Kristie LaRose

long time no write/talk

2009-05-11T18:30:00.000-07:00

Howdy-

Isn't she pretty? The super tallented Judy Wise made it- I bought it a few years ago at Artfest. Took a class from her this year- it was Da Bomb!

I dont know if anyone ever checks this out any more other than Celeste and Rene once in a while... Anywoo haa, Celeste did her gentle nudge thing and reminded me to say something... anything.....

Life is good- I'm blessed.

All is well with Judy and me~ We will celebrate our one year aniv. from getting "married" and our 6 year one of being together in a few weeks- can you beleive that? Anyone read this blog that know me longer than my relationship with Judy?

We are blessed- talked a little tonight how we are a "good team". We balance each other out- shes the stable and steady one- I'm a tad more all over the place.

Pic of Misty Mawn and me 2 years ago at Artfest- took her class, the second day she ever "taught"-she is the sweetest!

I'm sad to say we had to say goodbye to George- he was our 20 year old kitty- Judy had George since he was a kitten! Very sad, but he is a better place now. Hes at peace, and hes with Dog my kitty that passed a few years ago.

I was lucky enought to get to go to Artfest this year again- third year I have been lucky enough to get to go- I had the best fricking time! I went a few days early, got a super cute cottage on the ocean, I had to walk about 50 steps out my door and I would overlook the ocean- you could walk down to it, very few people there- like 2 over 3 days of wandering it- I found sand dollars- just picked them up out of the ocean and sand. Had the greatest time at Artfest learning, playing, eating, drinking, laughing, seeing old friends, making new ones, trading!, worked in peoplees journals, conjured up plans for future projects...

I'm writing this on our old computer, so I dont have pics from it handy, so here are a few from the first year...

FFFFFAt book for artfest 09

2009-03-11T09:59:00.000-07:00

Woot Woot- just about done with the fatbook production- Three weeks from today ARTFEST 2009 Starts! Yeah baby!

In my studio

2009-02-23T10:41:00.000-08:00

I rearanged my studio a few weeks ago- much more space to create and see the art I have made and collected!

Artfest Fatbook pages

2009-02-22T10:37:00.000-08:00

Hey there-

I'm hosting a fatbook project for this years Artfest- 5 weeks from tomorrow I get on a plane! :) Woo hoo! Cant wait!

Here are some scans of a few of the wonderful pages so far-

Enjoy~

Judy going to see Santa

2008-12-15T16:42:00.000-08:00

Wait! I think Santa is a girl! Hey wait, I think that santa is me~

We volunteered this Sat. at Petsmart, I was Santa and she was my helper. It was a fun day!

Vegas Baby

2008-12-08T19:06:00.000-08:00

Judy and I went to Vegas for a few days over Turkey Day days off - She won, I lost, that is what usually happens to us there. Oh well at least one of us wins. :)

Sushi can be art!

2008-12-07T21:47:00.000-08:00

The top two pics were at my Birthday celebration. Sushi Terrace in Lone Tree- oh sooo yummy

This was a "piece" of sushi I got in Maui- Man you had to dig in to it! Sooo good and soooooooo filling! Fresh Maui fish- oh yeah- I wish my hand or something was next to it so you could get a feel for how big it was- bigger than a burger. Bigger than a big mac even!

Visti with my Dad

2008-12-07T13:03:00.003-08:00

Howdy

I got to see my dad over Turkey day- It was wonderful! Here are a few pics:

Peace out all!

LOL Happy NOVEMBER- Letters all squishy

2008-11-18T21:23:00.000-08:00

LOL- I just posted and for some reason its a hoot to me the way the word November smooshed all together!

Too funny~

Happy November

2008-11-18T18:14:00.000-08:00

Happy November!!!

I Love November!!!

Its my birthday month along w/ a ton of other Scorpios!

Sorry I'm such a slacker poster- Oh well life happens~

Here are a few random pics just because....

Starting to work on my ATC's for the Artfest ATC book project

2008-10-06T18:23:00.000-07:00

Love making lil ATC's- they are my favorite way to get a burst of creativity out of me.

Happy Fall~

2008-09-22T12:51:00.000-07:00

Ohhhhhhhhhh Ahhhhhhhhhhh Pretty fall~ I love this time of year, other than it means winter is right around the corner.
These pictures were from fall 06 in New England

Friends

2008-09-22T10:30:00.000-07:00

Aloha~
Time to stop and reflect- I'm very greatful to have such wonderful friends in my life~
My friend Alissa was out here visiting this past weekend- we had a blast!

Life is good!

covers in production

2008-08-10T18:48:00.003-07:00

covers in production
Originally uploaded by krislarose13

Pages ready to punch for the Fatbook Book project I'm hosting-

2008-08-10T18:48:00.001-07:00

Pages ready to punch for the Fatbook Book project I'm hosting-
Originally uploaded by krislarose13

Artfest Fatbook Pages ready to get punched

2008-08-10T18:47:00.003-07:00

Artfest Fatbook Pages ready to get punched
Originally uploaded by krislarose13

Artfest Fatbook Pages ready to get punched

2008-08-10T18:47:00.001-07:00

Artfest Fatbook Pages ready to get punched
Originally uploaded by krislarose13

I have a Flicker account w/ a punch of pics of art stuff- and pages from the artfest fatbook I'm hosting- I need to figure out how to put a link to it here....

Can you believe its the middle of July already?

2008-07-17T16:32:00.000-07:00

Its less than a year and a half till 2010- has anyone figured out what the 00's will be called- like the 70's, 80's, 90's- etc...

What is this decade going to be called?

Anyone?

Etsy

2008-07-07T16:56:00.001-07:00

Yuppers- Etsy is the coolest thing since sliced bread! Love love love it! I so love buying random stuff- for Mothers Day this year I bought my Mom a few random things with turtles (her fav~) - how easy and cool is it to support artists on etsy?

I'm going to dabble in selling some of my cool "stuff" on etsy-

I'm computer challenged otherwise I would put a link to my "store"- I have one thing for sale so far- a cool ephemera pack- the pictures in this post are part of it.

