Listening To The Universe...

(Slow down.)

This week, Bob rushed my grandmother, Corky, to the emergency room.  (For those of you who remember Effie, my other "trouble-making" grandmother, she is doing well and has assured me that she will do her best to keep the "mischief" to a minimum! Ha!)

Tuesday was spent in the hospital preparing Corky for emergency surgery.  She is currently stable, but has a long road of recovery in front of her.  As a result of the continued medical mayhem in my life (There have been five, yes five, family medical emergencies since June!), I have decided to take an official break from the blog.  (You may have already noticed an unofficial slow down in the past few weeks.)

I will continue to help EVA over at the Paint Party Friday blog, but I will be taking a break here for the rest of December so that I can focus on family.  I appreciate all of the kind comments, messages, and emails you have sent to me... Your continued support has helped me through some very difficult times.

I look forward to coming back in January to a new year with renewed energy, fresh inspiration, and endless possibilities!

Until then, I want to wish all of you (and your families)

A Happy and Healthy Holiday Season!

xo

Kristin 

Paint Party Friday... Hand Painted Prints

"Heart In Hands: Love"  (hand painted print)

I'd like to start this post with a great big "thank you"!  I have definitely been feeling the love... Your emails, messages, and comments making sure that I'm okay mean more than you can possibly imagine!  Please don't worry - Life is good... Crazy... But good.

"All Tied Up"  (hand painted print)

Family fun, gift making, (and now jury duty) are keeping me busy... Very, very busy!

"Heart In Hands: Peace On Earth"  (hand painted print)

In addition to holiday preparations, I have been working on adding some items to my very neglected shop.  I am so excited about the hand painted prints I've been creating using a new (to me) technique...  

The process?

I scan and laser print my original drawings onto 140 lb. cold press watercolor paper.  Then I hand paint the print using a combination of watercolors, acrylics, prismacolor pencils, graphite, and ink.  I am thrilled with the results and tickled with the possibilities!

Custom "Heart In Hands" (hand painted prints)

Since this week's poll question over at Paint Party Friday is about gifts, I feel I would be remiss if I failed to mention what great gifts hand painted prints make (you can find them here)... Just sayin'.  

Hee Hee

Happy PPF!

Please Excuse My Absence...

I'm All "Tied Up"!

Savoring The Sweet (And Silly, Of Course!)

Joy!

This time of year it is very easy to get caught up in the hustle, bustle, and downright craziness of the season.  I am very fortunate to have a little boy who constantly reminds me to treasure everyday goodness...

"i love you and daddy"

I have discovered that guerrilla goodness starts at a very young age - I find fun notes from Tyler all over the house! 

But just so you don't get the wrong idea and think that my life is sickeningly, syrupy sweet...

"who farted"

I also find my fair share of silly notes too!

"oh yeah" (note within a note)

No piece of paper is safe... If it is lying within the reach of a pen or pencil, a little nugget of five year old wisdom is sure to follow!

These merry little memos are wonderful reminders to slow down and appreciate the abundance of awesomeness that can be found in the simplicity of daily life.

So today I will end this post with a little note for you, dear friend...

Turkeys In Disguise

Last week Tyler came home with a plain, black and white line drawing of a turkey and a homework assignment:

He needed to give "Tom the Turkey" a disguise to keep him from becoming Thanksgiving dinner.  Well, since I love me some silly, I couldn't resist making some of my own...

I had lots of fun creating concealment, but my favorite disguise was...

Tyler's!

Happy Thanksgiving!

For Mom...

I Love You.

xoxo

Honey

Paint Party Friday!

(For hundreds of years people have pondered the Mona Lisa's expression...  Could it be a "cat that ate the canary" look?)

Effie is doing much better (thank you for all of your well wishes!) and I'm excited to be back at Paint Party Friday!  Wheee! 

This week I was able to finish watching Amy's video and add paint, transfers, and colored pencil to the drawing that I started a couple of weekends ago.  It was a lot of fun to create, but in the end I think I prefer the black and white version.

