A Pressing Matter

Many moons have passed and turned to years, since I was here last. I say it quite often, but I just cannot believe how fast time goes by. I never meant to quit showing up here. My life has just taken so many crazy-busy, twists and turns that it seemed there is always another project between me and the next blog post.

You may or may not know my story or the events leading to the purchase of RubberMoon. If you want to know more, then go HERE to this post from 2012.  If you read some of the posts that followed, you will see how it all worked out. If you are a friend or follower of mine and/or RubberMoon, then you probably know that I am about to celebrate my three year anniversary as the owner and creative conjurer at RubberMoon Art Stamps!

...A little over three years ago I shared a big piece of my life story with you.  And YOU helped me to achieve something I barely thought was possible. But I had so much hope inside me. 

At that time, I had nothing but that hope. I reached out and asked for help and YOU helped me make my dream a reality. (SO thankful to all the people listed over here and many others too.)---> 

The financial contributions, encouragement, support, kindness and belief in me, made it possible for me to bring RubberMoon from Idaho to Missouri. 
My dream come true IS running RubberMoon Art Stamps, making and sharing art and creativity with others on a daily basis. My dream come true IS operating this as a family business, nurturing it and making it grow and thrive.

My dream come true IS making you all proud and happy to be a part of this magical story!

Shortly after I got the business moved, I said that my story “had a happy ending". But, of course, that was not true. It was not nearly an ending. It was only just the beginning.

Now, here I am almost three years in and RubberMoon is growing every day. And I am here, asking for your help once again. 

You see, RubberMoon IS growing and with growth, there are growing pains. And so, I am asking for your assistance once more to help me achieve another big goal.

I need a piece of equipment in order to continue to move the business forward. This piece of equipment is crucial to, not only growth, but everyday operations. RubberMoon cannot live without it. RubberMoon needs a new rubber press!

Me, Kae Pea, pressing rubber!

Now maybe you will ask why I cannot manage to get this press without help? Well, simply put, even though we are growing, we are still new and like almost every new business, growth does not equal cash for ‘extras’, nor does it mean capital to work with (darn it). We ARE growing, yes. But it does not mean that I have enough profits (if any) with which to make this large purchase. The press we need is approximately $4,000.00 and I need to raise about $2,000.00.

So, I am asking you to please contribute to my fundraiser and help me get a new press....

...Of course, I would not dream of asking you to give your hard earned money without receiving something in return for your generosity. 

Besides being the recipient of my enormous gratitude AND being part of RubberMoon's wonderful herstory you will also receive the following gifts for your contribution:

•A downloadable/digital limited edition art print from Kae Pea for any contribution up to $29.00

•A limited edition 5x7 art print mailed to you from Kae Pea for your $29 to $64 contribution

•A handmade gratitude journal, by Kae Pea for your $65 to $99 contribution*

•Access to my newest online stamp-art class for your $100 to $199 contribution (class will begin in Jan. 2016)*

•An Original MOON painting by Kae Pea for your $199 and up contribution*

•Receive these *three of the above listed gifts for any contribution $350.00 or more

•ALL contributors will be listed on this blog with a link of choice (if you agree).

Please help me so that I can continue to make more stamps and take our business to the next level.

Thank you for your consideration, help and support.

I love you to the moon and back! xokp

                                                                     

P.S. If you do not wish to make a pledge in this way, but would still like to help me reach my goal, please shop at RubberMoon.com  and/or buy from The Moon & The Maker etsy shop and/or my yART SALE ! 

Every bit will help and is so appreciated.

Thank you from the bottom of my heART.

**Below is a photo of our 20 year old rubber press. It does still work, but the temperature gauge is broken, the lever falls off and it often loses pressure during pressing.  We really need a new press so we can increase production!

