On Being a Dreamer...

                                                            ©kristen powers

I admit it. I am a dreamer. A big dreamer. Though most times I don't dream in my sleep. I have heard it said that everyone dreams in their sleep, but if I do, I rarely remember a thing. My dreams occur while I am awake. I guess they call those daydreams. I daydream often. In fact, every day I find my mind wandering off to another place and time. My daydreams lead me into stillness and yet they are vivid and colorful. What I find truly fascinating is that they are, most times, filled with visions of my paintings and things I want to create, filled with my hopes and goals and my heart's desires. 

My kids don't like it when I daydream. They accuse me of not listening and they get annoyed when they have to say, "Mom!" more than six times to get my attention. But I cannot help myself. Maybe they call it 'spacing out' but I know that it is matters of the soul calling to me to give those things my full and undivided attention. 

I know from my own experiences in life that  dreams can and do come true. I believe that daydreaming helps to call your wishes forth and gives them a gateway to manifest.

I am so pleased an honored to have been asked to participate in this on-line course, Dancing with your Dreams! I will be joining eleven fantastic artists and dreamers in this amazing course. For my part I will be offering a watercolor lesson called "Painting your Daydreams and Fulfilling your Wishes: A Portrait in Believing Your Dreams."
I hope you will consider joining us and dreaming with us!
Please leave a comment and tell me your best dream (night or day) for a chance to win a spot in this unique and visionary course.

 xokp

Moon Landing!

Well it certainly has been a crazy year! For those of you who know me personally or through social media, than you probably know that I moved to a new town and bought a rubber stamp company in September of 2012! Since then, I have been in another world, trying to get settled and navigate my way through relocating and organizing a new business. It has been crazy, challenging and exhilarating! Did I mention crazy?
Yeah. But it's been good. Really good. I have had a few meltdowns, of course and I have had moments of doubt and a few sleepless nights. But you know what?
It has been, literally, a dream come true. I wouldn't trade it for the world!
So now you know why I have been a bit absent. But I am back and ready for take off!

Please take a look at the ALL NEW RubberMoon Arts Blog and follow us too!

Thank you for your continued friendship and support.
I love you to the moon and back!

xokp

Stencil Girl Blog Hop! Mary Nasser's Compass Stencil

It has been quite some time since I have blogged! I was so happy when Mary asked me to participate in this blog hop (just the thing to get me blogging again!) 
So, welcome to the StencilGirl Map Blog Hop!! If you arrived from Nancy Curry's page, you are in the right place.  If not, you can follow the list at the bottom of my post and start from the beginning.  
I am so happy to join in on sharing Mary Nasser's wonderful new stencil designs and honored to be a part of this StencilGirl blog hop with so many talented designers and artists. I have loved Mary's map collage art for years and was super excited when I heard that she was going to have some designs I could get my hands on! The hardest part was choosing which stencil to use (since one is never enough!!). Finally, I chose the Compass  M041 stencil, shown here:

I decided I would use a Rubbermoon Stamp (well, of course I did!) 
I thought my favorite "new moon" stamp would fit perfectly in the center of the compass stencil and it did! It also went with the theme and colors I had in mind.  I, then, chose a small 4 x 4 panel and prepared it with wood icing texture and gesso.


I painted the panel with two shades of blue acrylic paint, like this:

After the paint dried, I wiped and scrubbed of some of the paint with a baby wipe to make the texture show a bit more and give the piece a more translucent look. Then I placed my stencil on the panel and used a dauber to spong a mixture of white and metallic baroque paint through the compass stencil...

After this step, I used white acrylic paint to stamp the ink spatter stamp and I stamped the new moon image into the center. I painted and shaded the moon with white and blue acrylic paint and added hand written words, "Find your True North."

I added a hanger to the back of my little painting and hung it right away!!

Voila! I hope that you have enjoyed my portion of this fun blog hop....

NOW FOR THE  THE GIVEAWAY!!
Mary Nasser will be doing a giveaway for this hop – giving away a set of her  four new stencils. ALL the comments on each blog participating will be eligible for the drawing. So what do you do?   All you have to do is leave a comment by 11:59 PM Central Time on October 4th. The more blogs that you comment on in the blog hop, the more chances you have to win.  Plus, you don't want to miss any of these wonderful blog entries. Have Fun and good luck! Thank you for joining all of us!

Here is the Blog Hop Order for October 2^nd :


StencilGirl Talk

Mary C. Nasser
Mary Beth Shaw
Jessica Sporn
Janet Joehlin
Heather Haymart
Judy Shea
Pam Carriker
Nancy Wethington
Talk2TheTrees
Corrine Gilman 
Rose Wilde
Nancy Curry
Kristen Powers <------ME!  
Carolyn Dube
MariaMcGuire

The BIG Announcement!

Can you believe I have saved and kept this catalog for over 15 years? It is the ONLY rubber stamp catalog I saved throughout the years besides the ones that I had designed! Is that amazing or what?

 Finally the day has come for me to be able to announce my “big secret”

As many of you know, I recently bought a rubber stamp company that has been in business for 20 years. Up until now,

we have not told anyone as we wanted to make sure that everything was in place before either party ‘spilled the beans’!

