to approach, by much needed and made everything so much better in the end. If you are ever scared of changes, dear, just think it over and don't be afraid of taking chances.

I would tell you that I am still scared at times, but I try to change it in myself, and re-invent myself this year. I no longer want to feel like with dentistry I am not in my element. I want to find this work challenging and developing me. Two weeks ago, A sent me this image she found on the internet awhile ago. It is incredible how much this fits me, how my heart feels that this is the right path. We might not be the perfect people for the job, but we ought to try and try to achieve the level of perfection that we desire. I would show you this picture on my phone, since it's now on every background on every item that I own. I fell in love with that little pug. I hope he will inspire you the way he did with me.

See you soon on our another coffee date!

No place for beginners or sensitive hearts

noreply@blogger.com (Kasia Górska) — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 22:15:00 +0000

The moment I realized that I started to listen to music that my parents used to listen to in our home was somehow significant. I would now spend my evenings listening to Sade & Simply Red, and it was as if I could feel my body getting old. I would dream of somebody holding me while those songs play in the background. I would beg the world to go back to how I was before I felt love, because feeling it for the first time was the feeling worth waiting for. Sometimes I feel so blessed that I have a future ahead of me. That there will be people who become my friends, there will be feelings, now I know that for sure. We're spinning, spinning madly on. We're made to repeat our mistakes, we're meant to live, bleed, get back on our feet. I see a proof for that in every day that I experience. I'm not sure why today I am in such an emotional mood to write such things. I don't feel the negativity, I only feel hope.

I might have even started to feel like I am on a right path in my life. As if I can make it all work out eventually. I wouldn't be able to count how many times I wanted to give it all up and felt powerless that I couldn't. That people had high hopes and expectations. That eventually I would't be happy. Now I realize that there's no way for me to predict all those things. I go forward, day to day, doing my best, just like I always did. And maybe for now, this is enough.

I am almost done with the semester! Yay. It wasn't that hard on me, but if you follow that general rule that the less you need to study, the more lazy you become, then laziness really kept me fighting with myself the last couple of weeks. Funny thing, there is still this piece of me who wishes to be like Violet Baudelaire. I close my eyes, I gather my hair into a ponytail (no ribbon included, sadly), and feel my mind open up in this incredible way. This way I can do anything, I think.

I still need to force myself into approaching other people to shoot with me. I don't exactly know why so. Am I so shy? Embarrassed? If so, of what? Maybe it's just so hard to open up in front of other people. And while shooting portraits feels so appealing, photography is still a part of my life which is very 'mine' and not for anyone else to see. Maybe I don't have so many friends around here. Anyway, it's another step that I have to take in the future. Opening up will benefit this blog and my photography experience. Also, my Instagram is now more photo hungry than ever! I'm finally over 3400 followers, woho!

~K.

it's complicated

noreply@blogger.com (Kasia Górska) — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 19:57:00 +0000

It's complicated. This is how I would describe my life at this point. I feel so utterly tangled up in things, I no longer know where I am headed. Although from time to time, I can picture myself in that cosy apartment, with the Nutcracker score playing in the background. Light, big interiors that over the years I would have filled with my things and my loving. Smell of baked apple pie. A fluffy cat sleeping on my knees. But once again, I bet if I ever have a cat, it will be mean and it will end up hating me. And I will call it weird names like Mr Jinggles or something connected with food or worse, dentistry, as I originally wanted. The Nutcracker and other of Tchaikovsy's works will always remind me of my childhood years. The happy and clueless times.

The highlight of the last week is definitely the roll of film that I shot during a break from studying on Sunday. Thank you M, for posing! Calm, feminine, subtle. Something that I would like to capture nowadays. I somehow love how soft those photos turned out to be. And it makes me more and more eager to listen to classical music and create, featuring other people too. The tattoos in the photos are fake, don't worry. I somehow loved them being both removable and connected with coffee. The formula that we put on M's neck is actually fairly similar to caffeine's formula. And it's only one for the many sets that Kresky offers. And now that it's coffee topic, have you ever tried Kopiko? I am seriously addicted to that stuff nowadays!

I am living in my more less happy bubble. Don't get me wrong, I am stressed. All of the time. And my heart related stuff is not solved too. But I am very motivated to let it just go the way it should. Coming back to stuff I am actually sure of and can talk to you about it openly - from 3rd until 6th of February, I will be in Cracow. So if you want to meet me for a coffee or photowalk, please contact me, as I would love to hang out with you! Or if you are too shy to meet me, please just recommend me some place to go to, fun things to do or spots to photograph. Leave a comment down below or contact me on my social media.

