Who and What Am I? Why is Art My Life?

Hi, my name is Kristin and I am an Artist.
According to my mom, I have had artistic talent all of my life.  In fact, a few years back she dug out pictures that I drew from ages 3 all the way to when I was an adult.  She may be biased because I'm her daughter, but I think that my drawings were pretty damn good all of my life.  

I started art classes when I was 6 years old with a local artist in my town and took those classes until I was in High School.  I was in talented art classes from 5th to 8th grade, in which you had to submit a portfolio to be able to be chosen for that specific class in school.  During my elementary school days I was also in quite a bit of local art shows, showcasing my talent and being proud of myself and my work.

My Freshman year of High School I was one of the few girls chosen to showcase their work at the Newark, NJ Museum and had the great experience of spending two days there showing others my work.  I was so proud of myself for that accomplishment and loved mingling with other artists and receiving compliments from those viewing my pieces.  

Graduating High School I knew I wanted to go to art school and applied to one school in particular, Moore College of Art and Design.  Moore is an all girls art school in the heart of Philadelphia, right in the museum district.  When I got an acceptance letter telling me that I also received a full ride scholarship due to my portfolio and art ability, I was ecstatic.  I loved it.   I was finally with girls who understood me and used the creative side of their brain, I had friends who thought and saw things creatively just like I did and I finally felt like I fit in somewhere.  I had tons of friends and absolutely loved the independence.  Art school felt like home to me.

Now that I am out of school, I still pursue art.  I have donated various pieces to different local charity auctions and paint, sketch or draw whenever I possibly can.  Art, to me, is a passion and an emotional outlet for me to express myself.  It's something that calms me and soothes me when I feel anxious, upset or angry.  I am also proud to say that my two beautiful girls also inherited my artistic talent, I hope they continue to pursue their talent just as I did.  I feel it is very important for them.

This post was inspired by a prompt from Mama Kat's Writing Workshop.

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Gems The Word: Xpress Yourself Collection & Some beautiful new items!

I've been working so hard on my Gems The Word shop as well as our brand new website!  We now have GemsTheWord.com!  Today, I unveiled my Xpress Yourself collection, that I absolutely love.  Each pendant is hand drawn and placed securely in an antique vintage style frame pendant.  It's laminated and has a PVC photo covering on the frame as well.  This is so durable and so adorable! :)  Here is what I posted!

Adorable Hand Drawn Animal Bracelet

"I Like Love U" Antique Frame Necklace

"Let's Roll" Adorable Toilet Paper Hand Drawn Necklace

"Do You Like Me - Check One" Antique Frame Necklace

For a limited amount of time, you can get 10% off your entire purchase with Gems The Word -- Just use code THANKYOU! 

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My Week Long Home Improvement Project

I have always wanted an art studio.

Being an artist who really dabbles in many different mediums, I have always wanted an art studio of my own.  Somewhere I could keep all of my paints, canvas, jewelry making supplies, scrap booking supplies and other art supplies.  Actually, when I was in grade school & high school, I actually tried to separate my room into two sections; a bed room and an art section.  Sure it cluttered my room since I had so much in there, but it sort of looked like what I want.  However, growing up, having kids and moving upstairs didn't help any.  I was further strapped for space and really couldn't section my room like that anymore.

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My little Fashionista

My daughter is 5 and a half going on 16. She is a mini fashionista, but she definitely takes after her mommy! She gets my sense of style and love of fashion. My little princess loves dresses, skirts, purses, shoes and just anything cute or fashionable. She loves pink and purple and anything with sparkle or bling!  I absolutely love to go shopping with her because she enjoys it!  Olivia  has her own little style too, but she isn't heavy into fashion and shopping as Alayna is.  Alayna loves to go to the mall, try on clothes and find out what fits and works for her!  Hopefully Olivia will grow into that phase when she gets older.  Id love to go shopping with both of my girls someday!

Even though she has to wear a uniform to school, she can't wait to give her uniform her own twist of style this year! She has already scouted out some cute skirts at where else? JC Penney, of course! She wants to add her "Alayna style" to her kindergarten "big girl" clothes this year!  My daughter is fashionable, yet unique.  She doesn't want to follow everyone else's style, she wants to make her own style and have others follow her own trend.  She always wants to be a leader, not a follower!

As of now, Alayna loves to wear the long tunic tops with leggings, denim skirts with leggings and a shirt or a trendy and cute summery dress.  She always has to have the cutest navy blue skirts for her uniform as well.  Her favorite shoes are her black patent heels (small heel!) but they’re trendy heels!  She would wear anything that she would think is cute and adorable. 

My 5 year old is much more mature and much more fashionable than her age.  While most girls her age want to wear cute dresses that make them look like babydolls, my Alayna wants to wear the trendy dresses and skirts!  Even though she wants to be trendy, she also knows the limits and would never try to dress inappropriately for her age.  I taught her well enough in that aspect!  She is the most popular girl in her class and she loves the attention and comments on her clothes and her accessories! I live vicariously through her, since I was never popular. It's a fun ride for the both of us fashionistas!

“I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and jcpenney blogging program, for a gift card worth $50. For more information on how you can participate, click here.” http://jcpenney.socialmoms.com/about

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