Now, everything is a “GO” and I will travel to Idaho, next week, to pick up all of the business equipment and, finally,

give Rubbermoon’s owner and creator, Debra Valoff, a big hug!! The company, that I will have the honor of taking under my wing, is

RUBBERMOON STAMP COMPANY!!

I cannot begin to thank Debra enough for believing in me and entrusting me with her ‘baby’.

I look forward to continuing the tradition of making wonderful, whimsical, imaginative stamps.

I hope that you will continue to join me on my magical, artful journey!

With much love and gratitude to all who have helped make this possible.

xo kae pea

P.S. Here also is Debra's statement:

***News Flash***

"Rubbermoon is going on a big adventure! The very talented artist, Kristen Powers, aka Kae Pea, will be the new owner as of August 28, 2012 and she’s coming then to Idaho to pick up all the loot and move Rubbermoon to Missouri. After 20 years it’s time for me to retire and I feel so blessed to have Kristen taking over my baby. She has some exciting things in store for you all down the road so I hope you continue to support her and Rubbermoon in this wonderful whimsical world of stamping.

By September 15 things should be up and running for her. The website will remain the same( www.rubbermoon.com )but the email address will be changing.

Rubbermoon’s Facebook page may need to be redirected but we’ll let you know if/when that happens. I'll still be posting samples for Kristen and enjoying your company there.

All of the designs that you have on your Rubbermoon wish list will still be available along with whatever wonderful new designs Kristen and Gretchen bring to us in the future.

I wish I could give each one of you a big hug to thank you for all of the joy you’ve brought me over the years and I hope we can continue our friendship through the world of Rubbermoon."

My Story continues...

Hello to all of my wonderful friends near and far. I am sort of speechless. I have received so many beautiful messages, notes and comments. Each one filled with the kindest thoughts and words of encouragement. So many of you have given your hard earned money and even more than that your hands to help lift me up. I hope you know that I appreciate it more than words can express. I also hope you know that I will do everything I can to, one day, pay it forward....
I am not going to deny, I have had moments where I panic and wonder "Can I do this?" " Do I deserve this?" " What if I can't do it?" I mean, I wouldn't be human if some of these thoughts did not cross my mind, right? But these thoughts are fleeting and I will tell you this, FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION! Period. 
I want to update you all on where I am at and ask for your continued support! I have set my goal at $2000 and have raised about $1100, so far! My dear friend, Tejae Floyde, has so kindly blogged about my journey and decided to do a bit of fund raising herself, on my behalf! Tejae has created this gorgeous heart (pictured below) and is going to hold a drawing on July 27th for anyone who donates to my fundraising efforts! Please go to Tejae's blog for details.

Also I want to remind you here about the thank you gift(s) you will receive from me if you contribute.

In exchange for your generosity, the following thank you gifts will be given:

$5.00 pledge-you receive a downloadable digi image of your choice from my digi shop.

$25.00 pledge- you receive a special edition u/m rubber stamp from the new stamp line!

$50.00 pledge- you receive a special edition mounted rubber stamp from the new stamp line

and a special art print by me!

$100.00 pledge- you will receive a spot in my 4 week art e-course (coming Nov. 1, 2012).

$500.00 pledge- you will receive a spot in my e-course, a special edition stamp set and an 

original 12 x 12 painting by me!

* for anyone who may not know what the heck is going on...click here to see my story. Watch it and then you will be 'in the know' ! Thank you ALL again, so much. I cannot do this without you! xokp

A True Story...

This is a true story. It is my story. I do not tell it to make you feel sad or sorry for me! I tell you because I have the wonderful opportunity to begin my own rubber stamp line again! I have purchased an existing stamp manufacturing company and I need to transport the equipment to my town! I need to raise approximately $2000.00 for these expenses. 

Please help me make this story have a happy ending by contributing to my truck and travel fund. 

In exchange for your generosity, the following thank you gifts will be given:

$5.00 pledge-you receive a downloadable digi image of your choice from my digi shop.

$25.00 pledge- you receive a special edition u/m rubber stamp from the new stamp line!

$50.00 pledge- you receive a special edition mounted rubber stamp from the new stamp line

and a special art print by me!

$100.00 pledge- you will receive a spot in my 4 week art e-course (coming Nov. 1, 2012).

$500.00 pledge- you will receive a spot in my e-course, a special edition stamp set and an 

original 12 x 12 painting by me!

If you do not want to make a pledge in this way, I ask you to PLEASE purchase from my etsy shop!

Every bit will help and be SO very appreciated. This means the world to me. thank you from the bottom of my art.

                                                             

*to contribute, please see donate button above and also the paypal widget in the upper right corner of my blog!

I am a WIP

I am a Work in Progress. Self Portrait. watercolor on Arches paper 12 x 12

I don’t have some hidden meaning for why
I make art.
I just do.
I don’t have any secret messages in my art.
My message is clear.
There is no great angst in my work.
The world is filled with enough angst.
My heart and head are full of love and hope.
If my art is cute and light and fun,
So be it.
You need not call my work art.
What you call it does not diminish me
as an artist.
All I know is that, when I sit down to create,
I am like a vessel that never runs dry,
I am filled with optimism and
the light of a billion stars.
If those feelings show up in my work,
well, I do the Universe honor if it does.

                                        
                                               -kae pea 2012