Gwen Everett's creative blog

In today's class I wrote my attendance haiku about confidence. Confidence is something I used to really struggle with as a kid. Honestly until only a couple of years ago, I still really struggled it and would've called it my biggest obstacle. Today I proudly acknowledge how much I have grown and changed as a person in incredible ways. It's taken me years to gain more confidence and I guarantee it's going to be something I will have to keep working on my entire life, and I'm okay with that. I believe confidence is the key to life and success. I just do. I realize how difficult it made my life in the past and how it's something that really separates the successful from the not successful individuals in our world. By success, I'm not necessarily talking about "wealth", but I'm talking more about success in life in broader terms. In my opinion, success can mean a multitude of things. I sometimes forget how far I've come in terms of self-con...

Stars are so fun to draw. I started drawing a couple on this Starbucks cup with my left hand and then liked the look so I switched hands and kept it going. The stars go all the way around the top half of the cup. It looks really cool. It made me wonder why Starbucks doesn’t do more fun things with their cups! I know they do on Christmas but it would be fun if they did other fun designs, possibly even from artists. It would be a good way for artist’s work to be advertised and would just be a nice change up. I do like how Starbucks tried to be very clean and classy with their simple cup and simple logo, but change is good.

We were going through old photos on my moms computer at home and we came this photo of us four girls - arguably one of the most adorable photos in history. Our upbringing consisted of many activities. From tennis to soccer to horseback-riding, my sisters and I were always doing something active. Tennis and horseback-riding were the two sports we focussed on the most. We had three ponies and competed in horse shows in Bahamas and Wellington. These were some of the best days and sometimes I sadly forget about them! This picture brought back so so many incredible memories. I can't even believe how young and SMALL we are here. So thankful to have had this amazing experience in my childhood. I miss riding.

This is pretty cool. I made it today while on a phone call with my mom. When you look close up, it looks like little dots in blobs all over the page. When you hold it further back, you start to see images and each little part creates one whole picture. I just started making little dots all over the page and then decided to make it into a whole image. I also had all the correct colors on my desk to add color to the waves, plan tree, and sun. I loved this creation because it really came out of no where and I was just inspired by the little dots I was putting on the paper. I would call this my random act of creativeness. 

Call me crazy, but I'm obsessed with this song. Music and I have the most interesting relationship. I get in moods where I can go without music for weeks and it doesn't even bother me. Then sometimes I get into a groove where I can't seem to live without listening to music. Every second, from the moment I wake up to basically the moment I go to bed, I find myself listening to music with my air pods or on my speaker in my room. At the moment, this is my favorite song and I don't think I will ever get sick of it. It puts me in the best mood and I just want to dance. As I'm writing this blog post I'm listening to it. It's one of those songs that's so good you have to keep replaying it because nothing can beat it. I never know what to play after listening to it because it's such a feel good vibe. I think I must have some special moment or memory attached to it at this point because no matter what mood I'm in, I want to listen to it. I'm still ...

This weekend my sisters and I went snorkeling by the reefs. It's one of our favorite activities to do at home. We collect these tiny little sea biscuits - they're dead sea urchins. They're already white, but sometimes they have a yellowish tone to them so we soak them in bleach for a while to get them even more pristine looking. Sometimes we just put them in glass jars around the house and sometimes we make things with them. For example, last time we collected this many, my sister Lily used them to make a picture frame. She took an old frame and hot glued them around it and put a picture of our family in it. One of the best things about being home is all the crafts we do. My mom is one of the most creative and crafty people I know. We also get sucked into her little projects and end up loving them. Our house is filled with paintings, drawings, and creations from my family. It's super special. I hope to one day fill my home with creativity and art from my children like...

Took a self portrait today. Though I may get a little carried away sometimes with taking picture and snapchats with my iPhone, I happen to think pictures are crucial. It's so important to take pictures of yourself and your loved ones. Life flies by and we are changing and growing both mentally and physically every single day. I think it's important to capture how we look at these different times in life. I love how photos can capture special moments and say so much. As a wise man or woman once said, "a picture is worth a thousand words." What a smart person - they couldn't have been more accurate! I'm going to encourage myself and everyone around to take more photos. We all want to have memories to look back on. There are too many times where I've heard my mom say she wishes she took more photos. We often don't even have a good enough Christmas card to send out because she lacks photos of us as a family. It's an easy fix but we've got to g...

