I'M BACK! :) with so much to say!

Helloooooo friends :)
it seems we have much to catch up on... July 5th was my last posting.. has it been that long?! Oh summer.... so much busy time and the few non-busy times in between the last thing I feel like doing is switching my brain onto high-power write mode... lol ANYWAYS..... where to begin?! Follow ups on my last post, I suppose..... Old home day went off even better than I thought... the puppets came out great (pics to follow post) and my costume, though not as elaborate as I had planned, also turned out GREAT! A dozen or so other marchees approached me to do or redo their facepaint upon my arrival at our meet up spot before the parade... here's the secret to great face paint: Do NOT use store bought crappy "face paint"... throw it in the trash where it belongs and pull out your ACRYLIC PAINT. Not only does is spread like butter on your face, but it makes detail super easy to achieve, and dries quickly and with a fair amount of flexibility.... PLUS it washes off in about 10 seconds with some soapy water face-rubbin.... Now back to the topic at hand: The parade float in contrast to the rest of the floats blew everyone's socks off... In fact, we won one of the grand prizes for parade floats, AND the owner/director of the art center now wants me to take complete creative control of next years parade float.... I'm planning on tackling something the likes of which my small-time town has never seen so hold onto your hats ;)

I fixed my bike and have been riding as consistently as I can between the alternating buckets of rain and heat waves :) which is to say not as much as I'm wanting to ride... but it's better than nothing, right?

The Tag Sale with my sister-in-law has not yet happened, but I'm hoping to work it into this late summer/early fall... meanwhile I have been accumulating a MASSIVE amount of stuff... If you live in the area this will be a tag sale not to be missed!

CONTEST RESULTS: The winner of the contest was chosen on or around July 15th and was: DOGIMO! Dogimo please comment or email me with your contact information and let me know what you would like for your $25.00 worth of goodies from ANY one (or a combo) of my shops! I will post a special reserved etsy listing for you!

Speaking of shops... I officially launched my newest endeavor: WOOKIT! The name was inspired by my son's favorite phrase (which is usually accompanied by a single tiny pointing finger) "Wook it!" The focus of this shop is on digital printables of all kinds, and you may find it at WOOKIT.ETSY.COM Lots and lots of samples of what you can purchase in the photos below... all photos are linked to the listings as well, to view the full listing, click on the link in the caption.

The last two weeks of July I had the honor of teaching at a summer camp over at EPOCH ARTS, and what fun it was! The kids where split into two groups: Pre-5th, and 6-10... In the course of the two weeks we made an unbelievable amount of cool things! Some highlights: The small kids group made Concrete stepping stones with objects embedded (photo below) , as well as some origami models, pop art paintings, bead necklaces, and picture frames! The older crowd was given some more challenging projects and the kids were able to create fused plastic wallets and purses, origami mobiles, T-Shirt reusable bags, and the project they seemed to like the most: Recreating used "Junk"... Every year EPOCH holds a massive tag sale with the donations they recieve throughout the year... so by now the back rooms are FULL of random objects of all sorts... my students were given the task of rummaging through these boxes upon boxes of goodies to find their "diamong in the rough"... not for what it was at that moment, but for what it could be with a little love and a lot of paint! Some of my favorite creations they completed: A "Mystery" old fashioned candy machine, A wall clock, A (very large) wall miror, and a Photo Album! We had so much fun and I can't wait till next year's summer camp!

The past week has been a challenging one... After years of having fairly large apartment's my current living space is a mere 11x14 room.... this includes sleeping space, play space, and work space... needless to say it's a bit crowded... this week I set about fixing the "sky is falling" feeling that my space had presented.... After two new storage furniture additions, several large bags of tag sale donations, and several large bins of stuff to be banished temporarily to the attic... and lots and lots of shoe boxes... my living space has gone from being a nightmare, to being fully functional and inspired! I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I will get some pictures soon and post them for you all to see. I should have taken some "befores".... but then again I don't want to embarrass myself that bad! The task was only finished later yesterday afternoon, I can't wait to work on my first project in it! I have three wall letters I am planning to paint this afternoon, and a pair of overall shorts that I need to finish for my son... I'm painting characters from one of his favorite movies: "The Yellow Submarine" on it! I will try to post again soon, but I cannot say 100% that it will be soon ;) I am volunteering at TWO locations (painting murals at EPOCH , and helping run an organic juice bar/green cooperative) , as well as running my businesses, helping my parents with their business (magicaljewelry.com) in their busiest of seasons, preparing an enormous amount of paperwork for a private matter, and trying to mentally prepare for OCTOBER when I start teaching again.... this time I am tackling a half a dozen different classes.... I am super excited and a bit nervous about doing so many at once!