Out of the things that I am really excited about at this point I have to say my most favourite ones are Cracow trip, winter break and the X-files! What are three things that you're excited about in the forthcoming weeks?? :)

going on a journey

noreply@blogger.com (Kasia Górska) — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 00:37:00 +0000

Beginning of the year brings me much thought about life, choices and love. I would always say that I live for the little moments of happiness and true emotions running through my veins and causing shivers down my spine. It is so good not to be blinded by love. I feel like it is such a bliss to be able to look clearly at the people who are now in my life. Have you ever felt proud of the progress you've done? It's like being in a situation and being able to relate to it, knowing how your old self would react. And here I am today, with my grown up self behind my eyes, and I am no longer scared or weak. I am no longer needy and I don't have to settle for anything I am not sure of. And if I am not sure of something, maybe it's not entirely up to me to decide. What lasts lasts, what doesn't doesn't. Even if it lasts only for a minute, I want to hold onto that feeling for as long as it can be. And now the word entirely is stuck in my head, as I guess I have always liked how this one is pronounced. Weird thing. But that wasn't what I meant to talk about in this post... We were supposed to talk about my journey, so let's do it!

What if I decided to leave one day? That thought of a journey on my own somehow feels more appealing to me than I should be. It's almost like I want to test myself and see what happens, how I react. I have so say I have been brought up to always think the world is a vast and scary place. My mum would always be overprotective of myself and my sister. My growing up was rather boring, since I was always a little bit afraid of the outside world. Yet on the other hand, I always felt this inner need to explore it. Over three years ago I decided to leave the world as I knew it and go study to another city. I have to say it worked out perfectly. I accomodated, found my way. It even turned out that I am capable of cooking! What a shocker. Few days ago, when I was coming back to Bialystok after the Christmas break, it turned out that there was some railway collision on the tracks connecting two of my cities, resulting in transport problems and having to change from the train to a bus and then to a train again at 10pm. But I already had my ticket bought! And people who know me, know that there is one thing in this world that I completely cannot stand, and that is when something changes my plans. My mum and my grandparents told me not to go. Told me to postpone the departure, because I obviously wouldn't make it. Not in this terrible cold. Bags, running, switching the mean of transportation. But of course I did not back away from this idea and plan that I had. My dad drove me to the railway station and when we said goodbyes, he said: "You can do this. You're an adult. You have to handle this." And as much as I cannot get along with this man, he said everything that I needed to hear at that point.

I had big plans for the winter break. I was almost ready to go to Milan on my own. But I got scared and rejected that idea at last. Milan was a big step. Airplane travel on my own, being in a country with different culture and language. Also euro pricing is always a killer to my wallet. As I finally bought myself a new laptop, some of my funds were used for that cause and it leaves me with too little to handle Milan. Didn't quite turn out the way I wanted it to. I got really sad that I didn't manage to fullfil that one thing that I wanted. But today, as I was lying on my bed, staring at the ceiling with tired eyes, one thought hit me. Milan might be far away, but what about Cracow? It's much closer, it's Polish. I have never been there (apart from the conference where I did not see anything), so there would be this element of excitement and adventure. It's Polish. Only 6 hours away. This is a city I have always wanted to explore! That idea will probably haunt me for a couple of next days. If I buy a travel guide, I am pretty much settled. I love buying travel guides as first steps to new travels. How do you like to start planning your own travels? And how do you choose travelling destinations?

My favourite solo traveller is Nancy Wilde. If you don't know her then you should visit her blog immediately, she's also a super sweet girl. See The Nancy Wilde Experience.

97% by Ben Brand

noreply@blogger.com (Kasia Górska) — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 19:02:00 +0000

I am such a huge lover of short movies that I really really wanted to share this one with you. I found it awhile ago while browsing the net. It's a short movie about reality of looking for a love interest in today's world. I guess something we could all relate in the meantime of swiping left and right on Tinder, couldn't we? It is not really a Tinder story, yet it covers the topic of searching for that one true match. What would you do if you found out that your 97% match is less than 25 metres away from you? Enjoy! :)

hello, hello 2016!

noreply@blogger.com (Kasia Górska) — Sun, 03 Jan 2016 13:21:00 +0000

Hello New Year! I am excited to welcome you at last. // We actually welcomed 2016 three days ago in Gdansk with my high school friends and their pals. I thought I would meet you here for a little talk. Gdansk was exceptionally beautiful on the first day of the new year, though its cold (-10 degrees of Celcius) made us wish for a cup of hot coffee or chocolate. We strolled the streets of the city as friends would. We smiled and laughed, took photos too. There was thirteen of us on the New Year's Eve and seven on the walk the day after (I was the odd single one obviously). In today's post I would like to show you some of the never seen on this blog photos, because I featured them on my Instagram only. If you want to check out my Instagram, please do! :) This post will be full of non-analog photos, which I snap with my iPad when I don't have my camera at the moment or want to upload something fast without having to worry about shooting the whole roll.