I've recently been coming across many words I don't know or haven't read or heard before. So, to mitigate this issue, I started writing them down on my stickies on my computer. My stickies are actually one of the most creative places for me. When I see something and I'm inspired by it in any way, I write it down on a sticky. My dashboard is currently a little overwhelming and my friends always make comments about how stressful it looks. As long as I understand it that's all that matters, right? These are the new words I wrote down today. I came across some while reading my textbooks for journalism classes and some from online news or magazine articles. Words are amazing and I want to get better at them. I'm also just so inspired to read more. I honestly can't wait for summer because I want to never put books down and focus on growing my brain and creativity. Our brains a muscle and we must work it like we work anything else.

Nails. are. my. thing. I love getting creative and artsy with my nails every couple of weeks. I used to paint my own nails in high school, but after someone introduced me to dipping my nails (and after getting a car here in Dallas) I've been obsessed. Hillcrest Nails sees me quite often. Since I've gotten in the habit of always having my nails done, now having them not done drives me crazy. Today I tried white, clear sparkly nails. I usually do a darker color, but these were just speaking to me. I love a good sparkles. I think nails are so important to give attention to since their the things you're constantly looking at! I thought about this the other day and it still fascinates me - we look at our nails and hands and even though we (mainly girls) spend a lot of time worrying about how our faces look, we aren't looking at our own faces, unless of course taking a selfie or looking in the mirror. Anyways, my point is, having pretty nails is important because it's a...

My youngest sister, Grace, sent this to me this morning. SHE'S THE CUTEST. The thing I love the most about my sisters is how kind and wisdomatic they are. They are always sharing the most amazing sayings and messages. They're also just the most supportive sisters and people in my life. I'm beyond thankful for them. I also just love this little mood lifter. It's the perfect little message to wake up to. My family is very big on smiles and laughter, so this was fitting. Everyday I text my sisters or they text me to "smile" and spread joy. It's easy to forget to do and also easy to forget how much a simple smile can change someones day or have such an impact on them. <3

My tea bag strings always fall off! I'm not sure why. I think the paper gets too wet and then breaks off or something. It's rare for them NOT to fall off! Since I usually throw them out, I decided to keep this one around a little longer. I was in class and starting sketching it with my pencil. I thought it looked pretty cool, especially with the real tea bag side-by-side. I love doing sketches like this and I've been trying to get myself to do more at random times because it's interesting to see what comes to my mind to sketch at different times of the day. 

My new thing is getting up at 5:15am and going to Core Power Yoga sculpt. Working out is one of my creative outlets and my favorite things to do. I love doing anything active, such as running, biking, swimming or playing tennis. The reason I get up so early and go to Core Power is because this is a workout that inspires me so much mentally and physically. The instructors give such motivational speeches and incorporate life lessons into each workout. It makes me want to take on the world. I love morning classes because they prepare me mentally for the day and there's also not as many people in the morning!

I didn’t want to cut up money for this assignment. I chose to donate the couples of dollars I would’ve used to create something to this local Dallas organization called Dallas CASA. Every dollar counts. https://www.dallascasa.org/

Finally got a new iPhone after four years having the iPhone 7!!! I couldn't be happier. There is something amazing and special about getting a new piece of technology, but especially iPhone. I think it's because they're literally our lives... we don't go anywhere without them or do anything without them. It's so crazy to think Apple now makes an iPhone 10! They have truly evolved so much as a company and it's mind blowing to think how far they will continue to go in the future with their technology. So excited to take this beautiful phone home and start a new life with it. I've also never had a iPhone plus, so this is really exciting. I've been waiting for this day!

My friend and I signed up for a half marathon today! We have been running buddies since we went to Switzerland together before coming to SMU freshman year. For as much as we run, I thought it would be great to try something new and go outside of our comfort zone, so we decided to sign up for the Skyline 10K. We wanted to do the half marathon, but thought it would be good to work our way up from the bottom. Starting with the 10K will hopefully motivate us more to eventually run the half. Looking forward to this! Love trying new things and challenging myself.