If you ever want to check out my store go to etsy- and if you look under the seller search area and type in kristielarose you will find me. :)

ATC's in a show~

2008-06-16T16:44:00.000-07:00

Aloha all-

Some of my local art friends found a place that would show some of our ATC's, how cool! Here is a picture of me in front of my cards that were in it- ohhhhhhhhhhh I feel famous now!

Turtle Tattoos!

2008-06-08T19:54:00.000-07:00

Judy and I got Tattoos while in Maui-

My third and her first.

Spike- the artist - they guys who took us parisailing had cool tattoos so I asked them where they got them- they got theirs from Spike so we went and checked out his work. Good stuff!

Maui

2008-06-08T10:19:00.000-07:00

Judy and me on the boat to snorkle- we saw a ton of spinner Dolphins- it was way cool!

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

One of the many pretty sunsets we saw while there.

I kept seeing heart shapped rocks everywhere!

Judy taking a surf lesson

This was pretty cool to see!

This bird loved to say Hello to everyone.

This was the night we exchanged rings. :)

I cant figure out how to turn this around....

OHhhhhh Ahhhh..... So pretty!

Turtles!

We went and saw our friends Jen & Claire on Ohau.

Our first night

Art Pictures

2008-05-21T17:08:00.001-07:00

Aloha-
Here are some recent pictures from my blessed studio~

This is a piece I got at Artfest 08 done by the talented and lovely Misty Mawn... The lovely greenish blueish one above....

Ok - I don't like spiders, yet I have a spider sticker on one of the walls in my studio- one night I saw this spider coppin a squat next to my spider so I had to snap a picture.

OK this twins piece I got means alot to me- It was done by the wonderfully talented Judy Wise- my mom is a twin-they are also Geminis which is the sign of twins- so double double trouble! :)

The red lips looking thingy in front of the cat was from a red inchie project I played in a while ago- isn't it the coolest- so looks like a nose and mouth to me- it was a accident so I totally dig it!

Maui bound soon.... :)

2008-05-19T17:24:00.000-07:00

Mercury Retrograde...

2008-05-19T15:40:00.000-07:00

Ohhh- I never sent this out- last time Mercury went retrograde- Its going again as we speak..... see below:

Its that lovely time of year again- well actually it happens three times a year for about 3 weeks or so--- The planet Mercury goes retrograde, which in some ways means it travels backwards. Mercury is the planet of communications, so when it goes retrograde it makes communication go haywire... Typcial events that happen much more frequent in these weeks is things to do with communication especially break down- like computers, cars, also stuff like appliances- you know mechanical stuff. Traffic is aweful- travel plans go a mess....

Then verbal communication can go haywire- you mean to say one thing and its interpretated another... Not the best time to sign contracts if possible. Actually its any type of communication..

One awesome thing (and probally the only one I can think of) about Mercury retrograde period is its a great time to reflect on one self- analyze what makes you tick and why....

New Project

2008-05-03T15:23:00.000-07:00

I subscribe to Art & Life a quarterly publication by Teehsa Moore and the last issue had a article about this girl and her partner doing a year long project- they started with a blank canvas each and each day put something on it- collage it, painted it- whatever. If they traveled they collected something that day to attach to the canvas when they got home. This inspired me- especially since I usually work very small... I have been adding to my piece for a little over a month now- I will post pictures as the year unfolds. These pic's were from at least two weeks ago- the first pic. was taken the first week- such a blank canvas- not for long! It is 2 feet by 4 feet.

Zetti

2008-04-28T17:29:00.000-07:00

I love it!!! I dont know whos art this is or I would give credit to her/him. Anyone know? - I totally dig it!

I'm hosting a Zettiology ATC swap on artisttradingcards yahoo group- If you want info. hit me up with a post. Due data is the end of June or July, having a moment.... cant remember....

Love is in the air

2008-04-28T17:27:00.000-07:00

I made this a while ago- actually many moons ago- almost 4 years worth of moons....

Judy and I celebrate 4 years and 11 months today- gulp- one more month till we hit 5 years-

I love you my girl!!!

Fatbook project I'm hosting

2008-04-27T10:46:00.001-07:00

Woot Woot! I'm getting excited about upcoming projects I'm hosting! :)

The main one being the Post Artfest Fatbook- There are 40 players total, so there will be 40 pages.

A majority of the players stayed or played in Dorm 202. I love that dorm! A bunch of wonderful - zanny women!!!! I miss you!

I just made the first 4 covers- they wont be anything super fancy but all different slightly- I'm stamping the owl from this years artfest, a tree, a cool saying and putting encaustic wax over each one to funkify it! :) Once I scan some I will post pictures here. And if I'm up to it may do the same for pages that come in- check on back ya'll... Ya hear? :)

Happy Sunday!

Columbine

2008-04-20T10:25:00.000-07:00

9 years ago today was a horrible day for many- It was the day of the Columbine shooting- I now live about 10 minutes away from there, but 9 years ago I was in Phoenix working for a school when I heard the news. Such senseless acts of rage and horror. When we moved here our real estate agent kept telling us we had to live in Highlands Ranch/Littleton, when ever I heard the name Littleton I thought of that horrible day....

Yesterday I had a therapy appointment, the lady I see lives about 1 mile from there. Afterwards I went to the memorial they put up for the first time. It was a beautiful day, at a beautiful park- the sun was glorious. Birthday parties going on, softball tournaments, kids playing - what a wonderful day. I made my way to the memorial.

I cant really describe it, other than its perfect for what it is and symbolizes. The outer ring has quotes in a stone wall that touch the soul. I walked around it slowly and quietly as did about 20 other people. I have had a emotional few weeks and needed a good cry so the tears fell slowly and silently from my eyes.....

The inner ring has the names of the victims and some words about them, one or two had words from their victims. There were flowers strewn around and I felt the energy of angels with us.

What can we do to prevent this from happening again? Please please please love each other- those of you with kids try to love them the best you can. Please get help doing this if you need it. I really worry about our future of mankind. If you don't have kids, or even if you do, please reach out to others. Love, respect, help each other. We need to reach out to everyone, everyone needs to feel loved.

Please smile to people as you walk by others on the street, smile and great the person bagging your groceries by name. Little things like this might be the boost someone needs exactly at the time they need it most.

