Have You Met Chickenpants?

Closeup of the Chickenpants flock
Originally uploaded by absolutely small

NO!? Well you should.

A couple of years back, Claire Chambers of Absolutely Small and I sorta/kinda crossed paths briefly as fellow members of the Sacramento Craft Mafia. Unfortunately, just as I was leaving to focus more on my art gallery shows she was joining, so we didn't get to know each other much ... well, not at all, really.

Luckily though, Sacramento's creative community, while wide-spread, is tightly knit. Everyone seems to be within 0.5 degrees of separation, so I kept up on what Claire was doing through my other crafty friends like Tamie of Roxycraft and Amy of Peptogirl Industries. I also saw her creations showing up at second Saturday art shows in galleries like Side Show Studios and the now defunct Cool Cat Gallery. After a while, I found Claire (or maybe she found me?) on Flickr and I started keeping track more closely of the Chickenpants family.

In May, I accosted her while she was busy working at Maker Faire '09 and subjected her to a photograph (with me hidden safely BEHIND the camera). She said she didn't want her photo taken, but DANG she sure is cute!

So just about the time I though Claire had reached the peak of cuteness, July rolls around and I find out that she is taking part in Stitch Wars (somthing I'd have jumped on had I been paying attention and known about it). Wait. She'd cute AND geeky? Awesome. I posted a link to her Star Wars Chickenpants collection in a Scary CRAFT blog post and decided that this whole Chickenpants family needed a much MUCH closer look.

Yep. As I suspected. More geekery. Check out this video featuring Flight of the Conchords' Foux de Fafa.



Oh, and did I mention she has a pug? If Claire or the Chickenpants family gets any cuter or geekier, I may pop.

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New 2 U #3 - Moon Landing Patches

TRIBUTE, FLASHBACK & MINI-TUTORIAL

This really IS a blast from the past - it's even a post on a sewing project (I suppose I need to change the blog's name from "stitchery" to something more all-encompassing soon).

Art toilet seat by Christian Cinder, encircled by my
custom patches of his design

Custom Rocketship Patches for C!nder
Originally uploaded by Skelekitty (Krissi Sandvik)

Anyway, since today is the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, I thought I'd bring out the custom ROCKET SHIP PATCHES I did for my friend and fellow Scary-Art Collective member, C!nder a couple of years back.

I saw C!nder's painted toilet seats at the September 2007 "Functional Art" themed show at Body Tribe Fitness here in Midtown Sacramento. I really wanted one, but didn't have the scratch for it. I approached him with the idea of trading the seat for some custom-made iron on patches (he'd been nagging me to make some for ages) and he agreed! Oddly enough, he wanted patches of the rocket ship on the very toilet seat I'd chosen.

I gleefully scampered home with my new customized bathroom art and set about working on the patches. Once again using my favorite raw-edge applique method (which you'll want to refer to), I traced the outline of his art onto to some extra fusible medium backing paper I'd saved. Then I created some colorform-esque pieces out of some hand-dyed fabrics. I put the pieces onto a light box and drew on the details using fabric markers and a silver permanent marker (Sharpie or a similar brand of solvent-based ink or even a paint pen). When everything looked good, I assembled the pieces (including a backing piece of muslin to add some heft to the patch) onto a non-stick silicone craft sheet and tacked them in place with a hot iron.

Tracing of Cinder's rocketship on left; "coloform" version on right

patch on hooped water-soluble
stabilizer with stitched outline

Using a piece of extra heavy water soluble embroidery stabilizer (my brand of choice is Sulky Ultra Solvy), I stuck the patch down with just a little spritz of water. After everything dried, I put a narrow satin stitch around the edges.

The pen lines were traced over with some free-motion straight line stitching and some good ol' fashioned hand-embroidered french knots for the bolts.

I then went over the silver pen marks using a free-motion satin stitch with some high sheen light gray rayon thread (optional).

Final patch - BLAST OFF!

Finally, I finished up each patch by adding a layer of heavy fusible medium (for these I used Pellon's Wonder Under Heavy Duty) to the back since he wanted the patches to be iron-on. I saved this step for last so I didn't gum up my needle, than I just trimmed off the excess with a pair of scissors.