This past summer I interned at the Templeton World Charity Foundation. Since I was just an intern, I had a lot more time on my hands than expected. I came across several incredible books by my role model in life, Sir John Franklin Templeton. I knew him - I even have a picture with him when I was a little girl. My father worked for him and they were very close companions. He passed away a couple of years later due to old age. He was one of the most wise people I will ever come across in my life. This is a short story from the book, "The Laws of Life" - one of my favorite books of all time. Every phrase tells its own story. The wording he uses is so wise and specific, and I have learned so many things from just reading through and jotting down notes about a couple of stories. There's a ton in here, so I usually just read the ones I feel inclined to reading. I usually turn to reading stories when I'm having a difficult time in life and need some guidance. His laws a...

After some inspiration from my sisters trying new hair styles, I decided to change mine up but coloring it. I used to be way more blonde, but the up-keep was getting crazy and I felt like it was time for a change. Today, I am going to have my hair stylist add some highlights and lowlights to achieve a natural, darker look than I am used to. I'm nervous but trying new things is good! Change is good. After having the same blonde hair for several years now, it's definitely time for a change. Hopefully all goes well. Fingers crossed.

I usually take photos with my iPhone, but this weekend I borrowed my sisters Cannon to take better quality pictures of everything I would usually take with my iPhone. I found the old Cannon in a container in our attic when my mom and I were going through old stuff the other day. I drove around all day taking pictures of friends, family and nature. They turned out gorgeous and I'm really getting in the habit of using a real camera again. My sisters and I would use her camera to have mini photoshoots when we were younger, but we haven't used it in years. Out of all of the photos I took over the weekend, this was by far my favorite. It was also such a stellar day, which makes the photo more surreal looking.

Not sure if this video will play, but these are the homemade pancakes my sisters and I made at home. We love making crepes and pancakes in the mornings and playing around with new flavors. Today, we chose to just add red and green food coloring (whatever was left over from Christmas) and out them in. They turned out so pretty and tasted the same - I like to think they tasted better. Next time we are going to use other colors.

I was walking around Lovers today alone after grabbing dinner at Flower Child when I came across these beautiful, interesting looking earrings. I was immediately drawn to them through the store glass and went inside to try them on. I thought they would be perfect for when I go home to Bahamas next or for summer. I bought the pair closest to the camera, the orange and pink crab ones because they added the perfect pop of color to my face and were so fun! I loved how different and artsy they are too. Definitely a little outside my comfort zone to purchase, but I like to think of that being a creative move by me.

What a wonderful photo. As soon as I came across this drone photo, I saved this it and made it my computer screen background. This photo instantly reminded me of Colorado or Switzerland, two places I have been to ski in the winter. It's remarkable how beautiful drones can make pictures these days. It's crazy to think that years ago people probably didn't even know drones would exist one day.  I honestly can't stop looking at this photo because it's like nothing I've seen before and it instantly puts me in this place and setting. It's surreal looking.

These are my vintage headphones. They're also my favorite pair. I literally got them for Christmas in 2016 and have completely worn them out. After my Powerbeats broke a couple of months ago, I always said I would get them fixed but never did. So, my only choice was to use these headphones since the Apple headphones don't stay in my ear when I run. The other day I was running and took them off to find the padding coming off from all of the sweat. I was so mad! I needed them so I put my creative hat on and thought of ways to save them from total destruction. This picture was the solution. I put clear desk tape from my room all around the padding to help it stay on better. I know they don't look perfect, but they look and work so much better with the tape holding them together a little more. I think Duct Tape would've held them up better, but this was all I had.

I drew this today in class without thinking I would make it a blog post. I just started doodling and then kept going with it. I don't think of myself as the most creative person, but I definitely have an eye for creative ideas at times. Obviously what I thought this would turn out much better in my head, but I was proud of myself for drawing since I usually discourage myself from it. I'd like to master drawing this face. I love how it looks so simply but there's really more to it.

My grandma sent me this the other day in the mail. She has lived in Florida for years and is one of the most conscious people I have ever met. She loves life and loves nature. One of her least favorite things in the entire world is dirty beaches - beaches filled with trash and pollution. Every single morning, for as long as I can remember, my grandma, Daba, walks a couple miles with huge garbage bags collecting as much trash as she can. Every time my family visits my grandma, we walk the Ft. Lauderdale beach for about 5 miles and make a contest out of it. Whoever fills their bag with the most trash is the winner and gets a Starbucks gift card from Daba. This doesn't look very special, but it actually has a lot of meaning behind it - meaning that is important to me. This bracelet is from 4ocean, a company founded by two surfers who one day came across an old fishing village where fishermen were trudging their boats through piles and piles of plastic that had washed up on the s...

