I have been taking pictures.

I have also created a new minibiz called Happy Avocado! I love sharing my passion for healthy food with others, so I will be now be offering classes, individual sessions, and nutrition counseling. My very first session happened last week for a couple’s anniversary. It was delicious and so much fun.

I have a feeling this summer will be a keeper.

The 3rd Annual Swap-O-Rama-Rama event will be a 2-day event! We are excited to announce that we will be at the Natural Living Expo this year. The Expo takes place at the Polk County Convention Complex located at 501 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50309. As always there is a small donation of $10 plus a bag of clothes to participate in the swap. You can pre-order your tickets here! We are currently seeking volunteers for both days. Stephanie is manning the event since I will be out of the country. Please send us an email if you can volunteer or want to help.

Swap-O-Rama-Rama (SORR) is a clothing swap and series of do-it-yourself workshops in which a community explores creative reuse through the recycling of used clothing. Participants bring their unwanted clothing to the event site. The clothing is sorted and everyone is encouraged to choose new items. Experts will be on hand to teach workshops and foster creative thinking in terms of clothing modification, screen printing, and embellishment. It’s more than a clothing swap, it’s a Swap-O-Rama-Rama, where excitement and opportunities for dialogue are created during the swap process. Sign up for our mailing list to be notified of future events.

Today I had the pleasure of photographing Angela Clark.  Angela is behind a lot of really cool events in Des Moines that relate to a natural, healthy lifestyle. She hosts Natural Living Radio, organizes the Natural Living Expo, and runs her own business, The Ki Inside.

Today was gorgeous, and I was so happy to be outside in December! Here’s my favorite shot, straight from the camera. I love that her earrings happen to match the tones in the wood.

Now is a great time to plan and book your custom photo shoots for 2011. Email me at kelseyblessman@gmail.com to set a date!

The only shopping on my Black Friday agenda today was Market Day. I love seeing the familiar faces and variety of unique handmade goods.

I picked up this poster from Cicada Grove. I love the band mewithoutyou, cupcakes, and the fox kinda looks like my puppy. Also:  it’s just plain gorgeous.

This shirt from twice. has had my attention for a few months now; first seeing it on a friend, then at Market Day. I knew if I still liked it, I had to get it. :]

There are so many places in Des Moines that provide the opportunity to buy local. Definitely consider it this year as a way to support your community (and get awesome gifts for yourself and others!).

I hope you all have a wonderful, enjoyable holiday season!

I don’t know about the rest of you artkids, but I really miss having deadlines. Nothing beats an impromptu last minute project or pulling an all nighter to complete a final. I miss that drive (and desperation) to complete something within a limited amount of time.

Last week, I decided that I would make a present for my good friend Kyle McCord. He is currently on book tour with Dream Horse Press reading from his newly published poetry book!

Of course, my week got away from me and I finally sat down to work on this piece last night around 9:30pm. My deadline was by 5pm today.

I opened up this deadline to anyone else who would like to participate. No restrictions, any medium. Doesn’t have to be serious. Just MAKE. Submit to me by 5pm on the 22nd. Roughly 20 hours notice.

9 people submitted! NINE! Here they are in no particular order:

Adrienne snapped this while on the way to Indiana for a family reunion. She felt that traveling imposed some restrictions, but was up for the challenge!

Aaron sent this to me today, first submission actually!

Darby, a master cupcaker, sketched this on herself as a possible tattoo idea. It reads ” Om Mani Padme Hum”, a prayer to bodhisattva of compassion.

A sketch by Jennifer Mitchard. She recently completed 100 days of art, and moved back to the midwest this week with her husband Tim! HOORAY!

A snapshot of Jon’s new workplace, Sourpuss Clothing.

This is a work in progress, but Jessica BB tells me that socks take something like 100 hours. I believe her!

Natalie writes: “I made this while cooking some pepper chicken with hummus… Actually, the chicken is probably better. ” Whatever, Natalie! I like it. I’m pretty sure I see a few mustaches in there…

Sarah of SewZinski completed this fantastic wallet! View her Etsy listing for more detail shots.

Trevor gave me this piece tonight and I get to KEEP IT! Yay! He was the first to agree to this deadline business.

Oh yeah, and here’s what I made for Kyle.

Dogcrime. White collar dogcrime, really. He has a teardrop tattoo from his time in the clink. Spectacles because this Corgi is probably an accountant gone bad. :]

Kyle liked it!

I think Parker liked it too.

Let me just say, I am amazed by the response and variety! I’m thinking this should be a weekly thing. What do you all think?

Yesterday was a lot of fun! We did a photo shoot for Mackenzie turning two. I love the dress that Stephanie made and Zee is always a lot of fun to work/play with.

Her birthday party theme is the alphabet, so this photo is perfect:

Later that evening, I got my second bee tattoo:

When I was little, I was stung by a bee on the back of my right knee. I also see myself as a worker bee. I decided to get these one at a time to symbolize goals that I’ve recently met–which works well for me as an incentive and reward. The first bee I got when I met my ultimate goal weight. The second bee is my reward for finishing the Dam to Dam. They remind me that if I work hard, I can accomplish a lot!

Josh Bowers from Iron Heart uses the bee as part of his logo, so he was perfect for these tattoos. Next month we’re adding honey dippers as crossbones!

One thing my mom and I do when she’s in town is this: we have a delicious salad at La Mie, go next door to Juice Co. for a smoothie, and then head to either Campbells or New City Market to shop for new, healthy foods. Yesterday, we did this (Quinoa salad at La Mie is amazing!) and picked up some Teeccino Tea from Campbells to try. This is a tea that tastes very similar to coffee, but without the caffeine or acidity. You brew it in your coffee maker, too! We got the chocolate mint flavor and it’s pretty delicious.

I’m off to edit more of Zee’s photos, enjoy your day!

“Chai!”, 2009

I looove my chai lattes, and I’m very particular about where I get them from. Some coffee shops around town simply use Tazo’s pre-made mix, which is tasty, yes, but I could easily do that myself!

Friedrich’s is one of my favorite places for a soy chai. They make their own recipe and it’s not overly sweet. I do treat myself to these on occasion, but my budget argues otherwise. I’ve tried brewing my own from tea, but it just doesn’t taste as good.

I picked up this Oregon Original Chai concentrate from the store the other day. It’s all natural ingredients and you can get a vegan option, which omits the honey.

I mixed this with Vanilla Almond Milk to make an iced dairy-free version. (I’m still a bit too lazy to make my own almond milk, even though I’ve heard it’s SUPER easy.)

The verdict? Yummy, but wayyyy too much sugar for me. I think next time I’ll try the Slightly Sweet version that Oregon provides, and make my own almond milk. I’m getting close to semisweet chai victory!

What are your favorite specialty drinks that you make at home?