Kate's January Favorites

 Hi guys, this is Kate and it’s time for me to post some of my January favorites! Check out Kirsten’s previous post for some more hobby and shopping suggestions to entertain yourself at home. Let’s goooo:

King Princess

I first heard the King Princess song “Hit the Back” from her album ‘Cheap Queen’ in 2019, the year the album was released. Her most recent album is mostly chill pop songs with some upbeat tracks like “Hit the Back,” a song that really makes me want to dance. A lot of her songs have a romantic quality to them. It’s a nice album to have on in the background on a winter day, especially if you have someone to cuddle with. Of the slower and more sexy songs, I especially like “Prophet” and the song the album is titled after, “Cheap Queen.” Tracks “Trust Nobody” and “Homegirl” are also on my Romance playlist. King Princess has also recently released a single, “Pain,” another upbeat track that’s great for dancing in my chair while writing. 

Karen Cheok

Malaysian-Chinese artist Karen Cheok creates the rainbow fantasy creations of my dreams. Her work gives a more natural, grown-up Lisa Frank vibe. Her instagram is full of whimsical clouds at sunset combined with other nature imagery. If you like colorful, imaginative artwork, you may want to check out some of her available prints at daixykaren.bigcartel.com. In addition to psychedelic art prints, she has some very cool stickers, phone grips, and tapestries. You can also find her on instagram @daixykaren.

Snail World

Aleia Murawski and Sam Copeland created Snail World with Broccoli magazine. Snail World: Life in the Slimelight is a collection of art photos of snails - and sometimes a tiny frog - doing people stuff, like going to a nail salon, working on a computer, or getting toilet paper stuck on their foot (or whatever the snail equivalent of a foot is). The brightly colored miniature scenes are full of cute details, from tiny snail-sized shish kabobs to a little mini loofah. On this loofah note, this is a great photo book to flip through while drinking some tea and taking a bath. 

The Good Time Garden

The Good Time Garden is a game available on Steam, created by Will Todd and James Carbutt. I’ll admit it’s not a long game - it takes maybe 20 minutes to play - but it’s also free, so what do you have to lose? This is definitely a game for people looking for a weird and trippy experience. A lot of the game artwork is cute, but a lot of it and the content of the game itself is also downright disturbing despite taking place in a pretty pink garden. If you’re uncomfortable with bodily functions, this is not the game for you. In The Good Time Garden, you control a round creature of ambiguous gender and assist it on its quest to....enlightenment? Sexual fulfillment? I’m not really sure, but I was entertained nonetheless.

Hobby Time!

I would not claim to be good at painting, but it is definitely a fun and chill activity. The same goes for playing with modeling clay, so why not combine the two? I’ve been having fun recently gluing sculpey clay pieces onto paintings for a more dynamic image. In the piece above, I sculpted the eyes, nose, and lips for the sun and moon using polymer clay bought on Amazon. Polymer clay is pretty easy to work with. After sculpting your piece, just pop it in the oven at 275 degrees F (135 C) and bake for 30 minutes per quarter inch of thickness. Squishing clay and playing with colors is fun regardless of your skill level.