First photo is of my friend AJ with whom I became friends after we sat together in the history class in high school. She has a heart of gold and now also the most helpful man I have ever met as her boyfriend. // Second photo is of the centre of Gdansk's Old Town with the Neptune's Fountain on the left and gorgeous tenament houses on the right. // Third is view of the Motława River.

I have always featured a lot of analog related photos there. For example a new roll of some professional film that I'd just finished or my beloved Canon. Film stock was pretty always featured too, so you guys could get a hint of what I might be using next. I must say that these were always my most liked photos. 2015 was a year where I used almost only my Canon AE-1 Program. I completely fell in love with it and can now recommend it for sure!

I survived a family meeting last year, even though at first I shivered at the thought of it. It didn't go smoothly, but I got some motivation to treat blood bonds more seriously.

Dear A, you were such a huge part of my last year. I truly hope you will be present in it in 2016 too. I loved the times we tested new restaurants together and critisised almost all of them. I know the amount of words I wrote about you on this blog would never be sufficient. Yet I need to say, you were always at the back of my head when I wrote those posts. Please, still be my best friend.

I spent my summer mostly at home. Home did not mean boring though. When A came for a visit, we went kayaking for the first time in my whole life. Yes, I was born in a city with 16 lakes, but I had never done it before. Here's to first times then! I also made some kind of a peace with book reading.

Trip of the year was Wroclaw during the summer. I made two big posts about Wroclaw and our time there. One is about the dwarves hunt (link), the other is a general post about what you can do in this city, based on what we did and enjoyed (link). Who knows, I might even live in that city one day. After that trip I couldn't think of many reasons not to.

The move was the biggest struggle of January 2015. I cannot believe one year passed since we moved into that new apartment, which is now my second home. Place where I love my working space, where I can go for a Sunday walk to the park and sleep in that comfy bed. I wouldn't do it if it wasn't for my friends. I wouldn't do it without my love. That's for sure. We even carried my old rug through the city centre! Crazy. Not weird at all. I remember my first self-made meal in the new apartment (with A of course). Thai chicken with coconut milk and yellow curry. I obviously took a photo of it and it landed on my Instagram. Cool times. So not predictable and scary, but cool. Those were also the times of drinking new types of beer, analog talks and getting to know my new flatmate, Monika.

Anyway, those were some of the non-analog memories of 2015. The fact is, my life is mostly about analog these days, but when I don't shoot analog, I try not to disappoint anyways. Thank you for reading and I'll talk to you soon! Have a splending start to the new year! :)

my short goodbye to 2015

noreply@blogger.com (Kasia Górska) — Wed, 30 Dec 2015 23:01:00 +0000

Apart from the very big title I feel like I don't have that much to say about 2015. I was nothing close to what I had imagined myself to be this year and for that I am so sorry. I was supposed to write more, love sufficiently, be a great friend. Somehow I fell down from the pedestal and became a person who did none of the above. I'm sorry. I tried. I tried to make myself the best I could be. But once it started to pile up lying to myself and acting not the way I felt like I should, it became too much. I took a huge break from blogging. I had stuff to focus on. I've gone through a breakup that still leaves me hanging, to be quite honest. I have so much on my plate right now, but at times I forget about that and smile at life anyway. Well again, that's life, it happens, right? I want to give you one advice though. Don't ever imagine what you don't want to become, because life might give you just that. Maybe with slightly different appearance, finishing touches. But you might end up being so close to what you've disliked. Just don't give yourself that. Spare it, honestly. Now on the positive side...

some things that I've managed to accomplish in 2015.

↟ I bought myself a computer with money I had saved from my scholarship.

↟ I nailed that one exam that I really wanted to nail and got the highest score out of the whole year.

↟ I gave up that stupid habit of nail biting after 22 years of doing so.

↟ Over 3000 followers on Instagram. I'd say I want 8k till 2017 starts.

some things I fucked up in 2015

↟ My almost two years long relationship (!)

some things I want to do in 2016

↟ See if I can repair up the damage that I've done to people I love and myself

↟ Visit at least 7 new cities. I've seen people joining that fb event which said "52 cities in 2016". Well I don't have high hopes, hah. 7 might be achievable though.

↟ Make that wordpress transfer and domain purchase. Finally.

↟ Driving license.

