Monday, July 28, 2008

Golden Child: Chris Cozen

Yesterday, the mixed media artists group to which I (and La Snatchita) belong, met, as we do once a month. Our meeting was almost canceled when a family emergency took our scheduled presenter out of town. However, yesterday fortune managed a smile for our group and we were treated to a presentation by Pasadena-based Golden Working Artist, Chris Cozen. I'm not sure whether to stalk her or give her permanent stink-eye for it, but I'm now wanting one of EVERY product created by Golden, of which there are MANY new ones!

Chris's short, but densely informative presentation solved the "paint mud" problem I've been having, while opening numerous doors of mixed-media possibilities. Most of us spent the lecture trying to keep our chins off the floor or wiping away art-supply-coveting drool. I'm glad I came home with her book, Altered Surfaces...., and have been reading and re-reading it since yesterday. If you're a crafter or mixed-media artist without a chemistry or art education background and don't have this yet, you MUST get it.



She is in the process of writing a new book I plan to be in line to pre-purchase on transfer techniques, a particular love and interest (obsession?) of mine. Unfortunately, we must all wait until early 2009 before we can start thumbing through our own copies. Rest assured, I will be giving it a review.

In the meantime, I'm looking forward to seeing a presentation on Golden's Mix More Media line - I have the kit, albeit unopened, sitting like a shrine to printed possibilities in the center of my studio. I have made a solemn oath not to open it or read up on the possibilities until I catch up on all of my backorders, swaps and get the Skelekitty copyright and licensing stuff in order (dang).

Anyway, as you probably expected, there is a new blog on Skelekitty's list:
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Friday, July 25, 2008

Holy Recycled Junk!

My pal, cohort in Scary CRAFT crime and sometimes psychiatric counselor Sacred Snatch comes up with a great ideas for swaps on Swap-Bot (oh, if you're not over there yet, you should be).

"Recycle Yo Junk!" was a group swap she created for some of the crazy-ass girlies who were on the Crafty Chica Cruise this past March. As you would suppose, the challenge of this particular swap was to utilize recycled materials to create art (2 pieces) for a randomly assigned partner.

Because I sorta lost the month of July, I haven't gotten my pieces done (or even started) yet, but here's what I received in the mail today from my pal Michele!

From Michele P.
nicho/shrine made from a tin and featuring the FABULOUS Crafty Chica (Duncan) glitters!

From Michele P.
seriously, this started as bottlecaps and a jar lid...

From Michele P.
ephemera from another's stash (always my favorite)

I just wanted to give a shout-out for Ms. Parlee and let y'all know how much she rocks.

p.s. I still owe a blog on my other uber-swap-score of the millenium: the Frida/Birthday Swap Haul from La Snatchita herself!
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Alive and WELL!

Sorry I've been M.I.A. for the last week, but it's because I'm feeling so much better, that I've returned to the gym and am working furiously to catch up on a horrifying backlog of work (truly horrifying).

In short, the pain, nausea and other fun and games I've been experiencing over the past month were caused by another medication I was taking. It wasn't the obvious suspect until everything else was ruled out because I've been taking it for well over eight years! Solution: stop taking the medication that's causing more problems than it's solving. Voila! Krissi is well again!

The drug, metformin (aka glucophage) is for type 2 diabetics, but was used in my case because I became insulin resistant and, as a result of my particular genetics, suffered a "domino effect" of endocrine/reproductive hormone malfunctions commonly known as PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome). Luckily for ME, the medication can be replaced with a major lifestyle change including mandatory fat loss, diet high in fiber & omega-3 fatty acids & weight bearing exercise. Ironically, the reason I was on a diet -oh, BTW, I lost 10 lbs and am almost down another pants/dress size- which set all these problems in motion was to get OFF the metformin! (I told you about my Space Alienism, yes? LOL.)

Anyway friends, fellow crafty folk and complete strangers, I am well. No surgery. Easy fix. Thank the universe for that, anyway!
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Monday, July 21, 2008

Yes, Virginia, There IS A Craft Night!

Fear not, fellow craftistas! We will be crafting with abandon tomorrow (Tuesday) evening from 6-ish to 9-ish at Side Show Studios!