Every week, one of the rooms in Kappa Kappa Gamma gets to create their own menu. This week it's my turn. I face-timed Kaya this weekend to get her input on what to put on the menu. She still wanted to help all the way from Australia! Everyone has been coming up saying how good my menu is and how excited they all. SCORE!

My mom and I were walking around Northpark mall the other day and I came across these. At first I picked them up as a joke and was like, "Haha, Mom, what about these." We joked around about them and I tried them on for fun. I LOVED them and was blown away by how comfortable they were, especially compared to the other sneakers I tried on. I didn't think my mom would like them either, but they look 10x better on. I love the design on the sides. I have never seen them before and they kind of remind me of the film, "Exit Through the Gift Shop" because of the spray paint-like feel. I think they look like they could've been made my Thierry or Bansky.

Took this photo for my photojournalism class. We had to take a picture displaying our knowledge for the topic "depth of field". In this photo, both the foreground and background are out of focus, and the middle subject/can is in focus. I had to get really close to the cans for to get this picture exactly right. It's amazing to me how photography has so many components and different skills you can learn. Since taking this class and having assignments to submit every Monday, I have developed a new appreciation for photography. Creating or capturing a good photo takes TIME and patience. You have to wait for the write moment and spend time trying out new techniques to achieving the most interesting or best photo.

The other night I spent too many hours in bed watching Youtube videos. I love watching 73 Questions with celebrities, I think I've seen them all before but I re-watched them. Other interesting suggestions popped up, so I explored new videos I really enjoyed. Youtube is sometimes more entertaining to me than Netflix. It's such a creative, diverse platform! You can watch anything on Youtube.

For some reason, recently my Pinterest feed shows so many pictures of lips... and I think they're such a vibe. So, I decided to create a board dedicated to lips. I call it Lips on Fleek. They are so pretty to look at!! I also have been printing them out and adding them to my mood board next to my bed.

My cousin and his wife had a baby!!!! Her name is Florence. I'm obsessed with her. I have never held a baby this young. It's super rare for me to be around babies so this is super new and exciting for me. We went over for the first time when my mom came into town. We ended up staying for five hours just watching Florence and being surrounded by family. It brought so much joy to me. I can't believe we were all once this tiny and so fragile. Humans are incredible. I can't wait to one day have one of my own.

I was scrolling through Pinterest as I typically do everyday, and I can across this photo of me and my friend when we were home in Bahamas. It was a pristine day and we got our see-through kayak and went to the dock where the fisherman were cleaning their fish. We got a picture like this before and it literally went viral. We decided to do it again since the last one was a couple of years ago and I randomly found it on my feed. The last photo like this was taken by me, but this one has me in it. I’m sitting in the back and my friend is in the front. I need to get credit for my images!!!! Super cool to see.

Took this photo while walking to class. So happy spring is finally here ... I love Dallas in the spring. We have one of the most beautiful campuses in the entire world. I would argue it’s the most beautiful by a long shot. I love observing students and faculty walking around campus everyday. Everyone’s so much happier and much more friendly come spring time around campus. I also love watching everyone laying in the grass on the boulevard, playing catch, or just sitting and eating lunch with friends. 

We had our Kappa mom's weekend this past weekend. On Saturday night, my friends and I took our moms to Dolce Rivera. It's such an amazing restaurant and so underrated! My cousin ordered this drink and we were all amazed by the beauty of the mysterious ice ball. At first, we all tried guessing what was inside. Someone guessed it was purple dye and someone said it was a flower. Turns out, the purple was an orchid petal. So beautiful and brilliant idea.

Simple, meaningful words. Great reminder for me today on my birthday. 22 years and still figuring it all out. I'm working on myself and growing every day and I don't plan on ever stopping. These were on my Pinterest feed today and I screenshotted both to remind myself of these messages when I feel lost or stuck. Every time I go to my camera roll I'm reminded of them. Give it your all, Gwen. I remind myself every time I'm stressed that an easy life is boring and to appreciate having stuff to do and growing my mind. I usually remind myself this when I feel overwhelmed with school work.