Voilá! A patch for him, a patch for his wife and two to give away to friends or whatever (if his kids didn't snatch 'em up first).

I hope you have fun with this little mini-tute and, as always, if you make a project of this, let me know and I'll post your photos on an upcoming blog. AND REMEMBER KIDS, ONLY MAKE PATCHES OF YOUR OWN ART! Never swipe someone else's images (unless, like me, you were asked to do so by the artist).

OK, end of lesson.

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Skelekitty's First Fan Art

Skelekitty Dharma Station
Originally uploaded by Skelekitty (Krissi Sandvik)

As a lot of you know, I've been working in a loosely interpreted jolly roger theme of late.  Somewhere in a facebook conversation, I asked folks what theme they'd like to see show up next.  Well a long-time friend, Denise, who is a fan of both LOST and Skelekitty, suggested mixing together images from the show and of that crazy cat, and before I could even put together a sketch, I found this in my e-mail In Box!

Hmmmm....  I wonder what kind of goings-on would happen at The Dharma Initiative's "Skelekitty Station."  What do you think they might study there?

This first piece of Skelekitty fan art DEFINITELY earns Denise a Skelekitty Stamp of Approval for her blog.


Now I'm just waiting for that first Skelekitty fan tattoo!

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A Busy Week For The Skelecritters (with GIVEAWAY!)

If you've been keeping up with Skelekitty over on her blog then this news is probably old hat for you, but I finished another painting this week.  Still working in the "jolly roger" theme, I worked up a custom painting / gift for my friend, Hezekiah, of his Weimaraner, Logan.  Hez likes him some pirates and seriously LOVES his dog, so this seemed like an obvious combination.

After much skele-nagging, I also finally "helped" Skelekitty put together her Etsy shop called "Skelekitty and Friends." While I will continue to carry Skele-prints in my own Etsy shop (krissi.etsy.com ), Skelekitty and Friends will be your official and ultimate one-stop shop for all things skelecritter.


The most popular skelecritter prints (a mere $16 each) have been posted, as well as a few which are available with hand embellishments ($25 each). Shipping is only $5, even if you order 6 prints, and be sure to ask about a discount on multiple print/card purchases, too.

CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!

I'm photographing and posting more original art AND am busy working on two new paintings already (taking advantage of how fast-drying acrylic paints are in this weather). In the meantime, head over to Etsy (where it's free to register and shop) and add Skelekitty's new shop to your favorites and you will be entered into a drawing to win a hand embellished (by me, duh) print of the Angel Kitty from Love Cats:

The print sells on Skelekitty's site for $25 each.  It will be custom embellished for the winner using metal leafing in gold, high quality art glitters, crystals (if you'd like kitty to have a sparkly collar) and, of course, love.

The winner will be chosen next Friday, July 24th from those who publicly "♥" Skelekitty's shop (yeah, that means you 'secret admirers' who keep your favorites under wraps won't be entered, so ya gotta 'fess up!).

So stay cool this weekend and head over to Etsy for a chance to win one of these limited-edition embellished prints.

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New 2 U #2

The Catalyst (mixed media on canvas)
Originally uploaded by Skelekitty (Krissi Sandvik)

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I've been looking back over pieces I created a year or more ago for ideas and inspiration. "The Catalyst" is an acrylic on canvas painting that was pretty much me experimenting with Golden Fluid Acrylics, including interference colors, Golden's Clear Granular Gel and image transfers (gel medium, printed, and rub ons).

While this piece is still technically in my studio, it is earmarked for my friend and fellow artist Bekah of Under The Tuscan Zen, so (like most of the pieces I'm featuring in the New 2 U posts) it is not available.

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Old Stuff Revisited (New 2 U)

IGNORE ME! ("The Grand Galactic Inquisitor" final)
Originally uploaded by Skelekitty (Krissi Sandvik)

Just for fun, I thought I might share some older pieces here and there. I like to go back and look at my previous work and see where I made discoveries (some good - some fails).

