thank you, very much...

I've decided (and been encouraged by someone) to be very diligent in writing thank you notes to my friends who support me financially. Not just an email, but an actual card. Which, I really like the idea. I hope I'm successful :-) My favorite part is designing them...

old 'stamping' ground...

Me and my sister, Courtney, were determined to go through our stuff that was in the family storage shed. It was a bit of a task but with the help of our mom, we cleaned out quite a bit of it. We found our old baby books, lots of old pictures, children's books, and my old stamp collection. When I had moved, I didn't know what to do with it so I told my mom to toss it. But she kept it, and I'm glad she did. I've started using them in some art projects. Don't worry - these are worth very much. May be about 30 cents each! :-)

I will be selling these on Etsy.com

The money will go toward my trip to India!

India 2010!

Hello everyone! This may have been a long time coming but... I'm going to India again! I had the pleasure of going to INDIA for the first time with a YWAM (Youth With A Mission) team in January 2006. We stayed and worked with an orphanage in the city of Pune for a month. During that month, we helped get the kids ready for school, shared meals, helped with homework, taught Bible lessons, made crafts, played games, and sang songs. We did this at least 5 days a week. With that much time with the kids it was very hard to leave them. It was about a 4 hour drive from the orphanage to the airport and most of cried, at least, half way there. A few of the girls from the team were already trying to figure out when they could come back. I'd just say that if God wanted me to come back, I would.

Fast-forward 4 years later and I think GOD IS CALLING ME BACK. This past December, a friend of mine invited me to go with her team in January and, to my surprise, my heart was like "YES! I want to go!" Yes, I wanted to go but I was unable. About a week before that call, I had met with Patty Bauman (who works with YWAM and Streams of Mercy) to chat about what I was doing next. Since I didn't know what I was doing next, Patty shared, among many things, some of their thoughts and plans for India. She started me thinking so we met again, and again, and pretty soon, we were planning a trip to India.

This is kind of a SCOUTING TRIP to visit several different ministries in the Pune area. I've known, for a while,  that I want to use art and maybe work with kids and/or young people. There is a rescue and restore house for former prostitutes that we are looking to teach them how to make jewelry. I would love to use the knowledge that I have for creating jewelry to help get them started. We will also be doing an art project with a children's home for kids who have been taken in from the streets.

Patty with a group that we will work

Part of MY HEART for wanting to go is to bring art and creativity to children. On my first trip to India we were able to bring crafts for the children at the orphanage and the street kids. It was so wonderful seeing their faces light up with the simplest of crafts. I was very blessed to come from a creativity-encouraged home with the funds to provide the supplies. I want to bring this opportunity to the children of India.

HOW YOU CAN HELP: I need $2200 for airfare, boarding, and food. I am going with a small team and we will be there for about 9 days. I would also ask for prayer. I feel like this trip to going to help me determine my next step. I see that God is leading me to India and I want to know exactly what He had planned for me there and for this next season.

CONTACT: If you are interested in supporting me financially or have more questions on the trip, please leave a comment or email me: craftykellyjo@yahoo.com

Me and David on my first trip 4 years old

bringing sexy back...

i love old movies. For many different reasons. The stories, the actors, the style, the cars, the songs and the clothes. Yes, the clothes! They are gorgeous, and they really knew how to accessorize! I love the hats!

I'm thinking about bringing about this trend back...

mild obsession monday: it's coming! it's coming!

LOST

Oh yes. It's coming. The final season of Lost. And 'mild' obsession may be a little too, well, mild of a description of my feelings for this show. (insert sheepish grin here)

I've called my friends during the commercial breaks to discussed what just happened. I've read websites (yes, that's plural) that theorize on what Lost is all about. I've gone to Lost parties - dressed as characters from the show. (another sheepish grin)

There's been 3 new cast photo promos just released:

promo1

promo2

promo3

Entertainment Weekly Online has a contributor named Doc Jensen. He really loves his Lost and he really loves theorizing about the show. If you have a mild obsession too, you should read some of his ideas here.

AHHHHH!

Ok, that's a little exaggerated. My sister-in-law got this book of vintage labels that included a CD of all the images. You see, all of the labels are public domain so she let me upload the ones i wanted. They are beautiful! So i uploaded a few in hopes of doing something with them. But i don't know what to do! I'm a little overwhelmed with all of the gorgeous labels! I hope to figure something out soon. In the meantime, here's a few lovely labels to enjoy...

art deco - a personal fav...

Art Deco was a popular international art design movement from 1925 until the 1940s, affecting the decorative arts such as architecture, interior design, and industrial design, as well as the visual arts such as fashion, painting, the graphic arts, and film. At the time, this style was seen as elegant, glamorous, functional, and modern.

Its popularity peaked in Europe during the Roaring Twenties and continued strongly in the United States through the 1930s. Although many design movements have political or philosophical roots or intentions, Art Deco was purely decorative.

Art Deco experienced a decline in popularity during the late 30s and early 40s, and soon fell out of public favor. It experienced a resurgence with the popularization of graphic design in the 1980s.

The structure of Art Deco is based on mathematical geometric shapes. It was widely considered to be an eclectic form of elegant and stylish modernism, being influenced by a variety of sources. The ability to travel and excavations during this time influenced artists and designers, integrating several elements from countries not their own. Among them were the so-called "primitive" arts of Africa, as well as historical styles such as Greco-Roman Classicism, and the art of Babylon, Assyria, Ancient Egypt, and Aztec Mexico. Much of this could be attributed to the popular interest in archeology in the 1920s. Art Deco also drew on Machine Age and streamline technologies such as modern aviation, electric lighting, the radio, the ocean liner and the skyscraper for inspiration.

Art Deco was a luxurious style, and its lavishness is attributed to reaction to the forced frugality imposed by World War I. Its rich, festive character fitted it for "modern" contexts, including the Golden Gate Bridge, interiors of cinema theaters and ocean liners. The style is said to have reflected the tensions in the cultural politics of its day, with eclecticism having been one of its defining features. In the words of F. Scott Fitzgerald, the distinctive style of Art Deco was shaped by 'all the nervous energy stored up and expended in the War'.