Swag From A Cross-Dressing Cat

I just opened a mail package from my pal Amy of Oblinaknit to find the  super cool hot pink custom "Zip It" and "Wristlet" I ordered!  When the sun comes back up tomorrow I'll take some snaps of the inside - I love the linings in both pieces, but the bees inside the wristlet are to DIE for!



She also sent along some cool swag, including:

• a REALLY cute heart shaped white & pink keychain (is that perfect timing or what, 'cause I picked up what is going to become the Skelekitty-mobile today!). 
• some FREAKIN' adorable 1" buttons and oversized postcards of her fabulous cross-dressing, fruity hat-wearing kitty, Ken.  

I'll be taking the pins (minus one for my denim jacket, of course) and the post cards with me to give away on the Crafty Chica Cruise next month.

...

But wait, do you think I give some away here too? (I know you'll say yes, but tell me how I should decide who gets 'em. AND BE FAIR!)

Oh, wait!!!  Before you go off on a commenting rampage asking for one of these super cute kitty diva pins/post cards, did I mention that Amy also makes jewelry as "Oblinaknit Bejeweled?"  Ken swiped these earrings off of her work table and mailed them to me for my birthday last June after I shamelessly drooled over them online.

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What I got today!

The release date for Kathy Cano-Murillo's first novel, Waking Up In The Land of Glitter is March 1, but keep your eyes peeled for my review soon!

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Crafty Chica's Tips for Handmade Vendors

It's that gift-giving time of year again! The handmade movement and the downturn in the economy have paired up and attracted more and more holiday shoppers to craft fairs. People are looking for special gifts for their loved ones rather than just spending a large dollar amount.

For those of you who sell your handmade lovelies at this or any time of year, our pal Kathy Cano-Murillo offers you some tips for making your customers' shopping (and your selling) successful!



Diary of a Crafty Chica: Tips for crafty vendors this season!


Do you have a favorite tip that isn't included on her list? Post it here and best of luck to all of you!

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Skelekitty on Crafty Chica's Inspiration Friday!

Guess WHO was featured on Kathy "Crafty Chica" Cano-Murillo's blog today?? She even "outed" me (for my unnatural relationship with glitter).

Diary of a Crafty Chica: INSPIRATION FRIDAY: Skelekitty!

I've noticed a new kitty on the crafting scene - and she literally is...a kitty! This friendly feline has her own web site, a blog and gobs of personality. I was recently able to grab hold of her and ask her a few questions before she sprang out of my hands to go back to her owner's art room. Can you say finicky? By the way, her owner is the talented Krissi Sandvik.

CraftyChica.com: Tell me how you came to be, Miss Skelekitty? Did you get shortchanged from your nine lives?

Skelekitty: Heck no, my nine lives are just beginning! I was introduced to the world in the summer of 2006 when Krissi donated the very first Skelekitty piece a local kitty rescue's annual fundraising auction. Krissi has always loved animals and became fascinated with the Day of the Dead celebration when she lived in San Francisco's Mission District. She thought the spirit of Dia de los Muertos (that is, celebrating the lives of loved ones) fit in perfectly with a kitty adoption organization. Pretty soon, people started asking to see me in more art, so Krissi created a whole line featuring me and my skelecritter pals called Skelekitty and Friends.


Q: And now you are a rockstar kitty - you have a line of stamps in your likeness! Tell me, how did you decide on the poses for the stamps? Did you get final say?

A: Well of COURSE I have final approval on all of my images - I'm a kitty who's definitely not shy about speaking her mind! The stamps were chosen by the nice lady who runs Stampa Fe art stamps in Santa Fe, New Mexico - she picked her four favorites to start off with. The response to the stamps has been so positive, you may be seeing some brand new Skelekitty stamps (and maybe some other skelecritters) soon.


Q: Tell me about your owner, I hear she is very crafty!

A: She sure is - she's always gluing something to something else and started Sacramento's coolest FREE craft night, Scary CRAFT's Night of the Creators. Even her MAIL is crafty! Here is a tutorial!

In addition to her paintings, she makes quilts, reconstructed clothing, shrines, jewelry. Krissi has always loved language and writing and has started to play with photography too! She especially enjoys a challenge where she has create outside of her comfort zone.

Q: How does having a pet helps a person's creativity?

A: Animals are wonderful muses because they are so loving and funny. One of the most popular pieces was inspired by a hungry kitty rubbing against her human's legs when they come home at night.