Christmas illuminations of Warsaw

noreply@blogger.com (Kasia Górska) — Fri, 25 Dec 2015 13:09:00 +0000

Merry Christmas everyone!!!
Every time I try to sit down and write something I can feel the way I am shutting down. Shrinking. Words just don't want to flow even though my life has been a change after change the last month. I decided to keep you out of it, because I was never sure what another day may bring. You might've followed my Instagram or Twitter but there I did not share much too. Now I am a free human being, making plans that might keep me going for the next months. I was always about plans and feelings. I have always made many stupid mistakes. Or putting it differently, I always made stupid decisions. They are not all mistakes I believe. I made myself a promise once - I want and I'll try to live my life to the fullest and trust my gut. It made me hurt sometimes to do so, was not easy to follow the rules I created for myself. But on the other hand, it brought me experience and memories to never ever let go of. It seems like a fair equation to me.

Two weeks ago I ended up in Warsaw for the weekend. I can say I wasn't sure about that trip since like the last minute. Or the moment I arrived at the club at 1am and had a great time. I think that weekend was somehow a game changer for me. Even with the heavy rain that caught us there, I was able to admire some Christmas lights here and there, especially at Krakowskie Przedmiescie. I wish it was snow instead though. Well, we can never have everything.

I made myself a promise to take more photographs these days. It is the time for me to go out and do what I love. I am starting to think more and more seriously about going to Milan during my winter break. Budget planning is a killer though, so keep your fingers crossed for that one! :)

Let there be light by Sara Martins

noreply@blogger.com (Kasia Górska) — Mon, 16 Nov 2015 17:35:00 +0000

Hello, My name is Sara and I am a photographer from Porto, Portugal.

Some years ago I started a blog called randomplacesfamiliarplaces to share my photos and connect to others with same love for analog photography as me. I am inspired above all by light, the beginning of it all. How it changes during the day, how it brings to live the smallest of things.

Because I lead a simple life in a wonderful yet quiet city, my focus goes to immediate surroundings and what makes my heart beat with tenderness and love:

Little corners of my house :

My cats:

Simão

Matilde

Flower and plants:

My coffee rituals:

My lovely friends:

Me:

and my walks around my favorite places (sometimes finding amazing unknown landscapes)

what, when, how

noreply@blogger.com (Kasia Górska) — Wed, 11 Nov 2015 12:38:00 +0000

When I was in the junior high school, my best friend (at a time) and I used to have this quote taken from one of the teen drama books, it went "Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not, remember that what you have was once among the things you only hoped for." It is by Epicurus and somehow it landed in front of my 13 teenage eyes. It is pretty likely that at that time I had no idea who Epicurus was (even after taking philosophy class two years ago I can recall that he was Greek and a philosopher and started his own thinking path). So I was very young, but this quote made its way into my heart, even though I am not a person of words, I am a person of calculation, growth and cells. I do not know it for sure, but it is one quote that has followed me for almost ten years, everywhere I went, I sort of live by it. It is a sad quote, almost tragic because it presents evolution of the mind and how it will always run ahead of us, changing our direction before we realise it. Thanks to this blog I can now share it with you, and it makes my heart grow fonder.

So I am taking this break that I have thanks to Poland's National Independence Day and decided to sit down and plan some things for this blog! :) I can finally tell you how happy I am that the Guest blogger October that I organised on this blog last month was such a success. I feel like I have grown closer with some people and I loved to see my blog blossom even when I was completely burried with university stuff. It is so cool to be able to promote so many talented people, each with a different point of view and interests. I want to keep the guest post thing going, definitely, so from time to time I will reach out to people whom I really adore and find inspiring, and think that you would love them too. I want to thank everyone who was a part of the Guest blogger October, I had a blast having you here!

I also finally organised my advertising options, so now you can look them all up in this section right here. I finally started selling ads, which is super exciting and motivating! I keep thinking to myself that what I still need to do is to finally start being serious about Pinterest and also create my media kit! I keep putting it off because I seriously do not have time for such stuff right now. My computer is dead. Well, technically I would call it a zombie. Because nothing works yet it lives. Please keep your fingers crossed so I get a scholarship this year so I can kick this bastard's ass and buy myself a properly working device! It would make blogging so much easier!

Out of the things that are pretty recent. I have been wearing upper braces for two weeks now. And let me just tell you how beautiful I feel wearing them. It is crazy. I keep thinking to finally start writing about stuff that I learn at uni, meaning dentistry stuff. But I have no idea how I could make it work! This blog is so about art and photography and feelings, how can I write about dental stuff?? If you have any idea, please help me out. Even if I do not work it out, I want to make a series of posts about braces, why and when you should think about getting them, things I wasn't told before I put the on (I am only just starting my orthodontics class at uni, so some things were pretty unexpected...) and stuff like that!

