kelly-mills.com

38 Days!!

Kelly — Fri, 18 May 2012 03:59:19 +0000

It’s all official and everything now; we leave for New York in exactly 38 days! This will be my third time visiting the city, but first time going with Matt. On that note, this will actually be our first vacation together… ever! Not sure what all we’re going to do while we’re there, but I do know that Wednesday night is spoken for…

Hellz yeah! I’ve seen the show twice in Toronto, but I’m sure it’s going to be even more awesome on Broadway. Very exciting!

Protesty

Kelly — Thu, 10 May 2012 01:27:34 +0000

When I joined Etsy as a buyer in 2007, it was a site dedicated to selling handmade, vintage, and supplies. Today, Etsy’s page title reads “Etsy-your place to buy and sell all things handmade, vintage, and supplies”. Recently Etsy made a reseller of wooden furniture (that they import from Bali), a featured seller on their site. Instead of admitting their mistake when this shop was proven to be a reseller, Etsy decided that they would call the shop a “collective” and allowed the shop to stay open. You can read more about this story here.

Etsy seems to have lost sight of their original vision, and now claims that handmade is just an “anchor”. Etsy is now home to resellers of cheap mass-produced items, and factories/firms hiding under the guise of collectives. Buyers are being deceived into thinking they are buying genuine handcrafted items, and honest handmade sellers are being pushed aside by resellers who can offer cheaper prices since their items are factory produced.

I love handmade things, and I also think it is wrong to knowingly deceive people. Etsy was once a great place, and I have not lost hope for it yet. This is why tomorrow (May 10) I will be participating in Protetsy. This is a peaceful protest against the new trend of allowing resellers and false collectives. My shop (along with more than 4000 others) will be closing up for 24 hours at midnight tonight. If you are a seller on Etsy who believes that the site should remain about genuine handmade, you can still join in the protest. Visit protesty.com to add your shop to the list. If you are an Etsy buyer, you too can participate by not purchasing anything from Etsy on May 10.

Will this achieve anything? Who knows. There are of course those who mock this protest, saying that we will go unnoticed, but to those people I’d just like to say it’s better to shout and put up a fight, than to sit back and do nothing.

Sketchbook Project – It’s OVAH’!

Kelly — Fri, 04 May 2012 20:16:43 +0000

Monday was the deadline to mail back books for the Sketchbook Project. Did I finish? You betcha’! While there were some questionable, badly drawn pages (4am is not the time to be drawing!), I think overall it turned out okay. The drawing style is a little rougher and not quite my usual style, BUT I took this as an opportunity to try something a little different, and not get so caught up in the details. It’s a sketchbook, it’s supposed to be rough! I did the whole thing in pen and ink (with a little bit of watercolour thrown in here and there), which is a medium I haven’t used in… well many years at least. Here are a couple sample pages…

See the whole thang on my Facebook page.

Now that this book is over and done with and on its way to Brooklyn, I’m thinking I’ll give the 2013 SBP a whirl too. One good thing that came out of all this is that it got me interested in drawing again. I feel ready to tackle new and greater things with my art now. Big things are comin’! I can FEEL IT!

On a side note, I can’t wait to see which spread from my book is chosen to go into the printed collection of books. I hope it’s not the crappy 4AM drawing (but ya know, it probably will be)…

Not Really an Update…

Kelly — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 19:44:51 +0000

…more like a couple of announcements, that are awesome in nature. First; a few weeks ago I sent off a shipment of my beaded jewellery to a shop in Memphis Tennessee. The shop is called Cooper-Young Glassworks & Gifts. If you live in the area, check it out, and see some of my jewelry in person. It’s so cool knowing that my jewellery is out there available in an actual store. I couldn’t be more pleased!

Second announcement; after many years of having lost my passion for art, I am *FINALLY* trying to regain it, SO, I’m currently participating in the Sketchbook Project LE. I’m filling up an entire book with pen and ink doodles, and next month I will be shipping it off to New York City! My book will be on display in NYC starting June 22nd 2012, and will become part of the permanent archive at the The Brooklyn Art Library. If you’re ever in the area pop in and check out my sketchbook. There will also be a series of art books which will feature a spread from each of the 5000 participating artists. I believe the book is scheduled to be out in fall of 2012, but I will let you know, when I know more.

While on the subject of NYC, a trip there in in the works for the end of June. Mmmmm Wicked on Broadway (and probably some other shows too)! Hellz yeah!!

Happy 2012

Kelly — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 07:06:02 +0000

As per my usual style, I’m late to the party BUT happy new year one and all. I hope 2012 is going well for you all so far. Things are okay on this end. I have some big plans and ideas that I would like to see come to life this year, but I’ll talk about those another time. Nothing is for sure yet, and I don’t want to make any promises I can’t keep.

In other news, 2011 ended on a very sad note for me. Just a couple days after my last post here, I lost my grandmother to cancer. She was a fantastic, and strong lady. One of the greatest people I have ever known. She made it all the way to 90 and was so healthy we all thought she’d make it until at least 100. We had a party for her 90th birthday at the end of August. When she came to visit in September she ended up in hospital and was diagnosed with cancer. She fought hard, but there was no treatment for her. Losing her has been so very hard, and celebrating the holidays without her this year was just heartbreaking. The pain eases, but it certainly doesn’t go away. I miss you, and think of you and Gongie everyday Nanny!

