Numinosity

A Southwestern White Christmas

2011-12-25T19:37:00.000-09:00

We got to have a bit of an unexpected white Christmas here in the Southwest.

It's a bit lonely some Christmases here so far from our family and friends so when we got an invite to our friends' place in nearby New Mexico we jumped at the chance

It was an eventful ride with a close call on the highway with a two wheel drive car spinning out directly in front of us and getting stuck in the slush. Our experienced Alaskan driver maneuvered past safely with quick reflexes and saved us from the crash. We did our Alaskan duty and pushed the car out while crazy drivers were nearly ignoring our pleas to slow down.

Then we took the snowy slushy side road to get away from the inexperienced drivers that are unaccustomed to driving thru snow.

Our friends have a traditional adobe home that had two fires going so it was so cozy.

A wonderful table setting

a Mata Ortiz pot and angel

massive wooden beams overhead

A comfy bed waiting for us

destined to become a pie

Our illustrious driver and Mr. Cory

they said half the snow had already melted.

This will be my last post for 2011.

It's hard to say whether I'll get the chance to blog from India but I promise to share when I can.

See you in February...

Happy New Year you all!

Nails... and tough as

2011-12-13T08:25:00.000-09:00

Was just going through my photos and thought I'd post a few from the archives that I never got around to posting last year. These are dated railroad nails on the old railway near our property in the Southeast corner of Arizona. The railroad was used during the height of the copper mining days here and has been since abandoned. I even found some china pieces on the railroad bed that were discarded from the dining car apparently. I'm ever on the lookout for good tidbits.

Sweet 16

This is a remnant of someone's inappropriate footwear on the migrant trail near our house.

I hope she had better shoes to make the trek. An unknown story here.

Tough as nails Cory, I get to live with this guy!

"Milagros"

And these were tough as nails to finish off for some reason.

I was trying some new things that branched off from my bangles process.

I swear they took me all afternoon to make...must be because I'm trying something new.

We had the most rainy day I have ever seen here in the high desert yesterday.

It was kind of nice to hunker down and be cozy, watch movies and eat popcorn

packing up parcels to send out for the holidays.

The countdown is on for our India trip, just a mere 17 days!

Bangles

2011-12-10T12:31:00.000-09:00

I had a bit of fun making bangles with more than a bit of inspiration from fanciful devices

She's very free with the sharing of her techniques and ideas.

In fact she welcomes you to try to make anything that she shows on her blog, she's got plenty more ideas.

I used beads from my stash that I wouldn't normally use... like the big bag of beads someone thought I might be able to use. I didn't think so at the time because they don't necessarily go with my lampwork and designs but it was a fun exercise in freeing up my ideas of what can work.

Especially the randomness, that helped make the funky beads look even funkier.

I used sari silk, mexican woven fabric and even some fabric scraps that I picked up on the migrant trail near our house.

I made bright ones, brighter ones and some neutral ones

The hard part for me is sizing them. I have skinny wrists and tend to design for my size and then I wonder if I made some too big. We'll see.

Other news is that our apartment in Tucson is painted, tiled and carpeted now. it was too late in the evening for photos so I guess that will have to wait until next trip to the city.

meanwhile the Mr. is decorating the house and propping up our new tree and I'm being beckoned for assistance.

Ciao! xoxo Kim

Mystery Item's Function Revealed

2011-12-03T15:43:00.001-09:00

It seems no one was able to guess the function of this piece that I picked up at the antique store in St. David. Now if I tell you that in St. David Arizona there are several pecan orchards you perhaps could deduce that this has something to do with nuts... and you would be right.

It is a nut picker upper! Used for nuts that have fallen already

I think the spring has slightly sprung on it but I assume that the coils spread with pressure and spring back to grip the nut. I don't know if I would have ever guessed either.

Pre-made collection on Etsy

I've been getting on the Etsy stick so to speak and trying to fill up my shop after my season of paleo dial-up in Alaska. As you may have noticed I have amped up my online presence as of late.

Thinning out some of my collections

Lotto Pieces in my Numinosity shop

And these in my other shop NuminosityBeads

These sold immediately I'm happy to say...Thanks facebook! These went to Alaska.

I was awfully proud of how these headpins came out so please forgive me for showing them off when they're unavailable. I'll try to make some more.

Super duper macro shot because this is my blog.

Find them Etsy here

Here's an addendum to this post. check out these beads

They're in my Etsy supplies shop here because I didn't make them myself

They're Tibetan Buddhist mala beads

And since you were good sports about the guessing game send me your address if you'd like a postcard from me as a thank you and holiday end of the year bonus.

Happy December all of you nuts!

Neighborhood Watch

2011-12-01T07:02:00.000-09:00

Feeling better now so I took a little walk around the neighborhood.

This place is a rustafarian's dream. Lot's of distress and rusty collections and rockwork, that's why I love the place.

We're starting with my street side patio which is called a "portale" in Spanish. My road is actually called a trail named after a famous Indian warrior which I also love.

Reminds me of Alaska, the frontier, the trail part that is.

Can you guess what this is? It only cost me $2 at an antique store.

I'll send you a little something if you guess it right!

Here's the handle

The lot next door just waiting for a photo op.

See, I like it better when decorations and structure go awry with nature.

It pleases me. That's why I couldn't live in Scottsdale.

We're kind of in a different country down here in Bisbee, the border of the border I guess.

Stucco Art

Creative abodes. That mountain in the background is in Mexico.

I hear that a famous comedian lives here. Dave has it in his mind that a clown lives here so it's the clown house. They have lively parties that we can hear. We haven't met them yet.

They painted the rocks in the yard

The place looks like a fun party even without the folks

My neighbor thinks Italian Cypress are ridiculous worthless trees.

I think they're kind of exotic "graveyard trees"

And look, they are a birdhouse to many.

This is one of those shots that I prefer the manmade phone lines rather than just nature.

Makes the composition more exciting to me and it looks as if the bird is sitting on the line, which it's not.

I haven't seen this particular strain of cacti before or should I call it fracti?

Just beautiful.

Meet the meters

the back side of the clown house, They party on the roof there.

A different perspective of my studio

Lower part of the blue house on the right.

I've never looked at our house from this vantage point before from the street below us.

Do you see a face? I do. Shades of Easter Island in the wash on Black Knob

parumpapum pum I spy a drum.

OK it's a tank but that's not quite so poetic or Christmasy.

I could make a reference to Tanksgiving but that would be too corny.

Now if I could just get into this window... treats inside!

patterns everywhere

Old style concrete garages

You can see the imprint of "Drink Coca Cola" on this concrete wall.

How cool is that!

Desert Birch

'Nother garage

I thought this looked like a crane in this empty garage

Rusty loveliness

And this was just a couple of streets nearby.

Thanks for joining me on my walk today.

XOXO Kim

Postcards du jour

2011-11-30T06:57:00.000-09:00

I find that if I have a limited stash of materials in front of me then I get less overwhelmed with the possibilities of composition. I had a book of reproductions of old Victorian postcards that I wasn't especially fond of that someone had passed along to me and figured that I could cover them with collage.

I was also given some tattoo like stickers that came with a very decorated box of tequila.

I've given the box away now since it was so nicely decorated I thought it would be wrong to cover it up .

You'll see evidence of some of the stickers on these postcards.

It's funny but some of the paper is from a printmaking class I took back in '91

The grid piece is from that time and matches up nicely with a scrap of the intuitive painting I did this summer at Sparkle Days Studio with Corrine

The painting was so big that she rolled it up in pieces to send to me.

I like it better in pieces anyway and am having fun collage-ing with it.

The background is some monoprint paper that a friend gifted me when she was offloading old pieces of hers from art school. I pleaded with her not to toss it and send the paper to me instead.

Thanks, Nina.

In my state of less than ideal health yesterday, I cut pieces from old books.

That was after a nap and a cup of coffee. I needed my strength for this endeavor after all.

The last pieces of a vintage Cannabis poster that belonged to my brother in 1968.

I sold some of the rest of it on Etsy. Hmmm, selling cannabis on Etsy... not sure I should be saying that!

My friend Mountain Heather has given me one of her fabric catalogs to cut up for collage.

See lower right.

She's also given me these pieces of fake slate-like fused stone that I'm using for backgrounds for assemblage.