20 year old press

New press!!

oh hello 2014

Well, hello to 2014 and hello to you!
I hope that you had a most excellent holiday season! I was really torn this year because part of me felt like such a scrooge for not being in too much of the holiday spirit. It felt like such a chore to get all of my shopping (both for all of the food and the gifts), get everything put up and ready plus try to carry on with my business. Most of you know that RubberMoon Art Stamps is my new company. Having a new business is sorta like taking care of a garden. It must be tended and nurtured. Being away or distracted from it, well, it is a challenge! Often, I find myself feeling guilty if I am not working at least, 10 hours a day. But I have a family, too, that needs me and so balance is key and yet, difficult to achieve at times. Somehow I managed it all and everyone got fed (quite well) and no one got forgotten in the gift department. No one had lumps of coal in their stockings and RubberMoon is still standing, so I guess I did okay! And through it all, I was not really too much of a scrooge! My husband and I managed to launch the NEW RubberMoon website on New Year's Day!! 
Wow! Wonders never cease!
I wish you the very best that life has to offer this year, good health, abundance, love and the joy that creativity brings! Thank you for stopping by and I hope you will check out our new site. It has and is, certainly a labor of love.And I am so excited about what the New Year holds! 

xokp

Friday already?

©kristen powers 2012 YOU WERE MEANT TO FLY 9x12 acrylic on canvas

 Wow! Cannot believe that another week has flown by so quickly! Paint Party Friday is here and I cannot come to the party without a painting...so, this one is called You Were Meant to Fly. It is 9 x 12 on Canvas. Thanks for stopping by Happy Friday!!

xokp

More about Angels...

Would you like to win a spot in Angels In My Studio? Leave me a comment below this post. Tell me what excites you most about the course. On March 15th I'll randomly choose a commenter and s/he will take the course for FREE.**
Angels In My Studio is much more than "just" a course in art technique (though it certainly *is* that). This course is intended for those that are truly open to deepening their connection with the unseen.
Each in-depth video lesson will provide you with both the tools for creating a variety of mixed-media art from a place of connection to the intuitive realm and grounded technical skills in depicting angels, guides, and spirit. Over the course of the 5-months we spend together you will deepen your skills and abilities in allowing your artwork to unfold from a place of conscious connection to spirit.
Students in this course will see their connection to the angelic realm blossom and spill over beautifully into their artwork. Each attunement from Michael Golzmane will bring you into deeper connection with your personal angels and guides as well as more universal angels that serve us all. 
Through optional weekly written exercises you will begin to hear/feel/sense your angels more clearly and begin to communicate with them through your writing. This increased angelic connection will support you in your life and inform your artwork.
There is no other course available that offers this powerful combination of art instruction, angelic attunements and intuitive development....

* I am very happy and honored to be a part of this course. I look forward to connecting with you and the angels and sharing my love of watercolor painting and creating with you! Please use this link when you sign up http://546d8dldw4dlelbmj8x50zkd-q.hop.clickbank.net/

Angels in my Studio...

please use this link to sign up http://546d8dldw4dlelbmj8x50zkd-q.hop.clickbank.net/

Angels in My Studio!! So excited to be part of this amazing group and involved in this fantastic on-line experience!

Please come back soon for more info and to sign up early! ALSO I will be giving away 2 free spots in the course....full details coming soon!

I wish I may...

...I wish I might....have the wish I wish tonight. 

As you probably have noticed, I have been writing, posting and talking about the e-course I am taking with Stephanie Levy. It is called Creative Courage. We just finished up our first week and WOW what a thought provoking and productive week it has been. We have had amazing interviews with  Susannah Conway  and Jessica Swift both wildly creative, talented and successful women. I have had the opportunity to meet other like minded artistic souls and we have discussed things like, creative visualization and dream overload. We have done exercises to make us more aware of our dreams and goals and help empower us to vocalize, clarify and solidify them. It is a lot of heart-work, but so rewarding. One of the things Stephanie told us in the very beginning of the course was to actually write our answers out and not to just think them in our heads (haha she must know me!) She said, "Your "homework" is to actually answer these questions. It's easy to read through the exercises and imagine answers, but it truly makes a difference if you take the time to write things down. Writing down your dreams, goals and next steps is the first step to making them come true!"

I definitely think it makes a huge difference to take the time to define your thoughts and visualize your answers. I have been having a wonderful time being thoughtful with my answers and illustrating them as I go along.

On Friday (our last 'lesson' for the week) Stephanie assigned us a weekend project. It was to make a 'wish jar'. She said she got the idea from Keri Smith and thought it would be a great project for this course.

All we had to do, was get or make some sort of container. It could be a jar or a box or any vessel to hold scraps of paper in which we would write down our  wishes/goals/dreams. Of course, we could add to our wish container at any time and it would be something we could revisit at any time to remind us of our wishes/goals/dreams.

