Love Kimmie was invited to participate as a vendor for the 2012 RAWards ceremony on January 12th. Nothing beats starting off the new year with late night crafting and an event at the Grauman’s Chinese Theater! There were only a handful of vendors invited to participate so it definitely felt great to be one of the few selected artists for this major event.

The night was jammed packed with entertainment, which included awesome music from different bands, beautiful models who posed as live statues, dance performances, and a handful of drunks. I laughed all night long and received some of the most honest and genuine feedback from the guests.

The highlight of the evening was definitely when this guy in a pink v-neck t-shirt stopped in front of my booth, jumped up and down, and screamed, “Ohhhh my god…this is so freaking cute!” I had no idea what he was referring to, but I loved his enthusiasm! He asked around to see who the designer was and then shook my hand when I greeted him. I thanked him for stopping by and gave him a business card. Two minutes later, he came back asking for another one saying, “you’re just too popular!”  It turns out that his friend snatched my card from his hand and ran off with it!

I also had wardrobe stylists stop by to talk to me; the emcee patiently waiting until the crowd died down so he could make his way over to compliment my accessories; and several people came by to ask me if I was the “teacup” girl (reference to my “Mother-Daugther Tea Party” ring set). Later in the night, another man commented to his partner, “I like her stuff, she should have won for the accessories category…”They talked to me for a bit , held my hand, and then thanked me for inspiring them with my story. Hearing that they were inspired made my night. It was nice to see that my craft made people smile, touched others in a special way, or simply just appealed to the average consumer.

Looking back at the various events that I’ve done over the past year, I know that I still have a lot to learn and that there are still improvements to be made. Packaging and displaying my inventory at an event is top priority on my “to-learn” list. However, the first step to branding is choosing the right name so I’m also happy to announce that my blog domain has been officially changed to http://www.lovekimmie.com, something that I’ve wanted to do since last year. The year just started and all I see are endless possibilities. Cheers to a new year and new opportunities.

Love,
Kimmie

Courtesy of Ms. Jasmine Lim, a photograph from the event…

I was invited by Raw Artists to showcase Love Kimmie at their event this past Wednesday in Pomona, CA.  September is my mom’s birthday month so I was more than ecstatic to accept the invitation and seize the moment to celebrate my mom’s life with the world!  Junction was my first ever showcase so I wasn’t sure what to expect from the crowd.  When the door opened at 8pm, however, it all made sense. I belonged there. I am a Raw Artist.

I loved that people stopped by – other artists, their parents, the models – to check out my little boutique. For the first time ever, I framed and displayed pictures of my mom at an event. I wanted people to see how beautiful my mom was and for them to connect to her in a special way.  This was my way of inviting people into my “room” and to feel the love and happiness that I feel each day through my art.  The flickering candlelight against the lace and chiffon curtains, the beautifully accessorized dress form, the mini mother-daughter tea party ring set, the handmade banner personally sewn by Jasmine (owner of YourSweetTreat), and even the handmade flower hair clips neatly placed in a vase were all created especially for this event. To see how the guests’ eyes light up, and to know that I was able to touch their hearts in a meaningful way, made me so happy.

There were so many highlights from the evening that I can’t possibly write about every single one, but one that I will share is when my friend, Kiet, bought two of my handmade cards and said that I had inspired him to write to his mom more often, especially since she lives in another state.  That made me smile from the inside out.

Love Kimmie was very well loved by everyone. The positive feedback that I received was very reassuring and uplifting; I feel like I can tackle my next two events with more ease and confidence after seeing how much everyone enjoyed visiting my booth (some came back a second, third and even fourth time!!). Best of all, I loved that I had the chance to tell people about my mom and how she inspired and continues to inspire me to positively change the world around me.

I am very blessed and so thankful for the tremendous support that I received from my family and friends who drove in from different parts of Southern California to pre-celebrate my mom’s birthday with me. And, a special thank you to my fiance, Ken, of course. I couldn’t have done this show without him because he was the one who drove me to the event, helped me set-up, fed me healthy food, cheered me on, packed up everything at the end of the night, and gave me a big hug to tell me how proud he was of me.  I know, he’s pretty amazing. [Go ahead, you can say, “awwww.”].

All in all, this was a great platform for featuring my work alongside so many talented people. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that I would be asked to be a part of such an amazing network of artists!  Kaila Yu and her team were phenomenal in every way.  They truly embraced me as an artist and made it easy to connect with other artists from the very beginning.

Stay tuned for information about the upcoming Raw Artists’s RAWards 2011. National voting for the awards begin October 1st and ends October 15th.  Check out the link for additional voting guidelines because I will be reminding you to vote each and everyday!!

2011 RAWards Press Release

Love,
Kimmie

What Is Raw?
RAW:natural born artists is an independent arts organization that hand-selects and spotlights independent creatives in visual art, film, fashion, music, hair & makeup artistry, photography, models and performing art.

RAW’s mission is to provide up-and-coming artists of all creative realms with the tools, resources and exposure needed to inspire and cultivate creativity so that they might be seen, heard and loved. RAW educates, connects and exposes emerging artists in 22 artistic communities nationwide through monthly showcase events. Join us in celebrating the work of these artists.

http://www.rawartists.org