I know it's hard to tell with this scan but the body of the girl is a large shard of an old mirror that I found outside of an old church near the Mexican border. The shell piece was just given to me a couple of weeks ago and I found the embossed copper at a thrift shop. I only need to keep myself in Liquid Nails and Mod Podge as far as supplies go these days. I am totally overrun with supplies I realize and yet they still keep making their way to me somehow. My husband is off in Tucson attending to the tiling job in our new apartment. It seems he's talked the lady at the tile store into giving me a box of scraps of ceramic, porcelain and glass tile. I know I just won't turn it down!

Travel Journal

2011-11-29T08:32:00.000-09:00

I managed to get into the studio and create, head full of crud notwithstanding

It's nice to find elements I had prepped over 6 months ago at the ready.

I had this sheet of ironed sari silk ribbon already affixed to wonder under so all I had to do was iron it to the folded cereal box cardboard.

Same with this African fabric- already prepped.

I knew I needed a journal to bring on our India trip next month so that was my goal yesterday.

This is the inside cover

and this. I know, it looks like I have already traveled and filled it.

I guess I couldn't handle dreaded blank page syndrome already.

I had some thick gauge copper wire for binders that I hammered shut.

Now I can't add any more pages

All of the pages that I decorated do have blanks on the other side, just too boring to show here.

I used vintage calendar pages for some since they are also blank on the other side.

I should have included more pockets and I'm now beginning to have doubts that this is the journal that will travel with me because of its size and abundance of imagery and color already.

I kind of ran out of blank paper anyway so I just may have to try again and include more pockets on the next one

I made it with onion bag mesh and metal tape. I think it's rather ugly but my excuse is that I'm sick.

I do think it will be functional however.

Well, back to the drawing board. I may have to pull out the old 1890's treadle sewing machine and familiarize myself with it and make some proper pockets.

thanks for having a look!

Wahhh!

2011-11-28T06:05:00.000-09:00

I finally landed home after all of our travels, holidays and renovations and made it to Bisbee.

So looking forward to buckling down and getting into the studio to make some stuff and then picked up some sort of weepy drippy crud that requires a handkerchief affixed to my face and a stuffed up head that's rendering brain rather useless... in fact I'm surprised I can type at all right now.

Wasn't sick once our whole time in Alaska...oh well at least this boss is lenient with sick days...one of the perks of working for yourself I guess.

Don't you just love this page that I found in my brother's collection. I think it's from an 1800's book.

I've used a few of these faces in my ATC's before but it pretty much illustrates how I'm feeling right now.

Don't worry though these things generally seem to run their course in a matter of 3 days or so I'll be back in business soon I hope.

Over the Arroyo and thru the Cactus

2011-11-24T11:36:00.000-09:00

I do have to say one thing about southwest Thanksgivings, It always seems to be grey and cool and threatening rain here in the desert.

Not your traditional indoor feast, this one involves turkey breasts on the grill rather than roasted birds and subzero temperatures and saunas after dinner.

I found some beasts to commune with in the stable

Meet Victor... he let me know it was OK to touch him. I'm not so familiar with horse beings.

I'm more familiar with mooseys and I never get too close to them

I think he sensed I was going for composition... quite nice of him

Ubiquitous Cacti

Majestic Saguaro

Trail groomer that looks like it was inspired by the cactus

Happy Thanksgiving to you all and thanks to you all for the new connections that I've found here.

XOXO Kim

Elevenses

2011-11-11T14:23:00.001-09:00

I'm trying a little experiment with my ipad and a new blogger app.
Since this is one of the few photos I happen to have saved on it I didn't want to leave it devoid of a photo. These are some chains I picked up at the gem show last year. They kind of look like Elevenses.

I made it dwon to Tucson just in time for some cooler temps, although much warmer than Alaska. A dusting of snow on the mountain tops and cool enough for a second light layer of clothing.

First day spent shopping to outfit our new little apartment... shower curtain, towels and the like. Filling up on good Mexican food 'round town and stocking up at Trader Joe's. Then north to Phoenix to catch up with my sister that's doing a hundred mile run on her 48th birthday called the "Javelina Jundred". I had the full on IKEA experience in Phoenix when I actually need to furnish a small place so that was so exciting for me. I've only ever been to one once before so you can imagine what fun that was.

Meanwhile I'm waiting for my man to show up with the truck he drove down from Alaska. It was kind of scary to hear that he covered 1700 miles without stopping to sleep. What a marathon man he is and I'm glad he made it safely so far. He's stopping at Obsidian Mountain to pick up rocks today he tells me. We never ever travel light!
After the weekend we'll finally make it to our destination of Bisbee and settle in and I can start making stuff again!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Finding Time... Almost Packed

2011-11-01T16:02:00.001-08:00

Now that most of my tools are packed and studio is buttoned up I just had to leave myself something to play with for the rest of the week or I would go crazy.

I have just a couple of bags of ephemera left out and have been occupying my spare time with a bit of collaging.

a bit of winter theme and color scheming

...mostly just playing

Feeding Time

A display for my lampwork paper clips for my next show

I re-covered a small journal I made. I really didn't like the colors I painted it with before.

here's the back side of the same journal.

Not sure how many more blog posts I'll get out before I leave and I'll most likely have a bit of a break until I get situated back in Bisbee. Meanwhile I have one more two day show up north before I fly and a trip to Phoenix to see my sister hopefully finish her Javelina Jundred 100 mile run on her 48th birthday!

By then David should be caught up to me with his 4000 mile trip in the little truck and we can settle in a bit and enjoy some desert sunshine.
Until then...XOXO Kim

A Winner! ...or two

2011-10-31T10:30:00.000-08:00

Well once again I have picked a winner and the winner is Lorna from Artymess.

We're both pretty sure this random number generator is rigged because it's the third or fourth time she's won a giveaway here.

I decided to pick another in addition to assuage our collective guilt for her winning so often so my arctic sister/neighbor Kim Henkel of Letting in the Light is the winner of another set of clips.

My husband could practically drop them off at her house as he's driving south next week.

She's a mere 500 miles away but lives off of the same highway as us in another country.

I was also a winner on my very special birthday.

I got this handmade pendant from my new Finnish friend Heidi that was taking metal-smithing at the University of Alaska as an exchange student.

My friend Heather of Mountain Heather hats found this treasure trove of old nails in the Adirondack on her recent trip. My friends really know what I like!

You should check out her winter hats if you're in the market for a new warm hat this winter.

One of our friends was on a trip to France and spotted and recognized one of her hats on someone there so they're becoming international.

My other Finnish friend Reija put in an order with her mother back in Finland and I got a couple of pairs of toasty handmade socks.

Lucky me as it was below zero this morning!

I've been buttoning up... quite literally last minute projects before I fly south next week.

These are a design I came up with a few years back with antique buttons and silver. I made up a hefty batch of these.

Now it's time for emptying the fridge, packing up non freeze-ables from the studio and the house, figuring out which tools need to make the trip with me plus getting ready for one last show in Fairbanks.

Since it's a two day show I'm going to try out featuring my jewelry and lampwork one day and altered art the next since I don't have room anymore for all of my creations on an 8 foot table anymore!

These will be up in my Etsy shop after the middle of November. Currently it's on vacation stop while I make the move south.

Didn't know I was at an Etsy wedding this summer!

2011-10-29T16:39:00.000-08:00

I'm not usually a follower of the Etsy blog but my jaw nearly dropped when someone shared this link with me. It was as if someone had hacked my iphoto library but with a much better backstory.

Some of you may recall my post about our trip to Dawson City Yukon and to a wedding in the remote village of Eagle. Well you ought to check out this article as it really shines a spotlight on "Weddingstock"

I had meant to post more photos of this beautiful wedding but time got away from me.

I did post a bit about the stunning road trip here

We were invited by Shyanne's dad, Bill who happened to be the one that introduced me to my husband.

This however, is not my husband but a fellow I met at the wedding who desired to have our photo taken together. What an interesting face!

(earrings by Fanciful Devices)

I'm happy to say too that our wedding gift was handmade by an Etsian although they probably didn't realize it as it was made by me.

Here I am with the former chief of Eagle, Isaac Juneby and his wife Sandy

Photo credits go to David Cory, my husband (more commonly known as Popparazzi)

A Day to Celebrate

2011-10-28T11:23:00.001-08:00

I always enjoy finding ephemera with my birth date on it.

It sounds as if a bit of celebrating may have occurred almost 100 years ago.

