Tag Sales and Painting

Hola,
I'm about to head off to bed but wanted to post a quick update before I do since its been almost a week and a half since my last post... Time flies when you're having fun! :) I've been working so much lately and I spent all last week either painting preparing for the tag sale I had this weekend... My signs were the prettiest tag sale signs you've ever seen (all painted works of art) and I had so many comments on them from the visitors at the sale... and it was a pretty successful weekend... I saved the signs which will be reused several times this summer... I'll snap a few shots next time around...

I managed to finish a couple of orders from Ations, as well as completing most of another (just waiting on a few letters to be shipped in to finish it up)... They all came out great, and I was even able to squeeze in a set of letters today for my sister-in-law's soon to arrive nephew, the set came out great and I hope he and his mommy love them! Anyways, if you have ordered letter sets or PIFs you should be recieving your order over the next two weeks. I am on a mission to get all current orders done this week soooo.... :)
I have also updated a whole lot of my listings this past week and listed all of the kids writing paper I had designed and previously mentioned... which started selling IMMEDIATELY! Get'em while they're hot! ;)Seriously, How awesome to have sold several orders of paper within the first 48hours! I will be designing a whole lot more of it soon... Finally, I am hoping to get started on the mural project (the inside of practically and entire building) once I catch up on my orders... I can't wait, I've been planning out these murals for over a year now and had to put it off after I got sick last year... my paint brush is ITCHING to hit those big empty wall! I shall dream of murals and gigantic paint buckets with dancing brushes tonight.... Until next time
Kalee

Art for the MAIL in your life...

Greetings,
just a quickie before I hit the hay.... Took Lennon down to the playground this afternoon and in between manning the swing and pausing to "wook it airplane"s :) I did a quick photo shoot of some recent projects that I've mentioned lately.. The steering wheel cover.. the Recycled envelopes and such... I am attempting to list the Recycled Envelopes as we speak but Etsy's listing editor is giving me some hassles with uploading my photos... :( Keeps getting stuck. Anyways, hopefully those will be up tonight before I'm through.

I also spent a good portion of the day swearing at my sewing machine... but the final result made me smile wide. I created some gifts for my students in the writing class I teach. They've done an awesome job and have grown so much.. tommorrow (today?) is our last class and I wanted to give them something special. So I crafted some journals with some leftover scraps of ribbon and fabric, as well as some tacky cover but nicely blank-paged journals I had picked up for the project... I will post photos tommorrow after I have given them, since they have the website address for this blog and though it's not likely they'll visit in the next 15 hours, JUST IN CASE... I want them to be a surprise. I'm off to finish the battle with Etsy's servers, and then to join my snuggly wee one :) Have a peaceful night all...
Kalee

lazy days, funky ways, sunshine rays, and what the hays

Hey There all of you out there in the WWW...
I have been being so bad about blogging lately, but I promise I will pick up the slack and try and post every couple days at least... anyways...

I spent much of the past few days running in circles and attending to the car... On saturday night I let my little brother borrow it to drive his girlfriend home, just across town. He only has a motorcycle at present and it was a little rainy and foggy soooo... 20 minutes after he left I get a phone call. The car had stalled and would not restart. Same thing had happened to me the previous night but when I had put some gas in it started back up so I figured the gas gauge must be broken.. it also happened earlier that day when I was picking my mom up from visiting my Grampa in the hospital... same apparent remedy with the gas... So I grabbed the gas can and headed down to rescue my brother. Only this time it started without the gas, and he hadn't gone far enough for it to have been just an issue with the gas gauge... so I followed him towards my mechanic's garage the next town over. Half way there the car stalled again, this time at the stoplight in a very busy intersection... after much fun of running back and forth with gas cans, being sworn at and called not-so-nice names by a couple disgruntled motorists apparently convinced that we had broken down just to get in their way and piss them off... and having a police officer dialing the number of a tow truck, it FINALLY started... I jumped in and drove it to the mechanic's with the ole slow-and-roll-through technique at the couple of back road stop signs (since it only seemed to stall out when you come to a complete stop)... 200 and some-odd dollars later, it turns out it was the "Crank Shaft Sensor"... SO hopefully (crossing my fingers) the car is now quirk-free, at least for the summer because I am so broke after the past couple weeks that if one more thing malfunctions I fear it will have to sit there for a couple months until I catch back up on my debts...

