Tick Tock Tick Tock

Jagger's New Clock

I just finished my new great nephew's (makes me sound old!) Christmas present!

I'm so happy with the way it turned out!  The colors will match his bedding & the "anchor" paintings I did for his room.  I used scrapbook paper, chipboard numbers & letters, a cute anchor I painted, & red buttons.

I can't believe I found that little anchor!  It looks just like the anchors in the paintings I did.  I also painted the clock hands navy blue to match (they were black) & the second hand red.  It's kind of hard to see but I added a little starburst at the end of the second hand.

What I thought was going to be an easy project turned out to be a lot trickier.  I searched all over town for a WHITE clock but could only find black in the size I wanted.  I ended up buying a $7 thermometer at Home Depot (ha).  After taking it apart I found the hole in the center was teeny tiny.  I had to get a little knife & very carefully scrape away plastic to make the hole big enough for the clock shaft.  I can't believe I did it without the whole thing cracking!  Anyway, with luck & my artistic skill (heehee) I got her done & the end result is just how I wanted it! 

Can't wait to give it to him on Saturday when my family gets together!  Now I'm off to make some pumpkin bread for my nephew.  The house is gonna smell good!

Hope the NEW YEAR brings you all lots of HAPPINESS!!!

xoxoxo

Feline Friday ~ GOOD MEWS!

My sweet little foster kitty, Kappy, was adopted Wednesday!

He was the little guy I had to syringe feed for a week & didn't even know how to drink water yet.  We weren't certain he would even make it but neither of us was about to give up & he turned into a strong roly-poly furball!  He'd been "in the system" at the Humane Society for over 4 months including a stay with another foster family when he caught a cold after I brought him back.  Poor guy's been through so much. 

My one wish for Christmas was that he would be adopted & that wish just came true!  I'm so happy that sweet little boy has a new home just in time for Christmas!  YAY for Kappy!!!

I LOVE happy endings!

Wishing you all a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS

& the most WONDERFUL of NEW YEARS!!!

xoxox

Early Christmas for the pets!

Koda enjoying his new toy!

Zoolou gettin' happy with some catnip!

Zoo trying out the new scratching post!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE EVERYONE!

Christmas came a day early for the West pets!  Koda's going to the boarders today so he got 1 of his presents early ~ a stuffed toy to tear up ~ his favorite!  The cats' new scratching post came this morning so we went ahead & set it up & it's already being used as you can see!

I have another "Feline Friday" post coming later so check back for some "GOOD MEWS"!

Have a wonderful day!  Hope your shopping is done & you get to relax a little!

New Christmas Kitty Doll!

Sabrina the Siamese

Sabrina the Siamese is a hand-sewn stuffed Art Doll with a hand-painted face.

She wants to come & decorate your holiday home!

She's available NOW in my Etsy SHOP!

Happy weekending everyone!

Hope you have something fun & Christmassy planned!

Feline Friday~What's YOUR Cat Getting for Christmas?

(source)

Little furry mice!  I think just about every cat LOVES these little critters!  They're cute, cheap & now they make ones that rattle!  Just make sure you buy a bunch because they always disappear under furniture!  My two will be getting a new supply of these in their stockings this year. 

Their other gift is a replacement post for their "Purrfect Scratching Post".   As you can see, their previous one is down to the bare bone!  I ordered this post online HERE about 4 years ago & it's the greatest!  I highly recommend it.  It's solid, sturdy & strong enough for even the heftiest of felines!

Do any of you remember the old Hartz Catnip Mouse that came in a pink box???  When I was growing up our cats always got one every year at Christmas.  I tried to find a picture of one but couldn't.  Nowadays they have to make fancy, elaborate toys with all the bells & whistles.  Cats couldn't care less.  The old Hartz mouse was plain blue with tiny stitched eyes & a tail.  It was always fun to give it to our cat & watch him try to tear open the box to get to it!

What is YOUR cat getting for Christmas???

Waiting for Santa

"Waiting for Santa"

Little Thomas just can't stay awake while waiting for Santa on Christmas Eve!

Maybe it was the few sips of milk he snuck while noone was looking!

Now up for grabs on EBAY!

A purrfect gift for any cat lover!  Meowy Christmas!

New Kitty Stocking! hohoho

Does your kitty need a new stocking this year?

Here's a really cute one all ready to go!

It's available right now in my ETSY SHOP!

I'm having a lovely Saturday ~ painting & sewing with my yummy smelling candles burning & Christmas music playing while the wind whistles & blows outside!

Hope you're having a lovely day too!  hugs 

Feline Friday ~ "Furry" Decor

A holiday table just isn't complete without a cat.

At OUR house anyway!

"I make a better centerpiece than that stupid Santa!"

HAPPY HAPPY WEEKEND MY BLOGGER FRIENDS!

xxoooxx

Current Foster Babies!