If your having a problem with someone/something talk about it- don't let it fester.

Lets just love and respect each other.

Thanks for listening- have the best day you can!

And still more Artfest 2008 pic's

2008-04-12T14:45:00.001-07:00

From here down to the tree all these pictures came from Show and Tell night- Please let me know if your work is on here and you want me to remove or give credit to you. I didnt take down who did what...

More pic's of Artfest 2008

2008-04-12T14:38:00.001-07:00

I have a slight obsession with taking pictures of me and a friend or two myself- holding the camera at arms length distance and snapping! Here are some I did with new and old friends at Artfest. :)

Artfest 2008

2008-04-09T16:48:00.000-07:00

Howdy---

I think I am almost caught up on my sleep from the lack of it at Artfest- For those of you who don't know (well doesn't everyone know???) Artfest is a WONDERFUL art retreat up in Pt. Townsend Washington. Its about a 1 1/2 hour from Seattle. This was my second year I was blessed to go.

I flew in on Tuesday April 1st after work, and stayed with my friend Celeste who I met the previous year at Artfest and her partner Cynthia- thanks ladies! Celeste and I made our merry way to the Ft on that Wednesday.

We checked in, got our goodie bag and went to unpack- we were both in dorm 202, this year I was "crazy" and roomed w/ roomies, last year I had a private room. I was nervous about having roomies as I never have experienced such a thing- one roomie yes, but not 3. They were all wonderful ladies! Hey ladies!!!!

The "opening ceremony" was much much better (in my opinion) than last year. This year they had each teacher come up, introduce themselves and pick a card w/ a pre filled out question on it- like "when you get blocked creatively what do you do to unblock", or "do you create in silence, music, tv" and other question like that- you got to hear from each of them and was a great way to "know" a tad about them.... From there off to the Art asylum room to scroung for good stuff, what is the art asylum room you ask? Its a huge room/building that you can bring your unwanted/unused art supplies to. One persons trash becomes another treasure... Great place to sift Thru stuff....

First day I had "Natures Journal" with LK Ludwig - I had false expectations (nothing to do w/ the course description or the teacher, I guess I didn't pay attention to how much stuff we were going to learn) that I would actually finish my book that day- at first I was a little bumed at the end of the class cause I had a book not totally put together and all these cool things to put in them but not "done"- when I was showing my roomies all the stuff I made I was like LaRose who do you think your kidding..... you made a ton of cool stuff... learned alot of cool tech.-
Now looking back I'm glad I didn't "finish" the book. I will be taking it in another direction that I would have.... LK is the sweetest. I have read her blog and a book of hers and admired her work for a while, now I can put a soul to the face. :) very lovely woman!!!

That night was journaling down at the beach. Me and some of my peops went down and got a spot- they had fun journaling, I mainly watched but did a lil journaling. It was alot of fun- got loud and rambunctious- good stuff. Then we headed home for the "After hour party" as my roomie Nikki called it- Dorm 202 was quite the partying one - I thought last year we were crazy, this year took the cake- each night more and more gals gathered. Bringing stuff to show and tell, stuff to work on, stuff to eat and drink. :)

The second day of classes I took "Black Board Journal" with Bee Shay-

Love love loved it- I got that sense of accomplishment I was needing and totally constructed my book- didn't finish embelsighing it 100%, but that's ok- this was her first time teaching at Artfest and she soooooooooooooooooo did such a great bang up job- she did a great job of keeping us aware of the time and paced us well. This was a super "easy" project, anyone who can follow directions and take some time could do it. Sat with one of my buds Diane, so we yapped the whole time- special lady! :)

If I put your picture on here and you want it off please let me know.

Peace, Love, Heath, and Happiness to you all!

That night was the famous vendor night- ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh thats all I can say about that- I got some wonderful pieces of art that I will most likely share in a future post...

More partying in 202 that night....

Third day of classes I took "Shivering Fragments" from Lynn Perella- I swear it was like art therapy. we were asked to bring something that meant something to us, I didnt really "get" what we were supposed to bring, but that was my bad for not asking sooner. We gessoed our "canvas" texured it and let it dry- then we gathered in a circle and one by one explained our "fragment"- this was pretty intense. I'm hoping Lynn has some psychology in her background somewhere, some of us may have needed it. We talked for about 1 1/2 hours, different parts, different things, cool stuff all in all. Me being who I am was freaking out a little when we got back from lunch at 12:30 and only had till 4 (she was a sweetie and let us stay till past 5 if need be) and hadnt started to paint or collage yet.... It all worked out in the end. At first I hated what I did, I wished I didnt add more colors to it when I did..... got frusterated, but looking back I think the day and class turned out as it was suposed to... I'm really excited about what I learned and will in alot of ways take the most away from this class. Great lady! :)

That night I went off campus for some yummy grub in town and then hit show and tell. This is wehre you can bring what you made to show. ITs a great way for people to figure out what they want to take the next year. Lots of wonderful beautiful stuff!!!

The party in 202 that night was the biggest and loudest, as it should be seing it was our last night.... I steared away from any talk of it being over as I knew I would get emotional.... I had a few drinks in me so any sad stuff would have put me over the edge.

The next day said goodbyes for now to my friends and drove to Pikes Place for some food and shopping, Celeste went with me and we met up w/ a online friend of mine and her son- such a sweet boy!

Everyone needs a Judy!!!

2008-04-07T15:08:00.000-07:00

Hey there-

Got back from ARTFEST 2008 last night about midnight- I will post lots about it soon....- its amazing how you don't appreciate things sometimes till they are gone for a bit- got in my car and much smmmmoooooother than the rental, I could steer and back up ok again! The roads here are flat and straight, great for this bad night driver to maneuver on...

Got home and Jake and Riley (my dogs) greeted me with lots of love- Judy was in bed so I went and said hello and got a kiss. Then to the couch- how comfortable are couches when you haven't sat on on in a while? Luscious!

