Not your typical Christmas!

WOW! What a week or more..... like what happened to the last 2 weeks?

Just the other day I was thinking to myself..." WOW"-the kids will be on their way home. "I need to get busy"!

I have been feverishly cleaning House,wrapping gifts, cleaning out my overly messy,too cluttered of a studio... so my daughter and my 2 grandkids could move in. My daughters husband will be flying back and then leaving for Iraq .

The are going to be living with me for the next couple of months until the army releases money for a place for them to call home.

the last 2 nights were sleepless ones. I worked on Restorations and packed up the last few things that I could before christmas.

Something kept bugging me in my dreams and uneasy feeling of worry...Stress makes me the person that I am, I actually thrive on it -But this kind of stress had me a bit uneasy.

I love this time of year,But I have to tell you that I was almost sick with worry those last couple of nights.

Saturday evening came and I had been calling them off and on.

I was thinking to myself, that they should be arriving around 9-11pm. I was trying to keep myself busy.. baking Christmas cookies and helping Lil "B" with the Icing.

As I turned around to ask my hubby something about the kids ,the phone rang......

On the phone was a frantic voice, with a screaming baby in the background! My heart sank as I realized it was my daughter. She was frantic and all I could make out was that they had wrecked...hitting black ice.

They were turn around pointed in the opposite direction on the side of the road, when another car hit them just as my dughter had cleared the guard rail with her 2 month old infant in her arms when another vehicle also hitting the black ice plowed into the front of their vehicle!

Her husband ,the 3 year old and their pet dog were still in the vehicle!

As the other car hit them-the kennel flew up into the air letting their dog escape in an instant. They escaped with no injuries!!

Thank God no one was hurt except for a few brusies and a couple of throbbing cranial lobes... One of which was mine!

As far as we know , the vehicle is totaled and the U haul trailer may have played in fault of the wreck as the hitch broke,But we are not sure of anything at this time.

My christmas wish was to have my whole family together and It miraculously came true!

Thank you Lord for watching over my children...and yours.

Karen

ps- Guess what? I'm sick and we have a band show tommorrow nite... anyone have any ideas for a stuffy head?

I think I have an allergy or a sinus issue... YUCK!!

what a mess I have........

HI~
Happy Holidays!!
I am so behind on bloggin' !
I've been spending quite a bit of time in the studio these past couple of days cleaning and removing and selling tons of things !
My daughter is moving into my studio space and my grandbabies are moving in!

No photos today...Unless you want to see a HUGE mess!
Gah!!!!!!
Back to cleaning!!
Karen

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES...

Hi- I Just wanted to come here and thank everyone who has come to visit my Blog and I wanted to take a moment to remember things in my past.

Earlier today as I was recycling 3x 5 floppies,I came upon a photo that I had completely forgotten about...

The photo of of my now deseased old Pony stallion- Dusty whom I had the pleasure of owning for 33 years and one of his colts who went to "meet" him at the rainbow bridge in early 2008.

Its been a rough year for my ponies. We lost 4 this year and it sure did set me back mentally. God never gives us more than we can handle,But there are days that is "sure" feels like it...

My Moral is simple- "be thank ful for the time you have here..."

Happy Thanks giving:)

until next time...

Karen

complaining does work:)

Lookie what I woke up to today:)

Time to finish up my medallions and cook them in the Kiln for a warm and toasty studio:)

Happy Holidays!!

Karen

ITS SNOWING!

Under another winter storm watch so I am hoping for a lil bit more of the white stuff:)

Here are a few more photos of earthanware ornaments I tried my color tests on:)

Enjoy!

Karen

disappointed about the fluffy white stuff

One would think with a photo like this that the ground would be covered....

2 hours north of me and about an hour south they received a nice fluffy blanket of the cool white stuff...But Not me.

I want it!!

I want to have a cool studio to take of advantage of the warming somewhat soothing aroma of my kiln cooking clinky cookies and HSO's...

Even though this looks like we are getting a mass amount of winter, our grass is still here...

Ah well..I am sure we will get "our share" soon:)

K~

another photo:)

IS it christmas yet?

LOL Not really-But its definitly winter!!

