Snow Day

Wow.... This is Dec.1 and apparently it never snows like this here. They cancelled school so my girls were happy but hard to think that last week we were wearing shorts. My sister said it snowed like this to make us feel at home.

Just like Utah today.

Here we are on the day after Thanksgiving at White Sands National Park.

What an amazingly beautiful place. We are wearing shorts and it is a gorgeous day. We went sledding down the soft sandy dunes and laugh at the dog who keeps thinking it is snow and trying to eat it. Ewww!

Hard to believe it is November 27th.

Holiday Portals

They're here...

Holiday Portals in time for Thanksgiving.

Lots of you have requested a portal for your "elf on a shelf". These might do the trick.

http://www.amazon.com/Elf-Shelf-Christmas-Tradition-Gift/dp/B000XR6MBQ

No Pain , No Gain

Yesterday I said my Orange wall sounded "yucky". Not that any of you care what my walls look like but I have to share my orange wall.

I used to paint my house whenever the mood the struck me. I would change colors whenever we got tired of the old colors which could be quite frequent. I used to paint other peoples walls too. Murals, colors, whatever. Well, I was younger too. I painted this wall yesterday and it is a pretty good size wall. It is texured in that orange peel type texture which I have never dealt with. This is a stucko town. Every wall in New Mexico must be stucko or some textured version. Anyway, it is a lot more work to get the paint into the texture.

I used a dark yellow base then went over the whole thing with a dragging brush and a rag in a burnt umber glaze. The glazing part took about 2 and a half hours. I finished up, cleaned up and went to put my paint away. I reached up and thought my arm was going to fall off. Oooo the burn in my shoulder.Oh my. I have not been able to move my arm for two days. I guess I am out of painting shape. Like I said, I used to be younger too.

I love my ORANGE wall !

Home

Home...

We are getting settled in our new home.

It does not quite feel like home yet. I need color on my walls for it to be familiar. I did paint my living room orange yesterday. It sounds yucky but it turned out very colorful and we love it. Makes us happy.

This is the view from the front porch. The sunsets here are so amazingly beautiful that it makes up for the lack of green...my grass and trees that I am missing.

There are other kinds of beauty here in the desert and I look forward to see what all of the growing things do in the spring.

I will post more as I slowly get unpacked. I did find my clay and I am starting to work on some fairy portals for the holiday elves.

Until then, Thanks ! xoxoxox

I never know what to "blog" about.

I always feel kind of uncomfortable writing about myself. I started my blog so that people could find my artwork when I was not vending at shows.

I joined esty shortly after and so my blog became secondary and kind of a back up.

I am going to try to be a better blogger after my big move.

Here is some news on my big move.... This is a picture of the New Mexico, White Sands balloon festival held a couple of weekends ago in Alamogordo, NM.

This will be my new home. Ahhhh! I have lived in Salt Lake City, Utah my whole life. This is an adventure of enormous proportions for me and my family. Alamogordo is a very small city compared to SL.

I hear they have lots of festivals so I will continue to be able to set up my little clay booth and sell my art.

My kids are kind of excited for a change and my hubby has a great new job so all will be ok.

I have to thank everyone who was so supportive during our transition and for those scary months when we were without a job and insurance and pretty much terrified of what the future held for us.

I can't wait to get settled into our new home and meet new friends and see where my art takes me next.

I will miss my friends in SL and all of my market friends (You know who you are!) and the great experiences I shared with the wonderful art community in Utah. You are an amazing bunch and I hope we will cross paths again.

Talk to you all when we get settled. Thanks and BE HAPPY !

Brass Bugs

Try, try, try again... Success!

Cross Pollination...

I have been overwhelmed with the kindness of strangers. I feel like I shouldn't really say strangers because we share a talent and a desire to create things. It puts us together as peers, mentors, someone who inspires us and makes us want to be better .

I only say strangers because we have never met in person. I don't really know anything about them other than I get words of encouragement, a kind message on my etsy shop , blog or a really nice compliment on my work.

I have kept my blog just about my work but today I am joining the other nice "strangers" and I am going to occasionally post other works that inspire and make me want to be better. I call it cross pollination and like in the garden, we all benefit. So here's to all of you bloggers, artists, patrons of the arts, and strangers....Thanks from the very bottom of my heart. I am inspired by all of you.

I am starting with this amazing self taught artist Tonja Lenderman who heard I was having a tough time and really went out of her to way to make me feel better. She featured me on her blog today which is so beautiful and I was so excited to find her etsy shop. www.tonjastreasures.etsy.com

Just when I thought there were no more fresh ideas... Look at her cute little flower canes. They arrive to you already cured and are used for nail art or scrap booking. Genius!
http://tonjastreasures.com/wordpress/

Thanks Tonja, Thanks Dayna and Rana, Thanks Polymer Clay Daily, Thanks Libby, Thanks to all of you anonymous posters and everyone else who goes out of their way to be kind to a friend or "stranger".
You make the world a better place.

Thanks

Thanks to everyone who has sent me good wishes latelty. My family has been going through a real tough time as of late but it is all working out .

Life can be crazy at times and mine is upside down right now. We are unexpectedly moving to New Mexico.

I have lived in Utah my whole life so this is a big move for us but we are up to the adventure and hoping for a great new start.

Meanwhile I have had to put away my clay and start packing up my house. Ahhhhh!!!!

My U of U jewelry and many other items will soon start appearing on my etsy shop so keep checking www.claybykim.etsy.com if you want to purchase any. For now I am still vending at the art market on Saturdays until I sell my home.

Thanks again for all of the kind words and support.

"Life is what happens when we are making other plans."