Painting Again...

Well I have managed to use a little more wild abandon, but...I still need more work!

Starfish

Long ago when I was in college I used to paint.  Mostly water color, but I was quite good at it.  

That was a long time ago!  

Recently I have rediscovered my love of painting but I am not good at it any more. I got it into my head that I wanted to paint a starfish.  I have no idea why.  I just did.

Now that it's done I have realized something interesting about myself and my work...I need to let go more.  Things are too centered and too meticulous.  I think painting should have a wild abandon sort of element to it.  I guess we won't be selling this one.  

I need to find that free and wild part of me.  I rather suspect I need to find that part of me with the bears too.  I have known I have been too meticulous and restrained for too long.  It's that constant struggle to let things evolve naturally and yet have perfection.  Those two things don't go hand in hand.

It's really no wonder artists drive themselves crazy!

More paintings and bears to come...stay tuned.

Hugs, Kelly 

Simplifying Your Life

If you are like me, you have probably seen magazines with articles proclaiming that you should simplify your life.  There are books written on the subject, friends have said they were going to do it.  But I have to be honest with you...I never really knew what that meant. 

Life is complicated, how does one simplify it?  If you read those magazine articles or books or even talk to your friends...it can be any number of things.  Maybe it's about organization. or maybe it's about cutting things out of a busy schedule.  For one friend years ago it meant not dating so many men at one time.  

Today I ran into old navy to return something I had ordered from their website.  I am not sure who designed the dress, but it was clearly meant for woman with a size F bra or something.  Really strange.  When I was there I saw a pair of navy blue sneakers.  I had no idea I wanted navy blue sneakers til I saw them, and then something just clicked.  I thought I can wear these with so many things...jeans, shorts...you name it.

After I left Old Navy with my prize in hand, I had to stop for a few groceries on the way home.  As I was going in, I saw a girl wearing a little sundress with black sneakers.  Now I have to tell ya that is not a pairing I would have thought of, but she looked adorable.  I wondered briefly if it was a fashion choice or if she just didn't have much in the way of shoes.

Suddenly it clicked...the way to simplify ones life is by cutting down on the choices, whatever those may be.

I have been sorting and cleaning lately...we had a huge fire here recently, and I took bags of stuff to Goodwill.  I figured it was a good time to do it with so many people in need.  As I look around my house, I realize I have a long way to go.  I need to get rid of a lot of stuff.  Not all of it physical objects either.  

I was talking to a young man I know the other day, and he told me that one evening in the recent past they had an absolutely spectacular sunset.  He said I wanted to watch it as it faded, but I had to force myself to focus on it.

I thought about that for a long time after.  Sometimes I have to force myself to focus on things too.  Not unpleasant things.  I realized we also have too many choices now of where our attention should go.  TV, computer, books, cleaning, work, friends and family wanting our attention at any given moment.  Those last things are very important.  But so it taking a few moments to enjoy a sunset.  There is something very simple and beautiful in that too.

One of the choices I have made however is to come back to my blog.  I have been away, making very few posts for nearly a year...the same with my bears.  

I want to simplify my life, and in an odd way blogging has always helped me do that by organizing my thoughts and allowing me to focus on them and read them back to myself.  In the mean time I will be getting rid of the clutter in my closet, my house, and my mind!

I hope many of you are still willing to come along for the ride!

Have a wonderful, safe and happy 4th of July!

Hugs, K.

Reading The Fine Print

 

Sometimes I wish I could make everything I own.  Most of the time I wish the world was a better place.  I remember a time when it was.  Although I supposed scam artists have been around as long as there have been people.

R and I received a set of sheets for Christmas.  Last week I decided to use them.  The label as you can see says 1500 Thread Count 100% Egyptian Cotton in big bold letters.  

Now mohair has a cotton backing, and I have a LOT of cotton clothing because I have so many allergies.  So I am familiar with what cotton feels like.  As soon as I took the sheets out of the package and touched them I knew something was wrong. They also had an odd chemical smell.

  Thread count is how many threads are woven into a square inch.  Cotton is a natural fiber.  In order to have 1500 cotton threads woven into a square inch the sheets would be quite heavy.  These were the thinnest sheets I had ever seen.  In order to get a thread that thin, it would have to be some sort of a synthetic.  Cotton spun that fine would break when you tried to weave it.

