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 :-)

New SKSoA Recipients!

Every now and then while I'm perusing the interwebs, something sparkly catches my little Skelekitty-eye and I purr with delight. Whenever this happens, I try to give recognition in the form of a link to said shiny thing and award the creator with the Skelekitty Stamp of Approval. Any blog or company who receives this ... err ... "award" is entitled to add the stamp to their website and they are added to my list of favorite sites.(actual cash value of SKSoA equal to less than 1/100th of a cent).


Today's inductees include Patrick Murillo, someone whose Day of the Dead paintings I've long admired and whom I was able to meet about a year ago. Since then, I am (and Krissi is too) proud to have him listed among our friends. Patrick just started an awesome new site called Mantastic Crafts which he describes as McGuyer-meets-Batman-meets-Survivor Man with a shot of Inspector Gadget. And yeah, even Gilligan pops up every now and then. Be sure to link over and bookmark it!

I was looking through my links to make sure my favorites were listed and realized today that, while I awarded an SKSoA to the Santa Clarita Craft Lab recently, I hadn't added them to my list. BAD KITTY! I'm fixing that today.

So, what I'm saying is .... stalk my friends (but do it nicely).

Skele-rubs,

SK

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!

Blackmail

OK gang, so Krissi and I are off to San Diego for the Crafty Chica art cruise and then for a few extra days in the S.D. with some artsy friends Alisa and Ann.  That means I probably won't be posting much, if at all, until after the 22nd, but Krissi will Tweet from the ship for sure!  Until then, please enjoy some blackmail photos from Krissi's past - she refused to pack my catnip, so I'm making her "pay."

These photos also serve to answer the age-old question, why doesn't Krissi ever want to go out? (A: She used up all of her partying in her teens and twenties.)



P.S. Note to self: Yoli got flagged and searched by airport security for the "suspicious embellishments" in her carry-on; I'll be sure that Krissi packs the glitter in checked luggage.

This Kitty LOVES Linky Love

Giving is great - don't get me wrong. Oh, but receiving linky love makes this kitty squeeze her eyes with sheer feline happiness!

In the middle of her Spread the Sparkle Tour to launch the new line of Crafty Chica (by Duncan) craft supplies, kits and products, Kathy Cano-Murillo posted about the line of Skelekitty stamps coming out this Fall! Thanks so very, Miss Kathy!

My mom finally finished writing part 1 of reviews on the goodies she brought home from Michael's - all sporting the Crafty Chica label (no catnip - what's she thinking?). If she doesn't get distracted with all the pretty glitters, I think the rest of the product review(s) should be up this week.

Well, it's kitty-nap-time.

SK

I'm Kind Of A Big Deal

I am being immortalized in rubber stamps!

Special thanks to Lee Kellogg of Stampa Fe Rubber Stamps for taking me on! We met Lee at her AWESOME store, Guadalupe Rubber Stamps in Santa Fe, NM during a visit in May and she fell in love with me (how could you not?)

More special thanks to Kathy Murillo (aka The Crafty Chica) for convincing my Mom, Krissi, that she could actually do something like this and to Yoli Manzo (aka Sacred Snatch) for her undying support and willingness to listen.

Stay tuned for more information like contests, prices and the release date, which should be in early October!