I, of course, was super excited to have this lovely reason to make something fun and creative.
And I even have a fun story to share with you as a result...

About two months ago I purchased this really cool jar a thrift shop for $3.00. I love this jar. Here is a pic:

I think it is super cool and I thought I would use it for my 'wish jar'. 
Then, on Friday, I stopped at another thrift shop, a thrift shop all the way across town from me (but it is just down the street from my daughter's apartment...) and here I saw another very cute jar/vase. It was a round glass vase and had cute daisies painted on it. It was only $1.99 but I decided not to get it, well, because I didn't need it and I figured I would use the cool jar I already had. Needless to say, when I arrived home on Friday night and began to gather my materials for my wish jar project, I took all of the candy out of the jar pictured above and set it at my art table. I was thinking about my wishes and how I wanted to make my art and fill my jar and suddenly I knew I COULD NOT USE THIS JAR! It had a lid!! I realized I could not have and did not want my wishes to be contained! I did not want to keep a lid on my dreams! My wishes needed to be able to go out into the Universe! They needed air and flow! I called my daughter immediately and asked her to go to that thrift shop and find that vase and bring it to me on Sunday (she was coming over to get a manicure and do laundry, so I figured it was a fair trade!) So Saturday morning she went and found it (I guided her over the phone) and here it is...
I call it my Wish-Full jar! It is Wonder-Full and I am so Great-Full!
                               

I am happy. Just looking at it makes me feel that all my wishes will come true! Silly? Maybe. But I don't think so! Here is a peek at the 'wish-full stones' I made...

It is a great project and exercise. If you are inclined you should try to make one for yourself...as I placed each stone inside, I held it and read it out loud. I could actually visualize each wish coming true. It was a very gratifying feeling. Thank you Stephanie and the 'team' you have put together for the wonderful inspiration, ideas and motivation. Yay for wishing and dreaming!

xokp

sunny side up

The weather has been beautiful here the past couple of days. Could not ask for anything better than bright, warm, clear skies during the day and cool, crisp nights. Have had the a/c turned off, which is great! Anyway, I am thankful to have some nice weather and I hope it holds out a while. The one thing that makes me sad about summer's end is, the days get shorter....I want to savor Autumn. I hope it is beautiful wherever YOU are too.

xokp

happiness is...

I decided that while I am trying to figure out where my muse went and exactly what it is I want to be when I grow up, that I would just draw and paint things that make me happy. Happiness is...new art supplies. Tomorrow maybe I will paint chocolate ;)

xokp

note to self.

I am still going with the flow. Even when I feel that I am in a huge creative funk and have lost my mojo, I still manage to find a way to channel my spirit and have fun with paper, ink and paint! I may not be creating the masterpieces that I envision. But honestly, it is okay. I am thankful everyday for the gifts in my life...but sometimes I need to remind myself that I am on the right track and if I get derailed, well, just get back on and keep chugging along! 

xokp

a plentiful crop

I was thinking a lot about love when I painted this. The thing about love is, the more you give the more you get and the more it grows. You can plant it year 'round and it is always in season.....

xokp

someone else's shoes...

                                                   if you could walk a mile in my shoes
                                                   and i could walk in yours
                                                   then you would probably smile at me
                                                   and I would smile at you too
                                                   instead of whispering behind each others back
                                                   if you could walk in my shoes
                                                   and i walked a mile in yours
                                                   maybe you would help me up
                                                   instead of pushing me down
                                                   and i would hold my hand out to you
                                                   to grasp you when you fall
                                                   instead of watching you go to the ground
                                                   if i walked a mile in your shoes
                                                   and you could walk in mine
                                                   possibly we could walk a mile together
                                                   and talk about things

                                                                                                                                                                                      poem & art © kristen powers 2011
xokp

This is what I painted today...

I call her "flora"...

xo
kp

a few paintings and some babbling...