I went to my art studio in the basement which I left in a huge mess.... My girl not only cleaned it, but made me a rolly thing for my sewing machine, put together this shelf thingy, put all my paints on it... Hung some fatbooks- lots of little things. She said don't worry I didn't throw out anything, I finally got her to realize that 1/8 of a inch scrap may be needed for something some day...... Now that I took a class w/ Lynn Perella I believe that even more! :)

Everyone needs a Judy! I am a very lucky and blessed woman! :)

Easter & Moms visit

2008-03-26T15:24:00.001-07:00

My mom came out for a visit over Easter weekend- this was her first time visiting me in Colorado-

It was a nice visit. :)

I cooked a big dinner on Sunday and had some friends over- it was alot of fun!

Life is good!!!

What is this?

2008-03-12T17:51:00.001-07:00

Any idea of what this is or says? My one year old puppy got ahold of one of my markers, got it all the way outside before she got the cap off- bless her I say!

Please look at it again before you read below and try and make out what we think it "says"

Her name is Riley and I swear it looks like she was writing her name! Its so cool Judy and I can't bring ourselves to be upset about it. Tallented lil girl we have huh?

Leap Year

2008-02-29T20:31:00.000-08:00

Happy Leap Year Day!
I find it odd that every four years we have a extra day, a new president is elected, and the summer Olympics...
Why all in the same year?

Pics from Artfest 2007

2008-02-24T11:07:00.000-08:00

Artfest 2008 is coming up fast! I cant wait! Who all is going? Here are some pic's of 2007- Also my first two posts are about Artfest 2007 check them out for more pic's and stuff. :)

The fab and wonderful Holly! :) I"m gonna miss you this year- wish you could come play!

The wonderful and wacky gals in 202!

Mercy- could my room get any messier?

Our kids are Elway fans like Judy

2008-02-24T11:04:00.000-08:00

How cute are Jake and Riley? They love John Elway just like Mama Judy

Way too long...

2008-02-24T11:00:00.000-08:00

Mercy
It has been waaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyy toooooooooooooooooooooo long... I haven't blogged in almost two months! Mercy

Well what do I have to say?
Life is good- I am very blessed-

Artfest is less than two months away, woot woot! Cant wait! :)
That event last year is where I caught the blogging bug- everyone was like you need a blog- a year later and part of me says I don't need one, but they are fun. A easy way to let your thoughts out, have friends be able to keep tabs with you easy way. Please post a link to your blog in a comment to this post and I will link up our blogs. Come out come out who ever you are! :)

Happy Ho Ho!

2007-12-27T15:15:00.000-08:00

Howdy-

I hope your having a wonderful holiday season! We had a great Christmas and look forward to a nice long weekend for New Years as well.

I find it interesting how much Judy loves Christmas, as shes not religious, but she admits she loves the presents! :) How can you knock her for being so honest?

It snowed here all day on Christmas, so we had a white one. I sure do miss the sunny Arizona ones!

Anywoo here are some pictures.

Happy HO Ho to you and yours! :)

Kristie

Happy Birthday to Me

2007-11-21T13:44:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to Me!
Happy Birthday to Me!

Happy Birthday Dear Kristie!
Happy Birthday to Me~

I'm a Scorpio/Sag. - A cusper they call us! Best of both worlds I say! :)

I hope to blog more in the future- sorry I have been Lame-O

Gobble Gobble!

Fall in New England 2006

2007-10-19T16:47:00.000-07:00

I havent posted any pictures in a while--- Here are some from the trip Judy and I went on last fall to New England... Visited my friends and family and did alot of touristy stuff too! :)

Baseball

2007-10-16T18:00:00.000-07:00

Who r u rooting for to win the world Series? Granted we don't know yet if it will be Cleveland or Boston- The winner of that series will play the Colorado Rockies! Judy and I went to game 3 here the other night- it rained all night! It doesn't usually rain like that here.

They swept the D-backs in four games- pretty cool stuff!

Were going to try and get tickets for the World Series!

I am lucky enough to have gone to one already- game one of the WS D-Backs Versus the Yankees-

It was the first big event after 9/11. I was paranoid that the terrorists were going to try and bomb it or something.. Security was extra tight... I wrote a short will before I went- Made sure my cat and dog were going to good homes...

That was a intense game...

Who is your team???

To subject Kristie

2007-10-16T17:47:00.000-07:00

scary title line- the last guy I dated wrote a song about me called "to subject Kristie"- he was a strange duck..... Gosh that was almost nine years ago already. When I tell people this story they say is that why your gay?

He is in jail now- he will be sentenced in a few weeks for murder. Not just "normal" murder - Gosh- what is normal? He broke into the neighbor of his mothers place- murdered her, dragged her to his his moms basement cut her head off, cut her into pieces and put them in trash bags... I'm sooo glad I never pissed him off... there are more crazy details, but I will save them for my novel I write someday-

Life is crazy

Enjoy each day you have. Be safe out there.

:)

Kristie

Artfest 2008!!!

2007-09-17T18:48:00.000-07:00

Howdy!!!

I am fricking stocked.... I am blessed and getting to go to Artfest 2008! Yes I am a spoiled princess!

I didnt get any of my first, second, or third pick on day two- but I'm excited I'm taking what I am- Its a class I was deff. looking at! :)

I doubt there really is such a thing as a horrible class there- maybe a not so great one....

Who all is going? Please post a comment if you are going- heck post one if your not- :)

Yellowstone vacation

2007-09-02T11:21:00.000-07:00

This is the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. This was the town center park of Jackson Hole- good shopping and eats!

Judy and I went for a walk near our hotel

Cool geyser in Yellowstone Lake!

Pretty!!!

Can you see the three deer in this picture?

A cool guy who was sorta from Virginia he said- I guess he spent a lot of years in New Zealand, and Japan took this picture for us.

Stuff like this was all over the place - man oh man- so many gysers, so little time! :)

This is the Old Faithful Lodges lobby.

Me walking a labyrinth in Jackson Hole

Good Old Faithful

Crows or Ravens on Old Faithful before she blew.

Moose!!! Good thing we saw them on the way in, otherwise we wouldn't have seen any!

Us on the river trip-

Lonestar Geyser- we hiked 5 miles round trip to this.

This is the Bald Eagle we saw hunt

This is the Elk near our hotel- that is Yellowstone Lake in the background.