Have you taken any of Amy's free classes yet?  They are so much fun!  This Saturday Manon is teaching one.  She also taught one last Friday that I can't wait to watch (because if you aren't able to watch them live, never fear...  they record them)!  Hooray!  To watch previous classes and learn more about Manon's Saturday class, click here.

What Happened?!?

You may have noticed that my AEDM posts came to an abrupt halt last week.  The reason?  Effie (my grandmother) went into the hospital.  She is home now (and doing well), so I am back.  

Because of lots of follow-up doctors' appointments and other "life stuff" I won't be posting every day, but I look forward to sharing my latest doodles with you...  I have managed to squeeze in a bit of sketchbook time and I'm hoping to get back to a much more normal schedule soon!

AEDM: Day 8 (Creative Tuesday)

The theme at over at the Creative Tuesdays blog this week is "Thank You".  I thought it was the perfect opportunity to share a fun project I'm currently working on!

If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you probably already know that snails make an appearance in my art from time to time.  (If you're new here - Welcome!  I hope you take a look around and come back to visit often!)

In addition to my "thank you" snail at the top of this post, there is even more "snail mail" in the works...   

These guys are heading to my shop... They'll be there soon!

AEDM: Day 7

Click on image to view larger.

I'd like to start this post by thanking Tracey and Molly for giving me the "Tell Me About Yourself" award...  Thank you both so much - I am very honored that you thought of me!

The first part of this award is to share 7 things about myself that you might not already know.  Well, since I have been wanting to play along with Andrea's interview I thought I would answer those questions... It is actually 10 things, so I hope you don't mind!  

(I really admired the creative way Molly shared information about herself, and I fell in love with Karen's artsy answers to Amy's interview questions.  So, since I was feeling inspired, I created a page in my sketchbook that answers Andrea's questions.  You can click on the image at the top of this post to see my answers, or you can just read them below.)

1. What should you be doing right now instead of sitting on the computer?

Cleaning my studio!  (See question 2!)

2. What's the messiest area of your house?  and dare you to show us...

My studio.  If I don't clean it soon, the next time I venture in there I will most likely not come out!  Pictures?  I'll have to dig my camera out first!  Ha!

3. 5 simple things that make you happy right now, above and beyond the obvious like your family and your health...

squeezy bear hugs

perfectly ripe avocadoes

smiles from strangers

great big belly laughs

an extra hour of sleep

4. When did you last cry?

By the time you read this, I will probably have already cried again!  Ha!  I cry a lot... I cry when I am happy, sad, scared, angry... You get the picture, I'm sure.  The only thing I do more than cry?  Laugh!  I laugh 

a lot!

5. Favorite book...

Impossible.  Seriously.  I loooove books... all kinds of books!

I could never choose a favorite.

6. How many pets...

I have 2 cats - Mona and Lisa.

7. 2 Goals... one huge and unrealistic one, and one achievable one...

I believe in dreaming big and I have been very fortunate to see seemingly unrealistic dreams become achievable ones!

My current goals involve art, kindness, and book ideas...

(I know it might seem like an elusive answer, but I am superstitious and I am scared of jinxing myself!)

8. 5 things in your purse besides money and a cell phone...

I don't carry a purse - I like to keep things in my pockets.  Sometimes I carry a great big bag with my sketchbook, art supplies, and camera, though.

9. The emotion or feeling you hate the most...

Jealousy and the feeling of inadequacy that often accompanies it.

"Comparison is the thief of joy!"

-Dwight Edwards

10. If you could have 50 pounds of anything except money or gold what would you want?

I'd be very curious to see what 50 pounds of feathers would look like, but what I'd really love to have is 50 pounds of paint, or canvas, or pencils... 50 pounds of art supplies is as good as gold, as far as I'm concerned!

The second part of this award is to give it to 15 great blogs.  Well, the truth is I read a lot of great blogs and I'd love to know more about all of them!  So, if you're reading this and you'd like to play along please grab the award and leave your link in the comments so I can learn more about you!  If you've already accepted this award from someone else, I'd love it if you would leave your link in the comments too!  (It's not necessary to answer these specific questions, but if you'd like to you can find them here.)