This upcoming weekend I am tentatively planning a vacation to a beautiful beach-town in massachussets... it is dependent however upon other plans so we'll see how that goes... I'm really crossing my fingers though... this was the same yearly trip I was hoping to get out of the hospital in time to take last year and due to my doctor's concerns even though I was out of the hosptial he didn't want me to chance going that far.... soooooo, here we are a year later and I feel so desperately in need of two or three days to focus solely on Lennon and I... to recharge, relax, and unplug..... Crossing my fingers......

Still so much to say... but I feel this is becoming long winded ;) So I will just post some extra photos of some of the past month's happenings and creations and I will say so-long for now! I do hope that everyone is enjoying their summer as much as I am (or more!) :) and I will see you again.... when I see you!

Warmly,
Kalee

Lennon... after a particularly hard ride.... so you can imagine how exhausted I was ;)

Lennon and I and our bike

Teaching Lennon how to spin Poi (ancient new zealand tribal dance, sooo much fun, look it up! :))


My mama at the "Mad Hatter Tea Party" , we had a blast, Thanks Cathy! :)

My "Mad" Nana and her Mad little sisters at the Tea Party :)

DAREDEVIL Lennon at the Old Home Day Carnival on his favorite ride... that $20 wrist band was so worth the thousands of these smiles he flashed that day!


These were the bases I was given to work with for the parade puppets.......*sigh*

My finished Creations... and putting my best Lion Face forward....

Sun Puppet and Performer Hilary (Tribals painted by your's truely)

Moon Puppet and Performer Kayla (Tribals again by me)

HEY CUPCAKE - Printable Recipe cards available at WOOKIT

Ain't no Phoney - Printable Calling Cards available at WOOKIT

HEY CUPCAKE - Printable Potluck/Bakesale labels available at WOOKIT

HEY CUPCAKE - Printable Recipe cards available at WOOKIT

SWEETS printable Digital collage for crafts available at WOOKIT.etsy.com

SUNNY DAYS Printable Calling Cards available at WOOKIT

GNOME HOMES Calling Cards available at WOOKIT

MONSTEROUSLY CUTE Calling Cards available at WOOKIT

KEECHEN Birdie - Printable Calling Cards available at WOOKIT!

Lennon discovering the wonders of an "icecream" cone (ice cream is emphasized because Lennon is allergic to dairy and this is a non-dairy coconut milk substitute... and much better than the real thing I might add.... :)))

Of course the teacher had to save one stepping stone to make for herself... ;)

Lennon in his usual position! Playground at Rose's Berry Farm, where they have the most AMAZING Belgium waffles and fresh fruit Sunday brunch on earth!

I can Toucan Necklace - Created for myself, BUT I will take custom orders at Mama Trashheap's

Lennon in Tunnel.... LOVE THIS SHOT! :)

Mirror and Switchplate painted to coordinate with fisher price RAINFOREST nursery CUSTOM NURSERY DECOR AT ATIONS.ETSY.COM

Swine Flew Earrings ;) COMING SOON in stock, for now - taking custom orders at Mama Trashheap's

The nudies COMING SOON in stock, for now - taking custom orders at Mama Trashheap's

New Race Car themed wall letters CUSTOM DESIGNED for you at ATIONS.ETSY.COM

Lennon ready for another ride, I scrubbed all my chrome the same day I fixed my tire, doesn't it sparkle like nothing you've ever seen??