Hey there-

Judy and I just got back from our vacation to Yellowstone national park and Jackson hole WY-
It was awesome being one with nature for some time.

We were lucky- not a ton of people in the park- if we went a week or two earlier it would have been crazy!
We saw a few moose, tons of Bison, a few Elk- there was one near our hotel that would graze at like 5ish.., a few bald eagles from a distance, and one flew down on the road in front of us and picked up a animal, we followed it down the road a bit and it landed in a tree- we watched it for a bit- it was very cool!!!
We saw a coyote, a cool goat thingy, lots of chipmunks and squirrels.

Then of course there were geysers, mud pots, all kinds of cool things like this. And quite a few beautiful waterfalls, and Yellowstone Lake- such a beauty!!!

Jackson Hole Wyoming was pretty cool too! We did a scenic river float down the Snake River. Went horseback riding in Yellowstone- Fun stuff!

Some pictures of art~

2007-08-23T15:55:00.000-07:00

These ATC's were made quite a while ago, but still dig them...

oldies but a goodies!

Funny pic of Jake from a while ago--

2007-08-12T11:57:00.000-07:00

This is my boy~

Pic's from my trip to Rocky Mountain National Park

2007-08-12T11:41:00.000-07:00

Rocky Mountain National Park is a beautiful place to spend some time relaxing and taking in nature...

That Black Bird and me bonded- I followed it arund for a while, him and his frined- and took pictures of them.. What type of bird is he?

I enjoyed the wildlife- the Marmets (spelling?) were very friendly- which is probably a bad thing, they must get fed by people a lot-

oh my gosh- a new post???

2007-08-11T12:34:00.000-07:00

Holey Smoley- its been over a month since I last blogged.... What the heck is going on with me?

Well I will tell you- I have been doing some soul searching lately- been in my head- not making all that much art- some ATC's here and there, but that's about it-

By nurture or nature I am actually - or was- is- was??? anyways by nature I am usually a pretty private person in a lot of aspects of me- sure I will tell ya all about this and that----
This blogging thing is great for me as it gets me out of my comfort zone- I will admit it does freak me out that anyone in the world can read this...
Back in my early 20's I was as private as you get in a lot of ways- my best friend Bonnie was over me & my roomies house, I wasn't home.- the shoeless hippy girl (I love you Bonnie!) wanted to go to a store or something and asked Lou if she could pop in my room to borrow a pair- Lou my roomie was like nope she will flip if someone goes in her room when not home... Oh the memories we have of conversations and occurrences. :)

Been on a diet- gasp did I just say that word? Yuppers--- anyways- I have been on a diet for 3 weeks now and exercising- have lost 8 lbs!!! Yup I'm very excited about this... I had a bad experience on a diet at age 16 or so and have stayed away till now- back then- I was on the diet center diet with my mom- I was working one morning at Dunkin Donuts (I worked there for 8 frickng years!!!! Crazy!) had not eaten anything yet- the diet cleansed you of most of sugar- so my blood sugar level was pretty low- I passed out while waiting on someone- the baker out back had seen me start to go pale and fall and he caught me- :) had to go to the hospital- the Dr. was like your blood sugar is low we need you to drink this OJ- I was like nope its not on my diet--- needless to say I was pretty into the diet- pretty hardcore! That scared me from diets - don't get me wrong I would exercise and eat healthier sometimes after that, but pretty much I have been eating too much most of my life- luckily not way too much----

Am I boring you yet? :)

Artfest 2008 registration is coming up next month- I cant wait-
Cant decide 100% yet what classes I want to try and get into- have like 6 choices for each day that I love!!!
woot woot!!! I highly recommend this art retreat to anyone who loves playing and creating art- you can be of any level.... Its a blast- very good for the soul-- see a older blog post from Aprilsih on my experience this year....

Blogging is weird for me, at artfest last year I keep hearing you have to have a blog so here it is- I often wonder is anyone reading it? Then get a comment here or there and I smile-
:)

Went to Estes Park & Rocky Mountain National Park a few weeks ago- stayed overnight- just went by my lonesome as I wanted time to get in my head even more- what the heck am I thinking so much these days???? It was beautiful- I stayed in a little hole in the wall motel- Judy would have hated it-- the small lake was pretty close to the hotel so that was cool--- also walked around quint downtown Estes- went to lunch at the Wild Rose- Love the name of that place and the food is good- last time I went there was with Judy and my ex girlfriend Heather- If it wasn't for Heather Judy and I wouldn't have met... Awwwwwww..... The National Park was fricking beautiful- kind of surprised there wasn't more rest areas/picnic areas/parks in the park--- you had to drive a long time in between places to stop at times.. . saw lots of cool animals- hopefully I will get a chance to put some of the pictures I took up here to check out.

Work has been crazy the last few weeks, think that is draining a lot of my energy...

Ok done for now- thanks for listening- Hope life is going great for you!!!! :)

2007-07-07T11:03:00.001-07:00

Howdy-

Here is a link to the auction I am hosting for MS- Multiple Sclosis. My girlfriend and I are raising money, she's riding in a 150 mile bike ride today and tomorrow for it. God bless her!!!

http://cm.ebay.com/cm/ck/1065-29296-2357-0?uid=78258779&site=0&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;ver=LCA080805&item=290137030150&lk=URL

A post below has some of the pictures from the auction, things like a travel fatbook with pages by about 50 artfest attenees. About 15 charmes, a pink canvas bag that was given to each attendee, 10 ATC,s and a bunch of other random art stuff!

Also I will be listing some auctions for lots of 9 (a sleeve) of Artist Trading Cards- AKA ATC's. These too the proceeds will go to the MS charity. I will be auctioning off two sets of 9 origninal ATC's I made over the years- going back two + years you can see how I have grown as a artist. :)

I will be auctioning off a few sleeves of 9 ATC's of artists I know also- the second picture below is work of other artists, the first and third sleeves are ATC's I made.

Here are some pictures of past bike rides:

What a blessed month of June!

2007-06-23T10:05:00.000-07:00

My my- life is good! :)

June 2007 sure has been chocked full of events!