Meet Giles & Gretta!

~ my latest foster babies

Giles is the handsome orange & white boy & Gretta is the pretty, exotic-looking brown tabby.  I can tell Giles is going to be a BIG boy & Gretta has the softest, silkiest fur ever!  I've had them for a week & a half now.  They both had mild colds at first, then Giles decided to get all congested & I had to take him back for a clinic check.  He's now on an antibiotic & back to his wild self!  They are both such good kitties ~ playful, but not destructive or too messy.  And when they get tired out from romping they snuggle up & purr!

Giles has 7 more pills to take so I'll have them for another week, then I'm really hoping they get adopted & have a loving new home in time for Christmas!

Someday I'll grow into my ears!

When does "Top Cat" come on?

So far ~ all 14 of the fosters I've had have ALL been adopted!  Little Kappy, the scrawny little black boy I had to syringe feed for a week, is still awaiting adoption at the Humane Society.  That sweet boy has got to be adopted soon!  That would be the best Christmas present of all for me!

Working on more Christmas creations for the shop today!  Hope you're enjoying this wonderful Christmassy time of year!  I could sure go for some SNOW!!!

I'm featured in Anipal Times!

I was interviewed a while back by "Cokie the Cat" from Anipal Times & my article was published last week.

Click HERE to read my story!

I also have NEW PRINTS in my shop!

My vintage fabric Christmas pillow & ornies just sold so I'll be busy sewing up some more!

Should have my kitty stocking finished soon too so stay tuned!

HAPPY PURRSDAY!

Vintage Ornies now in the Shop!

This cute set of 2 Vintage Fabric Kitty Ornaments is now available in my SHOP!

Working on a set of Christmas Kitty Cards today & tomorrow I'm attempting a Kitty STOCKING!

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving & are getting in the Christmas spirit!

New Vintage Kitty Ornies!

The FIRST of 4 new Pillow Ornaments from vintage fabric!

I have 3 more to make but wanted to post this one so you could see what I've been working on.  I just LOVE vintage fabric, especially when it has CATS on it!

I don't know about you but with all the hustle & bustle this time of year I'm finding it hard to keep up with blogging, facebooking & all the networking that goes along with Etsy & Ebay.  Sheeeeesh!

I'm barely finding time to create anything, much less post about it.  Goes with the territory I guess!

Got new foster kitties too ~ more on than soon!  HAPPY MONDAY!

Cute New Cat Napper!

This Cat Napper is one of the items I donated for the

Beaufort Community Cat Project

in North Carolina for their fund raiser auction!

Hope they raise lots of money for the kitties in need!

I'll have a Cat Napper just like this one available in my shop soon!

Hope you're having a marvelous weekend!

Feline Friday~Cats Don't Drool

Source

JUST MORE PROOF THAT CATS RULE!

I saw this on Good Morning America this morning & thought it was pretty interesting.

I looked up the article online & below is a little snippet.  If you want to read the entire article (it's short) click HERE!

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A cat's delicate lapping does not scoop up water but uses inertia to create kind of a backward waterfall, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.

Understanding such movements help physicists sort out the relationship between gravity and inertia, they said, and can help design robots and other mechanisms."

WHO SAYS CATS AREN'T SMART???

Happy Happy Weekend!

New Vintage Pillow & Ornies!

NOW IN MY ETSY SHOP!

**NEW VINTAGE FABRIC GOODIES**

FOR CHRISTMAS!

A set of 2 pillow ornaments

AND

A decorative pillow

Visit my shop HERE!

I had SO much fun sewing over the weekend!  I have a new CAT NAPPER to list soon too!  Haven't done one of those in quite a while.

Now it's time for a new Christmas painting! 

Vintage Christmas Cats

**Just a sneak peek at my next Christmas project!**

This cute vintage fabric is about to turn into cute pillows, stuffed ornaments & maybe even a stocking!

HO HO HO ~ MEOW!

Feline Friday~Cat Wisdom & an Adoption!

Zappy!

Happy Feline Friday!  I'm so happy to report that my foster kitty Zapp was adopted last Sunday on Halloween!  Another success story - yippeee!  Isn't he a sweet face?

I was reading my book Cleo the other night & had to post this excerpt!  It's just SO TRUE & I think we should all adopt this "cattitude" once in a while!

Excerpt from Cleo, by author Helen Brown:

"Guilt isn't in cat vocabulary.  They never suffer remorse for eating too much, sleeping too long or hogging the warmest cushion in the house.  They welcome every pleasurable moment as it unravels, and savor it to the full until a butterfly or falling leaf diverts their attention.  The don't waste energy counting the number of calories they've consumed or the hours they've frittered away sunbathing.

Cats don't beat themselves up about not working hard enough.  They don't get up and go, they sit down and stay.  For them, lethargy is an art form.  From their vantage points on top of fences and window ledges, they see the treadmills of human obligations for what they are ~ a meaningless waste of nap time."