How have you been? What is the one thing that you want to do for yourself and your blog this month? You may inspire me with your answers! :)

Q & A with an artist | Mateja Kovač

noreply@blogger.com (Kasia Górska) — Sat, 07 Nov 2015 09:49:00 +0000

H e l l o ! As I promised, I am coming back with a new series of posts where I will do little interviews with some extremely talented people! It will be a great way for me to work out how much time I actually have to spend on blogging nowadays. I found our first artist, Mateja, on Etsy (Oh how I love it, truly!) She comes from Croatia and has a degree in Art! I was immediately drawn to her works and decided I just have to own one and put it on my wall! :) Pictures in this post were not taken only by me. I wanted to show you more of Mateja's works and I only own one. I asked Mateja a couple of questions, here are her answers!

Who is the beautiful red-haired girl in your illustrations? You seem to portray her quite a lot. Tell us about her.

"The red-haired girl doesn't represent a person, but rather a state of mind, inner beauty. Her eyes are closed and she's turned towards herself. There are a few illustrations where the same girl appears: Silet Journey, Whispers in the Wind, I Love October, Awakening, Emerald Sky, Flamingo Girl.. and they're all a part of the collection "Eternal Beauty". That collection is truly distinctive, and it came to be in an interesting way.

One autumn morning, at dawn, I woke up and couldn't sleep any longer. I had a strong need to get up and start working. I imagined a female figure, very delicate and exquisite. I'll always remember that. Everyone was asleep, there was complete silence, the Sun was just coming out. I had the fire going in the fireplace, and I was all wrapped up in a blanket. It was all so calming. "Eternal Beauty" is indeed a reflection of the atmosphere that surrounded me that morning I call it "my Mona Lisa"."

How do you prefer to have your coffee made?

"I adore the scent of coffee. I always drink decaf with warm milk. I'm very sensible and I've come to realize that caffein makes me very nervous."

When do you usually create? Day or night?

"I function best when I'm rested, in the morning. In the beginning I often worked during the night because I could work without being interrupted, however since I moved my workspace into an office I tend to work until 5 PM and then dedicate the rest of my time to other aspects of my life. If I'm trying to communicate something new, or I'm searching for a different direction that I haven't yet overcome, that usually means I especially need peace and quiet. I can handle everyday needs from my clients very successfully in many different conditions, independent of my mood, inspiration, illness or sadness. "

You have written in your bio on Etsy that what inspires you is life - also good books. What is the last book that you read that was inspirational for you?

"The Book Thief by Markus Zusak"

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

"Even though my thoughts are always towards the future, I'm not so sure. My frugal life experience so far gives me the impression that I'm not so imaginative to be able to even comprehend what the future can hold for me. Already I am very content with what I have accomplished. I believe I will receive many wonderful opportunities during my career and that I will progress in my work, but I think my daily routines will basically stay the same as today."

Visit Mateja's Etsy store !

About surviving and about fall.

noreply@blogger.com (Kasia Górska) — Tue, 03 Nov 2015 17:25:00 +0000

Do you know how I managed to survive the first month of fall?

{succesfully staying very true to myself}

I drank as much coffee as I should have.

Just for the taste of it. Not even because I needed an extra energy boost to stay up during the nights. I sort of gave up on going out to get coffee, although it required alot of self-restraint, because so many times I caught myself thinking of getting that one cup on my way home from groceries grabbing. I would always think that it might be few coins closer to my dream vacation or new phone. It helped!

I began working on new projects.

In late September I got so many new ideas on how I would like to build up some community around this blog. Of course I turned to Etsy sellers first, because I very much enjoyed working with some in the past. Quickly after that the packages started to arrive at my door, which required more photos being taken each day! Soon enough (next week to begin with) I will be showing you the second of the collaborations with those great people! Discount codes are coming too! This is exciting. Check out my first collab- BEST FALL SCENTS TO BE FOUND ON ETSY.

I dressed appropriately for the weather.

This is what my mum would always tell me, to wear warm clothes when the fall hits. This is when I realised that half of my wardrobe is made of fall/winter sweathers. This is insane. I made a promise to myself to actually stop buying those. To be quite honest, I did not have any time to go shopping anyway since dentistry keeps me exceptionally busy this year.

I made new blogging friends.

And the paid ad spots got sold one after another! It became so real to have people actually supporting me and feeling the growth of this blog. For now I have a variety of sponsoring options. You can check them all out if you want - they are listed over here.

My October sponsors:

Sabra of Becoming a Gilbert ǀ who runs a lifestyle blog where she cultivates family and love in a beautiful way. I especially loved the getting your family to the table project, that she is a part of :)

Janiece of Culture in Theory ǀ who writes beautiful slightly documentary posts about culture, travelling and food! Janiece was very interactive and we shared multiple mails about what we think and how we approach growing our blogs. It was fun!

I focused on raising my social media following.

