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!

Quick Notebook Tutorial for Cool Cats

While reading the daily e-mail from CRAFT magazine, I saw this awesome tutorial for a quick craft that will come in handy for just about everyone - a mini notebook:

HOW TO - Make a Five Minute Notebook

See, there's lots of things you can do in 5 minutes! Make Les Plus Beauxx's beautiful five minute notebook to jot down inspirations or special notes to yourself.

Now I know what to do with all of the paint chips Krissi has scattered throughout the house!

A Skele-DOG, Too?

I know, I've been a pretty quiet kitty cat lately. After all of the excitement with the rubber stamps coming out, I just needed one long winter cat-nap under the quilts. Oh, and while we're on the subject of the rubber stamps, why haven't you ALL sent me photos of your awesome creations?? Hmmm?? If you've made anything using the stamps, send me photos and I'll post them here on my blog!

And now, on to the update portion of the post:

While I was napping, Krissi finally got around to making a portrait that had been commissioned way back at one of her very first Body Tribe art shows.  Back in Spring of 2006, the rockin' Allyson Seconds (aka kick-ass Allyson Goble), asked for a skellie-girl with a skele-dog based on Krissi's quilt, Does This Make Me Look Fat?  Way to jump right on those custom orders. 

DOES THIS MAKE ME LOOK FAT? 

mixed-media art quilt - 2005

Although I tease about her lack of hustle to create a piece for Allyson, waiting almost three years gave Krissi the opportunity to get to know Al and Lulu both much better.  She trains with Al 3 times a week at Body Tribe, which includes warm-up and cool-down with Lulu and conversation in between sets of heavy squats and bench pressing.  Now that Abby the JRT (Jack Russell Terror) has come to live with Ron and Krissi, she also has some first hand knowledge of the wonders of dogs and "The R," which is code for the secret dog party locale off the grid and along the waterfront.  All of this experience led to the creation, at long last, of Wanna Go To The River?, a 12x24" mixed media on birch wood that incorporates many aspects of both Lulu's and Al's personalities.

WANNA GO TO THE RIVER?

mixed-media - 2009

For some fun, click on the photos and you can view the notes on the imagery.

detail from Wanna Go To The River?

2009

For those of you who couldn't be less interested in dogs, skeletonized or otherwise, rest assured that I am not going anywhere.  T-Shirts ARE in development and a new Skelekitty piece is in the works for a big show and benefit coming to Sacramento in June (think: big cat, little cat; but that's all the hint you'll get for now)!

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.

giving thanks

Since she mentioned me in her blog today and because I am also thankful for lots of stuff (including being here and for all my fans), I'm reposting Krissi's recipes from her blog today. Enjoy!



Regardless of your feelings about the founding and expansion of the US, current politics or religion, Thanksgiving gives us all, whether 'Americans' or not, a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the things in our lives for which we are thankful.

Me?  I'm thankful for my good health (yes, even with the problems I have, they're not so bad really!), Ron and our critters, my family, my dad staying sober for over a year, my awesome friends - including the ones from high school I've refound on the interwebs, Skelekitty, gel medium, the ability to laugh at life's crap, Body Tribe Fitness and Allyson, learning new stuff, autumn colors in the California foothills, Poop-Off, NPR and the ability to spew my thoughts online and the fact that there are people interested enough to read them.

To celebrate all the awesome shit in my life, I'm celebrating by sharing two of my recipes for Thanksgiving day favorites.  First, the recipe for my cranberry-apple pie that drives my father-in-law to do a happy-pie-dance in his chair, and also the cranberry sauce that people who don't like cranberry sauce love.

Apple-Cranberry Pie
Oven 375F
Pastry for a double-crust pie*
4-6 large FRESH granny smith apples to yield 6-8 cups of cut apples (TIP: If you live somewhere you can get 'em off the tree, DO IT.  We get ours every year from Larsen's in Apple Hill - Camino, CA - do yourself a favor and get a turnover with sauce while you're there)
6 oz fresh cranberries - washed and destemmed
1 Tbsp. all purpose wheat flour
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp. sugar
butter (optional)

Peel and quarter the apples - remove cores.  Cut apples into somewhat uneven chunks (for large apples - I quarter the pieces lengthwise then cut them in half crosswise;  for smaller apples I'll cut them in thirds, then in half).

Mix apples with lemon juice, then add cranberries, flour, cinnamon and 1/2 cup of sugar and mix - allow to sit for 10 minutes or so.

Pour apple-cranberry mixture into a crust-lined (uncooked) pie pan and dot with butter (optional).  Arrange top crust and close edges.  Cut slits on top of pie or cut openings using a decorative cookie cutter.  Brush top with water and sprinkle with remaining 1 Tbsp. of sugar.

Cover crust edges with foil and bake for 25 minutes; remove foil and bake for 20-25 additional minutes.  Let cool and get ready to pass this recipe on to anyone who eats the pie.

*Don't want to make your own pie crust?  Use your own pie plate with Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts - just let them sit at room temp for 15 minutes then unroll and use - they are AWESOME and the only commercial pie crust I would ever use.