22 by Taylor Swift It feels like a perfect night to dress up like hipsters And make fun of our exes, uh uh uh uh It feels like a perfect night for breakfast at midnight To fall in love with strangers uh uh uh uh Yeah We're happy free confused and lonely at the same time It's miserable and magical oh yeah Tonight's the night when we forget about the deadlines, it's time uh oh I don't know about you but I'm feeling 22 Everything will be alright, if you keep me next to you You don't know about me, but I bet you want to Everything will be alright, if we just keep dancing like we're 22, 22 It seems like one of those nights This place is too crowded, too many cool kids uh uh, uh uh It seems like one of those nights We ditch the whole scene and end up dreaming instead of sleeping Yeah We're happy free confused and lonely in the best way It's miserable and magical oh yeah Tonight's the night, wh...

Today is my 22nd birthday and these are pictures my sister out on her instagram story for me. They made me smile. I wish I could go back to these moments sometimes! Also, take a peek at how creative I was a little girl.... at least I can spell my name... NOT! These are the days I really appreciate social media, but especially apps like Instagram. Friends and family members from all over the world are able to post or send me pictures via Instagram on a special day. It means a lot to have someone post an Instagram for you, a post, or even a comment on a photo someone else shared. It really does make you feel extra special. Can't believe I'm 22!

In Miami Beach for the week and my friends and I used the hotel buckets and shovels to build this wall thing in the sand. Then we played in the sand for about an hour like little children.

Took a snapchat of my legs while walking to respond back to a friends snapchat and thought it turned out super cool and moody. Happy Tuesday!

I thought my headphones were broken and I would have to throw them out, but I got creative and used tap I found in my drawer. I didn't think it would be good but they've been working great! Wooohoo!

Woke up this morning in St. Louis and it was snowing!!!! Haven’t seen snow once this year so this was super exciting. When I was younger I loved making emoji faces in the snow, so today I couldn’t resist.

My friends and I having fun with snapchat designs during Mardi Gras festivities in St. Louis. It’s the second biggest Mardi Gras in the world!! Happy Mardi Gras!

I came across while scrolling through Pinterest and it really stuck me. It couldn’t be more true and I think it’s a great reminder that more people need to hear. It reminds me to do what I want and do whatever makes me happy! It reminds me to be myself and trust myself and my choices.

My mom sent me this in a snapchat today and it made my day. It brings back the joys of halloween when I was younger. I consider those the good old days. My mom's birthday is on Halloween, so growing up my mom would always throw huge Halloween parties and dress up in some funky outfit. My favorite outfit she ever wore was her cat woman outfit. She found this photo while looking through old photo albums and snapped it to me with the caption "mini me". I always wanted to be her twin and dress up like her!! Still, 20 years later, I want to be my mom because she is GOALS. I will 100% replicate this costume one day. Love you, mom.

My best friend and I come to Starbucks in Fondren Library every Tuesday and Thursday at 9:30am after our 8am class. Today, we needed a pick-me-up because of the grey and cold weather, so we played around with snapchat filters for a good 15 minutes. Boy, does time fly when you're having fun! This was my favorite and it lifted my mood because of the pink hearts.

I drew tears coming from starbucks face on my coffee cup today because I did one and thought it looked cool and artsy. They might as well be years of joy since she’s smiling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0UI2ZirnQs&amp;feature=youtu.be (Please click the link! I was having trouble embedding the video because it was too large of a file.) I had trouble posting my video on my blog, but this is the link to where I posted it on youtube. I was at a brunch and the menu was pre-set. Our plates came out with one scoop of chicken salad with almonds, a mini muffin, slices of tomato and mozzarella cheese, and last but not least, a weird textured jiggly dessert. I thought it was the perfect thing to record for my blog post. I just love how bouncy it is. 

Today, I have a photo assignment due by 5pm. I have a super busy day and was stressing that I wouldn't have time to take a good picture. However, I got creative and shifted my assignment to work around the topic of a barista. So, while getting my other school work done this morning, I also got my photo assignment done and I'm pretty happy about it! Killed two birds with one stone! Happy Monday.

Here's my doodle from class today. I've always loved drawing palm trees. This one isn't my best but it makes me happy because it feels real. Except..... where are the coconuts? I was craving my homemade coconut chips the entire class!!