The antics of Krissi's kitties and dog are often the inspiration for paintings. Anyone who has ever lived with a cat or dog (or small children) will be able to relate to "The Two Sides of Skelekitty."
Q: Will you share your favorite pieces by your owner and how she made them - I'm sure you sat and watched every moment of their creation, right?

A: I imagine everyone expects the portraits of me are my favorites, but they'd be wrong! Like Krissi, my favorite pieces tend to be ones where she experimented by using her favorite imagery within a not-typically-Krissi themes. Painting The Roses Red, which was created for an Alice in Wonderland themed show, is a good example.


I also like the pieces she makes with a real sense of irony, like her "Diet Shrine" art quilt.

Krissi Sandvik. I must share that she told me she never was a fan of glitter until she went on the Crafty Chica cruise and became converted. I think this picture proves that! Krissi is a mixed media artist based out of Sacramento, CA. Visit her blog to see more of her work at http://www.krissisandvik.blogspot.com/

Would you like to submit an article for Inspiration Friday? Click HERE for the guidelines. -SUBMIT your piece with INSPIRATION FRIDAY in the subject line and email to kathy[at]craftychica[dot]com


Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

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Stuff (Without Which I Would Surely Perish) #1

Business has been happily busy here at the estudio de Krissi y Skelekitty (although she's wanting top billing these days, the pushy minx). I didn't want you all to think I didn't love you any more, so I'm starting a series of "bloglets" I am calling Stuff (without which I would surely perish). In short, they are Krissi-style mini-reviews of things I love and MUST ALWAYS HAVE. Mostly I'll feature arts & crafts stuff, to be sure, but the occasional non-art product will be featured now and then.

For my first entry, here's a pretty traditional craft supply that I use in almost every mixed-media art piece I create (but if I didn't tell you, you might not even know it was there):

Tulip Fashion Glitter by Duncan in Silver Hologram comes in three sizes - ultra fine, fine and medium - but I have a particular love for the fine.

Until meeting Kathy Murillo on her Crafty Chica art cruise in 2008, I wasn't into loose glitter AT ALL, much to the continued chagrin of my long-suffering pal, Yoli. I still thought of glitter in big dullish, hexagonal chunks that gathered in the bottom of your winter decorations box after having flaked off your ancient Xmas stocking. However, I got one look at the line of glitters Kathy mixed and Duncan produced, with their amazing colors and shiny holographic goodness, and I was HOOKED.


I use all of the Crafty Chica glitters in my artwork (most notably Goddess Gold, Frida's Fuschia and Bollywood Blue), but the most popular glitter is the holographic silver - it makes ABSOLUTELY PERFECT STARRY SKIES! Can you see it in the sky of "A Brand New Sky To Hang The Stars Upon...?"






What about here in one of my (many) Venture Bros. fan art pieces, "The Grand Galactic Inquisitor?"



Can't leave my favorite supply off of a new Skelekitty painting:



I even used a bit in my most recent piece:


And since I'm teaching a class of my favorite techniques this month, it showed up in one of the class samples, too.


I wish you could see just how fabulous this glitter looks under and between the layers of gel medium - the photos truly cannot do it justice.

If there's a takeaway point from this first SWWIWSP "bloglet," it is to look at ALL of your supplies when creating, and don't fear mixing your "craft" supplies in with your "art" supplies!

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Loteria Pendants and Blank Canvases (2)

The day before yesterday was day 6 of the DaVinci Challenge and I took day 5's project, added a couple layers of a glossy dimensional sealer and turned those babies into pendants.




Each one is signed and comes with an 18" ball chain.  Because these are prototypes of sorts, I'm selling 'em cheap - $15 each or 2 for $25 and I'll cover the shipping and any sales tax (if you're in California).   Two of these puppies have already been snatched up by my pal Jill Allyn (she got the Corazon and the Robot).  Here's what's still available:

E-mail me if you're interested.  I'm going to let regular blog followers have first grab at these before I list them on Etsy.


As for "Day 7," well, it pretty much got away from me because of my gym schedule (I went - Allyson tried to kill me again), dog time at the river (an absolute must when you have a Jack Russell) and then discovering that the "sterile abscess" on Abby's neck from her anti-rattlesnake vaccine was getting bigger... so off to the vet and ... yeah. There goes the day.  HOWEVER, I did manage to drive to my favorite art supply store (Utrecht, 'cause everyone there is incredibly helpful) and purchase two  Baroque hardwood artist panels for my next two paintings, which I have worked out in my head, although not yet on paper.