Happily, I have a few custom Letter orders in the works and the summer camp I am teaching is rapidly approaching. I think I may spend this whole weekend throwing a massive tag-sale. I have a TON of stuff I don't use or need that is either sitting in one of three storage spots, or is stashed in random corners and nooks in my bedroom and living-room... Even at a quarter per item I could probably do pretty well for the three day weekend... We shall see.

I have unfinished letters on their way and I will be working on those soon.. expect pictures. I also spent some lazy time today gluing and pasting some awesome little recycled envelopes, I have to take some photos tomorrow and that listing will be going up this week. I also have to catch up on listing a bunch of the items from the last photo shoot. While my mom and I were out this past week end I found a super awesome little crystal bottle at a tag sale (for a QUARTER!) that I'm going to rig up as a vase for my car... And I finished the Steering Wheel cover in my car, which I THINK looks really rad :) Picture of that in posts to follow... Now on to the seat covers and floor mats..

FInally, today, after picking up my poor car, Lennon and I took a run down to the lake... We weren't there for long but we had a good time... I've been in such a funk over money problems the past several days that it was a much needed break from reality :) I think I'm going to make a pact with myself that if it is nice out, I'm going to take him outdoors for at least 2 hours for the next two weeks straight. Deal? Deal. :)

SOrry for the lack of crafty photos, but there were just SO MANY good ones of my Lemon :)
G' Night...
Kalee

A GIVEAWAY and Mother's Day ...and Many more...

What a busy week! I went to pick up my car last weekend and since then I haven't stopped! Car show was fun, and the car I was given is AWESOME :) Brought it for a quickie to my mechanic who said it's in great shape after fixing a tiny leak in the power steering system... I took it through a car wash, vaccum, the whole shebang and now it sparkles... I've also got several ideas to dress her up and give her a little bit of "personality"... I will be using canvas to make some floor cloths instead of mats.. I will be using the seat covers the previous owner left behind to make some really fun patchwork seat covers... I want to rig up a bud vase on the dash using a bottle or two from my empty bottle and random little containers collection.. and I've already begun covering the steering wheel with a felted wool contraption that (I hope) will be the best of all the projects, and nice and comfy cozy on my hands...

In other news, I have been hard at work inverting security envelopes and then embellishing the daylights out of them... Much fun and I hope they will receive good and loving homes when I place them in store soon... I have also been updating and editing listings in my ATIONS shop and replacing a few pictures in Mama Trashheap's shoppe here and there so go stop by if you have a moment, have a quick peruse and let me know what you all think of the improvements.. More are coming over this next week.

I dropped a little gift off for the wonderful car gifter this evening, you can see photo's of what I made for her below... I did forget to stick in another couple little goodies I had intended so she'll likely be receiving another care package in the mail this week.

I have decided to offer a little giveaway... 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 :) The contest will be going until 12:00 AM JUNE 1st 2009 . On June 1st 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 on June 1st-2nd. Have fun! :)

In Lennon news, he has been developing and refining his language skills like mad this week... and his wonderful childish powers of observation and association never cease to amaze me... such fun to hear him explaining the world in his uncorrupted and bubbly ways... this past weekend he pointed to the sky and told me to "LOOK IT THE TOY STORY"... so Up I looked... to see the bright blue sky and fluffy white clouds that are depicted upon the walls of the bedroom of the child "Andy" in the Pixar cartoon movie TOY STORY.... I still smile when I think about it :))

On mother's day Lennon and I went and got a pancake breakfast and brought it down to the nearby lake.. we spent a good portion of last spring there before I became ill last summer... We played on the swings and dipped out toes in the cool water.... as we were tossing rocks into the gentle waves, goofing around with our dramatic sound effects and Lennon's contagious giggles it occured to me that I might have missed this... and very easily could have. Tears got the best of me momentarily... all that has happened since last mothers day, and that with the ever so slightest change in actions and outcomes Lennon could be motherless on this, his 3rd mothers day.... And I would have missed that tiny face with a ridiculously big smile and the "sploosh"ing of those rocks... I am so thankful I didn't.....