I plan on celebrating with a bonfire and a big pot of moose chili

with dozens of friends that are going to brave the 100 mile trip to our place. (and just a spot of Irish whiskey may be figured in just so I can honor this lovely ephemera) Breakfast tomorrow will be homemade crumpets that my son's girlfriend has perfected.

Yesterday we discovered that there was enough snow to cross country ski.

A perfect day for it.

And I started off my birthday soaking in the jacuzzi with epsom salts.

My dear husband just felt he HAD to document it.

Along with buying the satellite dish that allows me to enjoy internet out here now he also found a really nice antique book from 1893 with loads of wonderful images and writings

I guess can forgive him for disturbing my relaxation in the tub!

He really is a sweetie!

Traveling Collage Box~ My Part

2011-10-26T18:59:00.001-08:00

I took part in LaWendula's Collage Box Project

The rules are as follows:

Open the box and take out 12 snippets from it. Then use 12 from your own sources to put in.
Of course you can take also more than 12 (depending on the size, up to 20), but be sure to add the same number of snippets you have taken out.
After you have taken your snippets, you can start to make a collage (or any other artwork you like, mixed media, altered book, journal page, digital collage etc.), using your 12 pieces. You can of course use other materials, cut offs and snippets too, put please show us the 12 pieces (don’t forget to take pictures) and write in a few words, why you have choosen those.

I found out about the Collage Box on LaWendula's blog
One of the things about this sort of traveling swap is that you don't have anyway of knowing when it may actually reach you. My situation is especially complex with my moving back and forth every six months with a bit of travel thrown in between.
Of course the box reached me in Alaska while I was on vacation in Maine. I did my best to move it along upon my return.

I've even hosted my own traveling doll, Candace who sadly never made her way back to me with just one person left on the list. That one is still a mystery and neither the sender nor alleged receiver has ever notified me as to her whereabouts. I miss her flat square face and her wry smile, oh yes I do

These are the snippets I chose. I was drawn to the faces and textures and I'm always a fan of text in different languages.

These are the snippets I passed on

It's rather a tall piece so here it is in two installments

I really liked working with the glassine window on the envelope.

It was a fun project and a challenge to stick to most of the images I had chosen.

Remember if you haven't seen my giveaway please visit the preceding post.

Birthday Blogversary Giveaway

2011-10-24T16:10:00.000-08:00

It's time to celebrate two years of blogging in conjunction with the double 5 birthday for me.

I'm offering up this set of my lampwork paper clips set

or this collage if you prefer

Or this Mexican collage pack if you would rather make your own stuff.

Just leave me a comment with your preferred choice.

and as a little gift to me let me know why you like to follow this blog.

I'll be doing the random number generator drawing on Sunday October 30th at 6:00 PM Alaska time.

Thanks,

XOXO Kim

Heating Up in the Studio

2011-10-20T10:35:00.000-08:00

Just even hearing about the possibility that Michael deMeng may do a workshop in Bisbee was enough to send me out to the studio to make some demented unbeads at the torch. I can see adding these little numbers to some assemblage in the future. You see they only have one hole... (well actually you don't see because the hole is hidden) They are inverted vessels which may very likely have stems of some sort to attach to them.

"Time Waits for No Man"

An encaustic collage that I got around to finishing after half a day at the torch making headpins, paperclips and some more torched hammered earring parts as well as a few experiments with torch fired enamel bead caps. It was a productive day.

I had some new ideas for postcards.

This one has pressed flowers from our wildflower patch sewn in with mica and bits of silk cord and brocade.

I got ahold of some very aged and overexposed photos during my adventure above the coin shop in Bangor. I tell you it was a treat to be digging around in a room of unpriced stuff.

Problem was when I asked the owner for the prices he had long stories about the pieces including history and value that we had to come back another day just to finish the purchase. (We had a lobster dinner to get to )

There was no story about these photos though they were included in a batch deal we made.

The little fabric photo was courtesy of a swap with Lorna from Artymess

This one also has some of our wildflowers and copper mesh (also from Lorna) and a piece of an old fabric photo

This is what has driven me into the studio. Winter is really here now!

A view of our front yard. You may recall a photo of me mowing that earlier this summer.

And our back yard.

This is the shop that we never quite got going but it's all painted and cleaned out and housing some very cool stuff now.

A few shots near Knik Arm outside of Anchorage on our way home from the Bead Arts Gala

And you've heard about Alaska's Giant cabbages of the Matanuska Valley

What about the marshmallows we grow here?

You've got the best handmade journals... What about paper clips?

2011-10-13T11:47:00.003-08:00

I've been trying out an idea I had awhile ago since I've been playing a lot with lampwork and wire lately with my headpin components.

I had received a very nice handmade journal as a present that had some super duty decorative paper clips which gave me the idea to make some of my own.

Using heavy gauge copper wire I bent and hammered into a paper clip shape and then lampworked some lentil shapes onto the ends. So far they are one of a kind, I didn't do any sets yet.

I didn't realize that my efforts at tempering the wire into the stiff shape would come undone after annealing them in the kiln so I had to re-hammer them when they came out otherwise they would have been very noodle-ey clips

This is what they look like on pages

And this is how they look in one of my journals.

Question is how much someone would be willing to pay for a set of clips?

For me to make it worthwhile for my efforts I figure I would need to charge $10 for each clip.

This seems to be the pricing dilemma I have with my handmade journals as well and why they end up being presents instead of inventory to sell.

Let me know what you think since you my friends, are pretty much my target audience for this type of item.

And another question... I am going to be hosting a giveaway to celebrate 2 years of blogging and my birthday. What would YOU want to win?

Earrings or a collage? Lampwork headpins or these paper clips? Random beady supplies or ephemera?

And thank you all for your many welcoming comments on my re-entry to the high speed!

Blog Jam...Releasing!

2011-10-05T08:36:00.000-08:00

Anyone who has followed my blog or my Facebook knows that one of the only negatives about my seasonal life out here on the Alaska Highway is the lack of good internet access. I have certainly whined about the paleo- dialup aplenty. As sites have become more complex I was even less able to view the ones I needed to most. I couldn't access Etsy or the hotmail which would alert me to convos in one of my shops. I could see ribbons of partially loaded pictures on your blogs leaving me only the text as a teaser until I could make the trip to the library with my laptop to catch up with the rest of the post. Uploading pictures became a half hour affair, sometimes longer. Forget about adding things to my Etsy shops. I would need to be hyper organized to have all of my photos ready and still put the time into my descriptions and all. By the time I was finished browsing your blogs an hour or so in my car at the library, (sometimes I'd go inside as well) I'd be worn out and itching to go home and make things in the studio instead.

Well no more.... We took the plunge and signed up and hooked up to satellite internet so that I can have high speed access from the comfort of my home!!!! I am so happy about this I could just...just... spend hours catching up and utilizing the net as I wish. I even watched a music video on Palimpa-Lim's blog today!
I loaded a few items into my Etsy shops last night, Here and Here.
Today I am blogging after a long trip back East which probably could cover at least three posts.

Thank you HughesNet! Can't you just tell I'm happy about this?

I'm not sure where to start with my last several weeks so I may just give you some snippets of it all at once.

I was returning to my place of birth a place where a big part of my soul resides...

Maine

This was the primary reason for my trip... these lovely folks, Ray & Jay

Aren't they adorable? They spend hours picking crabmeat that our local lobsterman gives them.

My Mom's crabcakes are the best in the north!

I think she has less grey than me at age 83

Caught this precious sunset photo of my Dad. Yes.. that's a real halo I'm pretty sure

(and my nose)

Day drives with the folks

Lovely junk

A classy compost bin at the cottage

Lobster traps, I ate my share of some catches I must say.

Our shore where as a child I could run on the jagged rocks barefoot.

A view of Newberry Neck and Blue Hill across the bay.

We got a bit of kayaking in as long as my wrists held out.

This is today's taste until I get my pictures and stories sorted out from my other experiences.

So glad to be back!

XOXO Kim

Put a Head On It... more postcards

2011-09-11T17:30:00.000-08:00

Warrior Pose

Queen Mummy

Wholesome Goodness

Tres Generaciones

Serious Postcard

I'm wrapping up loose ends before I head back east to Squam Art Workshop

and to have a nice visit with the folks in Maine.