Lennon's new Sit and Spin! Thanks Freecycle! :))

GOODBYE FOR NOW!!! :)

Half Asleep Brainstorming

Good Morning my enablers,
and a good morning it has been for me as well so far! I'm not sure at what point during the night this started, but the dreams I was in the midst of this morning when I awoke were all about brainstorming new crafty projects... oh wow... I really am ill! But seriously, last night before I went to bed I had been browsing around etsy, and I guess I was massivly inspired or something! One of the several really nifty ideas I awoke to was a reusable party banner made of fused plastic... and from there I brainstormed through changing Lennon's diaper, washing up, fixing breakfast, and now I sit here typing this as I finish the last few bites... usually I wait until the evening to blog, but I am just so excited about the stream of ideas flowing right now that I had to capture it all! I do believe I am going to work on some reusable upcycled party sets this week.. and probably a set of DIY Patterns for the same. I also had a ton of other ideas that could totally all come together to form a DIY functional upcycling E-BOOK, which I'm REALLY psyched about that possibility! Man, Once I had the idea of the banners it has also now opened up a whole new world of ideas that could be done with fused plastic.... it probably also helped that last night I stumbled upon a baby bonnet and a RAINCOAT made completely of fused plastic! Purses and pouches are wonderful... but THAT is some creativity right there! Now I can't shut this flow of ideas off... eating breakfast Lennon was waving his fork around in my face and instead of fearing for the safety of my eyes, I started having visions of this super cool mobile/wind chime that could be made with silverware swisted and spiraled into some interesting shapes and suspended on butter knives..... yes, ladies and gents, I either need some SERIOUS help, or else a SERIOUS workshop space! Anyways, I am pretty sure that my Lennon is wreaking the kind of quiet havoc that only a 2-year old can pull off... and there is a sink full of dishes calling my name, so I best be getting to my day. Happy dreaming ;) and farewell until the next-time!
-Kalee

Houston, we may have a problem...

Hallo and Welcome! I am Kalee, and I may be a compulsive creator. I think it all started when I was a kid... I started out with the normal childhood outlets... play dough... crayons... maybe the occasional permanent marker when my mom wasn't looking... it all seemed harmless enough at first...

...But as my illness progressed, I soon was obsessed with embroidery floss and toothpicks... my worry dolls were the most detailed worry dolls the earth had ever seen.. and I made them by the dozens. Worry dolls of my favorite band (instruments and all), worry dolls of Disney characters... and worry dolls of every color, style, profession that my little 7 year old brain could possibly think of. I still stumble upon one here and there with a fair amount of regularity...

Phase after phase passed.. I found all sorts of new materials to get my fix... beads, pom-poms, and chenille stems... empty coffee cans, clothes pins, and colored paper... and then it happened.

The pen found me at 9 years old, with my first poem entitled: "The baby". It was about, what else, my new baby sister. I'm not sure if I have a copy anymore but I do remember it started with the lines: "The baby sleeps, The baby weeps, when the baby cries, she sees many peering eyes looking at her, just her"... A version of it, with a small drawing I had done won me a blue ribbon in a local fair children's contest, and gave me my first taste of recognition as an artist... even more than that, I realized that through my creations I could finally have my voice be heard... and in a family where I was but one of six children that was no small thing!

Anyways... from that point on a monster had been unleashed, and nothing could keep my pen from the page. As the years rolled by I continued to use my "gateway drugs", the pencil and pen, I also discovered in my early teens, the paintbrush and canvas... later I would fall in with a bad crowd and get hooked on the guitar and the song... but none of that compares to the addictions which now wake me at night, in a cold sweat... visions of trash and wool dancing about... Sometimes I wonder if I should seek help, but I am far too busy trying to pull every thought from within the deepest crevices of my mind... and to give them a solid form.

The needle marks from my felting needle are getting harder and harder to hide... and it scares me that someone might find my stash of plastic bags and cardboard and have me commited... but I hope that maybe with this blog, this psudeo-anononymous confession, and my growing number of Etsy shoppes (5 and counting) in time I may be ready to accept help.. after all, the first step is admitting you have a problem ;) ... and in the meantime, perhaps I will be able to find a few kind folks to take my creations off my hands, and thus ridding myself of the evidence... lest my loved ones catch on.


Please visit my etsy shoppes and take home the evidence!