These are my latest offerings a hand full of homemade ornaments right from the kiln:)

There were an experiment, so I hope you like them~

various colors and shades as I am testing colors and their colorfast"ness" in the kiln:)

More later~

Karen

work work work!

the desk of KL Keepsakes

Meet the Gullivers!!

Meet the Gullivers!These are custom glazed- the one has a custom tail!


Number #6 Gulliver Black spotted-pending sale-On Hold-Thanks Kari!



Number #5 Gulliver Carcoal grey spotted- For sale






Number #4 Gulliver- Sold-pending sale-Thanks Joan
Thank you for all the compliments on these Lil Guys!
Karen

Welcome, new readers...

Thank you for coming to see Miss Flora,one of my newest creations in the past 3 years. Its been a tedious road for me trying to learn everything about what I can get away with as far as ceramic painting and customizing. These are my newest creations and I hope you will take a minute to look at each:)
Thank you so much!
Karen

photos of the Floras

More photos will be uploaded on Sunday:)

thanks

Karen~

Kiln goddess and Flora #13

Flora in spotted bay

For sale $225

Flora #12-spotty roan color

spotted roan Flora

for sale -$200

The Kiln goddess and Flora!

Flora #11 in cocoa brown- ready to be sold $200

I knew it was on its way...but...

I knew they had predicted this but I really ddn't think we were going to get this much snow! Another photo- this time of the barn !
I woke up early this am to get started on a bunch of work
and looked out to see the fluffly white stuff had appeared!

This really gets me in the mood to work-started the kiln this am at 7:30 Am,
added a few more markings on a few more horses, and had my chores done by 9 am!
With all that out of the way I plan on keeping myself busy today, working on restorations and sending out a few more that are completed.

The Kiln is now on High and its toasty and warm in the studio. so until next time Its toodeloo!
I hope to have clinky photos when I return to the blog- Stay tuned:)
Karen

Back to work:)

Its going to be a cold one tonight and already I am ready to turn the lil kiln heater on and cook me some clinky cookies and a few spotted floras and gullivers.

This week its back to work, on top of 3 drs appointments, band practise 2x and to finish winterizing the farm.

barn door fixed, Pony barn and fence checked,house door fixed,roof checked, barn roof cleaned off (dead leaves),turtle home started, hay brought in, which leaves getting the ole chevy truck inspected and baking about 5 zuchinni bread or adding a few more zucchini to the freezer...

Ever try Chocolate chip drizzled Zucchini bread? Its the BOMB! awesome stuff-chocolate and a veggi-LOL

anyways back to painting, restoring, and glazing!

Have a wonderful autumn day!

candy and the costume....

H A P P Y H A L L O W E E N

Fall is seriously here

Happy Almost Halloween!

There She is!

Just Like her Grandma- My grand daughter is a collector

This my oldest grand child

Isn't she just darling? I just had to xhare a photo of my oldest son's daughter...

She loves the horses:)

Untill next time! K~

WE HAVE SOME COLOR!

It starting to look alot like production IN HERE-LOL
Enclosed in the kiln is the broken hadrian, Floras. gullivers and a couple experiment HSO;s
Actually Its a Loza Guarter horse who has been customized into a baskhir curley!
The little tan disk is a custom base for my custom Glazed Flora...
More photos soon!
Have a great evening!
Karen

When life hands you lemonade or as I know it-Broken horses :O

When life hands you lemonade or as I know it-Broken horses

:O

My day today has not been a productive one- when life hands you broken pieces you as a model horse doctor finds ways to fix it.....But not the usual way that you know- as it can be quite boring...

*****************************

This is hadrian who had suffered 2 broken legs from a previous owner.

I started underglazing him back when I worked on a Spinnaker and never got any further.

Today I mended 1 of his legs and stilted him in the kiln.......

K~

Kiln on- round 2

Everything made it thru fine from the electrical outage- thank goodness.

I found out that it was just a powere outage in our area... Not sure why it happens but it does.. It wasn't even raining..?

Go Figure...

I am now firing an experimental restoration project of a horse with a broken leg.

We are now on low and I will be turning up to medium when I finish writing .

I also have 2 gullivers in the kiln which are on step 3 of their completion:)

I also wanted to share another photo of the baby as I await the time I can take Photos of the gullivers and Floras.......

have a wonderful day!

Karen

Electric & the powers that be.....