I realize just how fortunate I am to have both of them around still in their 80's and want to just hang out with them more and indulge in some garage sailing and antiquing with them. you see they are the ones that trained me up on this scavenging business. they had a nice little side business for years fixing up old trunks and lining them with old sheet music images along along with other good finds.

My father got involved in auctioneering for fundraisers for a spell and they had good fun with that. Now they are downsizing, simplifying and passing on some of their belongings.

I am getting hurried along and really need to go home and finish packing.

Bye for now!

XOXO Kim

Tea & Coffee Bags...from the girl who saves everything

2011-09-06T12:42:00.002-08:00

I had been over at Kim Henkel's blog and had seen that she'd done some interesting things with tea bags and leaves and such. Not knowing exactly what her process was I decided to do a little experimenting on my own. I'd been saving tea bags lately for the paper and wanted to harvest a few petals from our wildflower mix outside.

I grabbed the nearest paper on my table which happened to be an envelope and Mod- Podged the petals to the bags and applied them to the envelope.

I was delighted with the results. Now I'm flat out of used teabags!

Too bad because it was fun making this.

Now for some fabric postcards made with coffee bags~

Please note that wonky stitching is part of my style and I take great pains to not have it look too perfect...

You understand, I know

I save interesting coffee labels. This is from across the border in Mexico.

Combate coffee is roasted with sugar making for a rich brew. Now that I've all but quit coffee I won't be getting so many bags anymore. I panicked a bit when they quit making this beautiful label and I had sent my only empty bag off to the UK in one of my swaps.

Thankfully I found another on a different trip a little deeper into Mexico later on.

Ubiquitous American coffee.

Unfortunately we have to set foot in Walmart for this kind up here in Alaska.

I've pretty much swerved my husband's pedestrian taste in coffee over to gourmet at this point anyway so we don't pick up this kind so often anymore.

Ah, the Vietnamese weasel coffee, purported to have passed through a weasel's digestive system but I haven't seen the provenance on that and it quite possibly could be a false claim.

Great marketing for someone like me. I must say that the adventure in Hanoi on my own searching for it was quite worth it.

I'm not sure where we picked up this coffee but I got the African fabric swatch at a little shop in North Carolina last year with the sweetest little assortment of other fabric squares.

Sari silk, sequins and citrus bag

Thai rice bag

I stitched this rice bag to a cereal box. It will become a journal.

I picked up some Mexican oilcloth last winter in Magdelena de Kino and thought it would be nice for some journals as well.

I enjoyed my day back in the mixed media studio are taking a bit of a break from lampworking before my trip back east.

Now it really should be called "Where the Hell is my Worktable Wednesday?" because it looks as if a bomb went off in there with paper and fabric and thread everywhere.

...Well I am productive at least!

Neighborly Swaps

2011-09-01T10:03:00.000-08:00

I love to do swaps from time to time and have been admiring the work of Kim Henkel. There do seem to be a plethora of bloggers and artists named Kim, I have noticed!
You may be surprised to lean that she is one of my nearest neighbor blogging buddies aside from Fairbanks Artist in The Arctic's Amy Komar. Near is a relative word here in the North country, Kim is a mere 545 miles or 877 km from me and lives practically on the same road as me although in a different country. The road is called The Alcan (Alaska-Canada) Highway. In fact I have to drive through her town of Haines Junction to get "Outside" (the other states)

I proposed a journal swap

This is what I received from Kim in the mail last week although it would have been faster by car than the post since it apparently had to go through a circuitous postal route through a couple of other major cities in our respective countries to reach me.

The interior was the backside of repurposed posters sewn together.

I like to do a little mail art from time to time.

This is the journal I sent her made from a cereal box and muslin.

( I borrowed the pic from her post since I must not have scanned this one)

A bit of glimmer mist through vintage lace.

The other pages have various stampings and vintage images glued in.

Then I got involved in the Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap and got this lovely postcard from Lauren at Lozalicious in Adelaide, Australia. ( definitely not on the same highway!)

My postcard went of to someone else in England. I forgot to record that as well and was also lame enough to forget the theme of the swap which was B L O O M although I think there was one flower on it but an even more prominent watermelon. Have you ever done that? Oh well it happens.

In The Beginning

2011-08-26T08:28:00.002-08:00

I'm reposting one of my early blogs from two years ago since I know many of you viewers hadn't found me yet.

Let's go back a few years ago to when my crafting first took wings.

My mother who had had a good liberal arts education was determined to have artistic children or at least provide us with every opportunity to express ourselves artistically. We had family projects at the round clawfoot kitchen table.

Whether it was playdough, clay or paints and paper, we were given free range to create. She didn't feel particularly artistically talented herself but she always seemed to be involved in crafts too. I think she knitted over 200 sweaters during my teen years. She crocheted and did the ubiquitous 70's crewel embroidery on burlap. She was more comfortable following other's patterns and then she became a veritable machine at cranking out items.

We entered into a business relationship as I would bring her crocheted rug yarn purses to high school to sell. They were $4 each and I got $1 for every one I sold. (Record albums or concert tickets ran about $5 each those days!) Frank Zappa, Jethro Tull, here I come!

It was then that I began my first hobby of embroidery. Embellishing jeans was all the rage. I had one pair of super bellbottoms that I got at age 13 that I started on as the wear began. Layers upon layers until we had to add side panels as my 107 lb body shaped into a tad more womanly shape. (Well, I was pretty much a stick even after I filled out another 10 lbs. I was sometimes still mistaken for a boy as a teenager) I also didn't have much confidence in my own drawing abilities and used other people's images as my patterns for my patches.

What I really liked to do was make patches for my friends for their jeans. I would work on my patches for several days after school and give them as random gifts to people that I thought were special. (usually boys, I think)

What you see here is my first real body of work. They are better preserved since there's not a chance that I could fit in them these days. These jeans are over 40 years old now although the embroidery is a young 39 year old or thereabouts.

Just when I thought I was caught up

2011-08-23T11:15:00.001-08:00

Bali Silver and Aquamarine

I seriously thought I could kick back and play in the studio since I was feeling that I had substantial inventory floating about out there and could just wait for the checks to roll in from my summer seasonal shops. In actuality soon I'll be getting packages back from a few galleries containing everything they didn't sell.

Most of the places I sell my jewelry are on consignment so when a gal that works at the University of Alaska Museum approached me at market telling me that they needed more of my work I was quite happy since they pay up front. I also had been approached by another shop owner that I had done wholesale with and she also needed more.

...So back in production I was.

Fortunately making jewelry is my default these days. It tends to be a tidier venture and I like nothing better than to high-grade my own stash of beads for my very own designs.

It always seems that when I set out to do some photographing of my work it turns out to be a rainy day.

Still haven't used my newly decoupage-ed bust for a photo shoot yet.

I'll have to make do with scans today.

I believe the stones on this one are adventurine and a green quartz.

If you look closely at the focal bead you can see that every once in awhile I employ dichroic subtley.

Another problem I've been having lately is remembering the names of the stones I'm using.

These rough nuggets are a very pale green with a kind of black rutilation (ooh, technical word that spellcheck doesn't like)

When in doubt it's probably some sort of quartz.

The faceted crimson rondels are crystal.

The roundy Czech beads on this I put through an etching bath.

I've been influenced by Fanciful Devices on that count I must say.

The blue stone beads I can't vouch for as being a natural color but I did like that particular color to mix with my beads.

These carnelian beads are rough cut on one side and smooth on the reverse.

The shimmery rounds in between are sunstone.

I'm particularly fond of this one.

I went through some of my oh-so shiny-vermeil findings (that's gold on silver, thicker than gold plating)

for those of you not familiar with vernacular. I find that I'm not using gold tone so much in my designs these days so I oxidized them with Patina Gel.

I'm liking the oxidized look these days....(also influenced by Fanciful Devices among others)

We headed toward fall rapidly here, leaves are turning and it's getting dark at night again.

Just hoping for some good Indian summer before I take off for New England.

I'm looking forward to my very first mixed media art workshop retreat at Squam.

I'm meeting up an rooming with my good blog and IRL friend Corrine from Dosfishes

before heading north to help out my folks at their summer place in Maine.

It's one way to extend the summer!

Old supplies and revisiting an old idea

2011-08-19T06:50:00.001-08:00

Every once in awhile I drag out some old supplies that I've accumulated and revisit old ideas.

I had found some enameled copper tube beads a long time ago and wondered if I could make some myself.