My Instagram rates went up by 40% during two weeks of my new social media approach. Just wow! Twitter is also holding up pretty good 50% more followers after such time. I am slowly starting to think that perhaps everything is possible.

I gave up biting my nails after 22 years!

This is a huuuge success of mine.

If you know me in personal life you must have noticed my obnoxious hands. This is something I was always ashamed of. Something boys would always mention after the relationship was over, to hurt me. It was the type of behaviour that I woul fall for when I was stressed about something, so perhaps all of the time... I tried everything. Painting my nails with color, painting my nails using that nasty tasting nail polish, had some sort of fake nails on for a few weeks. Nothing helped. And today I can say that I have finally recovered from that stupid and incredibly annoying habit. There's a long way ahead of me to keep this state a regular, but I will try my best! Thank you Anna for always keeping the watch over me.

H a p p y November guys! I will talk to you soon! :)

Best fall scents to be found on Etsy. (And discount codes for you!!!)

noreply@blogger.com (Kasia Górska) — Sat, 31 Oct 2015 17:07:00 +0000

Fall has been around for over a month now, but when I first felt it approaching, I began to look for ways to warm myself up from the inside. I drank more and more of hot water with raspberry syrup, which reminds me of sore throat times, because it is a drink that always puts me back on my feet. I began the autumn cleaning, getting rid of things that littered my space, making loads of new room for new memories and feelings. Fall was about to happen right in front of me, all around me. I had to do my best to try to survive it, without getting mud and wind into my heart.

It is the time of the year that my sinuses & I would gladly just shut ourselves inside of my apartment, light some candles, sip warm tea under a blanket and watch movies until I fall asleep. Each and every part of that ritual needs to be present, to create this unique atmospheare that I adore. So I started searching for candles to match my autumn, slightly depressive state of mind, and maybe make it a little better. I love collabing with different Etsy sellers, and so I did it again this time. I spoke to a few of them and asked them about the most suiting fall scent that they could send me. I wanted to find my favourite, once and for all times. I wanted my routine to be unique and heart warming. The outcome of this was magnificent. I did not expect so many people to love that idea and want to contribute. So here I am today, after a few weeks of candle lightening, when I can really recommend you my faves, tell you how the scents affected my fall routine and what I think it's most perfect for fall. I've got a few discount codes for you too, so you can get a candle or two for yourselves, we've got another month of fall in front of us! I hope you will love those soy candles as much as I do! They are non-toxin and have burning time much longer than the classic paraffin candles. All the opinions in this post are 100% mine!

P.F. Candle Co. sent me their Campfire candle all the way from LA. They also included a few of smaller candles in different scents for me to try. Spiced Pumpkin being my favourite one, definitely! It even attracted my flatmate as she as passing my room, and she admitted it as a truly autumn smell. Campfire reminds me of a smell of fires we made with my family during fall, when my dad would set up a fire in our garden. We would burn the fallen leaves there. I remember myself staying close yet not so close, so the ashes would not land on my jacket. I love the dark colored glass that this candle was poured into. It has this jar like feel to it.

Be fast because the discount code is valid until November 11th! :)

I asked all of the sellers I contacted to pick their favourite fall scent for that project. Aziza from Nuary Boutique sent me her "Be still" composition of white tea and ginger. I foundthis smell to be very unique among the others that I received. It is soft and delicate, not overwhelming. It is a candle that could be always lit up in the background of your daily life.

Campfire Marshmallow was the sweetest smell that arrived to my door thanks to this project. Packed in a beautiful aluminium box. I seriously couldn't wait for that one evening, when I could finally sit down and light it up. I love how it filled my space with the tones of marshmallow sweetness. Macy, the owner of Beswick Candle Co., was so kind too! Her candles are unique because they have this natural wood wick, that while burning makes this little noise of a campfire.

Yana from AromaSoy was one of the best people to collaborate with! She was also very excited about that post and my photographs. She sent me two of her scents. First one, from a limited edition of fall glass containers - Pumpkin Spice, which is just a perfect smell for fall, since we all love Pumpkin Spice Latte, don't we? The second one was Fallen Leaves, I was very excited about that one. It has this very specific scent, reminding of the rainy days, when you can wear your Wellingtons and explore the city with the fallen leaves under your feet.

To sum up!

AromaSoy Candles | Fallen Leaves, Pumpkin Spice | get 15% off using "FALL2015" (exp.12/31)

Beswick Candle Co. | Campfire Marshmallow |

Nuary Boutique | White tea and Ginger | get 15% off using "MYCANDLE" (exp. 7/11)

P.F.Candles Co. | Campfire | get 10% off using "DESERTLODGE" (exp. 11/11)

Swell Festival by Erin Oxnam

noreply@blogger.com (Kasia Górska) — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 23:03:00 +0000

A few weekends ago my friends and I went down to our local beach to see the sculptures at Swell Festival. It’s hosted every year at Currumbin Beach and has some amazing creations that artists work on all year.