I painted these girls today. Inspiration just came over me as I was looking at some old clippings from fashion magazines. I am not sure why I saved these particular images, they were just ads from a year old Glamour that I have saved for quite some time...I am still not exactly sure why I decide to paint what I paint. Even after four years of 'art school' and many years before that of 'life school', I still am searching for my 'niche'. I am not complaining. I like what I do, most of the time and even when I feel my muse is not at my side, I never lack ideas or drive to make with my heart and my hands. I do wish, however, that I could focus a bit more and be more decisive about what I want to say and how to go about saying it with my art. Does that make sense or am I just babbling? LOL
Anyway, for now I will quit going on and on and just share these! I intend on making them into little prints.What do you think?

 thank you from the bottom of my art. xo kp

in my dreams...

 In my dreams , I have rainbow hair...

x's & o's kp

The end and new beginnings...

Okay, so I finished school and now what? A lot of people ask, "What are you going to do now?" Well, I am pretty much going to be doing what I have been doing all along, minus the going to classes part! I am so very excited about all the things I finally hope to put all together! I have wanted to focus on my blog and on-line business and start to do some shows and teach workshops again and I finally feel that I am going to be able to start tackling some of those projects! My head is just full of ideas and i have made about 100 lists!! All of these things take time so I hope you will check in every now and then to see my progress and give me your input. As always, I thank you form the bottom of my art!

*i leave you with this watercolor illustration i did....now available as a print on Etsy!

xokp

Monna Vanna Arta a Beautiful Muse

As you all probably know (since I have been mostly neglectful of my blogging and when I am not it is all I have talked about)- I am finished with school ! I am in the process of trying to regroup and figure out how I want to proceed. Of course, I want to make a living with my artwork, but that is such a broad definition. I mean, there are so many roads leading from the sign that says, "art". Right now I want to focus on my on-line stuff and getting classes formed so I can begin to teach classes and workshops. All of this is a bit overwhelming since it involves so much time and time is always the one thing I am short on! A lot of people have said, "Oh you will have so much more time now that you are done with school." That would seem true but amazingly has not been the case so far! I think once the kids get out of school it will free me up a bit more to concentrate my efforts on the projects I really want to tackle. In the meantime I continue to paint what inspires me and my online shop looks a little crazy with its mish mosh of items and artwork. Soon it will all have a cohesive and consistent look...I am getting there a tiny, baby step at a time! I leave you today with Monna Vanna Arta-a Beautiful Muse, I painted her when challenged to take Rossetti's Monna Vanna and paint my own interpretation (thank you for the challenge Gritty Jane).

Rossetti's Monna Vanna 1866

My Monna Vanna Arta- A Beautiful Muse 2011

thank you from the bottom of my art!
kp

pieces of me

I have decided on a theme for my show.  Patchwork.  This word, this concept,  has a lot of meaning for me. It goes back to the 1970's, my mom and dad had a band - a rock/top 40 musical group. They played the Northern California nightclubs and were somewhat of a local hit. My mom managed the group and my dad was the guitar player. She named them Patchwork Music Company.  I was just a little kid but I remember them rehearsing and jamming in our living room and my mom pouring her blood, sweat and tears into that band. Many years later, she wrote a poem for me that my dad read at my wedding. I don't have a copy of it here now, but it was about how life is a patchwork and we are pieces that come together to make a whole, how sometimes we are torn and mended again, and how the patterns of our lives our intertwined to make something comforting and beautiful. The idea of the patchwork, not only, suits my artwork and style, it honors my mom and her memory. I know she has been with me all through this journey, helping me to piece it all together....

first painting for my senior show

not what I "should" be doing...

Don't know why I do what I do. Sometimes  (most times) there is no rhyme or reason. I have about 10 things I should be doing, but instead I pulled out this old painting and have begun to completely re-work it. I am just really into experimenting with different mediums, surfaces and subjects. It seems I am still searching to find my voice...or maybe I should say voices? LOL

Anyway this is what's on my drawing board today...

in progress...

close up

 happy day! artfully yours, kristen

elf time

every year at Christmas time the elves always visit our home. Last year I actually caught one in the living room putting ornaments on the tree and another decorating the mantle! Here is what they looked like:

 

the Holidays are here...I am getting ready for the Elves! How about you?

xo

kris

creative women

I have some really exciting news! I finally got my aceo trade going and WOW!  What a fabulous, talented, generous group of women artists I have gathered! Our theme is Creative Women and the art will be collected on August 5th. I hope you will continue to follow along as this 'story' unfolds...
...more about this soon :)
In the meantime I made up this little atc with all of the creative women in mind.

x's & o's
kp