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!!! :)

GIVEAWAY WINNER

Scanning back through the past couple of posts I noticed that I never announced the winner of the Giveaway. There were only 2 entries that made it into the pool and the winner was JESSICA EVANS. Congrats Jessica, you won a $25.00 gift cert to any of my shoppes. Please send me a message to let me know what you would like to purchase and I will create a special free listing just for you! Sorry for the late announcement. I will be running the giveaway again starting retroactively June 1st (if you've already commented you have an entry!) and will run through July 15th Midnight Eastern Time. To enter all you need to do is COMMENT. Here are the details:

WINNER receives a $25.00 gift certificate good for any one of my shops.. to enter leave me a comment... you may leave as many comments as you like for as many entries with a limit of ONE COUNTABLE COMMENT PER POST (so you are limited to the number of blog posts)... comments should be constructive or applicable to the post you are commenting... in other words, please do not just go through each post typing in "HERE'S MY COMMENT" or Spamming advertisements all over (though one or two plugs of your goods is fine ;)) and to receive 15 entries you can post a little blurb and link about my blog on your blog or website and then come back and tell me you did :) Refer someone else (they must become a "follower" to count) and receive 10 entries, and you may refer and unlimited number of followers... The contest will be going until 12:00 AM JULY 15th 2009 . On July 16th I will place each entry in a big ole jar and pick a winner with the ever popular swish and grab technique :) Winner will be announced on my blog shortly thereafter (I promise I'll be good about being prompt this time!). Have fun! :)

ENJOY! :)
Kalee

bedside, blowflowers, banners, and beads

Ello Ello,
Much to say and not alot of moments of clearheaded-ness this week(end). My grandpa (Nanu) has been in the hospital for the past two months, and this past week we very nearly lost him. Fortunately he pulled through for now, but it's very hard to see him in the shape he is in... At 88 years old I know he has a had a life that many can only hope for, but just the same, it is terrible to see how scared he is. He realizes that his end is near... and that there is nothing that those of us who love him can do about it. I visited him this past Thursday, and when I left I was almost certain that it was the last time I'd ever see him... I wrote this later that day during the writing class I teach.

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"I love you", I said as I turned to go. He mouthed it back and puckered his cracked and dry lips... I kissed his old forehead and his mouth and squeezed his gnarled hand. "I'm sorry if I've ever disappointed you" I whispered quietly in his ear. His eyes teared and he shook his head... One last spoon of ice chips and another gentle smoothing of his silvery hair. I took my glove off and laid my hand upon his pale sunken cheek and turned away.

At the door I removed that horrible blue plastic tarp and looked back once more at him... a skeleton of the Nanu who once beat me effortlessly in arm wrestles... though he occasionally let me win. Images flashed of my childhood years, when my brothers and sisters and I would spend nearly all summer every year at their house. For sunrise to after dark we would play and laugh in the pool that he complained about, but lovingly tended to just for us... his grumbling voice and the way he'd shout "Riggio!" at my Nana, and she right back at him in her no nonsense way... Spaghetti and meatballs in the screenhouse: Manja!". The choice words he taught me in Italian when telemarketers would call, and the times when he'd whisper to me that I was his favorite and then wink and squeeze my hand... Or when he would brag about how beautiful and smart his granddaughter was and how I was going to be the first woman in Major League Baseball, and later the first woman President... I thought about all the times I'd failed him... When I crashed his car the day he let me borrow it to take my driving test... when I didn't go to college despite my top ten class status and in spite of his expectations... The summer my boyfriend and I were homeless and lived in his screenhouse.. when I became a single mother at Twenty Five, and when I dreadlocked my hair... I wondered how many other moments I had forgotten....

"I'm sorry for all the times I've disappointed you", I said... "Never" his eyes replied... I said goodbye and I knew it was for good.
4-30-09 K Prue

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Not much more I can say on that, other than I hope when his moment comes, it is quick and painless for him, and that if there is a better place on the other side, that he finds it with ease...

In creative terms this weekend was nearly a bust as well... I took my wool and needles with me when I dropped my mom off at the hospital and sat in the car with Lennon sleeping while I felted a dozen or so beads... I am exchanging jewelry for care from my Naturopath, so I worked on some of the beads for her necklace and finished her bracelet (see photos). I also took Lennon to a park near the hospital where I taught him how to help scatter dandelions seeds or as we call them "blowflowers"... He kept picking the yellow or closed ones and blowing super hard trying to get them to scatter as well :) I managed to snap a few really cute photos of him in action....

Yesterday, I designed some new banners for my parents Jewelry shop, http://magicaljewelry.etsy.com (which I operate for them) and some new boxes and avitars for my advertising campaign... and have been surfing the web and networking something fierce! So far so good, I've had a few new followers in just over 24 hours and quite a few new page hits! I also put my time to use in organizing some of my supplies... My beads are now much more accessible (see photos) and I think I may just sit down and try to create some of the designs I've dreamt up (literally) over the past few nights. I really want to clean up my bedroom and workspace/corner of bedroom which is in DIRE need of it (see photos at end of post), but we'll see what Lennon has to say about that... all I know is that I've got to get out of this funk...

I've got so many awesome ideas on things to create that NEVER take shape... My schedule with Lennon that was working like a charm went kaput when we were sick a few weeks ago and I STILL have not gotten back on track! I may have found someone willing to trade me a car for some muralist work and it took me nearly a day to call them back (you'd think I would have jumped immediately..). And I've got a Lawyer I am retaining to represent me for a very bad illness I had last year as a complication of food poisoning... and I've been holding the paperwork for almost a month now instead of just sucking it up and writing the lousy couple paragraphs needed on one page of it. :( FUNK... FUNKY FUNKITY FUNK.... and not the good kind of FUNK. Someone (or I) needs to kick me in the rear-end. Help! :)

One final thought, I'm tossing around the idea of doing some giveaways... any interest? Leave me a comment and help me decide whether or not to do it! :)

G'day
Kalee