Your lovely hostesses have decided to forego the challenge and the tutorial portions of our program, and have cleared the entire evening's schedule so that you, dear crafters, can focus on your projects in earnest! (Actually, as most of you know, I was under the weather, and Ms. Yoli was working like a dawg, so we were unable to update the blog and pimp out the features in the manner they deserve.)

So, without further ado....

NIGHT OF THE CRAFTERS (a B.Y.O.C. event*)
presented by Scary CRAFT and Side Show Studios
June 22nd (and every 4th Tuesday), 6:30 to 9pm
Side Show Studios
5635 Freeport, 6 - Sactown
(adults and mature teens only please - thank you for helping to give our Mommy-members the night "off")

*bring your own crafts ( and chair).
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Friday, July 18, 2008

Good News and No News

First, the good: I won't be needing surgery to remove my gall bladder at this juncture. The "no news:" I'm still a mystery.

I've repeated the details of my story a few times with friends and during the tellings, a few of my chronic issues always come up. I have some auto-immune issues like Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, which my sister calls "most dishonorable thyroid disorder." I've discovered over the past decade that, with one auto-immune problem come others. I'm lucky though - no Lupus, no M.S. Just asthma, chemical sensitivity, PCOS and Hashimoto's, all of which are live-withable.

Iwas relating to Mr. Lobo this afternoon a funny story about having my favorite doctor EVER (Lisa Capaldini) officially diagnose my collection of endocrinological(?) malfunctions as "Space Alienism." This was right after she asked if my husband and I met at a 'weird endocrine disorders support group' and we answered in unison, "no, in college." LOL. I guess the ol' S.A. is just acting up again...

ANYWAY... a few docs think the nausea & pain might be from one of the meds I'm taking to keep one aspect of my Space Alienism (the PCOS) under control. Just for kicks, we all (my PCP, a specialist, Ron, Mouse & I) decided I should stop the med for a couple of weeks and see what happens. Hopefully, this will improve my situation. LOL.

Let's hope.
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The Amazing Colossal Art Show - B-Movie themed benefit for flood victims!

The Amazing Colossal Art Show is TOMORROW! What is it? you ask. Well I'll tell ya:

A “B-Movie”-themed art sale to benefit the flood victims in Franklin, IN, home of the Midwest’s second annual “B-Movie Celebration.” The Amazing Colossal Art Show will be hosted by Franklin’s adopted daughter and Sacramento's own local B-Movie goddess, The Queen of Trash!

Think rubber monsters, zombies, go-go girls, Mexican wrestlers, space girls in silver bikinis, paper plate saucers, giant robots, brains in jars, kung fu masters, skulls, death cars, radioactive insects and, of course, amazing colossal people!

Several local artists have donated works to this worthy cause, including:

The Scary-Art of Nicolas Caesar
C!nder
Lobo-Trash
Krissi Sandvik
JaredK
Samantha Marie Grove
Evie Turner
Barry Barnes
Jill Stafford
and MANY MORE!!!

Here’s the best part: ALL of the pieces will be under $100, and the majority will be $50 or under! The very air will abound with affordable art, jewelry and trinkets!

The Amazing Colossal Art Show benefit!

100% of profits will benefit the Johnson County Flood Relief Fund.*

Saturday, July 19th, 6pm – 10pm
Vox
Sacramento
Corner of X & 19th
Sacramento


* unsold pieces will be shipped to Franklin, IN to be included in a silent auction in September.

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Tuesday, July 15, 2008

The source of my frustration:

I've been poked, prodded and subjected to various indignities involving small plastic cups since July 4th when I went into the ER with severe pain in my abdomen. Imagine someone blowing up a huge balloon in there. Ugh.

All of the tests have come back normal / negative - no infection, not pregnant, not h.pylori or any other such nastiness. Some of you may recall I had an endoscopy in January, which showed no signs of an ulcer. Likewise, the ultrasound last week didn't find any gall stones.

The docs still think it's my gallbladder rebelling against me since I have just about every single possible risk factor for gallbladder disease. Therefore, tomorrow I go in for something called an HIDA scan (I found out more on the actual procedure from Jennifer's blog, Quidite, than I did from the Mayo Clinic's website). It appears that the worst part of the test itself is that I have to stay relatively still for an hour or two ... or even longer. Now that I know what the procedure involves, I'll just make sure that I don't have any caffeine, so as to avoid the squirmies, and that I do bring my MP3 player.