Today, as I am sans dog, I need to do some grocery shopping, but I also hope to get something on those two blank boards.  Off I go.


View ALL DaVinci Mode Challenge posts.
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DVM Day 5 - Loteria Tiles

Inspired by Kathy Murillo's "Taste of Talavera" jewelry tutorial, I created these jewelry tiles using my own paintings which I then turned into Lotería cards.

Using 1" x 1¼" wooden craft tiles as a base, I resized my Lotería cards on my computer and printed them out just a teensy bit larger than the tiles (1.3" wide so the entire surface would of the tile would be covered). I have an Epson printer, but you could also use an ink jet or have them copied professionally (on accounta almost all home-office ink jet inks are water-based and bleed). Just to be sure, I used some spray fix to keep my images clear (you could also use a glossy presentation paper or another paper with a coating).


Next, I cut out and glued my images onto the tiles. You could use just about any glue, but I settled on two extremely thin coats of soft gel medium by Golden Acrylics.


After the tiles were completely dry, about 30 minutes, I sanded the edges of the tiles (an emery board works well!) to remove the overhanging paper and any tiny bit of gel I got onto the edges.


I like to add a thin coat of a gloss varnish now - BEFORE I paint the sides and back. If you varnish it after, you won't be able to wipe any smeared paint off of the surface of the images. As always, I used Crafty Chica Glossy Gloss Varnish - one of my crafting staples.

When your varnish is dry, paint the edges of each piece. When the edges are dry, paint the backs (it's much less messy if you do it in steps).

Now these little babies are ready to be added to art, jewelry or whatever project enters my brain for day 6 of the DaVinci Challenge!


View ALL DaVinci Mode Challenge posts.

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In "DaVinci Mode"

As an experiment of sorts, the FABULOUS Stacy "The Craft Whore" McQueen posed to her facebook friends the "DaVinci Mode Challenge." Going into DaVinci mode means that anyone participating in the facebook group MUST commit to 30 contiguous days of creativity in any form we wish.

I'll do my best to post here on a daily basis!

Day 1 (4/15/09):





For the first day of the challenge, I decided to just get my crafty butt back in my studio and make something. Anything. I decided on using one of the many shadow box frames I acquired at The Dollar Tree. I didn't really have a vision for this - mostly, I was experimenting with stamping on glass (Staz On ink) and mixing glitter colors (background glitter is Crafty Chica BeBopBlack / Nova Blue / SciFi Silver mix; gold is Ranger's Stickles). Obviously, this is also an experiment in layering. How do you think it came out?


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Crafty Chica Cruise 2009 Recap

I can't believe it's been over two whole weeks! Geez.

SUNDAY: Well, three Sunday mornings ago, I got up bright and early and hopped a plane from FREEZING AND WINDY Sacramento down to sunny and dry, albeit breezy, San Diego. Got my luggage right away and strolled right up to a waiting taxi who dropped me at the docks and the awaiting Carnival ship, Elation, a mere 15 minutes later.


Thanks to the wonders of technology and a full keyboard for texting on my Crackberry, I quickly located Ann and Alisa.


...and together we discovered some girls who just HAD to be our people!

photo by Ann Pohlers

Yep! It was Ginger, the lucky winner of the free cruise, and her equally cute pal Alicia. We all took an immediate "like" to each other which still hasn't worn off (yay new friends!) It took me a while to put it together, but I'd been cyberstalking Alicia on MySpace and Etsy for a while - she's "Spooky Mama Creations." I'd also recently started stalking Ginger's Etsy store, Boudoir Noir. I guess I need to pay attention to who I'm stalking, huh?

Ann, me, Alisa, Alicia, and Ginger, at the bar (where else?)

Much silliness ensued at dinner the first night...


...and then the crafting began in earnest!

- photo by Ann Pohlers

Our first project was to embellish a blank canvas book (generously provided by CT Publishing) which could be turned into a banner or a lantern (or, duh! a book). The creativity among my fellow crafters was, while not unexpected, amazing.

Alisa's "prayer flags" made from a blank canvas book

- photo by Kathy Cano-Murillo

MONDAY: We anchored off of Catalina Island, former summer home to the Wrigley family and subsequently ground zero for the Cubs' Spring training. Now it's a cute little island with some history and the clearest water you can find on the continental U.S. Oh yeah, and they have flying fish!


