~ 30th Anniversary Bears Update ~

It's very rare that I make an "edition" bear, but thirty years is a very rare thing too.  So I have one bear for each decade.  They area slightly different, but the same.

I am very pleased with them, so without further ado...let me introduce you to the very first bears of 2011; Tivoli, Apollo, and Savoy.  They are named after theaters.  I don't know why, it just seemed like the thing.

There was actually going to be a new little animal in this update, but he didn't quite get finished since I redid the website layout too.  I will offer him on my blog in a few days.

In the mean time.  You can visit my website to adopt on of these cuties!  (Click the link at the right!)

Hugs, K.  <3

Update Teaser

I have a little teaser of the upcoming anniversary bears.  They are in a huddle since the Super Bowl is coming up this weekend.  They aren't distressed yet, but you can see they will be tan, blue and peach!

It has been so insanely crazy cold here I can't even tell you.  We have been lucky enough to be just west of the blizzard zone, but it was below zero by quite a bit the last couple days.

Tomorrow is supposed to be nicer.  I certainly hope so.  R is stuck up in Denver for the night.  So it's sleep and work for me tonight!

More soon....Hugs, K. <3

Website Update

I have decided to make a few changes for 2011.  The first of which is instead of putting each piece up as I make it, I am going to try group updates every 4-6 weeks.  I may do an occasional blog and facebook offering as well.

This one is only going to be a very small update, but I will have the 30th anniversary bears ready...and possibly something brand new to show you!  We will see how the week goes since I am working on a new layout as well.

I am also going to be doing a show in Philadelphia in May...I will give more details on that later. I haven't done a show in a few years and I miss it.

Also the next group of bears and animals will be going out on Wednesday instead of tomorrow.  I was going to go to the post office tomorrow, but it's supposed to be coooooold.  We are expected to have a high of 0, and with the wind chill between 15 and 18 below.  Winter has finally hit Colorado.  I had a feeling we had been getting off too easy this year.

It's snowing today, so it's a good day to stay snug and cozy at home and work.  I am very excited about the anniversary bears.  I hope you will be too!

Also don't forget you still have until Midnight MST to take advantage of the website sale!  I want to thank everyone who made a purchase already, you eased my work load by about half when it comes to photographing the pieces.

Hugs, K. <3

Postal Run & Reminder

Just a quick update...I went to the post office this morning and sent off five packages...so you will be receiving your new friends very soon!  Thank you all for your purchases!

For anyone else still thinking about a piece, the site is updated so everything else is still available as of right now, and you still have until midnight on Monday to take advantage of the sale. (See previous post for sale info.)

I am going to go try to take a very long nap, I have had insomnia for the past few days.  I will check in when I wake up!

A Little Sale

Next week I am doing a major website overhaul again, so I thought to make it easier on myself and do something special for my blog followers and facebook friends I would offer 1/3 off of everything on the site from now until Monday at midnight MST. 

If you would like a piece, just send me an e-mail and I will send you an adjusted invoice.  Be sure to include your paypal e-mail address.  It's first come, first serve...no pieces will be held.

Enjoy!  K. <3

Edit:  Just to let you know, I am removing items as they sell, so if you are interested in something, if it's on the site it's probably still available!  Also for those of you who have already made a purchase, they will be going out on Friday.  Thank you so much!

The Kindness Of Strangers

Today I had a sweet, but funny thing happen.  I had to run off to the post office to mail a piece to a customer.  I had just rolled out of bed, brushed my teeth and lazily ran the brush through my hair. I didn't have any other errands to run...or so I thought...so I just threw on my ratty, holey jeans, a really old hoodie and sneakers.  I didn't bother with makeup either. 

When I got outside I realized there was no newspaper. When I got to the post office, the line was long, so I called R to see if by some chance he had picked it up, but he hadn't.  I told him I would stop and pick him one up since there was a gas station near the post office.  Now I have to confess it's my fault that there was no paper.  I am always spot on with getting the bills paid in a timely fashion, but somehow I missed the subscription renewal last week and had it in my purse with the other bills to be mailed today, so it ran out yesterday.

I also hadn't eaten yet, and I grabbed a bottle of orange juice.  When I got to the counter, an elderly gentleman was standing there.  He asked me what I was looking for in the paper.  I joked that I just wanted it to keep warm.  (I probably shouldn't have done that. *giggles*)  They also had some hot sandwiches and breakfast burritos by the counter.  I was looking at them trying to decide if I was brave enough to eat one.  I asked the girl how much they were, I only had a little cash on me and didn't really want to use my card if I didn't have to...especially for something I wasn't sure about eating.  She told me and I was counting my change to see if I had enough. 

I guess from my shabby clothes and my joke, the guy thought I must be homeless, so he offered to buy me a sandwich and asked if I would like a donut and some fruit too!  I thought it was really sweet.  But I explained to him that I had money I just wasn't sure if I wanted one of those.  I don't think he believed me though.  He said "Sister you don't have to be proud, it's ok to let someone help once in a while!  We've all been there."

I thought it was really sweet of him.  He didn't look any better off than I did today, and I went away with the feeling I probably should have been buying him something instead.  But it's nice to know that strangers can be kind without expecting anything in return.

Bumps In The Road And Mashed Potatoes

As we traverse life's highway there are constantly those little bumps in the road that we have to deal with.  Now I don't know about your life, but most everyone I know is plagued with a non stop string of little, annoying, bad things that constantly crop up that they have to contend with.  Have you ever wondered why?

Now I am not talking about those big tragedies we all have to face.  I get that, those are tests and we have to pass them or learn from them if we don't.  Those are the things that make us stronger and better people.  But do those little things make us stronger and better too?

Some people might say it's karma...maybe so...I do believe that what we do has a way of working itself back to us.  Some people might say it's random chance with no rhyme or reason...I can't say for sure, but I don't really believe that because I don't believe that life is a random set of episodes.  Yet others might say that we bring our misery on ourselves.  Perhaps in many instances that's true.

But this time I am fairly certain I didn't do anything to bring this on (unless it really was karmic retribution for some past misdeed)...in fact all I did was yawn.  A yawn that was followed by a sharp pain and a pop.  Then I couldn't close my mouth.

I tore a tendon in my jaw.  After a visit to my dentist I learned a fascinating fact.  In our jaws we have a little disc of bone that is only held in place by our tendons, much like our knee caps.  It's not attached to anything, and when you tear a tendon it behaves like a slipped disc in your spine, and it moved around more than it's supposed to.  It will slide between your jaw bones and prop them open until the muscle relaxes and it slips back out.

My dentist told me that I need to eat soft food for a week and try not to yawn...yeah because I have a lot of control over that.  And then hopefully it will heal on it's own and I won't have to go to a specialist.

The trouble with soft foods is that the majority of them aren't good for you.  Sure you have apple sauce, yogurt and certain kinds of soup, but there is pasta and cottage cheese and mashed potatoes and pudding which are bad.  I figure if I am going to have this pesky little trouble, I should at least get the silver lining of being able to lose a couple pounds out of the deal...but no.  Nooo! 

Can someone please pass the mashed potatoes...sigh~