with that thought, Lennon is fast asleep and we will be getting up in way too few hours... After some budgeting issues and fee increases since my last round with the Motor Vehicle Department, and lots of paperwork digging and many hours of phone tag with insurance agencies, I will finally be going to register my car bright and early tommorrow Later I'm hoping to head over to my local green community for some R n R, good company and conversation, and a lesson in the art of Foraging for edible plants..... Needless to say, I should get on to some sleepage...
Take Care until next time,
Mama Kalee the Trashheap :)

PHOTOS and POEMS and ANGELS

Hello and Howdy Enablers :)
I don't know about other areas of the country (or world) but today in Connecticut was BEAUTIFUL! Perfect temp, blue skies, just lovely... actually, with one exception the past few days have all been pretty nice. I took advantage of the weather on Wednesday and took Lennon down to the run off some energy at the lake while I took some photos of some new creations, and some reshoots of some of my not so hot photos... Hopefully I'll find the time over the next few days to get these up into my shop. I did a clothing photo shoot with my baby sister Addi (incidently it is her 19th Birthday today, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADDI) to showcase some of the upcycled clothes I created several months ago... That will also be going up in the trashheap's shoppe very soon.

New creations the past few days were mostly of the felted beads or written variety. However, I'm noticing that as the weather is getting more consistently nice... my thoughts and inspirations are turning away from the crocheted and felted... to the painted, the upcycled and the repurposed... Over the next month or so I'm thinking that much more creations of this variety will be spilling forth... I will also be placing my monthly order for blank letters from my supply-guy and for the next two weeks I expect to find paint on my wardrobe and under my nails on a very regular basis while I work on creating several full orders and a whole lot of Pay It Forward orders

On to my best of news... On a whim, while online a few weeks ago, I had submitted a small want-ad in the "neighbor to neighbor" column of a local paper asking if anyone would be willing to trade with me, some muralist work for some or all payment of a used car... I didn't really think anything would come of it, but figured, what've I got to lose... I am in dire need of a car, I had jobs lined up for this summer, teaching summer camps, art classes and such, and I have had no car of my own ever since I sold my car last June a couple of days before I ended up with a very serious illness... it was a long and hard recovery and just the past couple months I've finally started to get back to my old self again, but have still hadn't begun to be able to get back on my feet financially... it's the old catch 22 of needing a car to get to a job to make money... and needing money to get said car...

SO ANNNNNYWAYS :) To get to the point... I got ONE single response to the ad... A wonderful woman several towns away offered me a 99 Hundai that runs and is in great shape with the exception of a transmission issue... which isn't necessarily an issue.. it could last another couple years for all we know... and the woman is GIVING it to me and wants ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in exchange... I plan to make her something nice regardless... she is a dog trainer so I'm thinking maybe a picture frame or two and a set of letters spelling "WOOF" or something along that lines, with paw print design... I go pick up the car tommorrow, and next week will be much fun time spent at the DMV(dept motor vehicles) and such getting registration and whatnots.... Happily, waiting rooms at the DMV provide ample opportunity for sketching and felting :))))

What a wonderful blessing and SUCH AMAZING PEOPLE that do exist out there... I am so incredibly thankful for this little bit of help... It feels like maybe... just maybe there is someone out there looking out for me, and maybe my 10 year streak of catastrophe after catastrophe is finally winding down... :) Here's hoping... and to give a little more back to the universe I'm going to be putting up a few "PIF" TWENTY CENT LISTINGS in each of my shoppes next week... I'll let you all know when I do so you can get'em while they're fresh :)

On Thursdays I teach a writing class to 6-12 grade students.. I wrote a poem during this past one, about my Lennon, that I'd like to share... the title was inspired by his love of trains... he says "train train" instead of "choo choo".. he thinks that is the noise they make, hehe :) Here is the Poem....

"Train Train"

Every time he says it
my heart just turns to smush
like the tiny buggies he "quishies"
between his fingers till its goosh

He likes his uncle's "sickle"
when he revs it it goes vroom
Instead of "mom" he calls me "Key"
says "ah Yah You" when I leave the room

Sometimes he be's a "Peenbutt"
but mostly he's just "Hah-Pee!"
We "wook it cars" and "wook it Fwollers"
and sometimes "wook it trees"

The "toy planes" in the sky
and "ban-yahyahs", "beegles" and "ookies"
oh the wonders of a "Gow-Beech Twuck"
and all that HE's taught ME to see...