This painting was a custom piece of Venture Bros. fan art I created for and gifted to the talented and amusing Mr. Nicolas Caesar, Daddy of Scary-Art. It's one of my earlier layered mixed media pieces, but I like the images and texture (like the 3D rocketship I made with Golden acrylic molding paste and mica powders) in the finished piece.  My favorite thing about it is the background colors, though.  Yummy.

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3 New Pieces (One Is Still Available)

Poison, featuring Skelekitty, is the second in my Jolly Roger series (the first of which is detailed below).

It is an 8x10" acrylic on wood and is priced to sell at only $50 (plus CA sales tax - if applicable, and $7 shipping / insurance). I've already had several inquiries, but as of this posting, it's available.

A little low on scratch? Worry not. Open edition prints are also available for an even better price of $16 each (and if you purchase more than one, shipping on the rest -up to 5- is FREE!)

The first painting in the series was the result of me playing around with an idea to do a skull & "crossbones," but with chiles instead. I thought it was a pretty silly idea, but figured it would keep me out of trouble for a day or two, and at least I'd be amused (even if no-one else was). However, the Jolly Jalepeno as my Aunt Merry calls it, found a new home in Texas with my pal Jill of Swag Arts before it was even half way finished! This once again proves that I am no judge of what will work and what won't - y'all remember that Skelekitty started off as my idea of a one-hit-tongue-in-cheek donation, right?

A few folks have already asked for prints so, yeah, they're available too (same price & shipping deal I mentioned above).

I started working on 8x10" plaques with the art trade I did with my friend Kit Cameo. She asked for a skull with her two kitties, and the result was Kitties For Kit. While creating this piece, I realized how fun it was to work on a relatively small canvas (I had been working on 12x24" pieces of wood). Another plus of the small size is that these works are affordable for YOU!

Kitties For Kit will not be available as a print (sorry folks - funny shape = no prints).


So today, I scored myself four new plaques - all in an ever so slightly larger 9x12" size and I'll be putting my brain to work coming up with some ideas ..... NOW.





Dang.




I got nuthin'.


Well, off to bed to dream up some more "silly" ideas.

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I Can Stop Any Time I Want!

June 09 "Night of the Creators"
Originally uploaded by Skelekitty (Krissi Sandvik)

A Happy Bunny tote.

In hot pink.

With glitter.

From my pal Bekah.

Isn't it a shame that my friends don't understand me even one tiny bit?

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Have a Nice Swap!

So there are a few artists (not very many, mind you) with whom I actually trade art, and Kit Cameo of Kit's Glass Etchings is one of those artists.  Her work is unique, edgy and funny and the quality of her etched pieces really cannot be beaten.  Her creations range from a custom Absinthe bottle (green, of course, complete with fairy), to lightening bolt stemmed wine glasses that just screamed for various Harry Potter designs, to tiny pirate rum bottles.

Kit and I have been kinda sorta talking about doing a swap for what seems like eons, but when I saw her Have A Nice Night etched mirror necklace, I knew I'd finally found "my" piece.

The hand molded polymer clay bat wings that seem to "fly" when you move just right are incredibly crafted.  I especially love the subtle but effective classic smiley with fangs!  I haven't tried it yet, but I understand that if you reflect light off the mirror face, you can project the fangy smiley onto the wall (note to self - torture dog and cats with this trick later).  To me though, the best part of this piece is that it makes me giggle a little bit every single time I look at it.

In exchange, Kit asked for one of my 7x7" plaques (but I worked on an 8x10" anyway - shhhhhh!  don't tell) with a traditional skull like the one I put on Grinding To A Hault (now at Hyaena Gallery in Burbank), kitties like the ones in Love Cats and a background like the one in A Brand New Sky.  I never formally gave this one a title, but I think of it as Kitties for Kit.

To see more of Kit's creations, visit her website or check out her blog!

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Potter Mania hits Night of the Creators

June 09 "Night of the Creators"
Originally uploaded by Skelekitty (Krissi Sandvik)

My new "must have" item: super awesome Golden Snitch earrings by Lorrain of Rain's Embellishments!

She is creating a whole line of jewelry dedicated to the Harry Potter series in general, and to The Half-Blood Prince (Film of Book 6) specifically.  Check out her Half-Blood Prince earrings!  Oh boy oh boy!

How many minutes until the movie is released?

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