It started out with my friends Sheila and John getting married- :) They are awesome together- I'm very happy for them- Sheila looked gorgeous at the wedding! John very handsome- We watched their two little dogs while they were on their honeymoon- who got along pretty well w/ Jake and Riley our dogs- The poor cat!!!

I went to the ATC trade at Core art studio on Santa Fe in Denver - its always the second sat. of the month. Traded about 50+ cards- Love it!

Went to the student art league show after that- such cool art there every summer- its got students and teachers selling their work- I got a super cool Raku cross- No I'm not into crosses- actually its my first for the wall ever. Its really pretty colors!!!

Our puppy Riley is growing like a weed- we started puppy training a few weeks ago- been twice now- shes such a good girl! Love her to pieces- I'm so proud of her big brother Jake doing so well with her- he loves to play with her- the only time she barks is when she wants to play and Jake doesn't.

The Yankees were in town this past week- ha vent been here in like 5 years- interleage play and all- Judy and I went to all three games- they were awesome even though they lost all 3.

I did get alot of cool pictures- some of Rodger Rocket Clemmins warming up in the bull pen- Jorge Possada catching---

and at the end of that game I got some of Mariano Rivera warning up in the bull pen- I yelled down "Marinao I love you!" he looked up smiled and did a lil wave- I was all excited like a kid!!!

We went and saw "the Police" at the Pepsi center- that was amazing!!!!

Sting still has it even after all these years- the Police havent been together in over 20 years!!!

We went to the Renaissance festival last weekend-that is always a good time- good shows- good eats---cool stuff/art to look at- the weather was good and we had a good day!

This weekend in Denver is Gay Pride!!! Tomorrow is the parade and all the hoopla- Denver has a really good Pride event! I have attended them in Denver, Phoenix, Flagstaff, Tucson, San Diego, and last but certainly not least LA! I'm walking in the parade for my first time- I'm walking w/ the Douglas County Demms- I'm excited!!!

Man oh man - no wonder I'm tired today!!! This has been a crazy month of June!

Pictures of some recent Art I created

2007-06-18T19:33:00.000-07:00

Just me having fun. Playing around.

Pic's of stuff that will be in Artfest Auction for MS charity.

2007-06-18T19:27:00.000-07:00

To blog or not to blog...

2007-06-18T14:49:00.001-07:00

I haven’t blogged in a while--- that’s weird- I really like to hear myself talk! LOL…
I am trying to take more pictures of my work to post here, need to upload some pics…

My girlfriend is riding the MS 150 bike ride for the 8th year soon and is trying to raise money to donate to the cause. I will be auctioning off a Artfest 2007 Goodie Package soon, stay tuned for more info. I won ½ of the trades that were raffeled off at Artfest this year, on top of that I made a ton of trades so I’m donating some of my loot to this auction- some of the cool stuff will be a Fatbook (the 4 x 4 hosted by Carol Parks), a pink tote bag that we got when checking in which has the Artfest logo on it. Also about 13 charms, a few ATC’s, and about 15 other misc. cool things.
I will post pictures of all the goodies here over the next week or so…. Check it out!

Summer is almost here! :)

2007-06-05T18:22:00.000-07:00

Howdy~~~~

Its getting nice and warm out there-

I love this time of year!

Above you will see some of the ATC's I have made, all of them are pretty old, but I like them.

In Memory of Dog

2007-05-30T10:24:00.000-07:00

Dog- AKA Dogpound- Quarter Pounder- Pounder-

Passed May 29, 2007-

He lived a long fun filled life-

He joined my life in Fall of 1997

How he got his name- Dog

He seemed to be a homeless kitty around my work- he was all raggedy- he had lots of fluffy gray long hair that was amess and always hungry- I wasn't sure if he was homeless, but if he was I wanted to take him home with me and give him a good home and life.

I read Medicine Cards- which are American Indian cards that depict different animals and their meaning. I shuffled and tried to ask if this kitty was indeed homeless and needed a good home- I pulled a card after shuffling the deck and pulled the Dog card-

Which means Loyalty. Dog is a medicine that embodies the loving gentleness of best friend and the half-wild protector energy of territorial imperative.

If Dog had been yelled at or paddled, it still returns love to the person who was the source of its bad treatment. This does not from stupidity, bur rather from a deep and compassionate understanding of human short comes. It is as if a tolerant spirit dwells in the heart of every canine that asks only to be of service.

The words above in blue came from the book I have that goes with the Medicine Cards.

We got to spend almost 10 years together as great friends- he would join me in my art studio- and want to always be on my desk creating with me. :)

His kidneys were in failure, he had lost a bit of weight and was lethargic. Hes at Peace now-

I loved him very much!

Rest in Peace Dog

You will be missed!

The Newest Addition To Our Family~

2007-05-26T16:32:00.001-07:00

Riley Dog!!!

:) Isnt she the cutest?

My girl is the best- she got Riley as a Aniversary present for us!

This past Weekend

2007-05-21T09:57:00.000-07:00

Hola~

Happy Monday! The sky is bright and its a beautiful day! Hope your having a fantastic one!

Judy and I went to see the play Wicked yesterday, it was AWESOME!!!
I highly recomend it if you havent seen it, its based on what happened before the Wizard of Oz.
I'm not big into musicals but this was very well done, kept us entertained the whole time.

Also a super cool event took place in my lil surburbia town- it was a Gayla summit- There were about 175 people, and meetings/speakers and such on things like what we can do to support our local legislation, how to keep GLBT (Gay/Lesbian/Bi/transexual) kids safe at school, how to prepare for later in life/wills/trusts- and some acting and fun stuff to boot! I learned alot! I'm really getting into finding my voice and speaking it!

Hope you had a great weekend!
Man this blogging thing is weird, I feel like I'm writing a letter/email and feel the need to say hello at the begining of each post and goodbye at the end. Anyone else do that? Feel the urge to do so?

My Best Friend Ms. Bonnie!

2007-05-18T18:48:00.000-07:00

I love you!!!
I miss you very much and sooooooooo wished we lived closer-
thank goodness there is the phone and email!

Here are some pics of my Bonnie!

This is Jake, Bonnies Son and my cousin Brandon.

More pictures

2007-05-16T17:54:00.000-07:00

This cool wall hangy thingy allows me to display a12 fatbooks- love it!

