A Great 2009 & More Kitty in 2010!

Thanks to the wonderful and inspirational San Smith and her posts on creating visual lists, Krissi did both a 2009 year-in-review and created goals for the coming year.   As you can see, I show up at the top of both lists.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

1. broadened network and Skelekitty fan-base (facebook fan page, twitter, etc)
   
2. skelekitty.com (up and running)!
3. improved art techniques with practice
4. gallery shows outside of Sacramento and California
5. taught first classes (mixed-media classes at Santa Clarita Craft Lab)
6. helped build Abby's confidence (OK, so its not really a career accomplishment, but if you'd met this dog when we found her, you'd agree that this is worth noting)
7. Artfire.com shop open (Skelekitty & Friends)
8. accepted commissions (from friends)
9. accepted custom orders (from anyone)
10. took portrait class

• BONUS: STARTED MY ART JOURNAL

GOALS (the blank page is for our mid-year evaluation & reassessment)


Again, I'm right at the top of the list, but most importantly, with a recent gift and a sale today, Krissi is very close to accomplishing goal #2!

1. new Skelekitty rubber stamps 
2. (Skelekitty) tee shirts, make 'em, sell 'em
3. 3rd Saturday vendor show (with Juli Nocita - stamps, shirts, prints)
   
4. take figure drawing and/or additional portrait class
5. teach mixed-media at VOX Sacramento
6. get (art) into 3 or more new galleries
7. re-create www.krissisandvik.com
8. paint, sketch or write DAILY
9. make artfire.com shop self-sustaining
10. create on a larger scale (more paintings, larger sizes)

So.

What are YOUR accomplishments and goals?

Friend Prices on Rubber Stamps

Yep, I've completely lost my little kitty mind.

I think that these little red rubber babies will make SUCH great stocking stuffers** that I'm offering "Friend Prices" to everyone on the Skelekitty rubber stamps in stock.  "Friend Prices" means you get 20% off  every single stamp you purchase before midnight on Friday (Krissi usually only offers 10% off when you purchase 4 or more - shhh!  Don't tell!).

Our cyber Monday 20% off deal has also been extended through Friday or until the stamps are gone (and the stock is runnin' mighty low, too)!

Just use coupon code "CYBER09" at checkout, and enjoy your new stamps.

Oh, and don't forget about the Buy-One, Get-One deals on all of my prints through the end of the year!  They're selling like hotcakes, so get 'em while the gettin's good!

** And no, you don't have to give them away - keep them for yourself and make your own unique holiday gift tags!

Yours Truly on Crafty Chica's Inspiration Friday

Guess WHO was featured on Kathy "Crafty Chica" Cano-Murillo's blog today?? She even "outed" Krissi (about her unnatural relationship with glitter).

Diary of a Crafty Chica: INSPIRATION FRIDAY: Skelekitty!


I've noticed a new kitty on the crafting scene - and she literally is...a kitty! This friendly feline has her own web site, a blog and gobs of personality. I was recently able to grab hold of her and ask her a few questions before she sprang out of my hands to go back to her owner's art room. Can you say finicky? By the way, her owner is the talented Krissi Sandvik.

CraftyChica.com: Tell me how you came to be, Miss Skelekitty? Did you get shortchanged from your nine lives?

Skelekitty: Heck no, my nine lives are just beginning! I was introduced to the world in the summer of 2006 when Krissi donated the very first Skelekitty piece a local kitty rescue's annual fundraising auction. Krissi has always loved animals and became fascinated with the Day of the Dead celebration when she lived in San Francisco's Mission District. She thought the spirit of Dia de los Muertos (that is, celebrating the lives of loved ones) fit in perfectly with a kitty adoption organization. Pretty soon, people started asking to see me in more art, so Krissi created a whole line featuring me and my skelecritter pals called Skelekitty and Friends.


Q: And now you are a rockstar kitty - you have a line of stamps in your likeness! Tell me, how did you decide on the poses for the stamps? Did you get final say?

A: Well of COURSE I have final approval on all of my images - I'm a kitty who's definitely not shy about speaking her mind! The stamps were chosen by the nice lady who runs Stampa Fe art stamps in Santa Fe, New Mexico - she picked her four favorites to start off with. The response to the stamps has been so positive, you may be seeing some brand new Skelekitty stamps (and maybe some other skelecritters) soon.