(HIDA Scan bed)

My big fear is not the possible nausea or pain from the test (I've been living with it for a while now), but that they won't find anything with this scan. Of course, that doesn't mean it isn't my gall bladder - it just means they're back to "I Don't Know." I don't like "I Don't Know." It stresses me out and messes with my regular schedule. So wish me luck for a diagnosis. Even if they tell me it means surgery, I would welcome that over, "Sorry kid, you'll have to live with the pain a little longer until we can figure out why you're such a weirdo."
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Monday, July 14, 2008

In lieu of my own blog...

My closest friends and a few of my colleagues know that I've been dealing with a mystery health malfunction over the past few weeks, for which I still don't have a diagnosis. The problem isn't life threatening or anything, but the occasional pain and the turn-you-into-a-zombie meds have worn me down a bit. This of course, is the reason I'm behind on orders, swaps and blogging. Thanks to everyone for the "checking in" calls and e-mails.

That said, here's an awesome blog written by someone else. Elexis takes a break from her usual creations for her company, "Good Pails To Have" and creates an easy and cute wallet tutorial for us on her blog, The Stuff I Live For. She has measurements for a bill wallet as well as a smaller version to hold credit cards. Awesome, yes?

I haven't been at my sewing machines for a while, but when I do get back (and clear my backlog of orders and misc. projects), I'm going to make one of these for myself out of some of my fun Dia de los Muertos fabrics.



Be sure to check out the other "stuff to make" on Elexis's blog - there is some seriously cute stuff there.

Sew on, folks!

Kisses,

K
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Saturday, July 5, 2008

Skelekitty's Fave Blogs



So Skelekitty has been adding to her list of favorite crafty & artsy bloggers on a regular basis and has awarded the "Skelekitty Stamp of Approval" to the blogs listed on the right hand side of this very blog.

When you're cruisin' the web, check these folks out. You'll be glad you did! Also, if I'm missing a GREAT blog, please nominate them for the SK SoA!
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Thursday, July 3, 2008

It's all fun and games until somebody loses an eye

...or you have to fill out a government form.

Skelekitty becoming stamps (and I'm looking into silk-screened tees) = AWESOME. We're making an honest kitty out of her and she'll soon have the little registered mark to flash at everyone. However, reading instructions and filling out of US Library of Congress copyright forms is not for the squeamish.

Mind you, I'm NOT complaining!
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Wednesday, July 2, 2008

And the winners are...

The winning votes for the Skelekitty rubber stamps are in!

77% of voters overwhelmingly chose "Welcome Home" (
Skelekitty rubbing against skeleton legs) as their favorite!

The detail from "Play Time!" featuring Skelekitten popping out from behind a ball of yarn came in second (68% of voters liked her).

The new Skele-Mer-kitty (which you voted on without the benefit of seeing the final drawing) received votes from 51% of folks, as did "Always Time for Love" - the image of kitty popping up from behind a heart.

Thanks for voting everyone! Stay tuned for all the pertinent information on release dates, purchase info (location & price) and maybe even more stamps! Again, special thanks to Lee at Guadalupe Fun Rubber Stamps and Stampa Fe Art Stamps for making this possible!
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Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Skelekitty is branching out into a LINE of rubber stamps!

So, you've probably heard that my original Skelekitty character is going to be made into a rubber stamp by Stampa Fe Rubber Stamps (and carried in at least one specialty store).

Well, I got a message from Stampa Fe's owner this morning saying that she wants to create a line of at least 3 or 4 stamps right off the bat!

EEEEP! and YAY! So what images should I use?? You tell me, would ya?

Please help by voting on which images you think would make a good rubber stamp. Remember, even if you're so NOT into stamping, I'd love your opinion (what if someone gave you a handmade card - which images would you think are the coolest?).

Over on the right side of my blog are some thumbnails (the photo links to skelecritters on my Flickr page). Just check the boxes of your favorite images (1 to 4 please). Sorry, the polling is closed, but the results available here.

THANK YOU! I'll update later this week with the final decisions.
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