My kitty "Dog" wants to paint w/ me!

This is a cool display thingy I got at a yard sale for $5. Judy was like what do you need that for? She now knows...

Pictures of Art!

2007-05-16T17:41:00.000-07:00

Howdy-

Here are some pictures of some Art I have in my studio- aka the basement. The ones on the left and right I got at Artfest 2007! Love them!!!

Artist Trading Cards ATC's - Round Two!

2007-05-10T14:23:00.000-07:00

Round two on ATC’s- Artist Trading Cards
I also attend an in person swap at artist Jerry Simpsons studio- this one takes place the 4th Thursday of the month. This place is amazing! There are different buildings and lots of art and stuff to look at- it’s hard to explain… He has a Mr. Potato head collection on the wall, among a ton of other stuff like that- stuff in bins--- This swap is different than the one held at Core Art Gallery as its smaller in size, more personal. People swap, then they make cards and swap again. It’s a lot of fun!

I first started trading ATC’s almost three years ago. I moved to Colorado w/ my girlfriend and decided that I had a little nest egg and I didn’t need to look for a job for a bit- I was into scrap booking and had a ton of stuff! My best friend Bonnie has a way of turning me on to new things, and I usually get hooked and run w/ them. I found a few online yahoo groups, joined and that was that. I remember my first swap, it was ‘simple pleasures”- I was scared that my art wasn’t art, that it wasn’t good enough. Luckily I didn’t let that stop me and jumped in. I remember getting my first returns and think I was hooked immediately. I joined more and more, and gave hosting a whirl. I swear I always make things difficult the first time I do something. No I couldn’t just pick an easy to administer swap- I had to do a horoscope one, each player was to make 12 cards, one for each sign of the horoscope. So when it came time to swap I had to make sure people were getting 12 different signs back. It was a lot of fun! Some of my favorite cards ever came out of that swap!

Some other themes I have hosted over the years are: Zettiology, Black & White, Tasteful Nudes, Asian, Landscape, Paper Dolls, Gay Pride, gosh I know I have hosted more but my brain isn’t working…

The obsessive compulsive person in me decided that I wanted a card from every ATC artist, so I was joining swaps left and right. I was logging them in a excel spreadsheet so I could sort and seach. I’m pretty sure I have one ATC from an artist in all of the 50 states. J Countries I have cards from are Australia, New Zealand, Germany, UK, Canada, Mexico, and Japan…

I enjoy mail art as it’s a great way to receive mail other than junk mail and bills! J

I host an ongoing newbie swap on artisttradingcards yahoo group. It’s a great way to get your feet wet, with out worrying about quality and such as it’s for newbie’s and non newbie’s alike. If you would like to “play” in this drop me a line (krislarose13@yahoo.com) and I will let you know more info. It’s almost like a one on one trade, with 5 people but w/out having to mail off 5 envie’s.

On my group we have organized swaps, usually 20-40 running at any one time. Hosts have to go thru a process to host to try and provide a safe trading environment. Also we have a RAK database- what’s that? RAK is Random Act of Kindness. It’s where you can put your address info, and someone may pick you out of the blue to drop an ATC to. No return ATC is necessary, but always appreciated!

Also we have a one on one database where people list their contact info, so if you wish to do a one on one trade thru the mail you email someone on the list and see if they want to trade. I suggest you only trade one or two ATC’s thru the mail that you don’t know (other than an organized swap) so if you get burnt its not too bad. We don’t hear of much of this, but it does happen and we can’t enforce people to follow thru.

Whew that was a mouthful… More on ATCs later…

Artist Trading Cards ATC's

2007-05-09T15:18:00.000-07:00

Howdy

I co-own and moderate a large yahoo group that is for trading ATC’s (Artist Trading Cards).
If you would like to join go to yahoo groups and type in artisttradingcards and join. We usually approve memberships daily. Currently we are approaching 3,000 members from all around the world! If you would like to join and are having a hard time send me a email and I can send you a invite.

What is a ATC you say? Well they are little pieces of art, 2 ½ by 3 ½ inches to be exact. They are the same size as trading cards like baseball and Pokeman. They are to be traded and not sold among artists. They are most often traded in person and thru the mail in organized swaps. I like to trade both ways as both have positive sides to them.

I’m going to ramble on a bit for a while here on ATC’s~

In person trades:
I am lucky enough to live in a place that has two monthly in person swap- Denver CO-
I religiously attend the trade that takes place the second Saturday of the month at the Core art studio on Santa Fe in Denver- from 10am to noon. It’s fast and furious, usually about 20-50 traders. They have tables set up for us; most traders keep their cards in plastic sleeves and in a three ring binder. You see a trader that’s not trading and say, want to trade? It’s an unspoken rule (in my opinion) that you don’t say no to a trade. Maybe if you only had a few to trade, you may be saving those for someone that you promised a trade. Some of us are into multiple trades, meaning we may trade 5 for 5 with one person if we both dig each others art. There are a lot of ATC fiends that attend this swap like me, we bring lots to trade and have a blast. On our yahoo group someone asked if its ok to trade ATC’s that you have received in a trade. I think we all need to answer this for ourselfes. For me I have prob. 100+ cards from some of the local people I swap with, and yes I have traded some of them away. The people whos cards I have traded and told were happy to see their cards going out into the universe. Really what do I need so many cards for? How many you ask, honestly I don’t know- but I bet I have over 2,000 easy…
I don’t trade ones I receive from organized swaps online or one on ones trade online.
At this monthly swap there is a fishbowl of theme ideas, a new one is picked each week and it’s a suggestion. I like these as they can get me flowing if my creative juices are stuck… This months theme is “hair”, that’s not floating my boat so I’m not doing it. A few months ago it was mermaids and I totally loved that one! I get a kick out of what people do for themes, they think outside the box. One month it was junk, someone did a collage of a “junk”, I guess it’s a boat? Someone did a junk drawer, someone took soda cans and squeezed them down to ATC size, and someone took trash and made it into art…. So many great ideas, from a lot of awesome talented artists!

I will write more ramblings on ATC trading later/tomorrow-
Peace out for now!