Q: Tell me about your owner, I hear she is very crafty!

A: She sure is - she's always gluing something to something else and started Sacramento's coolest FREE craft night, Scary CRAFT's Night of the Creators. Even her MAIL is crafty! Here is a tutorial!

In addition to her paintings, she makes quilts, reconstructed clothing, shrines, jewelry. Krissi has always loved language and writing and has started to play with photography too! She especially enjoys a challenge where she has create outside of her comfort zone.

Q: How does having a pet helps a person's creativity?

A: Animals are wonderful muses because they are so loving and funny. One of the most popular pieces was inspired by a hungry kitty rubbing against her human's legs when they come home at night.

The antics of Krissi's kitties and dog are often the inspiration for paintings. Anyone who has ever lived with a cat or dog (or small children) will be able to relate to "The Two Sides of Skelekitty."
Q: Will you share your favorite pieces by your owner and how she made them - I'm sure you sat and watched every moment of their creation, right?

A: I imagine everyone expects the portraits of me are my favorites, but they'd be wrong! Like Krissi, my favorite pieces tend to be ones where she experimented by using her favorite imagery within a not-typically-Krissi themes. Painting The Roses Red, which was created for an Alice in Wonderland themed show, is a good example.


I also like the pieces she makes with a real sense of irony, like her "Diet Shrine" art quilt.

Krissi Sandvik. I must share that she told me she never was a fan of glitter until she went on the Crafty Chica cruise and became converted. I think this picture proves that! Krissi is a mixed media artist based out of Sacramento, CA. Visit her blog to see more of her work at http://www.krissisandvik.blogspot.com/

Would you like to submit an article for Inspiration Friday? Click HERE for the guidelines. -SUBMIT your piece with INSPIRATION FRIDAY in the subject line and email to kathy[at]craftychica[dot]com


Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

Skelekitty & Friends' Shop is Now Open on Etsy

Hey there skelecats and skelekittens - I finally got around to opening up my very own shop on Etsy called "Skelekitty and Friends." Although Krissi will continue to carry prints & merchandise of me and my friends in her store, my online store will be your ultimate one-stop skelecritter shop!

I worked yesterday afternoon to post the most popular skelecritter prints ($16 each), and some are even available with custom hand embellishments ($25 each). Shipping is free on your second print (up to five), and be sure to ask about a discount on multiple print/card purchases, too.

I'm photographing and posting more original art - it just takes me a little more time than it takes you humans on accounta my lack of thumbs. Not only are existing pieces still going up on the site, but Krissi is busy working on two new paintings already - I think she's taking advantage of how fast-drying acrylic paints are in this weather.

HEY KIDS!!!! IT'S A GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!

In the meantime, head over to Etsy (where it's free to register and shop) and add my shop to your favorites and you will be entered into a drawing to win an embellished print of the Angel Kitty from Love Cats:I'll choose the winner next Friday, July 24th from those who publicly "♥" my shop (yeah, that means you secret admirers won't be entered, so ya gotta 'fess up!).

I hope you've got something hip and cool planned for the upcoming midsummer weekend. I'll probably just put my paws up, grab a cold drink and snooze, occasionally checking into see how many people "love" me! (skele-kidding).

Summer skele-love,

SK

Another Store With Skelekitty Stamps!

While Krissi and Ron were away on their semi-working trip / vacation, they stopped into the rubber stamp store called "Paws on Main" in Cambria, CA (famous for its location just south of Hearst Castle and for being the town where Arachnaphobia was filmed). Krissi came home with quite a few new stampy goodies and replenished her almost-empty Stickles in "Orange Peel" while she was at it.



While Krissi was all deer-in-the-headlights at the stamps, inks and other good stuff, Ron, as usual, was talking me up to the owner of the store. Karen (that's the owner) immediately got excited upon hearing that rubber stamps of a retro-ish Day of the Dead kitty cat (1) actually existed and (2) could be ordered wholesale for her shop. About 2 days later, I received an e-mail from Lee at Stampa Fe telling me that she was packing up an order to go out to Paws on Main! WOO HOO!