But I put them on anyway, R was tired and ready to go to bed.  A little later I laid down for a nap.  I erupted in INSTANT hives all over my body.  I got back up and pulled the packaging out of the trash.  I read the entire thing.  

The small letters read "Compare the comfort and soft touch as a" 1500 Thread Count 100% Egyptian Cotton Sheet set.  Then more small letters read "Sheets are made of high strength yarns that will stay soft and wrinkle free for years go come"

Now here is the scary part...no where on the packaging or the label sewn into the sheets does it say just what those yarns are made of!  So I did some research online.  One possible answer was petrochemicals!!!  If you aren't familiar with that, it's exactly what it sounds like...a derivative of petroleum.  Not something you want to sleep on.

After R got up I yanked them off the bed and right out to the trash they went. 

In my research I also discovered that the cost of these sheets is quite low.  Far lower than actual 1500 thread count Egyptian cotton would be.  

So I urge you...if something seems too good to be true, it is.  Read the fine print!

Learning To Love Something & A Sale

I am happy to tell you that I am finally healing.  If you didn't know what was going on, December 1st I fractured a rib.  Then I had company...then I got the flu for three weeks...followed by a sinus infection.  That's why there were no bears for Christmas.  It was heartbreaking.  I have ALWAYS done bears for Christmas.  Actually I didn't get to do much of anything.  R even ended up finishing decorating the tree.  It was sad because I love all the things that go with Christmas.  Things happen, what can you do?

Ok so on to the post:

Do you ever wonder if those weird little things you do are just unique to you or does everyone do them?  They are usually those things you don't ever think to discuss with anyone.  You have no way to know.  I am going to tell you about one of my weird little things.  I am curious if I am alone in this.

So it went like this...I was at the mall, in one of the high end anchor stores.  I saw a small handbag by Patricia Nash.  I love clutch bags.  This was leather...yes, I am sorry I love leather.  Especially Italian leather.  It was a great size, the style was perfect, and it was distressed.  I wasn't sure about the color though, it was pretty vivid.  And I knew it wouldn't go with anything I owned.  Especially my shoes.   I like my shoes to either match or at least compliment my bag.   The tag claimed it was pink.  But not really...more like if pink, orange and red intersected.  Nor was I keen on the price.  I put it back on the shelf.  I kept browsing and found some nice things I liked, but I kept going back to the little clutch.  Finally I bit the bullet after being drawn back to it 4 times and bought it.

I got home, looked at it and thought...what did I do???  This has to go back.  I tucked it carefully back in the bag with the receipt.  But somehow it never did.  It has turned out to be one of my very favorite bags of all time.  

I have done this with several other items in the past.  So my question is...have you ever done this?  Bought something you weren't sure about it and discovered you love it, and use it a lot?  

If so, how does this happen?  Do we learn to love something because we make up our mind to, or does our conscious mind try to override our subconscious?  Clearly some part of me knew this was a good thing that I would use since I kept going back to it.  Why didn't I know right away?  Is it just me who does this?  I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Ok now for the fun part...since there were no Christmas bears, everything on my website at www.blondheart.com is going to be on sale for 40% off until the 15th of January.  If you would like a piece please just e-mail me with your paypal e-mail address, and I will send an adjusted invoice.  The sale is first come first serve. No lay-away, sorry.   Also this will be the only sale all year.  I am going to be going in a little different direction.  Take advantage of it while you can, there are lots of nice pieces available that would love new homes.

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas, and a prosperous new year! 

Hugs, K. <3 br="br">

~*~ Green Ghost Pumpkin ~*~

One of my lovely regular customers asked me to make some bigger pumpkins for her this year.  While I was at it I also decided to make a "Green Ghost" pumpkin.  I had seen one years ago in Martha Stewart's magazine and really liked it.

It's available on my website at www.blondheart.com

Hugs, K. <3 br="br">

Halloween Studio Tour

 

I have three brand new pieces available at the Halloween Studio Tour you will have to click the link to see what they are....*winks*

Happy weekend! 

Hugs, K <3 br="br">