Happy May Day

2007-05-01T15:47:00.000-07:00

I hope the flowers are blooming where ever you are! The lilacs are in full bloom here in Colorado, they look and smell lovely!

I love spring! Oh and the Tulips....

Anyone else out there ever do a Maypole dance? My best friend (hey there Bonnie!) used to go to this May Day camping festivle every year. I went one year and had a blast! Luckily I wasnt the last person dancing around the May Pole- Lore says the last one on it dancing is the first one of the group to get pregnant!

Art studio in the basement

2007-04-29T10:33:00.000-07:00

Howdy-

Been cleaning my basement studio this weekend- reorganizing- I have too- Its yard sale season! They are sooooooooooooo wonderful in my neighborhood! So much cool stuff- I got a display stand thingy yesterday- cleaned it- painted it- I'm going to put fatbooks and other art on it to display and keep me inspired.

Here are some pictures of before the clean and reorg.- Yuppers its messy!

Cats?

2007-04-29T10:25:00.000-07:00

The pic of the three of them is one of the only we have of the three of them- George cant stand Jake- go figure.

Ok I have Jake on the bottom sidebar so I have to give equal time to the adorable cats!

Dog is the grey one on the left- George is the grey & white one- Judys 18 year old cat!

More Pic's from Artfest

2007-04-25T18:30:00.000-07:00

Yes I'm a dork and had to get my pic with all of my teachers! :)

The one w/ the pic of me in my pink apron, I'm with Patricia Seggebruch my teacher for Abstract Pouring Frenzy.

Then there is a pic of the O'Briens and me- :)

The group photo is of the Misty Mawn class I was in-

ARTFEST 2007!!!

2007-04-22T10:06:00.000-07:00

This was me after winning the bag full of trades! Can you tell I'm excited?

The lovely and talented Misty Mawn and me w/ the box's I made in her class.

My dorm. It was Haunted!

The Castle! How cool is that?

Hey there

I have had a few people tell me - "you soooooooooooo need a blog!"
After coming back from Artfest and checking out others super cool blogs I decided to give it a whirl, what the heck right?

I figured I would start out blogging about the wonderful and fab Artfest!!!

It was all I was hoping for and more! Pt. Townsand was darling! I only spent a few hours in the town (downtown) the first day, once I got to the Ft. I pretty much stayed put other than a booze & snack run one night.

Gosh where do I start? It felt like a cult- everyone (500+) walked around w/ big old smiles on their faces and a glimmer in their eye. I’m actually glad I went for the first time by myself, if forced me to talk to a lot of people! Everyone was very sweet and like minded. It was sooooooooooooo refreshing.

I stayed in a dorm room- it was super small and the bed sucked but I was expecting that- the last two nights a lot of the gals in the dorm met up in the common area brought their art to show, food and wine to eat & drink… For me this was one of my favorite parts as I commuted to college, never experienced a dorm or the bonding that goes with it. The last night a gal performed Reiki on me and did some dousing questions for me. That was way cool!!! Thanks Nanci!

Ft. Warden is very old but has so much charm! It was super close to the beach and a lighthouse, very fab!
We had very nice weather! It sprinkled a lil a few nights, but for the most part the sun was shining!

I took “From flat to stacked” with the O’briens the first day- it was a layered metal bracelet- I had never done anything w/ jewelry before so that was a real trip- I think I may have a new hobby! I really enjoyed it, its almost a "easier" art as you have more control than paint. I finished my bracelet, I guess most people don’t finish their projects while there, so I got started on a good foot! I was very glad this was my first class, it took alot of energy, bang bang bang- and I learned alot so my brain was clicked on! :)
My girlfriend came and played in my studio with me last night and made a cool medalion type thingy out of metal- I taught her some of the stuff I learned in this class. Loved the O'Briens! Great teachers!!!

The second day I took Abstract Pouring Frienzy- with Patricia Saggebrush-
Its funny when I say the class name people think I'm saying Abstract porn frienzy- lol!
This class was light and loose and fun! :)
I met not one, not two but three local gals. One lives a mile from me- go figure, small world. The teacher does some wonderful encaustic paintings, she was teaching classes on that but couldn’t get into them, maybe next year.

Its funny, I am realizing I’m getting pretty book smart with art- the local class I took reinforced this as well as artfest- its just getting the knowledge to flow from me artistically…
I did loosen up some in this class, enjoyed working larger and have been doing so since I got home.

Day three was my FAVORITE CLASS… It was called a Box To Treasure – Misty Mawn taught it- I love her work- it was the second time she taught (the first being the day before) and she nailed it! I think it helped a lot that she was very hands on and helping- I had “nose issues” on my face asked her to come help, she sat down and asked if I minded her “fixing it” a bit-I was like please do! Now I have a beautiful box that I designed and have a lil of her magic on it! She was so sweet. I told Judy I have a big old crush on her now!

There was bonfire/journaling night down by the beach- I went down there and hung out- have you heard of the 1,000 journals project? If not google it- its pretty cool, “some guy” started it- he sent 1,000 journals out into the universe for people to work on- anyways he wrote a book on it and was there, I got the book and he stamped and wrote in mine. He had about 10 of the journals with him , it was pretty cool!

Vendor night was awesome! It was fast and furious! I got a few original pieces of work, and some prints and some stamps…. It was out of control, I loved it! It was where students/teachers could rent a table and sell their wares. Man oh man! Wonderful stuff!!!

Trades are big there- people made things from ATC’s, to charms, to books, magic wands, lil handmade stuffed animals… They asked that you dontate a trade, sold raffle tickets for them and gave the money to the kitchen help (yup the food even rocked!) I donated some trades and bought 30 raffle tickets- I’m happy to say I won ½ of the donated trades. I was so excited. Guess what the name of the person who won the other ½ was?

Judy! How weird is that? For those of you who dont know, my other half is named Judy.

The only “down side” to going on this quest was now I’m having a hard time dealing w/ reality of working for a living… LOL… I’m blessed, I have a job that the stress isn’t that bad, that I actually like, It challenges me in good ways, man why am I complaigning?- you would think I was jumping up and down… Any words of wisdom for me here?

Well thats it for now- I'm going to try and put some pics here if I can figure it out-

Peace out!