F@#%ing AWESOME Cranberry Sauce

12 oz (1 bag) fresh cranberries - washed and destemmed
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup Grand Marnier (or Triple Sec or another orange flavored liqueur)
1/2 + 1/8 cup water

Boil water, liqueur and sugar until sugar melts.  Add cranberries and heat until cranberries begin to "pop."  Lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes.  Allow to cool for 30-60 minutes and refrigerate overnight (or at least for several hours to give it time to gel).  Yumtastic!

I hope you all find something to be thankful for today and every day!

xo  Krissi

The Winning Shirt Design...

Me and the heart!



The final artwork will be cleaned up a little more around the edges, but essentially, this is how the shirt will look (without the copyright notice, of course): white & red "ink" on black American Apparel shirts. We're planning on doing girlie shirts in sizes M (4-6) -XXL (14-16) and we'll probably do a couple unisex sizes too for folks wanting a roomier fit or to DIY them! If you want to reserve a certain style/size, let Krissi know at art@krissisandvik.com).

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone for voting and for all of your feedback! Stay tuned for more information on how to get your own shirt (Krissi just needs to get a printer locked in!) We're hoping to have some for you by Xmas!

Skele-smooches,

SK

Which ONE would YOU wear?

Howdy cats and kittens!

Well, never let it be said that this kitty lets the grass grow under her paws! The rubber stamps are still being poured, assembled and mailed out to folks and here I am looking at the reality of the very first SKELEKITTY TEE SHIRT, but I need your assistance in picking the design. We will only be offering one design first, and we want it to do well so that we can offer more designs in the future!

CLICK THUMBNAIL FOR LARGER IMAGE:

Here is the plan thus far: we'll be getting American Apparel "girlie" shirts in several sizes from M-XXL (they run SMALL - click here for a size chart). The design will be silk screened on a black tee with high quality white "ink" plus one or two color inks, depending on which design we do: green for the mermaid tail, pink or purple yarn, red for the heart and red for the shoes/tattoo/cherries with green for the cherry stems. We're looking at using the same people who did Suzi Boneshaker's awesome tees (Krissi has both of Suzi's designs and they pass her tough quality assurance tests). 

So what do you need to do? VOTE! Yeah, I know, you thought we were done voting last Tuesday (nice job, America, by the way). There's a poll at the top right of my blog, so just cast your vote for your mostest favoritest tee design. Remember we'll only be doing one shirt, at least for now, which design should it be?

Feel free to comment if you have more input on colors, sizes, shirt styles or anything else!

Skele-snuggles (it's getting cold outside!),

SK

Stamp Details and A Fellow Kitty in Need of a Home

Howdy cats and kittens. Here is some more info on the NEW line of rubber stamps of yours truly that I posted about yesterday:

• Prices are $13.80 per wood-mounted red rubber stamp
• A 10% discount is available on full set of 4 stamps purchased from Guadalupe's Fun Rubber Stamps /Stampa Fe Art Stamps.
  
• Be sure to request the discount as we're in the early days here!
• Krissi will have some available for local sale, but not for a couple of weeks. If you're in a hurry, give Guadalupe's a call!
  

Word on the street is that the town of and visitors to Santa Fe are absolutely loving these images, and folks are starting to snap 'em up like a kitty with canned tuna. This news makes me one happy puss!

Thanks to all of YOU for your support and encouragement. I know that I'm only here because you like me (you really like me).

-------

Some of you may have read about Chip and Allyson at Body Tribe - the gym where Krissi works out. What you may not know is that both Chip and Al are also mucisians, art lovers (and Al is an artist) and, above all else, animal lovers. Here's a video Chip posted of a kitty whose luck is turning around since Chip found him. If you think you might be able to improve it even more, drop them a line at chip[at]bodytribe[dot]com.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3wXXdXmhYE

Skele-purrs,

>^..^< SK

The First of the Stamps Are IN!

I just heard that the first of the rubber stamps featuring yours truly are AVAILABLE at Guadalupe's Fun Rubber Stamps in Santa Fe, NM (just off the plaza)!

I understand from Krissi, who received an e-mail from the owners today, that they have on hand three of the designs (with the fourth in production as we speak): skele-sirena (me as a mermaid), "Welcome Home" (me rubbing legs) and "Play Time" (skelekitten with a ball of yarn).


For those of you who, like Krissi & myself, are not fortunate enough to live in Santa Fe, despair not! The Stampa Fe online catalog will be updated soon with these designs & prices for online ordering. In the meantime, you can contact Guadalupe's Fun Rubber Stamps directly by telephone at 877-982-9862 and order yourself up some stampage! Krissi is waiting to hear back on the pricing (we should have it tomorrow and will post it ASAP).

Of course, we'll also be sure to let all of our local friends know when we have them available in Sacramento. In the meantime, I'm trying to think up a good prize for folks who use these stamps in their art/crafts for trades, swaps, gifts, their walls, etc., so be sure to take lots of pics as you create! Maybe some Skelekitty bottlecap jewelry??

Skele-scritches,

SK

p.s. I also heard a rumor of a 10% discount for anyone who orders all four stamps through Stampa Fe/Guadalupe's Fun RS, so be sure to ask about it.