Last Saturday seemed like any other day according to the weather channel.......

I woke up early satuday am, as I was suppose to go to a liove show which I found out the past Monday wasn't going to happen. Car issues, family being sick and just general business kept me from some of my fall activities...a model horse show.
I decided to make the Best of it...
I had loaded the kiln the evening before and debated whether to "FIRE" the lil kiln up, when the evening kinda took over before I was done with my nightly non related hobby.. clean the kitchen chores...

So at 8:30 am saturday I crammed the last muddy HSO into the kiln and fired er up!
1 hour on low- 1 1/2 hours on medium and so forth... The kiln promptly clicked off at 12:15pm.
I was thinking to myself as I was underglazing..."that seemed quicker than normal"........

and

POOF "OUT WENT THE POWER".............

Here I am sitting with an airbrush in my hand, and no light or juice..? what the heck?
make my way back into the house and noticed I HAD NO POWER anywhere!

I was wondering what had happened? Had the kiln kicked my breaker? It never had before :-(

My husband and son had a Boy Scout outing all day so I called him and he seemed to think
that maybe it was just a power outage.. On a beautiful sunny day? "It was a bit windy today" I thought to myself......

I usually don't run the ""Lil Hot Box"" if we are going to have inclement weather, which I thought it would be a safe day with very little wind... No rain...

I just couldn't stand not knowing if all the lil asses and horses were okay....
Did the rain prematurely kick the kiln off? Was my airbrush going to be okay after sitting with Underglaze in it for hours?
I had 2 Floras in there that I had started to do underglazing on.........

stay tuned:)

Karen

Brrrrrr its a cold one-BUT

But not for long!!

Just started another batch of Floras and Gullivers this am so I can get the studio warmed up a bit to work on a few paint jobs!

I may have to keep a heater on at night tonight as we are expecting low 30's saturday evening.

I still have some Floras left to sell and a few Gullivers will be listed next week,Once the first hopeful buyers pick out there choices:)

I passed up going to a show Plus having fun with the Boyz today~

I am hoping for a very productive day on restorations and painting.

Back to Work~

Karen

Fall is here!

12:04Am. Thursday and have been thinking about Autumn, & firing up the Kiln again to warm up the studio this weekend as its suppose to get down into the lower 30's... (I have it 1/2 full).

I thought I would share a Photo of Avner and his Nemo hat!

I am hoping to fire the rest of the gullivers I have poured along with a Quarter Horse which a customized the mane and forelock on.

I hope to get a few underglazed as well within the next few days, to fill the Mud miester...

I have been wondering how much electric the lil bugger consumes as its firing lil clinky ass~kies...

I'll have to make a mental note to check the elecric bill- Yowsers...

Ta ta for now-I am hoping the next time I come here to write I have updated photos of clinky mule goodness!

LOL

Karen

Hugz aka \/

O O

l

____

updates on Gulliver-Orders

LOOK!!
CLINKY LOVERS!!
GULLIVER IN CHINA PRE-ORDERS
I am now taking 3 pre orders
LIDDY BRONZES- GULLIVER
Mini Donkey in earthanware china
********************
Want to add something unique to their collection??
Gulliver is a Miniature donkey stallion produced by Candace Liddy in resin and then produced by KL Keepsakes in earthanware china
Measures approximately 3 " tall
Gulliver is a live show proven model horse, winning many ribbons for his fans and owners around the world. Candace Liddy, one of the hobby and indeed the equine art world's best loved sculptors, crafted Gulliver with care and consideration for all his wonderful donkey details.

No bisques will be sold
glazed pieces will run $200 to $300 depending on color and availablity.
To order Gulliver, please order through Karen Dietrich at: klfarm@alltel.net
I accept Paypal, cashiers checks and money orders.
A 50 $ down payment will hold your Gulliver
Color choice is up to the artist however please send your suggestions.
(an additional fee may apply)
NO personal checks-sorry
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thought I would mention My sons family...

This is my son and his lil Man Daniel!

he also has a daughter whom I will be trying to locate a photo of:)

I didn't take this photo so I am not sure why the scowls-LOL

Karen

TEXAS Trip-Aharon making a fast entrance into the world

what a week!! I got the call the nite before my daughter had her baby. We left on the 30th at 6:30 at night and arrived the next day around 4pm. When I arrived My daughter had already arrived home, and her and the newest baby-a boy had settled in and everything was great with Both!