I already had the enamel and the kiln.

I bought some copper tubing from the hardware store and a tube cutter. The tubing I bought has pretty thick walls and I soon realized that it was too tedious and hard on my wrists to cut the tubing in any kind of semblance of production. I abandoned it after just a few beads although I liked how they came out.

Then I found some thinner walled copper tube beads especially made for enameling in my lampworker's supply catalog and also realized that you need a special mandrel to keep the bead in place so you can work it. I went out and bought one of those and those supplies have been sitting around for over ten years now.

Yesterday I got them out and went to town on making a bunch. I also had some copper beads that I had picked up at an African booth at the gem show years ago that weren't quite making it with my designs. I dedicated them to the project. This strand represents a couple of hours of work rolling and heating the enamel and frits onto the copper.

They have a great feel to them and while I seem to have a hard time designing with tube shaped beads these work well as a bunch together and I'm wearing them right now.

I invite you to zoom in on this photo to getter a closer look at the vivid enamels.

Now I'm off to the big city of Fairbanks for chiro & car appointments, a concert and market day on Saturday.

XOXO Kim

Glass Tile Inchie Magnets- A Tutorial

2011-08-17T10:36:00.000-08:00

This is my first ever attempt to do a tutorial.

It's for some simple glass tile magnets using Adirondack alcohol inks.

I purchased a square of glass tiles from the big box hardware store

(Lowe's, for those of you in the states)

They have a choice between greenish tint and a light beige tint. Half of them are frosted and the other half are glossy.

Cut them apart from each other and peel of any of the paper than you can off of the back.

I pick out three frosted and three glossy for my magnet set

I used self sticking business card magnet cards ...got a whole load of them for a good deal at a garage sale.

Cut to size using some trash scissors

Stick to the back of the tiles and cut away any excess

Pick out some alcohol inks and squirt a small amount on the little cotton pad in a corner

Dab it on the tile

I like to use two or three colors. The alcohol ink reacts to the base color in interesting ways

Many possibilities

I package them up in sets of six and was able to sell them for $10 a set at our local Farmer's Market

( That's about 7 Euros or 6 British pounds)

That's it!

* Things I learned making this tutorial
need better lighting
wash ink off of fingers before taking photos

Happy-tos and the voles

2011-08-16T11:58:00.000-08:00

My first clue that we had uninvited guests in the Garaj Mahal was when our friend Julio from Bisbee reported that there were some little turds in his bed out in the garage.

He even felt some scurryings as he turned down the sheets one night.

Then I found some lovely rodent confetti in my paper ephemera drawer. It was comprised of some shiny silver bits tastefully combined with specks of color. I wasn't sure of its source until today when I dug deeper into my drawer and found this. I had saved this bag of "Happy-tos" from a trip to Bali years ago and apparently there was still enough oily salty goodness to attract a little vole.

For those of you who aren't familiar with voles, they are a tube of brown fur that can fit through a crack narrower than you could ever believe and they are little black sesame seed factories that particularly seem to be attracted to my silverware drawer.

They can be problematic. I once found dried mushrooms in my bed after being gone over a weekend. Even more disturbing, I once felt one scurry across my legs in my own bed.

The most bold one I ever witnessed was in my liquor cabinet feasting on some dried up Creme de Menthe that had spilled and crusted up. When I opened the door it just looked at me and kept munching away.. the little addict!

I had meant to do a post about my marathon salmon fishing trip but now I've mislaid the disk that my fishing partner so thoughtfully made up for me.

I just know you wanted to see those photos and even a short clip of the fishwife in action

My husband returned home to 39 Copper River Red salmon that were already filleted that I had caught by dipnetting which is hard enough work as to make my wrist swell up for the past two weeks.

It seems to be healing now and my husband Archaeology Man is back out in the field for another couple of weeks so I'm hoping it will be productive for me.

We're waving goodbye to the little bit of summer we had here in Alaska. Leaves are turning and the blueberries in the low-lying area are showing signs of having been through a frost already.

Here's some of my wild blueberry harvest to tide you over til the next post.

Purse Winnings

2011-08-07T10:23:00.000-08:00

I'm taking the plunge back into blogworld. Summer grabbed me and took me for a ride lately with multiple trips to the market to sell my wares 100 miles away and a marathon fishing trip that netted (quite literally) 39 Copper River Red salmon which I promise to post more about when I get my pictures uploaded

I wanted to show you this purse that I won in a giveaway from lovely Lorna from Artymess

She's just opened a new store on Etsy which I recommend you visit. Her stitch work is so detailed and fun. She's using recycled fabrics on this piece. This is side B.

She included one of her fabric brooches inside

And some other goodies.

This beautiful felted purse I won from Marilyn Rock in a giveaway many months ago and I have been meaning to show it off here as well.

Thank you gals, They are prominently displayed on my bureau along with several other gorgeous winnings I seem to be accumulating along the way from all you generous giveaway hostesses.

I want to thank you all for being such a supportive and fun and generous community. I do appreciate it!

XOXO Kim

As Promised... What else I've been up to

2011-07-26T13:21:00.000-08:00

These are some more of the collages I did on a dismantled vintage file folder box.

Also covered with a netting of tinted cheesecloth secured with self leveling gel medium.

The caption says "Reach for the moon to make dreams come" taken from an old typing book

I was really just noodling around with images that day... just having fun.

"We look as well as the way we look at things".

...also taken from a typing book

"Peaches"

Summer revisited us with a very comfortable 80 degrees. ( about 27 C)

I often take breaks from the studio for some outdoor exercise and chores

Been really enjoying the sari silk ribbon in my designing.

These just up on Etsy today

I had meant to take some photos rather than showing scans but then it started to rain.

I did get my photographing kit safely sent to Maine so I can bring it back when we go there.

Revisited an old bead that I had saved for several years. I had been trying to get the effect of seaweed and a tide pool. No one else got it though apparently! I still like it.

Raw Garnet and semi-precious stones.

I had a request to see if I could design some drops. This is what I came up with. I plan on having a day of production to make some more in different colors.

Any suggestions?

There was more to show you but dial-up hijacked the post.

2011-07-23T00:41:00.000-08:00

The caption says

"It is possible that in 30 years or 40 years there will be very few factory jobs Then millions of workers will be freed to do other types of skilled work and they will have more leisure time"

Taken from a vintage typing book

Funny that I didn't find this quote until the rest of the collage was finished. I thought it fitting to add it in.

I was experimenting with adding tinted cheesecloth onto the surface with self leveling clear gel.

Two hours of trying to upload photos with two disconnections has left me with just this one image of today's work. I had an old vintage file box that I had dismantled for backgrounds. I made four collages to show you and now you'll have to wait until I can get a better connection to upload them.

Summer has decided to return to the subarctic here after a cool and rainy June and July. I know some of you would love to trade in your heat for our cooler weather right about now.

Top of the World Highway Trip... and Taylor Too

2011-07-12T16:44:00.001-08:00

Yet another sticker sign. This one is on the Taylor Highway in Chicken, Alaska.

I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to put a posting up. There was a holiday in there and yeah, now I remember, the sun came out again after being absent for awhile.

We headed out for Dawson City, Yukon and Eagle Alaska for the long weekend over the Fourth.

We seem to like to join in with the Canadians and celebrate Canada Day on the first of July.

I think I may be honorary Canadian with my Maine roots and Alaskan residency...at least I like to think so.

For some ridiculous reason they are closing the border at 6:00 PM (US's Fault)

so we spent a night camping at the border in the teardrop trailer and were the very first ones though in the morning. We're waiting for the ferry to cross the Yukon into Dawson City.

Dawson City is one of my favorite summertime destinations with funky buildings and boardwalks and its gold mining history. There's always fun to be had at the legendary "Pit" bar .

You can get some fresh morels in the local store...for a price

And imagine the glamour inside this beauty salon!

We had lunch at Klondike Kate's and I got to meet a fellow blogger, Jeffrey from the blog

Nose to Tail

He's a cook at Kate's and writes about cooking gourmet creations with wild game...can you say tasty?

Then I found this gorgeous boro canvas shed that was completely made up of pieced together old canvas. I woulda like to roll up a few yards to take home!

Always interested in old graveyards everywhere we go.

After our night in Dawson we had a wedding to go to in the remote town of Eagle, Alaska.

The wedding was right on the Yukon at the old school site.