Love that last line! 

 Happy weekend & don't forget to embrace your inner cat!

Happy Halloween!

CAT-o-Lantern carved by ME!

Creative Carving by my Kids!

Busy Carving!

Shelby dressed as a gypsy!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN ALL MY BLOGGER FRIENDS!

Just sharing a few of my Halloween pictures from today.

The pumpkins are carved & lit, trick-or-treaters are coming, got a scary movie on & my bottle of Hallowine open! 

BOO & CHEERS everyone!

Feline Friday (on Saturday)!

HAPPY SATURDAY TO YOU!

I completely forgot about "Feline Friday" yesterday so I thought I'd just post a pretty picture of my diva cat Zoolou posing by our kitchen table fall centerpiece.

She's trying to look innocent after playing & chewing on the flowers!  I keep trying to tell her they're fake!

Have a great day!

I plan to spend mine painting, watching scary movies, carving pumpkins & opening up my bottle of Hallowine!  CHEERS!

Anchors Away!

FINALLY ~ a POST!

These paintings are just 1 of the many reasons I've been neglecting my blog lately.  October is my absolute favorite month of the year & there are just too many FUN fall things to do to be sitting in my studio all day!

In the last month & a half I've had trips to Maine, Colorado & Kansas City, taken care of 5 foster kittens & had 2 commissions to do so I didn't get my usual Fall & Halloween paintings done but never fear ~ this weekend I'm starting on new Thanksgiving & Christmas themed creations!

The picture above shows 2 of 4 anchor paintings I'm doing for my nephew & niece's new baby's room!  She is due in just a few weeks so I'm scrambling to get them done.  I think they're turning out really cute!  The colors match the crib bedding & I painted the outside borders to match the stitching on the trim.

Anyone doing anything FUN for Halloween this weekend?  I love to light all my candles & watch scary movies while waiting for trick-or-treaters, and of course eat half the Halloween candy!

BOO!

Feline Friday~Cleo

Happy FRIDAY all!  For Feline Friday today I wanted to show you the sweet book my sister gave me for my birthday (which was Oct. 4th by the way). 

It's called "Cleo" ~ the Cat Who Mended a Family. 

Good Housekeeping calls it "the next Marley & Me".  I just started reading it last night & already know I'm gonna love it!  I can't believe I hadn't heard about it before now.  I just hope it's not sad like so many animal stories are.

Here's just a snip of the back of the book:

"Through happiness and heartbreak, changes and new beginnings, Cleo turned out to be the unlikely glue that affectionately held Helen's family together.  Rich in wisdom, wit, heart, and healing, here is the story of a cat with an extraordinary gift for knowing just where she was needed most."

Sounds lovely doesn't it???

Happy weekend to you!  Enjoy FALL wherever you are!!!

Markie's enjoying the backyard view!

Back in Town!

Boulder, CO

Good Grief!  I feel like I've been away from my blog FOREVER!  Sorry.

Last weekend my daughter & I made a trip to Colorado.  She visited Colorado University in Boulder where her cousin goes & had fun staying in her sorority house & attending a few classes.  While she was there I got to relax & be totally spoiled at my sister & brother-in-law's beautiful house in Aurora!  We talked & ate & walked & just had a great time relaxing & catching up.  LOVED IT!

You know how hard it is to get back in the groove when you've been away for a few days with NO responsibilities & no schedule?  Well, that's where I am now & I'm still trying to get my butt back in gear!  I'm hoping to get started on a new painting tomorrow...but you know how it is.  I've been thrust back into the grind of school activities, homework, foster kitty care, etc. etc.

Better run.  Gotta edit my son's research paper.  fun, fun! :)

Missing Maine!

Hi Gang!  Just wanted to share some of the BEAUTY of MAINE with you!

We had a wonderful, relaxing time & I don't think I've EVER seen anything as breathtaking as the scenery there (and I've been to Hawaii)!!!  I wonder if all the folks who live there know how lucky they are to be surrounded by such natural beauty!  They're within a stone's throw of a lake, pond, woods, hiking trail, carriage road, mountain, harbor, beach & ocean no matter where they are!  What I'd give to live in a place like that!!!  I'm a true "New Englander" by heart!  My birthday was Monday (the 4th) & it was awesome celebrating it in Maine!

Our trip went waaay too fast & I'm having a hard time getting back into my daily routine.  Feel like I'm falling WAY behind on my artwork & this is the holiday time of year when I usually have more items available.  I took my foster babies back the day before we left for our trip & had to go pick them back up again when we got home because 4 of them caught colds - UGH!  Luckily, they went through the worst of it while I was gone & are doing fine now. 

Better quit rambling & get to work if I'm going to get any creating done!

Have a good one!