My official "25 Days Of Christmas" themed art challenge list, for any of you who'd like to participate:

1) Reindeer
2) Candy Cane
3) Sleigh Ride
4) Plaid
5) Elf
6) Icicles
7) Sledding
8) Fireplace
9) Snowman
10) Wreath
11) Snowball Fight
12) Shopping
13) Lights
14) Angel
15) Candle
16) Caroling
17) Blizzard
18) Grinch
19) Christmas Tree
20) Ice Skating
21) Mistletoe
22) Feast
23) Cookies
24) Santa Claus
25) Presents

Use #kwoartchallenges on Instagram if you post your entries there. Otherwise, leave links to your entries in the comments below so I can see what you guys made!

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Heyyyy shroomies. To be honest, I'm absolutely exhausted and have a migraine coming on, but I'm forcing myself to write this update journal now before I forget.

So, the house we were going to rent was taken. We found an apartment to replace it, but within a couple days that was gone too. Ryan did manage to get a job, but it's only part-time for now since he's new. Luckily, he convinced his landlord to let him stay for another week so he can finish packing, because even though we (mostly him and relatives) got a lot done, there's still a long way to go.

Our plan now is for Ryan to live with his grandma for awhile, maybe a few months until he's saved up enough that he can afford an apartment for the two of us and possibly his roommate/close friend. Hopefully I will have been accepted for disability benefits by then so I can help with the expenses from the get-go, but only time will tell.

In the meantime, I'll be back home with my parents, sorting through and organizing my stuff so that I'll be ready to move out into our new place once the time comes. I was denied for disability benefits yet again, so now I have to go in for a disability hearing to appeal my case.  

In happier news, I finally got my first wheelchair! I managed to find a manual wheelchair in great condition on Craigslist for only $35, so I snagged it. It works great, and my face absolutely lit up (or at least I imagine it did) when I first tried it out. Having a wheelchair and knowing I can use it at any time if I'm having trouble moving around has lifted a huge weight from my shoulders. It'll take a bit of time to get used to it though - at the moment it's making me rather motion sick.

Ryan found a cheap but very cool set of art supplies tucked away somewhere at his house, so he gave them to me and I've been experimenting with them a bit. It has some markers, crayons, colored pencils, and even oil pastels! I'm pretty excited to try out the oil pastels as I've only used oil pastels once, back in high school for an art class. I've already used the markers a bit and they're quite nice, though since there are only about a dozen of them, there isn't a nice color for white skin.

I'm feeling kind of sculpture-y, so I might take advantage of being home again by making some new polymer clay sculptures soon!

Sketch dump of recent personal work coming soon!


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Hello, my fellow shroom monsters! So, as some of you know from my previous update journal, both of my boyfriend's parents passed away recently, and so now he needs to find a new place to live. His landlord said that both my boyfriend and his roommate have to be out by the 24th, which is less than 3 weeks from now. So, they both have to find jobs and a new place to live by then, as well as clear out the entire house and pack all their things in preparation to move.

I managed to find a rental house in the area that is within their budget and allows pets, which is important since my boyfriend has a cat. If all goes as planned, the goal is to move into the new place with them so that once I'm accepted for disability, we'll be able to split the rent three ways, making the financial burden easier on all of us. The house is only 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom, but we'd have to make it work because it's the only option available due to a lack of affordable rentals where we live. We'll hopefully be setting up a tour of the house soon so that we can go check it out and submit rental applications if everything goes well.

So basically, I have been and will be spending most of my time at my boyfriend's place for awhile, helping out as much as I can to help get things cleaned up and figured out. After everything's all done over there, I'll probably be busy packing my own things at home and then moving into the new place if we manage to snag it.

This is a heads-up that I probably won't be making much art at all until things have settled down, most likely sometime late this month or early July. I will try to do some pencil drawings in my free time, but they won't be uploaded until I have a chance to come home and use my family's scanner. After moving, I probably won't be able to upload any traditional art until I've purchased a scanner, unless I decide to just take photos.

Please wish us luck - we're gonna need it!

- Kayla