Lennon and I had a great time tonight running on the playground for a couple hours...playing "I Get you" and swinging.... Tommorrow morning we are going to a car show that my big brother, Donald, is DJing, later going to pick up my car, and finishing the day at a dance recital for little sis, Addi... The funk is dissolving and tommorrow should be an AWESOME DAY! Perhaps if I am not too spent I shall pop in for a quickie tommorrow evening...

Until then,
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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

ooohh oooooh that smell....

Good Evening Dear Friends,
Lo and Behold, The past couple days have been quite enjoyable! On Sunday night I was able to get together with one of my closest friends (since freshman year of high school!) who is in from Boston and had a bonfire picnic fit for royalty :) Her younger sister (with husband and son) was there as well, and Lennon and her son Julian had a great time running around until dark. Roasting hotdoggers and marshmelons on sticks and drinking a cold beer around a warm toasty fire... the sounds of young'uns laughing and cracklin' logs in the crisp spring air... cheeks glowing pink in the heat and the scent of campfire lingering in your hair on the journey homeward... is there anything more lovely?

Yesterday was largely uneventful... lots of computer time trying out new methods of self promotion... you will note my new "twitter" feed to your right ;) I felted a nifty little case to look just like the camera it now contains... it was not perfect, but I was definitely pleased with the end result! I shall post photos of that another day...

Today was a much needed grocery shopping trip, followed by an hour and a half at the playground with Lennon. There was another mother there that I had a very pleasant conversation with (which is rare... I find I get more odd stares and glares for my dreads and artsy fartsy appearance than I do any actual enjoyable grown-up encounters at this particular playground...) AND while I was conversing I kept my wiggly little fingers busy with a needle and wool. The final result of this playground trip was a smiling little dude and a nice little rainbow felted bead (again I will post photos another day). This adventure was immediately followed up with another quick trip to ANOTHER grocery store for a few missing items... And THEN..

Once I arrived back home, I put away the groceries, got Lennon settled and then took a quick run over to my (boston) friend's family's house (she's dog sitting) again for some good conversation on the patio... We sat there breathing in the night air.. reminiscing and laughing... sharing the secrets of art and truth and the universe and God... and (of course) plotting to take over the world. It is good to be reminded now and then that though I count but few as friends, those few friends can be counted on for bringing so much light into my life (and, I hope, I in theirs). Now I sit here typing beside my sleeping babe in this late hour and feeling so amazingly greatful for all that I have... and for the possibilities of tommorrow.... Sometime I start to forget how wonderful life is... missing the beauty of it all by looking too hard for the flaws...

How sweet it is... and how fragrant are the roses...

Crud, Crud and more crud...

Hello there readers,
Its been a pretty cruddy 24 hours. Yesterday my older brother was in a motorcycle accident that should have killed him... thankfully he survived though with many a sprain, cut, scratch, and bruise... After my family had gotten word of the accident there was a heart-stopping 2 hours or so where we knew nothing other than that he had been in a motorcycle accident on the highway, took down a light pole, and was "conscious" and in an ambulance being rushed to the ER.... so, needless to say, yesterday was not the best day (though again, THANKFULLY, was not anywhere near as bad as it could have been had the outcome been slightly altered...)... So then this morning after breakfast I logged onto my email account to find that someone is filing a PAYPAL DISPUTE! Here is the details, I leave it to you to decide if this is justified....

-The item purchased was a PAY IT FORWARD listing (i.e. TWENTY CENTS PURCHASE + $4.80 for shipping and my paypal fees)... which means I MAKE NOTHING and actually LOSE MONEY on these (since my materials, fees, and shipping come to over ten dollars..) and am putting an hour or two of my time into creating the item FOR FREE.

-The item was a CUSTOM HAND PAINTED wall letter of whichI usually would charge anywhere from $15.00 to $35.00 for + shipping. ALL of my letter listings (including this one) CLEARLY STATE that the turnaround time for creating and shipping is 6-12 weeks. Often if will be sooner than this, but I like to give myself ample time for the unexpected delays that can and will happen... I also do not like to make promises of lesser timelines that I may have to go back on. Most other custom painted letters and childrens decor has SIMILAR or the SAME timeframes. SO anyways....