The photo is of Big brother Avner and his teensy 6 lb, 11 ounce baby brother named Aharon(Ah- roan).

He weighs a pound and an ounce more then when Avner was born.

Here the 2 are taking a nap! One of the sweetest moments caught on my digital:)

well I better close and try to focus on work!

Hugz and Smootches~

K~

BABY BAby babyyyyy

Last night about 12 am just as my kiln turned off i received a phone call from Missy my daughter. seems she was concerned about having her baby last night and I told her not too worry that even though things were progressing that babies usuallytake time to be delivered:)

Hahahaaaa. yeah riiiiiightttttttttt......

well this am I decided to sleep in due to lil B~ being sick with strep...a mild case,but no school...plus I had good reason to stay up late and work...

Frantic phone calls this am stating I'm headed to the ER!!

I'm like okay- starting to wonder if she was going to wait until her due date.

OCT 17th..?

at 8:15 am, I am now the proud grammah of another grandson. 6 lbs 11ounces... 19 inches long!

1 day after my B-day!

I'm headed to texas...............

HUGZ
K~

Into the wee hours ......

Started the kiln for the second time for the next batch of mud made long eared MSO(mule shaped Objects) and we are on medium as I write this. I started the firing at 9 pm on low then went to medium at about 10:20. I usually leave my kiln run an hour and 20 to 2 hours on low, depepdning how bigthe pieces are. No big Pumkin in this one, so I decide 1hr 20 minutres will due just fine:)

When I put the kiln on Medium,I again leave it run at the stage for at least an hour. I use a cone 04 or 05 most of the time. I will turn it onto high for the last stage in firing in which it should run again for about 1-2 hours.

I still have bodies to fire and alot of cleaning to do within the next week. It was imparitive I fire tonight, for the simple fact that its suppose to rain for the next 3 days.

I Hope to be taking orders on these and advertising Once all are fired ad into the Bisque stage in which I will be underglazing! If your interested in a special color please lt me know:)

you can email me at:

klfarm@alltel.net

Friends are wonderful:)

Hi- I just wanted to tell you abut my weekend.
I have been trying to save money to go to Texas as my daughter is due in October... I have been cutting back on showing- Extra expenses, you know the whole expense with gas and food and all that good stuff when you travel.
So, I canceled my show I was to go to, and then a friend of mine who lives fairly close asked me to ride with them to another show. With little expences, I decided to go and judge there and not show, so I could keep most of my money that I have been saving for my trip to texas.
It was a show that gave out the most wonderful horse for judging and I am so tempted to sell it.
Also My friend gail(thank you Gail) showed 2 mules I recently glazed and I believe the Gulliver nan qualified!
I don't have a photo of his award,But Many fellow friends and showers came over to see his cute Lil "Ass" with his award, and it made my whole day!
Gullivers are for sale and I hope to take step by step photos of my underglazing process in the coming week! Stay tuned...
In the meantime~ Thank you Gail and Jill for your hospitality!
Big HUGZ!!

more photos

medallion

medallion for trophies

more photos of my work:)

Opening the kiln with fingers crossed

LOL- well I opened the kiln this am at promply 6 to find that all the lil asses had made it thru their first firing~
Talk about a sigh of relief!!
I just needed to come here and let the blog know. I get so uptight and woried about firings for some reason... My mud cooker is of the older variety, no expensive digital thingy here. It needs to be mothered and babied and taken care of to the point where I can't leave it alone .
I'm better the last few times with it,But one never knows if the cone that shuts the lil cooker off will be a good one. a few years back I had a huge Kiln that I used. It took the same cones and after about 5 hours I started to worry that I had a problem with it. It was so warm in my ceramic studio that things looked rather hot. It felt like a sauna with no moist air. I decided to manually shut it off an wait till the next day was hard for me to see what had really happened. Here when I opened up the lid everything that was normally 12 inches tall had melted to the point of an undetectable mass...
It was a scary day-LOL
My 18 inch cat bank had shrunk and turned into ashes......

more photos of my recent work!

Bisque Gulivers

Bisque AM arab