Wordless Wednesday + a wee bit

Iris is a Momma Cat! And I am so proud of her.


She is teaching wee Peyton how to play and how to share. It is incredibly endearing. Iris is doing so much better, but still not her old self. Today I feel as though she is her old self, but now in a Momma Cat role, therefore just a bit more reserved and "motherly". I hope that I'm right.

Fun stuff....

Over the past few months, I've fully embraced the whole etsy community "thing"....and, let me tell you, it has been a lot of great fun. My CCCOE (California Crafters Club of Etsy) group is very, very active and motivated to promote each other's work. Its Great!

I couldn't have chosen a better bunch of people to engage with amidst the huge etsy collective. Today was a first! One of my creations was featured on the FRONT PAGE of ETSY! Here is a Screen Shot picture of the "event":


Do you see my Summer Of Love Owl down there in the left hand corner??

What does this mean, you ask? Well, when you hit the front page....a whole lot of peeps end up seeing something you've made and that you're selling and, hopefully, come visit your shop. That is what happened - lots of visitors, lots of love & lots of mad props for my work. Neat.

So, in the spirit of sharing, I'd like to show off my most recent additions to my shop. My Wedges of Sunshine! Allow me to introduce you to:

Samson:



Mari/Short for Marigold:


and Raye:


All of these guys embrace their love for the sunny side of life - making morning glories awake, painting rainbows in the sky and putting a shine on a freshly washed corvette. Thank you dearly for clicking here to take a look at these cute wee plushies.

This weekend I will be showing off alllll of my creations at my very first Craft Show. It is a show called Craftaluma that is sponsored, in part, by Etsy!

Come On By if you live close....and say hello! I'll give you the buttercup discount.

Happy Summer! xoxoxox

Wordless Wednesday

Truth Be Told

It hasn't been all sunshine and kittens around here.

Our dearest, Iris, has been going through a very rough patch. As a result, so have we.

In order to appease the rescue group that we adopted Peyton from, we took our dear Iris in for an exam and obligatory vaccinations. Our vet thought that she really didn't need any but that the simple distemper vaccine would protect Iris in case the new family member carried any troublesome bugs - so that is what we decided to do. For her benefit.

Thing is, our girl had a pretty significant reaction to this vaccine. She lost her sweet wee voice, curled up in a ball for a good few weeks, stopped eating normally (& lost almost a pound within a 2 week period) and just wasn't herself. She stopped scampering. She stopped snuggling. She wasn't our girl. It was extremely heartbreaking. Many tears were shed.

Then along came Peyton. The cutest kitten I've met. We thought for sure that Iris would step up for the challenge and step into the momma-cat role. We always thought that was in her nature and that she would love having a wee one to take care of. Nope, not even one bit. She barely ate the coveted chicken baby food and her hind quarters quavered when I fed it to her.

Our doc contacted Pfizer, the maker of the vaccine. They noted some history of similar reactions. They also opened a "case" for us. Our vet gave Iris sub-q fluids and Iris did better for a wee while - but it was short lived. Jzboy compared her personality change to Jack Nicholson's character in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". Yes, it was that significant.

Thankfully, the past 2 days have presented a shift in Iris that gives us hope and allowed us to exhale a bit. Not sure what it is but she is so much more like herself. Her coat looks beautiful, she "talks" a bit with us (tiny wee chirps) and she is eating more than the ol' Gerber's chicken baby food...in fact, she is eating Peyton's baby food. Today when I held Peyton close to her, she gave him a very sweet and thorough face (& ear) bath. That momma-cat energy is coming forth.

I can hardly put words to the sweetness of Iris' recent shift. Losing our two elder cats just a few months ago left us feeling so sad and fragile. The thought of Iris leaving us (and, yes, that was a real fear) was too much to bear. Thankfully she seems to be coming around. Thankfully.

So that is what has really been going on around here. Thankfully we are moving through this...as are our feline family members.

Unfortunately life isn't all sunshine and kittens.


But, then again, sometimes after weathering the storm - you are left with sunshine and kittens.

How cool is that?

Wordless Wednesday

More Words Later...

Wordless Wednesday