“It well may be that we will never meet again in this lifetime
so let me say before we part
so much of me Is made from what I learned from you
you’ll be with me like a hand-print on my heart”

Times have been very hard, but life is trying to return to normal now. Here’s hoping that this year will be one filled with happiness, love and creativity.

November Reflections

Kelly — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 04:12:42 +0000

It’s been an interesting month, to say the very least. Things have been up and down and all over the place. There’s been no time for art or beading, or just about anything really. On the 17 Matt and I went out on our first date night in for-freaking-ever! We went to Toronto to see Idina Menzel sing with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra. It was a fantastic day! We wandered aimlessly around Toronto, we briefly visited my friend Emily (of tomboytara.com), and then after that we went out for a nice dinner of Chinese food. The show was fantastic! It was being filmed for an upcoming TV special, so it was an extra interesting experience since I’ve never been to a filming of anything before. Idina was wonderful… even more wonderful than when I saw her back in 2008. She sang three songs from Wicked, which made the whole night totally worth it for me. She sang I’m Not That Girl, For Good, and Defying Gravity. How awesome to hear her sing the songs she originated, from my favourite Broadway play. Her hubby, Taye Diggs, was also there and they sang a song together. They are much too cute together. Great show! I’m sure Matt was probably bored to death but hey, he owes me for all the terrible movies and whatnot that I’ve sat through for him.

OH, and it SNOWED (I love snow)!

OH and I got this…

Yep, Matt and I are engaged! I couldn’t be happier about the idea of spending forever with my very best friend. Things have not always been easy for us, and we may have sort of done things ‘backwards” by having a baby first, but we have a wonderful son, and we’re happy. Everything has really worked out for the better.

At it AGAIN!

Kelly — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 06:47:40 +0000

Yep, I’m at it again. I’m fiddling with my website. I can hear people groaning “LEAVE IT ALOOOONE”, but I’m an artist; nothing is ever good enough for my standards. I’ve gotta always keep pushing to do things better. Not much of an update I’m sad to say. I’m mostly just popping in to let anyone who might be reading this know that I haven’t forgotten about this place. There’s a lot going on at home and my time is super limited at the moment.

While I am here though, I wanted to mention that there’s a sale happening in my shop right now. Make a purchase and save 20% by entering the code HS2011 at the checkout. Oh, and that includes absolutely everything in my shop. CLICK HERE to visit my Etsy shop and buy yourself something pretty, you deserve it!

I will be back soon with what will hopefully be a real update.
Much ♥ to you all.

Looks Like Fall Has Arrived

Kelly — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 21:01:34 +0000

Yesterday was the first day of school for kids here. I’ve never really considered the first day of school to mean that fall has arrived, but it looks like this year it does. We had hot sunny weather recently, and then BAM. School starts and suddenly it’s cold, grey and wet out there. I must say though, last night’s weather made for a spectacular sunset, and I just wanted to share with you, this picture that I took from my balcony. Click on the picture for a larger view.

Sights like this are just one of the things that make life beautiful. What an amazing way to say goodbye to summer.

Sooo Close!!

Kelly — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 18:55:28 +0000

It’s been a while since I’ve written here but man have I been keeping busy. Painting, drawing, making jewelry, and working super hard on getting the website up to snuff and it’s so sooo close to being finished. All the gallery pages are working now and I’ve added a few new pieces, and more are still to come. I haven’t decided if I’m going to add a customs gallery or not, since I haven’t made very many of them in a long, LONG time, but I kind of would like to show the ones I have made. We’ll see what happens with that, but for now I’m going to focus on creating, and finishing up my website.

In other news, fall is fast approaching. This is the last long weekend of summer, and I don’t know about you but I am quite bummed. I usually love the fall, but summer has been so great and fun this year, I’m sad to see it go. I’ve been working on making a few fall inspired pieces to get myself into autumn mode. Here’s a couple I’ve done so far (click on the picture to be taken to Etsy to see more pictures);

Fall Flower

Autumn Treasures

and more will be coming soon. I’ve also got some ideas in mind for some autumn inspired paintings. Although I am sad summer is coming to an end, I really do love the colours and the fresh air that comes with the fall. It’s all so very inspiring and beautiful. I’m hoping that this will be a season full of inspiration and creativity. Bring it on!

Some New Designs to Share

Kelly — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 17:35:06 +0000

I have been keeping pretty busy during this crazy heat wave we’ve been having in Ontario. Of course most of that time I’ve been keeping busy, it has been either visiting someone/somewhere that has air conditioning (because sadly, I don’t), hanging out in my mom’s pool, or taking my little man to the splash pad. Between all of that though, I have also come up with a few new jewelry designs. I hope everyone likes skulls, because there’s quite a few skull pieces made, and more in the works. I never really thought I would do the whole skull thing, but they’re really neat, and make for some fun designs.

“Rock Star” for sale in My Etsy Shop

I am super pleased with how they turned out. The curly wires were made by hand and I quite like them. I’m hoping to use them in some future designs. I am really enjoying working with wire at this point. I’ll post some more of my skull designs in a later post. For now, here is a necklace that I made just last week. I love this one!

“Unearthed” for sale in My Etsy Shop

I call this piece “Unearthed” because from the moment I saw them those blue flower beads reminded me of pottery found among ancient ruins. I *love* these beads. I hope you’ve enjoyed these new designs. I will be posting many more soon!