-The item was ordered just over THREE WEEKS ago. At the end of week one I received an email from the buyer (a fellow etsy seller who makes CUSTOM polymer stamps...you'd think such a person would be familiar with checking the turnaround on a CUSTOM item) asking the status on her "outstanding order". I responded politely that AS NOTED IN THE LISTING the timeframe is 6-12 weeks, and thanked her for her purchase and her patience in giving me ample time to create this item to her wishes. I never received a response to that message until 2 nights ago when I received a message stating: "I know you said 6-12, but I don't think I want to wait any longer, I would just prefer a refund. thanks te*****co"... Stunned by such behaviour and unsure how to respond I did not craft a reply at that moment.... it is stated in my shop policies that I cannot give refunds on custom items, and I have already purchased the letter and materials for her item... Today I logged onto my email to find A DISPUTE filed with both Paypal and Etsy.

I am so aggravated and amazed by how little appreciation some people will show for an ACT OF GOODWILL.... there is not too often that something will make my jaw drop for a lack of what to say and how to deal with it... This is one of those times. This buyer has over 3000 feedback from her several years on etsy. I have under ten on that shop... So I can't even leave her appropriate feedback for her behaviour for fear of retaliation which will hurt my reputation more than hers..... my paypal account is now overdrawn since i just paid the months fees for all of my shops and was down to pennies in the account... so now I will be out not only the $5.00 for the purchase, but the nearly $10.00 in materials and all of the time and aggravation of dealing with this BS....... and THE WORST OF IT IS: I hate to even think like this, and I LOVE creating Pay It Forward listings... but this has tainted my desire to do it, perhaps irreparably. What a sucky thing for a person to do, over $5.00 and an apparent inability to read the two paragraphs in a listing BEFORE PURCHASING IT.

Emotionally spent and Exhaustively yours,
Kalee

Crafter's Paradise

Hello my friends,
Today was Ahhhhhhh-mazing! Every 6 months or so I go to a wholesale bead show up in Massachussets with my mother (from whom I received my crafting genes). Today was one of those shows and it was a DAMN GOOD ONE! It's usually the same vendors every show but at this one there were SEVERAL new ones with some REALLY awesome beads. This one booth had porcelain beads that are each indidually hand painted like little works of art. I probably spent a good hour drooling over their product though in the end I did not buy any because I simply could not choose a favorite out of all the really cool pieces! Next show I go to I will surely set aside a "few" dollars to stock up on some of those...

Another vendor I really liked was a Lampwork booth. I blew all of my budget there and bought quite a few items from them including some glass cartoony naked lady beads that were so funny. I am going to make some jewelry to put up in Mama Trashheap's Shoppe so (along with some other cute fish, chickens, and such) these adorable and silly little girls will soon be available for you to own. Be on the lookout!

After I spent all of my cash my friend and fellow artist Madelyn and I stepped outside to let Lennon stretch his legs and to soak in some sunshine. My mother and sister stayed inside to continue shopping while Lennon, Madelyn, and I had a picnic of chocolate animal crackers and 3 dollar a bottle (yeah.) bottled water. My smiling little boy bouncing around, Good conversation, a patch of grass, blue skies, and a bag full of pretty glass craft supplies... what more can a girl ask for?!

Following the bead show we stopped into a Cracker Barrel restaurant for some grub and then proceeded on to the New England Felting Supply shop in Easthampton Mass which is one of my favorite shopping spots in the world. This place is UNBELIEVEABLE and to a felter or fiber artist it is an absolute PARADISE! You walk in the door and it is as if you were a child walking into a giant box full of every color of crayon imaginable.. There are ROWS upon ROWS of bins with rainbows of soft fluffy goodness, pick your own, deli style.. shimmery accents, books with great projects and inspiration, beautiful samples of the creations people have made with their fibers. Wonderfully textured swatches everywhere... batts, and boxes... bundles and bags... everywhere you look: COLOR and loveliness... It is truely breathtaking. I skipped and danced too and fro throughout the isles pinching off a little of this and a little of that. When all was said and done I walked out their door with two plastic bags packed full of fun for around 30 dollars. If you're ever in the area I highly recommend checking this shop out.. it's the second time I've been there and I'm pretty sure that it will not be the last! :) Anyways, thats mostly it for today. The past couple days I've been doing a lot of digital designing which, while a fun creative outlet, is not the most interesting thing to give a play by play on! However, in the near future you will be seeing the fruits of my labors so stay tuned! And with that, I am off to drink an ice cold bottle of Grolsch (with the swingtop) and dip my fingers into a bag of treasures! Have a lovely Friday!