I’ve only been down to see it one other time two years ago and I was really happy with the pictures I took with my Zenit EM-1. Since then, I’ve become quite acquainted with my Pentax ME Super and wanted to test it out to see how the pictures held up against the ones from 2013.

I used two different rolls of film – Lomo Colour 100 and Fuji Superia 200. I was definitely much happy with the Fujifilm photos; I find the Lomo Color 100 ISO film to not hold up, even in the bright afternoon sunlight. I think I’m actually going to ditch 100 ISO film altogether when shooting, as I’m never as happy with the results as I am with 200 and 400 ISO film.

My favourite sculpture was the graffiti wall by far. I love that it was interactive; all kinds of people were writing and drawing their own creations that they knew would be spray painted over later. I love the impermanency of the whole concept of the sculpture.

I can’t wait to check out the Swell Sculpture Festival next year. Thank you to Kasia for inviting me onto her blog. It is truly an honour as she has been an inspiration to me for years and without even knowing it helped me to continue on my film journey when I was just about ready to give up.

Erin usually blogs at 'Being Erin'

{ She's a 23 year old girl from Australia. She posts a variety of things including photography, lomography, hauls, thoughts, reviews and personal posts. }

The art of writing letters by Tina Sosna

noreply@blogger.com (Kasia Górska) — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 05:18:00 +0000

Hi, I'm Tina Sosna, a 22 year old analog photographer from a little town in the heart of Germany. About six years ago I started my blog worteinbildern.blogspot.com where I show my life and love to nature in self portraits and that's also the place where I hold the beauty I see in people or the world in general in photographs.

But beside photography I always enjoyed to write letters. Since I was about 9 I tried to keep up friendships with people from cities more far away trough handwritten letters. At this point I had no idea that this love would grow so much with time. With starting my photography blog I also got the chance to get in touch with many people around the world. And not only in the digital world. Soon, people I've always looked up to on the internet, started to become my penpals..

And since then I love to update my lovelyenvelopes shop with new things like notebooks, postcards, sticker or vintage poster with wooden frames. I'm excited to share my inspiration with you! I love how personal hand written letters are and how special you can make them. It's something unique in this fast living world that brings you smiles when you open your post box and makes you feel that someone really has taken the time to share there deepest thoughts with you.

Beside my words I also like to share my favourite reciepes, photos and leafs I found in my daily life, songs and movies that matter to me... it can be anything really. But I was always looking for nice stationery that could fit to my style of letter writing. Also many people started to become interested in my letters and wanted to write with me. But sadly it was not always possible to create meaningful letters for anyone that was interested. So I thought why not making my own stationery and share them with others in a little online shop?

The idea of my shop lovelyenvelopes came to live. lovelyenvelopes.tictail.com I spent long nights with cutting and folding envelopes and packing my first orders.

I started to make own illustrations for my envelopes and also made my first letter writing sets soon.

With time I uploaded more and more products, because I had so many ideas in my head that I wanted to share with everyone else that loves paper, snail mail and a mix of nature, simplicity and old things. I also started to combine little things into special and individual packages. I recieved an enormous support from everyone that ordered something! I got little notes with the order or even letters and packges from people that wanted to thank me for the things I create. It made me so happy to make people feel that way with stationery.

How to grow your social media following

noreply@blogger.com (Kasia Górska) — Sat, 17 Oct 2015 08:20:00 +0000

I have always considered interaction with other users the crucial part of getting feedback and good following count. Holidays, where I could lay back and browse through my favourite tags on Instagram, because I actually had time to do this, were my most successful days.

I strongly believe that once you create content that you are proud of, or you are improving gradually, the key is to get out there, in front of people who might be interested by it.

How can they find you if you don't try? In a world where millions of people post their works on Instagram or update Twitter on daily basis, how can you be found? The good following numbers are not just numbers. Sure they can be used to pitch a brand you were always wanting to work with - and they might actually help. But they also mean more and more people enganging with you, commenting your work, letting you know what they love and what they don't.

Archie is the web app that I found recently. Just a little over a week ago, a friend at Peony's Project recommended it to us. A free three day trial began and at the end of it I already knew I wanted more. Are you curious what is it all about and why it got me so excited in the first place? Read on!

---- I n s t a g r a m-----

Last couple of weeks, once the school started I was balancing my Instagram follower count. During the days that I was not posting, I was usually losing a follower or two. It was getting frustrating. I knew there is a bunch of people out there that would enjoy my analog work, they just did not know I existed.