AEDM: Day 6

This is the pencil drawing that I started in my sketchbook while watching Amy's free live workshop today.  I wasn't able to stay for the whole thing, so I didn't pull out my paints. This week I'll add color while I finish watching the video!  

Stay tuned...

AEDM: Day 5

Seize the fish... er, um... Day!

Image created on top of one of my free - no strings attached - downloadable collage papers.

(Get it here.)

AEDM: Day 4

"Disco Chicken" (in color!)

"Art and Music" is the theme over at The Butterfly Effect this week.  So naturally "Disco Chicken" is the first thing that popped into my head!  Ha!

Well actually, I've had "Disco Chicken" swirling around in my head for over a year just waiting until the right time to present himself...

I've been thinking about "Disco Chicken" ever since I created my very first worksheet for Carla Sonheim's Silly 2 Class.  I guess some ideas just take a while to marinate!  (Pun intended, of course!)

Wishing you a far out, fab, and funky weekend...

Check ya later!

AEDM: Day 3

"Amy Cat"

(a tribute to our teacher)

acrylics on a dryer sheet attached to cardstock

Today I had the pleasure of painting along with Amy as she taught another free live workshop... It was like a live virtual paint party!  These workshops are a lot of fun and it is great to be painting and chatting with so many people I've met through blogging!  

In addition to painting, today's workshop started with sewing. (Can you believe it Jenny?!?  I actually sewed something!  Sure it was just a little bit of a border, but it won't be long until I'm giving your fun elephant pattern a try!)  I sewed a dryer sheet onto a piece of cardstock, then painted on that.  I was originally going to sew a piece of fabric to the cardstock, but someone mentioned dryer sheets and I remembered that Becca uses dryer sheets in her art, so I thought I'd give it a try.  (I discovered that dryer sheets take paint pretty well, but the constant perfumey smell made me a bit queasy and gave me a headache... Lesson learned.)

The topic of conversation over at the Paint Party Friday blog this week is about why we buy the art that we buy...  I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to share some of the art that I have bought, been gifted, and won in giveaways.  I have created a board on pinterest with some of the art that I have in my house.  (If you'd like to see, click here.)

Are you on pinterest?  My friend Robin invited me to join a awhile ago and I fiddled around a bit, but over the past couple of weeks I have become a bit of a pinterest addict!  If you 're on pinterest let me know - I'd love to see what you're pinning!

AEDM: Day 2

"Scary"

(mixed media on cardstock and matboard)

It's Day 2 of AEDM.  Yesterday I shared the beginning of a honey badger collage... Today I finished it. 

The original inspiration for this painting was Illustration Friday's "Scary" theme.  On the outside, honey badgers are cute and innocent (even their name is sweet), but looks can be deceiving.  According to The Guinness Book of World Records they are "the world's most fearless creatures"... They are ferocious!

What scares me?  Things that aren't as they seem...  Nastiness with an adorable exterior terrifies me.

I started this painting by using a collage technique Amy shared in her free workshop on Saturday.  She is having another free live workshop tomorrow at 2pm CST and you're invited!

(Click here for more details!)

AEDM: Day 1

Since today marks the beginning of Art Every Day Month, I thought I would share some beginnings from my day today...

A disco chicken, and...

A honey badger!

Stay tuned to see where these beginnings lead...

Happy Halloween!

"Masquerade"

approximately 21"x27.5"

acrylic on fabric (attached to an old cupboard door)

You may remember the start of this painting from last week.  (You can see the work in progress here).  Well, she is finished just in time for the masquerade ball over at Inspiration Avenue!

And since a Sunday wouldn't be a Sunday without a visit to Sophia's blog, I've included the sketch that started it all....

It's time to celebrate Halloween so I'm heading over to my friend Natasha May's Party!  Wheee!!!

Put on your costume, join in the fun, and...

Have a Happy Halloween!