So, if you're on California's central coast, stop by Cambria and tell Karen at Paws on Main howdy (she's super nice) and help keep this kitty in skele-kibble by getting yourself AT LEAST one of those rubber stamps, would ya?

All of the above goes DOUBLE for Cyndi of Santa Clarita Craft Lab who was the very first small business to carry my stamps.

In a New Medium: Chalk!

It looks like yours truly will be making her very first skel-appearance at Sacramento's long-running sidewalk chalk art festival, Chalk-It-Up! To Sacramento on Labor Day weekend 2009.  The Chalk-It-Up! To Sacramento festival started 19 years ago, and was one of the very first "Sacramento things" Krissi and Ron did when they moved here in 2000.  Now here we are almost 10 years later and she'll be one of the artists.  Let's not lose focus here, though, since *I* will be the one immortalized in sidewalk chalk. Oh, wait a minute, maybe that's not so immortal after all.....

In any event, Krissi will be representing Body Tribe Fitness and wanted me to ask you what you think I should be doing to best represent this unusual midtown gym and its physical subculture.  All ideas are welcome!

xoxo

SK

In Print

Howdy gang! I got home from a kitty-prowl the other day to find a package in the mailbox from Guadalupe's Fun Rubber Stamps in Santa Fe (they make and carry the line of Skelekitty rubber stamps).


Hmm! Santa Fe local hot-spots publications. I wonder what's inside?


OOH!! Lookie!

And Lee also sent me this cute hang-tag bookmark she made using some cool techniques AND two of the Skelekitty stamps!


Be sure to send photos of YOUR Skelekitty stamped projects and I'll post them here with a link back to your blog or home page.

If you don't have your Skelekitty rubber stamps yet, what are you waiting for???


Available NOW! StampaFe.com 505-982-9862.
$13.80 each (get a discount if you buy the full set).

SK at the Santa Clarita Craft Lab Marketplace!

Sorry it's been so long since I blogged.

As you know, Krissi took me along with her on the 2009 Crafty Chica creativity cruise and we had a blast! She officially sold out of the supply of rubber stamps she had featuring yours truly, so I'm hoping she'll be reordering soon.... She also premiered her new line of Loteria cards (embellished with glitter and plain), which were a HUGE hit!


After the cruise, we stayed three extra days in beautiful San Diego with Fearless and Shuka and their people, Alisa and Ann, where, thanks mostly to the prodding of Ann and Alisa, Krissi pimped out my stamps to a few cool scrapbooking stores. She even carried on with the retail store pimpage once she got home, and we shall see what comes of it....


Then just the other day, she heard from our pal Cyndi of the Santa Clarita Craft Lab asking about carrying the Skelekitty stamps in her new "Market Place!" She wants to start bringing in some unique kits and supplies from indie crafters (no finished projects at this point) and I jumped all over it like ... well, like a skelecat on a skelemouse! Besides, we certainly fit the bill - you don't get much more "indie" than a girl with a sewing machine, a laptop and a skeleton cat.




For those of you who don't know about the Santa Clarita Craft Lab, it's an AWESOME place! They offer some fun mixed media classes that you just can't really find anywhere else. Take, for example, this class on embellishments called Counting Crows:

All of the classes there are taught by seriously creative and fun folks and it's amazing to see what the students create. Check out their current classes here.


So maybe you aren't into group classes and just need some time away from the house? You can rent some space and craft a Wednesday or Thursday away for only $15 (and that includes use of their ample collection of tools)! Here's a sampling of just some of what they have on hand:

• Cricut Expression Die Cut Machine
• Cuttlebug Die Cut Machine
• Sizzix Sidekick Die Cut Machine
• An Assortment of Dies
• 2 Sewing Machines
• Sewing Notions, Iron & Board
• Pasta Machine
• PolyClay/Craft Oven & Tools
• Xyron Sticker Maker
• Zutter "Bind-It-All" Binding System
• Heat Gun, Glue Guns, Fiskar Hand Drill
• Woodburning Tool
• Soldering Tools & Temp Control
• Paper Trimmers with Designer Blades
• An Assortment of Other Hand Held Tools
• Assortment of Punches
• The "Power Punch" Tool
• PLUS adhesives, papers, doo dads, embellishments, buttons, brads, eyelets, beads, ribbons, fibers, yarns, lace, trims, card stock, rubber stamps, inks, paints,brushes, & more!

