Christmas Withdrawal

Zoolou always in the middle of everything!

Ready to break our Christmas Crackers~an English tradition!

All the GIRLS! (me on the left)

Is Christmas really over ALREADY? Every year it seems to come & go in the blink of an eye. I am one of those people who can't wait for the Christmas season to come, revel in all the activities & festive atmosphere, then always feel sad when it's all over. I hate turning on the radio the day after Christmas & hearing the "regular" music on again. I hate seeing Valentine's Day items in the stores replacing the Christmas things. How does it manage to fly by so fast??? I still haven't baked the cookies from my new cookbook or finished the Christmas novel I started back in November!

Oh well, I don't mean to gripe. I just never feel like I have enough time to do everything I want before the big day gets here. But I should be used to that ~ it happens every year. We had a WONDERFUL Christmas at our house this year! My entire family (on my side) came to our house & stayed for 4 days! I lost a whole day of preparation since they came a day early to beat the bad weather but it was a good thing they did because the roads did get bad! We even had a WHITE Christmas (yay!) but barely. Somehow, an hour north of us they got several inches & down in Oklahoma they got over a foot! We are right in the middle of all that but only got an inch or so. I think Wichita has some sort of repellent to snow, we always get cheated out of it.

Anyway, I'm thankful we had a white Christmas & my family got to be together. I hope all of you had a happy Christmas too! Here's to health, happiness & wonderful new artistic creations in 2010! xoxox

I FOUND IT!!!

I am SO excited!!! I FINALLY found the book that was my very favorite when I was a little girl! I've been searching the internet for it for years but for the life of me couldn't remember the name of it so had no luck. I was online late last night & just by chance came upon an ebay listing of a group of vintage books about kittens & this was one of them! I thought the kitten on the cover looked familiar so I googled the name & when I scrolled down thru the site listings there was my FAVORITE line in the book I had always remembered! ~

"Katie the Kitten, a small tiger cat, is asleep in the hall, in a ball, in a hat."

It just makes me smile to say that! I can't wait to get the book & read the whole thing! It's no longer in print so I'm lucky to have found a few copies online. Do any of you know the book? It's just the cutest thing & brings back such good memories. I think I could recite the entire book when I was little! Such a simple little thing to give so much joy. I guess my love of cats started shortly after I was born - ha. We even had a "small tiger cat" named, well ..... Tiger!

Hope everyone is ready for Christmas & finding time to relax & enjoy the simple things! xoxox

Frida's Christmas

Happy Thursday to ya! Here is my new Christmas Frida painting. I think Frida's got the right idea ~ don't stress, sit & relax with a warm cat in your lap, a cup of tea (I'll take Irish coffee) & gaze at something pretty like her blooming Christmas cactus! Hopefully Frida eventually gets up & does a bit of Jazzercise! Looks like she's enjoyed a little too much fruitcake & sugar cookies!

"Frida's Christmas" is up for auction right now on ebay. Just click right HERE!

MERRY CHRISTMAS & FELIZ NAVIDAD!

Yikes! 9 Days and Counting...

I've had so much fun looking at all the festive decor my blogger friends have posted I decided to join in & post some pics of my own Christmassy home! I love Christmas & love to decorate! I turn on some Christmas music or dvd, grab a cuppa coffee or glass of wine, haul the boxes up from the basement & go to town! I enjoy it as long as I can cuz all too soon it's New Year's & time to take it all down again (sniff).

On a painting note ~ I finished a Christmas Frida today (probably my last painting of the year) & will post a pic of her tonight or tomorrow! She's looking very festive! Feliz Navidad!

CAT NAPPERS & Cookie Dough!

Rolled, ribboned & ready to give!

Markie prefers the "multi-stack" version!

Happy Friday my sweet blogger friends!

Wow, this Etsy shop business is a lot of work! I've spent all morning & part of this afternoon (up until right now) photo shooting & listing my new Cat Napper Pads I finished last night. It's fun work so I don't mind but it sure is time consuming ~ & I was planning to do some Christmas shopping today. Oh well, it'll get done later. I love these fun bright colors of fleece I found! I think the birdy print one would be cute for Easter! I use the fleece scraps I have leftover to make little kitty toys to include with the pads. The Humane Society cats love them! If you want to check them out just click HERE to open my shop!

On a yummy note ~ my son got to bring cookies to his History class last week so we made homemade M&M cookies! OOOHHH that dough looks SOOO good right now! I have to admit I probably ate 7 cookies worth of dough while we were making them! I can't help it. To me the dough is better than the baked cookies. I know all about the dangers of raw egg but I've been eating dough for years & haven't croaked yet so I'm not worried. My best friend Cindy & I used to make a quarter batch of dough & just eat it all for our after school snack - ha! And we are alive & well to tell about it!

Wishing you all a creative, Christmassy, yummy weekend! xoxox

New Christmas Goodies for the Shop!

I was a busy little elf all weekend sewing up these new Christmas creations for my Etsy shop ~ 2 pillows, a stuffed ornament & a gift bag! I love how they turned out. They are all made from a vintage tablecloth I found online & was lucky to grab. The print was so cute I just had to have it! I'm really into vintage fabrics right now. There's just something about the "old fashioned" look of it that gives me a warm, nostalgic feeling! The pillow with the red border has already sold but the rest are in my Shop to check out!

We also got our Christmas tree today! We always get a REAL one & I hope that never changes. Our family always had a real tree every year when I was growing up & to me, an artificial one just isn't the same. I know real ones can be a pain & there are beautiful artificial ones out there but I can't give up my big Fraser Fir & it's wonderful pine scent! I'll post some pics when it's all decorated & lit up!

We're expecting a bit of weather tonight ~ some freezing drizzle & maybe snow. Yay! Bring on the snow! Hope you all had a nice weekend. Stay warm & toasty!

All Snug in Their Bed!

Happy Thursday everyone! I'm excited to get another Christmas painting done & have another one in the works. Here is my latest! "All Snug in Their Bed" can be found on Ebay right HERE!

The kitties were nestled all snug in their bed while visions of catnip mice danced in their heads.

Meowy Christmas to all and to all a good night!