Ann and I wandered around taking some photos and Alisa, Yoli, Ginger and Alicia did some shopping as we awaited the arrival of the ever-popular Cyndi Garcia of The Santa Clarita Craft Lab to join us.

The Crafty Chicas meet the Craft Labbers, and I finally realize that I don't make a very good where's Waldo.

After a couple of hours in the sunshine, several of us beat it back to the ship for more workshop time, but Yoli stayed and partied with the SCCL girlies! I won't even attempt to compete with the awesome post Cyndi wrote detailing her carousings with the Sacred One; you'll just have to read it for yourself.

Once Yoli tore herself away from the Coronas and chicas on Catalina, she taught an AWESOME altered silk scarf workshop.

One of the very FEW projects I finished - my altered silk scarf


Dinner on the second night went off without Señor Perrito getting out of hand again, and we had another workshop awaiting us! This time, The Mantastic Crafter, Patrick Murillo himself, led a workshop in making Dia de los Muertos figures.

Isn't Mary K's Luchador magnificent?? And of course, Yoli did a super-awesome Frida.

- photo by Cathy Cano-Murillo

Patrick shared a lot of information on how he creates the bodies, but he made fifty "blanks" and carried them all the way from Arizona for us. All we had to do was embellish them! After a lot of giggling to myself, I decided upon a "burlesque dancer" for my skeleton. While she has her pasties securely in place (along with a very classy thong) along with her matching 'modesty' fans, she needs a LOT more work - photos of her later. Several of the ladies crafted into the wee hours of the morning, though I threw in the towel just after midnight. I heard through my sources that the conversation turned quite NC-17 after the witching hour, oh, my delicate ears!

TUESDAY: Shopping in Ensenada!!! We all got up early, donned our comfy shoes, grabbed our biggest shopping bags and headed for the debarkation deck.

Yoli and I goofed off for a minute before the serious shopping started.

Our first stop was the fabulous Bazar Casa Ramirez, where Yoli and I did some drive-by shopping last year, but where we spent the bulk of our time this year!


At least half of the craftistas from our group were already in the shop when we arrived, and the other half were on their way.



photo by Yoli Manzo

At some point during the frenzy of purses, art, milagros, jewelry, figurines and other goodness, we found out it was Nana's birthday; it was a VERY feliz cumpleaños for her!


Ann, Yoli and I wandered off down the street and found some pretty bags and blouses, but the find of the day was a little mercado of miniature shrine supplies that Yoli spied with her sacred little eye!


And here are a few of my tiny finds:


We stopped at one more shop on our way out of town and back to the ship where I purchased a piece I thought had great bones (yeah, pun intended). Here it is before I got my glittery mitts on it:


and after:

What a big change a little glue and Crafty Chica glitter in Frida's Fuchsia, Rockabilly Ruby, Goddess Gold and a touch of BeBop Black on the horns, with a tiny bit of iridescent Stickles in Diamond White to set off the skull

While waiting for the bus to take us back to the docks, we had "on board" entertainment. I clearly surprised him when he challenged the gringos to sing along to La Cucaracha and I actually did. En Español even!



We needed to be back on the boat by early afternoon so that we could learn tin embossing secrets from the Artsy Gringa, Michele Parlee.

Step 2 - the india ink (before buffing) That's "Altered Rose" Jackson's piece in the foreground and mine is just above hers

- photo by Kathy Murillo

My tin embossing project following buffing and glazing

I've been really excited to work with tin and now that I have some tips and techniques under my belt, I feel confident that you'll be seeing more of it in my pieces! She made it look so darn easy! Be sure to check out her etsy store and her blog (and, hey, Michele! get some new tutorials up, would ya??)

Following din-din that night, we dove right back into the crafting with another project I actually finished (well sorta - I want to add one more detail): a 3D postcard shadow box!


My 3d Pop Art Shadow Box using a SHAG (the art of JoSH AGle) retro art post card, my custom mixed Crafty Chica glitter (Glamour Queen Green / Goddess Gold) and a Dollar Tree shadow box


WEDNESDAY: Was a "fun day at sea" (ha! we were anchored amidst fog and wavy seas, but that didn't stop the crafting)! We had two projects on the books, but several of us spent our day working on our 'secret pal' swaps. I got the super-cute 'Friendy Wendy' who was also my table-mate, so I did some super sleuthing for her gift. I ended up painting her a skele-weiner dog (oh, and umm.... did anyone snap a photo of it? PUHLEASE send it to me if you did).