The brides father even constructed outhouses for us. There's no SaniCan service this far out.

We left a day earlier than we had planned when the rain started to dump.

The Taylor Highway had washed out last year taking a US Customs agent that was driving the road with it. It had washed out again already this year and we didn't want to take any chances on the eroding mountain road.

I did get to visit my friends Ron and Mary from Yukon Ron's

The community was hit hard by the flood a couple of years ago and road closures so that now no tour buses will travel the road which has severely impactedthe sales from their jewelry business.

They had a big tent downtown that they called the Eagle Mall which would be in operation when the buses came through. Mary is realizing that she's going to have to beef up her online sales

Have a look here to check out some of their artistry.

We talked about product photography which we are both working on.

I was impressed by her setup that mary had gotten from a friend.

After a little research into the brand "Square Perfect" I was dismayed to learn that they WON'T SHIP TO ALASKA!

I'm going to have to wait until November or get someone in the states to ship it to me.

(any takers?)

Somehow I love the way the lowly black spruces look after a wildfire.

There was plenty of evidence of a previous massive wildfire along the road from years before.

Stunning views from the Taylor Highway

How about a little fireweed?

Can't you just imagine some mammoths walking about here?

What happened is that the sun finally came out last week and I wouldn't go near the computer quite so much. My frustration with the spotty access has nearly weaned me from it for the time being.

I've been working on some new designs.

I must say I have been inspired by some other folks (Fanciful Devices, specifically) styles lately and had the idea to take the head pin process a step further and torch baubles right onto pre-made doohickeys.

You can see what she did with a pair of my lampwork whorls on this post link too. very cool, wish I had thought of it, she's so amazing with her designs.

I had some interesting links from some chain I picked up at the gem show ( the eyes)

This was the first set of wires I made with 18 gauge annealed steel.

After that set I decided to add another loop and hammer them as well ... yay new jeweler's bench!

I'd been meaning to cover this torso for awhile since it was bright orange plastic.

My son just gave me a crate full of old encyclopedias to cut up.

I think she may come in handy for some of my jewelry photography, don't you think?

From a Blue Day to a Glue Day

2011-06-27T14:49:00.002-08:00

It's been pretty quiet out here with the out of town schedule my husband's been keeping.

The first two weeks were glorious in the long sunny days with plenty of time to catch up on all of my stocking of inventory in various shops for the summer season.

Time for lawn mowing and feeding myself on my diet change, eating when I am hungry instead of "meal time" and watching Netflix series that I know would put him to sleep.

I'm getting to eat all those things that he would turn his nose up upon such as curries and eggplant, tempeh and okra. ( please no comments about the okra!...I know it's not the most popular vegetable but I am on a serious okra kick if you can believe it)

The next round has bee a little more lonesome. It hasn't helped that it rained for days on end. That seems to be when I desire the caffeine I have sworn off for my anti-inflammation, detox and general well being goal.

Sneaking little bits of those tiny Starbucks Via packets into my dandelion root brew.

I do get a dose of the public once a week at the Farmer's Market on Saturdays in Fairbanks 100 miles away.

It had been sweatingly hot at the market and a trip to the Chena Lakes brought on the impending thunder storm and wind.

I awoke to pouring rain next morning and no incentive for much except putting on my yoga pants thinking that it might propel me into actually doing some yoga.

Indulged myself in some Netflix in the morning and perhaps that's what threw me further into a funk.

Too rainy to walk to the paper.

Somehow I pulled myself out of it enough and went to the studio to play with glue & paper.

Mail art, a glue book and journal.

It had been a long time since I had approached the paper stash and collage-able goodies, I had been so focused on the beads and head pins and all of my jewelry making.

Getting started is the hardest for me so my first piece was to cover a big packing envelope for some mail art. If you look on the map you can see that it's heading to a certain studio in Massachusetts as soon as I figure out what to put in it.

Then I decided to fill up some pages in my moleskine.

I just recently heard the term gluebook. I'm wondering if both sides of every page are filled.

so far I'm only collaging one side. It helps with the drying of course too.

I finally got to use some more of my vintage Japanese business correspondence for collaging.

There's more available on Etsy right here

Just about all of my imagery is vintage from books and thrift shops .

That would be over 20 years old technically but most is even older.

Make sure to click on this one I like the names on the map in the middle.

Then there was this journal that I started a couple of years ago.

It was an old cookbook from the 30's from Fellows Balls...ahem... Bellows Falls, Vermont

( although it looks as if this dude's have shriveled a tad)

This is the front cover

and this is the back.

I discovered recently the joy of painting with bubble wrap.

Did you know that glimmer mist on watercolor paper with large bubble bubble wrap pressed against it comes out looking like roses. Of course you all knew that but I DISCOVERED IT on my own!

...so proud...

This book had a masonite cover with binder rings.

i thought if I gessoed the pages I would have a great surface to paint or draw on.

Well, gesso on thin sheets of paper curl up like some 1st grade science experiment so I sewed several pages together and then gessoed them. They've been waiting for me now for 2 years.

faces aren't my strong suit just yet!

I found this lovely stretchy tie dye tube stuff at the Saturday market in bangkok years ago. They had the best colors, Sure wish I could find some more of this sort of thing. It's part of my supply hoard that I only let go in small pieces because when I'm out, that's it!

I do dabble in stamps once in awhile but try to come up with combinations that aren't too homogenous with a certain ubiquitous look that I've come to know.

(ooh, did that sound snobby?....sorry)

As soon as I get away from the straight on collage, things begin to get messy.

Oh OK, things are pretty damn messy with just paper and glue, I admit.

So the funk has lifted and I'm happy once again

( but don't get me going about my computer issues!)

My update to Snow Leopard means that my scanner driver for my Canon no longer communicates.

Ever try to download anything with dial-up?

Now I've got to haul my desktop computer somewhere that has wifi just to download another driver.

Ooops, I guess I got myself started on that one.

And today I got a package of ephemera from Crystal Neubauer over at Other People's Flowers.

You can follow her blog to her Esty shop to see the good closeout deals she's offering in ephemera.

Soulsticitude... Just me and the squirrels and a moose

2011-06-22T12:10:00.000-08:00

It's been mighty quiet out here lately. This moose kept me company right outside my bedroom window the other night. I think it was about 11:30 just to give you an idea of the lightness and how it really isn't a problem sleeping as many who are not from the far north seem to think.

I found a wonderful person to do some trading with. We had over 25 squirrel tails from last year's nuisances. They rip into our shed and made a heck of a mess with insulation and stashing their winter supplies. Since we've been working on turning it into a shop of sorts we had to act aggressively in their abatement.

I found a site in my internet wanderings that trades tails for handmade brushes!

Linda Stauffer at

www.thepottersbrush.com

She did a handsome trade with me Don't you think?...considering that my huz did all the 'hunting'

These brushes are made for pottery slip but I'm hoping that they'll work for my walnut gall ink that my friend Pammie from The Naturalist's Notebook made.

The two on the left are my squirrels and the middle one is an east coast gray squirrel,

then a badger and the mondo one is moose hair.

So wonderfully crafted and I forgot to photograph Linda's extra touch of a litttle embellishment at the end of each bamboo piece.

I know I mentioned making some cuff or was in the planning stages awhile back.

These are my first attempts using muslin and old lace and sari pieces and vintage buttons along with some fused fabric pieces that Lorna from Artymess had traded with me.

I was in a quandary as to how I wanted to connect the cuffs and tried some little nylon loops for the prototype. I knew I needed some stretchyness to allow for some size differential

These loops I made seemed to be a littly too fussy to connect so I've decided that velcro closures may work better and allow for some leeway for sizes. One of the problems I have is I end up designing for my own size which runs to the thin wristed side. Maybe these will appeal to the younger gals anyway...someone, I hope!

So the buttons will end up being decoration only instead of functional in the end.

I was eschewing straight lines as you can see!

They were fun to do and a nice break from the torch for a change.

My days have been sooo quiet since the huz has been on his 12 on four off schedule.

Each morning I face my age old slowtogetup (or is it old age, rather?) and seem to be drawn to something physical first off in the morning rather than creative. dishes, walk to get the paper, stretching, lawn mowing or laundry just to get the parts lubed and moving. Sometime after 10:30 I may enter the studio and apply myself to soem sort of focus. Lately it's been production of headpins and yesterday bead sets.