Archie is a web app that helps you interact with people in certain tags that you specify. For me those tags always include something photography related. I focus most on #filmphotography, but niche tags like #zenit or #fujifilm also help a lot to get to the more distant users. So we got the first step, we tell Archie exactly which tags we are interested in. Then we give him permission to like photos on our behalf. And this is it. Archie would go into our favourite tags a couple of times a day and like a few photographs. Not spammy at all. It doesn't write stupid comments like "check me out, like my photo."

It just lets out this initial spark of liking a photograph you would perhaps normally like yourself if you had time to browse the tags every other hour. It gives you ability to connect with people you normally would not spot due to the time difference that you post in. That's another plus!

And this is how in a little more than a week I went from having 1260 to over 1500 followers on my Instagram. (My dream was always hitting 7k, so who knows, maybe in some time it will be all possible!) And what is more important, I got more people commenting and liking that I had ever before. So I think we can talk about a serious growth now.

As Archie is also able to interact with Twitter and now even Pinterest, it is seriously a great investment in developing a strong social media following. I never really focused on Twitter - but so far it helped me raise my following count with 100 new followers using tags like "photography" and "blogging".

Anna: Hey Kasia - what are the limitations of the free account? Looks great.

- Free trial gives you ability to connect both, Twitter and Instagram account. You get all the basic account perks. 10 Tags per each service and in my case interaction happens each 45 minutes (multiple likes) or more frequently. Other than that I would say that it works like a regular account.

Amani: I just signed up, put my tags and it keeps loading, wondering what else i need to do for it.

- If you approved Archie in your Instagram account (there should be a message that someone tried to log in and you need to click that it was you) you just wait for Archie to start interacting with others. Nothing else to do.

Sally: Someone mentioned that using external accounts / sites lead to bans on your Instagram account - have you seen any issues using this service?

- I have not experienced any issues, nor has friend, who recommened it to me. I run a quick check up and nobody really complained about it. As I understand it, Instagram banes people who try to get fake followers or use sevices of companies that make multiple fake accounts - Archie is about gaining real followers. I am not completely sure what is Instagram's approach towards it, I hope it will all go smoothly, as Archie's interaction is not aggresive or spammy.

---- Is it worth trying? -----

Archie is a great concept that is yet to be completely known. It still has some minor issues like possibly liking spammer accounts that use the tags you specified. By the things I have seen in the last days, when I would always wake up to at least few new people interested by my content, it just made my heart grow fonder of it. I really think you should all think about it and decide to try it for yourself, even if it's for the three days of trial only. If you decide to abandon it after this time, you a free to do it, but I know that once you experience the magic of Archie it won't be that easy to let it go.

So what do you say?

Sign me up!

find me on Instagram @cadds

Embroidery by Ania Margoszczyn

noreply@blogger.com (Kasia Górska) — Thu, 15 Oct 2015 04:36:00 +0000

I love to wander around with my camera, and usually all my blogposts are about places I visit, but this time I'll tell you a bit about something else.

I am a big fan of all kinds of handmade stuff, I follow dozens of painters, knitters, jewellery makers, and I usually I also like to try everything myself (although I don't have much talent for any of those crafts). Last year when I lived in Budapest, I came across the work of an amazing japanese embroidery artist Yumiko Higuchi. My first thought was - I would love to have something made by her, and then I thought - I'd love to try embroidery too! So I went to the nearest sewing shop, found a hoop and some floss (which was actually not that easy, as I had to learn all the tricky names in Hungarian), and that's how it all started.

The following weeks I had my small embroidery set always in my bag, the weather was lovely, so usually when I had some free time between classes I went to a park near my university and embroidered a bit. My first attempts were mostly with floral motifs, but I had also lots of fun trying to embroider small creatures or landscapes, like when I went to lake Balaton. You can just simply embroider anything you can think of, that's probably the best part. (and buying new colours of floss, that's great too ;))!

I must also admit it was a perfect timing to start such hobby. Hungary has an amazing embroidery tradition, it is definitely the most characteristic element of their folk art, you'll notice this quickly in any of the souvenir shops. Those who'd like to see more, should definitely visit e.g. the Museum of Ethnography, with their large collection of traditional embroidered clothes, and then go and look for some beautiful unique pieces on Budapest's fleamarkets.

Hope I gave you some inspiration, and proved that really anyone can do it. If you'd like to see some amazing modern embroidery, be sure to check the artists above, or just browse the embroidery hashtag on instagram on pinterest, it's an endless source of inspiration! (p.s. the postcard I embroidered on the second photo was designed by a polish illustrator Maria Dek, you should check her too! :)) Have a creative autumn! Love, Ania.