The official projects were a way cool bracelet kit with all kinds of funky swag and findings. The chicas really did some awesome work:

Pat's bracelet, which was so heavy, she built up muscles just lifting her arm for this photo!

Ginger's "bracelet" project

- photo by Kathy Murillo

My "kit" finally got out of the bag last night at Scary CRAFT and I started working on it, but I'm looking forward to having the time to clean off one of the tables in my studio and really going to town. Photos when it's done, of course, will be posted here.

We also had a challenge to create a self-portrait out of paper, which Kelly Wright completely mastered! Hers is so simple and so right on!


Right before din-din, we had our cocktail party and secret pal gift exchange. They just kept bringing the drinks! I don't know what I was drinking, but it had a lot of Midori in it and I had ... several. At one point, Ann even had two rum punches in her paws (and I'm pretty sure it was right after she told our server, "no, I'm OK"). We were also treated to a customized rendition of "My Favorite Things" by Kelly Wright. Dang that girl has a set of pipes!

Kelly Wright belts out a tune written especially for the Chicas

- photo by Mary Kirschbaum

AFTER dinner, we had our craft bazaar (for Crafty Chica cruisers only) where I got a chance to stock up on all kinds of goodies, especially milagros in all shapes and sizes from Annette and Jose Armas of C.J.'s Angels (my new official supplier of mexican ephemera!!). I also had some Skelekitty rubber stamps available (I need to replenish my supply now!) and introduced my new line of "loteria" greeting cards available in both "glitterfied" and "regular." Because they went over so well (I sold out of all the hand-glittered ones!), I'm offering the same price to everyone on Etsy ($12 for a set of 4, $15 for 6 - mix and match is welcome).

The next day was a bit of a blur as we all said our goodbyes and I went home with Alisa and Ann, hostesses extraordinaire, and stayed in San Diego for 3 extra days where we hung out at Balboa Park, ate lots of tasty ethnic foods, crafted (I taught Ann to use her sewing machine and Alisa gleaned all of my UTEE secrets!) and I snuggled with the kitties.



As is one of the downsides of a cruise ship, I came home with a cold virus and spent the week following our return sneezing and coughing. However, it was STILL worth it, and I'm looking forward to next year already. I just have to figure out how to pay for it.... (psst! buy my cards so I can go! LOL)


WHEW! that post took DAYS to write (I started it last Wednesday, if you can believe it). We all had SO much fun, that there is no way I could incorporate it all into a single blog post, but I gave it the old college try. To see more photos, be sure to check out the Crafty Chica Cruise 2009 pool on Flickr (and if you repost, be sure to attribute the photo to the person who took it and, if posting a photo of art, to the artist who created the piece).

Finally, but most imporantly, I wanted to thank all of the companies, both small and large, who donated to the cruise:

Duncan Enterprises, jumbo crystal stud iron-on appliques
Rings n Things, bracelet blanks
CT Publishing, blank canvas books
Walnut Hollow, wood bases, drills, metal embossing kit
Ranger Industries & Claudine Hellmuth Sticky Back Canvas & Brush sets
Marisa Pavelko, The Modern Surrealist, prize tiaras and an art shirt
Foxy Findings, jump rings
St. Theresa's Textile Trove, jumbo totes (I have one and LOVE it).
Art Chix Studio, mixed media swag bags
Miss Vicky's Retreats, assemblage swag bags
Santa Clarita Craft Lab, mixed media swag bags
Silver Crow Creations, ephemera & collectible swag bags
CJ's Angels, decorative supplies
Hannah Grey, curiosities and dry goods!
Craft Magazine, magazines and other treats
The Paper Studio, gourmet and handmade papers
Suenos Latin American Imports, milagro swag bag
Grand Central Publishing, juicy novels to read on the ship
Instructables, crafty cards filled with ideas (and the coolest robot patch!)
Etsy.com, bumper stickers, pins, crafty recipe cards
and don't forget:
The Mantastic Crafter, skellingtons, testosterone and know-how

p.s. I was supposed to be giving away a swag tote containing goodies from these companies, but it ended up going home in Kathy's suitcase instead of mine, so be sure to cruise over to her blog to win it!

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