I can only take about an hour at the torch for a sitting and feed myself or wander to the garden or check emails in between before resuming. My only high speed access is a 14 mile round trip to the library whic takes a chunk out of my day but it feed my need for some sort of socialization and plus there might just be another disc of 'In Treatment' waiting for me from Netflix at the PO.

I've never been the type to hit the studio after dinnertime but quite often make jewelry in front of the tube if the Chair of Doom hasn't done me in with it's it's reclining magic.

I really feel the need to apologize once again fro my lack of reciprocity in commenting on your blogs. By the time I have skimmed through somedays sitting in my car in the parking lot I just can't seem to focus enough on making the comments I'd like to. Somehow with the leisurely home viewing I have with my high speed in Arizona I am much more in a commenting mode.

This doesn't mean I don't appreciate you all!

This last week my dial-up even failed and I've been working on getting that up and going which for the time being is working better on my 2007 Imac for some reason... I can actually see your photos now! but still can't comment. I've had reports that commenting has been an ongoing problem with blooger lately too so I do hope you'll forgive me. (tsss...I said blooger!)

It Was a Business Trip... Really! Chickenstock Music Festival

2011-06-15T16:26:00.000-08:00

Rather than manning my usual booth at the Farmers' market I decided to attend a little music festival out in the Alaskan boonies. Chickenstock Music Festival in Chicken, Alaska.

Chicken is an old gold mining town from the early 1900's

The old dredge site made for some picturesque camping.

I had been approached last summer by the proprietor of the Chicken Gold Camp in regards to selling my jewelry in their gift shop. Lots of adventurous tourists pour through the town on their way to and from Canada on the Top of the World Highway and the Taylor Highway.

I saw it as an excellent excuse to personally deliver the goods.

They constructed this nice & funky stage for the performers.

This massive chicken sculpture was delivered to the site all the way from Homer, Alaska, 100's of miles away. I heard they could only drive 20 miles an hour with the load. that's 616 miles or 991 km!

more of the stage and a sculpture

It got fairly warm during the day but I sure missed the huz in my little teardrop trailer when it dropped down to 40 degrees at night (5 C)

Some of the revelers nearby my parking spot... a very Alaskan scene

View from the Teardrop trailer...a gal's got to nap a bit to keep up with the younger folk.

I'm wild about that barkcloth fabric that I got in Tucson... so retro

What 'rustafarian" wouldn't like these chickens?

I actually made some sales out of my trailer too that ended up paying for my gas and ticket, making it a very worthwhile trip for sure

Tribal In Paradise

2011-06-08T19:03:00.001-08:00

This is what happens on a drizmal day that I decide to do some sewing for a change.

Although I have been nattering on about junkyards and music festivals the truth is I have been hard at it in the studio for the a good bit since I have a large block of time to myself.

The huz is off doing archaeology field work which takes him away a couple of weeks at a time. They've been finding paleo sites along with historic gold mining camps.

I've been relishing hours of uninterrupted time to catch up with stocking my own booth and galleries and shops hoping to place myself in a few new ones as well.

So what happens is rather than heading out to the studio I suddenly find a table full of supplies in front of me and a warming cup of tea and inspiration.

Yesterday I had spent several hours trying to produce headpins that had been requested.

I found that my glass acted strangely. I'd noticed it before with some of the CIM brand "messy colors"

They have some wonderful opalescent milky clear glass which inexplicably to me anyway will go opaque depending on which color you lay over it. I was going for a white stripe twisty on an opalescent base. I ended up with some subtle two tone neutral whites.

Of course my time was not wasted and instead of stocking up my Etsy shop

because for some other inexplicable reason will not even load with my dial-up lately,

I went at it and used my own supplies. Not fair, right?

I pulled out some bins of beads that I've recently designated for a more tribal look.

$45

$38

Those are vintage buttons strung between African copper spacers.

$45

These kind of scanned a little wonky but I'm showing you how I beefed up some previous earrings that didn't seem to move well sales -wise (the little coil-y dudes)

Vermeil wires and findings with brass nuggets.

$45

Now here are the opalescent headpins. I really like the way these came out with an experiment with double headpins.

S O L D - to a lovely blogger in Denmark!

$38

$45

Apatite and Thai silver

$45

Vintage buttons and copper beads and spacers

Sunstone with copper spacers and Thai silver

$45

Amethyst & Thai silver

$45

You can click on the photo for a closer look.

$38

This is what I have left of yesterday's batch of headpins.

I'm open to suggestions for color combinations on the pointy twists.

Rounds, $2 each

twisties $2.50 each

Discounts given on larger orders.

I am accepting Paypal payments if you have an interest in owning any of these pieces.

You can deal with me directly with any transactions.

I'm having too much trouble getting my Etsy shop to come up on my dial-up connection lately.

A Little Bit of Fun in the Midnight Sun

2011-06-06T10:15:00.001-08:00

We took Memorial Day weekend to attend a little known Music festival in Mendeltna about four hours down the road. This photo was taken at about 10:30 PM

Good music and friends

I can never get enough of that glowing sunset that lasts three hours and then turns into a three hour sunrise

That's our lowly black spruce in the background which firefighters call "gasoline on a stick"

Pretty impressive when a massive stand of those go up which they do when lighting strikes...

all part of the ecosystem here.

A plane landed on the highway and pulled over to attend the festival...

not so uncommon here.

Aditi & Cassidy... Guess which one is related to me

Heading home with the teardrop...

next stop the "Chickenstock"

the little bluegrass festival in the little remote mining town of Chicken.

It sleeps two and has a little kitchen area in the back.

( not the town of Chicken. I think that sleeps about 100, I mean the Teardrop Trailer)

Unicorn Poop and Other Things Found in the Woods

2011-06-01T11:48:00.000-08:00

Unicorn poop found on a thawed out ski trail.

Now this is what I called found object art!

( most likely a sled do got into someone's sewing stash,

It was very clean though, I have to add)

More poop of the moose kind

Liz Anna's Lakeside Studio is actually making some really nice paper and prints with this stuff

A tour of the nearby rust farm

This was taken a couple of weeks ago when greenup was unfolding

A lot of cans I would say.

Judging from the poptops I think they're from the 70's

Funny that even a collection such as this holds beauty for me, what about you?

A splash of color

Spring has sprung!

bespoke

I particularly like this shot.

speaking of shot....

the ubiquitous targets of Alaska

This was the dash of an old car...moss and glass

Good thing all of this stuff is so heavy or I'd probably try to haul it home!

And a bicycle grave

I have been doing quite a bit in the studio.

These are my "whorl earrings"

Been doing a bit with the chain I picked up at the gem show.

Raw garnet, quartz crystals and chacedony.

Sorry about the photos, It's the best I can do for now with the scanner.

So much to do right now that I'm focusing on the fabricating not the photos.

more chain play

Catching up to Myself

2011-05-24T11:16:00.000-08:00

First I'll start with a giveaway that I won from Fanciful Devices whose work I totally admire.

Even her packaging has that special quality to it.

I can definitely see rocking these with the new kimono I scored at the thrift shop in Bisbee.

This kimono is 100% silk shibori tie dye with miniscule gathers throughout the piece.

In the background you can see a portion of the shed that I'm in the process of turning into a little gift shop for the Alaska Highway travelers coming through.

Oh, did I mention this was only $19!

That's 11.73 British Pounds

or 17.98 AUS or

13.86 Euros!

I thought I'd fill you in on a few scenes from our road trip home last month.

A shot of my sister's place by Greenlake area Seattle

The ferry trip home

Folks camp on deck or sleep on lawn chairs in the solarium but we opted not too because we forgot camp pads, Instead we spent three nights on cushioned benches in the aft lounge which unfortunately had lights on night and day, We saved some money by not getting a cabin though.

"We beave" said the beavers on the Alaskan Highway

I kind of liked this shot of our jam packed truck on the last day of our journey.

And for the excitement of the week, this is the jeweler's bench that our neighbor just

GAVE me!

Now I can tappity tap, punch and drill without getting into my glass area.

This post was a lesson in patience on a low pressure/low energy day that sent me to a cup of Typhoo (yes caffeinated) tea which is the first I've had in over a month and a half.

In the hour it's taken me to upload photos the sun has since broken out and beckoned me outside and we're enjoying a most glorious spring and advent of summer here with a rapid greenup and temps that promise to be in the high 70's ( that's 26 degrees C)

To top that off it stays that way well into the evening since the midnight sun shines ever into the late hours. I absolutely adore that about summertime here.