In addition to all the cool toys ... err, I mean TOOLS, they also have a knitting/crochet lounge. DUDE, SERIOUSLY! A KNITTING/CROCHET LOUNGE!


Just look at all that hot pink.... Yummy.

Here's another idea: why not let Santa Clarita Craft Lab host your next birthday, mothers' (or fathers') day, graduation or office party? You bring the cake and the guests, and they take care of the private studio space & instruction, all crafting supplies, plates/forks/napkins, and soft drinks/juice/water.




If you're like me and live too far away for a regular visit, you can drop by the official blog and keep up to date on all the crafty news that's fit to print.

Of course, I'll let you know the very SECOND that Cyndi has the shelves stocked with the red rubber representations of my cute image. Until then, stay cool and skele-crafty!

SK

Oh, and YES, Cyndi and the Santa Clarita Craft Lab have DEFINITELY earned a Skelekitty Stamp of Approval for this one!

Skelekitty Altered Domino Necklaces For Everyone

Howdy skelecats and skelekittens. Remember my recent post about the way cool altered domino necklace with my puss stamped on it that Krissi received from her pal Bekah?


Krissi's been wearing it just about everywhere and receiving tons o' compliments. Not only are folks admiring it, they're asking where they can get one of their own. Not wanting to disappoint, Bekah immediately whipped up about twenty more (with my skele-blessing in the form of a handshake license) and is in the process of listing them in her Etsy shop, Under The Tuscan Zen (it's free to shop!).  As of this writing, four of the pieces below are listed, but the rest will be up soon.

Prices range from $30 to just over $40, depending on whether you choose a hand-beaded necklace or a ribbon pendant.  All pieces are hand stamped, colored using high quality paints and inks and then sealed. I also happen to know that she will happily accept custom orders, so if you want the stamp from one necklace, with the colors from another and you want it with a pin-back, all you have to do is ask!

While you're over there, be sure to check out some of Bekah's other awesome pieces featuring hand stamped dominos, dichroic glass beads and wire work.
 

Look What She Made!

Krissi's pal and cohort in mixed-media madness, art and crafting, Bekah, presented her with this AWESOMELY CUTE domino pendant yesterday after a monthly artists' group meeting.


She made it using one of the Skelekitty (that's me) rubber art stamps, a domino and some seriously mad skills.  Here, take a closer look:


And here's a pic of Krissi looking absolutely goofy wearing it:

(Thanks for taking that photo yesterday, Yoli!)

For those of you dying to see the rest of Bekah's work, rest assured that she IS opening an etsy shop as we speak and the link will be posted here just about any minute. Bekah and her project DEFINITELY earned a "Skelekitty Stamp -o- Approval."

So what have YOU made using your Skelekitty stamps, Hmmmmm?  Send me your photos or a link to your blog post detailing your project, and I'll post about it here!

Skelekitty dot com

It's true!  My own domain at long last ... of course, being a cat I know that EVERYTHING is actually my domain, but I digress.  Krissi is working on building me my own site with an online store featuring my goodies and other fun stuff. It's in development right now, but more news will be coming soon.

Your comments are welcome here letting us know what you'd like to see on the site. In the meantime, keep an eye on Skelekitty.com!

Stamps in Stock and a new Print

The initial order of Skelekitty rubber stamps arrived from Santa Fe yesterday and are available for purchase on Krissi's Etsy site at $14.00 each or a set of all 4 for $50. If you don't have an Etsy account (it's free to join and shop, so you should!), just e-mail Krissi and tell her which and how many stamps you would like to order and she'll send you an invoice, easy as pie.


"Play Time" - Skelekitten with yarn


"Always Time for Love" Skelekitty with heart


"Welcome Home" Skelekitty rubbing skeleton legs (with cool shoes)


Skele-sirena - Skelekitty as a mermaid

She has also created a new print and made it available on Etsy. It's the angel-kitten from her original mixed-media piece, Love Cats in an 8x10" (well, 10x8" really) print.

She looks a little like me, just with wings and fur.  The print is only $15 (plus CA tax if you're a resident). She's a perfect holiday gift. Not "into" kitties (GASP!)? There are several other works available as 8x10 prints too, so check it out.