Vintage Ice Cream Paper

Top of the evening to yah,

Does anyone else recall "Ice Cream Paper"?? It was this cute paper that we used to use in kindergarten grades to write our letters on... it had three lines: chocolate vanilla and strawberry and a great little illustration of an icecream sundae at the top... Anyways, for whatever reason I woke up this morning to a picture of this paper in my head. I used to love the stuff and my mom used to have this mass supply of it. So I asked her if she had any left and sure enough she did... Long story short, My latest brainstorm was to create my own version of this paper, and so I did. And then I was so inspired by the idea of making paper for little kids to learn with, that I made another design... and then another.. cars, trains, cats, sock monekys... all in all I came up with 8 designs, finsihed and just waiting for me to list in my shoppe. I believe I will be listing them in my Ations shoppe. I will let you all know once they have become available for purchasing.
Later in the day was the writing class I teach for a local youth organization. It was a great class and after 4 classes with these students I am really feeling like we are making some good progress. Their homework for next week was to start a book which will be an ongoing project for the remainder of the class... I am really amazed by the intellect and communication skills that these kids are already showing at the tender ages of 13-16... Can't WAIT to see what they come up with for this book project. With their permission I may post a bit of their writing in a blog at the end of the class semester. THats all for now, Lennon and I went to the Library earlier and borrowed a new (to us) DVD for him.. So I'm off to go cuddle up with him and see what "Chicken Little" has in store for us :) G'night and Be Well!
Kalee

I Heart Trees

Good Evening sweet Enablers of mine,
Just a quick note to let you all know, I've posted the ANIMAL ANTICS Stationery Line... as well as the "I heart Trees" set. Go get yours just in time for EARTH DAY! :) Have a wonderful night!
Kalee

Banners and Blurbs

Hola, Aloha, and Hello!
My illness is happily passing and I have subsequently fallen back off the wagon... Several New additions to Mama Trashheap's today, including a series of three bracelets/ Wrist Cuffs inspired in part by the ultimate arch enemy: THE JOKER. Not too long ago, I was playing around with a bit of wool in some of my favorite colors, green and purple (MMmmmmmmmmmm....Puuuurple), and decided to do get my hands wet with some felting.. After lots of soapy elbow grease I unrolled my felting mat and heard this crazy, CRAZY, lunatic of a voice in my head say "why so serious?". So I pulled out my needle, a pinch of Red wool and my button stash... and VOILA, three fantastic little creations that I couldn't be happier with.... I'm debating pulling a listing and keeping one for my own wrist!

Next, I listed a new Crocheted Tam hat that is part of an ongoing upcycling project. I save all of my scraps of yarn, along with bits of ribbon, shoe laces, fabric strips, hemp, cord, and such.... wind them all into a ball and once it's big enough I toss it into my pocketbook for a quick and easy fix anywhere and anytime! The latest Scrappy Ball turned into this really cool and quirky hat, lots of handspun wools, some nice satin ribbons and eyelash yarn, and a whole mess of hemp twine! Check it out and let me know what you think... I LOVE these hats but since I already have a good dozen or so for my own personal wardrobe I figure I better let this ole girl go... WANTED: A GOOD HOME FOR HER.

This afternoon, I also sent my Printable files off to my local staples, as my printer is suffering from an incurable and fatal illness... an inability to print in color... fortunately this is nothing that a 20 minute trip to staples can't cure and I have a good 30 or so files to print (which makes it even more efficient and economical) .....soooooo, Revised Melloheads listings coming soon AND MOST IMPORTANTLY: by this time tomorrow my new Animal Antics Line of Printable Paper Goodies should be up and available for you to take home and love'm up real good!

My final frolic of the night was a digital one... Directly above this post you will see but one of the fruits of a speedy "paint" job (I don't have Photoshop on my little mini Acer Aspire yet, only on a rather cumbersome old desktop)... I have also designed new banners for Mama Trashheap's and for my more personal (and random) blog, "Musings of me mind". That's about the size of it... I don't quite feel like I've gotten my fix for the day but I should probably retire to my bed, or else I fear I may stay on here doodling away in crappy and cheap windows drawing programs all night and come tomorrow morning I'll be very very sorry... A fine evening to all and to all a grand night,
Kalee