Where have I been?

2011-05-17T13:43:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess I should start back when we hit the road from Arizona to Alaska.

I feel as though I have been woefully out of touch with sporadic jump into the interwebs but not quite long enough to connect as I prefer.

I think I was abducted by aliens after I posed for this picture here.

or Jenglots

I even kind of missed out on the Blogger Meltdown that's how out of it I've been.

Actually it started with a visit in Las Vegas, a place I'd never been.

(maybe it stayed in Las Vegas, you know what they say!)

We had a most lovely visit with my blog friend Leslie from

Ramblings from Yet another Stranger on the Bus

We met for the first time at a Mexican restaurant and she even treated us to dinner!

We caught up in real time and shared stories and quite possibly could have gone on for hours but we had road miles to make ahead of us.

The huz then took me on a drive-by tour of down Las Vegas before we headed out on the mostly barren trip through what is known as the Great Basin from northern Nevada to southern Oregon... hundreds of miles of not a lot to look at.

except this in some town whose name I don't recall.

A curious building in Brothers, Oregon

Since I've been back home in Alaska I've been to Anchorage to do a show and have found my familiar place back at our Farmer's Market in Fairbanks just a 100 mile drive from home every Saturday.

It is nice to see the response to some of my newer work, It's uncanny how people seem to gravitate toward my freshest work... and satisfying too since it reinforces that the direction I'm heading in is the right path.

Now it's back to work in my studio and it promises to be an interesting summer since my husband will be absent for 12 day stretches all summer with just a few days in between.

There was a time in my life that I could have never lived out in the boonies as we do now, I was hard pressed to even spend an entire day at home in my younger days, now I mostly crave it.

It will, however, be different in the evenings being in this solitude for extended periods of time.

Added to that is my no coffee, no alcohol resolve which would be what I would probably want to reach for to break up the long days. We do have really long days too, I am no longer seeing darkness at this latitude although it may be occurring at 1:00 or 2:00 AM, not sure really because I've been asleep.

With my most reliable form of internet at the library I have to schedule trips to Delta to get in some posts. I've already been in the library paring lot over an hour and a half just catching up and trying to post and the solar gain through the window is starting to cook.

Just wanted to say I've missed the interaction and hope to be back in full swing somehow.

XOXO Kim

made it!

2011-05-05T11:04:00.000-08:00

Well the good news is that we made it home from one edge of then US to the other.
2700 miles of driving from southern Arizona and a three day ferry ride landed us back in Alaska.

Funny thing is that we made it to the town of Tok (pronounced "toke") a mere two hours from home at midnight. We opted for a night in a hotel as wiped out as we were.
We started the next morning fresh for the restt of the journey. Would you believe we got a flat tire just 5 miles from our house! so glad we didn't have to deal with that at 2:00 AM.

There's some other good news too. It seems that I have some internet coverage with my little iPad if I go to the upper reaches of my Garaj Mahal studio since the only other option is some woefully slow dial -up. So I can view blogs with this device. but I can't post pics until I figure out which blogger app I need to do that. I can't seem to view anything with the dial-up on my mac this year which may have something to do with never being able to update my browser. Next project is to haul it to someone that has high speed and get my overdue updates.

Between the updating and the apps I just may be back in business with blogging and Etsy again. If all else fails I can live at the library to attend to all of my internet needs...
Yes they qualify as needs now!
With the price of gas at almost $4.40 a gallon with a 15 mile round trip I may have to limit those sprees too. Hmmmm, I may have to familiarize myself a little better with the ol' 4 wheeler and be a real Alaskan woman, depending on that for transportation. I think I need to find a helmet first.

I am looking forward to reconnecting to the blog world and give you some better updates with pics soon.

Many thanks to you new followers, I'll be back with more soon.
xoxo Kim

Hitting the Road~ North to Alaska

2011-04-23T09:34:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again when we head back to our home in Alaska.

We're doing it a bit differently this year and driving to Washington and catching the ferry to Haines, AK

We have a truck with no AC in Arizona and one with in Alaska so we'll be swapping them out next fall.

It will be strange to reenter the colder climes and watch spring all over again.

It should take us about 10 days with some of our stops in Seattle area.

I'm not sure how much internet access will be available but I hope to keep the posts coming when I can.

It will be an interesting road trip in that I have been on a rather strict dietary regimen for the last couple of weeks. After my chiropractor/naturopath determined that my adrenals were overtaxed and that I'm not

digesting as I should she put me on a no sugar, no alcohol, no caffeine, no salt, no meat, no dairy, no eggs, no grain diet which may help with inflammation problems I've been having for awhile.

What's left you ask? Protein shakes, super greens, flax seed, almond milk, whey, ( I guess that's some dairy) and loads of veggies, steamed and juiced and fruits and lots of blueberries and cranberries that we'd brought down here with us.

I really wanted to spare you the blow by blow details which seem to veer toward discussions of bodily functions but suffice it to say the first days were the toughest.

Surprisingly I didn't/haven't missed the sugar, caffeine, meat or alcohol and the most difficult for me was giving up salt. Thankfully, Braggs amino acids have been added back and that seems to satisfy that craving.

It was doubly difficult at a birthday celebration across the border at a Mexican restaurant and I treated myself to some roasted green onions and peppers on a bed of lettuce while everyone else was eating carne asada and cheese.

Oh! that reminds me, I was going to post a picture of our friend Julio's 70th birthday present, an altered puzzle

I lifted and printed some of his childhood photos off of facebook and decoupaged them to the puzzle pieces.

They were a little stark with the greys, black and blues so I spritzed them with some sunflower glimmer mist after a layer of matte mod podge to give then a bit of sepia character.

Look closely at the top piece and you can see Julio standing in from of an angel statuary.

This one was a gesso transfer that I learned from Caterina.

On the the bed of the puzzle I decoupaged this image of him an Lupita, his girlfriend from Mexico.

I happened to find this cigar label that I thought was fitting.

I am pleased to say that this present made him weep upon opening it.

My job is done!

Anyhow I'm also pleased to report that I'm feeling rather good and some niggling symptoms have been disappearing and my husband has been remarking that I look younger and less puffy and seem more calm, not to mention 4 or 5 lbs. that I've shed already in two weeks.

We'll see how it goes from here on out but I'm feeling pretty motivated to continue as I can add things slowly back to my diet. The Alaskan salmon sure tasted good the other night!

Postcards~ Two for One But Not Very Practical

2011-04-16T17:42:00.000-08:00

I've been packing up some of my tools and supplies for the trip north but always need to leave and outlet for some creativity if the mood strikes.

I've been meaning to make up some postcards for mail art but I got a little carried away and decorated both sides making it a little difficult for any messages or addresses.

The good news is they can be flipped according to mood~

not very practical I know!

Side B

2 B

4 B

*Numinosity*

A Southwestern White Christmas

Nails... and tough as

Bangles

Mystery Item's Function Revealed

More Postcards

Neighborhood Watch

Postcards du jour

Travel Journal

Wahhh!

Over the Arroyo and thru the Cactus

Elevenses

Finding Time... Almost Packed

A Winner! ...or two

Didn't know I was at an Etsy wedding this summer!

A Day to Celebrate

Traveling Collage Box~ My Part

Birthday Blogversary Giveaway

Heating Up in the Studio

You've got the best handmade journals... What about paper clips?

Blog Jam...Releasing!

Put a Head On It... more postcards

Tea & Coffee Bags...from the girl who saves everything

Neighborly Swaps

In The Beginning

Just when I thought I was caught up

Old supplies and revisiting an old idea

Glass Tile Inchie Magnets- A Tutorial

Happy-tos and the voles

Purse Winnings

As Promised... What else I've been up to

There was more to show you but dial-up hijacked the post.

Top of the World Highway Trip... and Taylor Too

From a Blue Day to a Glue Day

Soulsticitude... Just me and the squirrels and a moose

It Was a Business Trip... Really! Chickenstock Music Festival

Tribal In Paradise

A Little Bit of Fun in the Midnight Sun

Unicorn Poop and Other Things Found in the Woods

Catching up to Myself

Where have I been?

made it!

Hitting the Road~ North to Alaska

Postcards~ Two for One But Not Very Practical

Numinosity