The Power of Fur

When I lost my Frasier, I hung out with some wonderful cat people at the FFRC Chatters Group. I received a lot of love and understanding. One message posted to me was "Please find someplace to go SOON where you can get your hands in some fur-I think it's the only balm for your heartache." Was she ever right! I never realized how many times a day my fingers would run through that precious fur, or how it was so natural to just reach out and softly pet him as he curled up next to me on the couch. It was an actual physical habit that I was withdrawing from and my heart ached for it. So the next day I ventured out to the shelters not knowing if I was ready for this or not. I went every day to a different shelter, or to Petco and Petsmart where the fosters without homes were kept in cages. I wanted to bring them all home but I couldn't, and settled on this beautiful little girl with the big plume of a tail. One record says she's a Maine Coon mix, another says Turkish Angora, but whatever she is...she's now mine. Or rather, I'm hers.

Time for a Break

Haven't been feeling overly motivated lately, then Saturday I lost my Frasier after 16 years of companionship. I'll be back when the fog clears.

Happy New Year!

I know I'm a little late, but I can still wish you a happy year if I want to. And I want to! I honestly don't know why I didn't post it before, but I'm not surprised as I've been totally unproductive and preoccupied.

I decided yesterday, however, that since I joined the Use It Up campaign that I'd better get started. Last week was Organization Week with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, and I followed along to the tune of two large priority boxes of "stuff" packed and ready to ship to my grandniece in Michigan. She has two little ones and a third on the way, and she scraps...how perfect is that? So all that's left now is to Use It Up! I'm going to give it my best shot and start by finishing up half a dozen or more projects that I've never finished. They're getting on my nerves sitting around here, being moved out of the way again and again and again. It's time to bite the bullet because clutter makes me crazy when it's not organized.

Other than that, my pea brain has been trying to deal with my 17 18 year old cat's IBD. My sister says he's getting senile because he whines, but he also projectile vomits and misses the litter box on a regular basis... when diarrhea hits. He doesn't even wear a diaper. It's getting old and I'm getting tired. He's about had it with me cramming pills down his throat and giving him smelly, stinky medicine and I don't blame him. So we're trying some probiotics now...just a sprinkle on his food and hope it helps his digistive system a bit more than the meds. Poor baby.

Lots of good stuff going on in the mixed media art world. Some great challenges that I haven't joined but love following. More on that later. Gotta go clean the litter box.

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas

Every year Tim Holtz creates a new tag each day for the first 12 days of December. And each year he manages to create some of the most beautiful tags ever seen... and everyone, I mean E V E R Y O N E, tries to duplicate them. Not a bad thing, however, because Tim provides the ingredients and recipe to make your own beautiful tags! Yum.

So go take a look at the tags Tim created with real tags, stamps and ink, ephemera and such HERE. Then go HERE and see the HAND PAINTED version done by the one and only Inkwell. OMG, is there nothing this woman can't do?

All Smashed Up!

I joined a Junk Journal swap at Your Paper Pantry with a Christmas theme, and I was STUNNED when I received the finished book! Watch the video and you'll see just how pretty this "junk" journal is!

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas!

I hope those of you that read my blog have a wonderful and blessed Christmas. I'm signing off until 2012 but I've set up some future posts of my favorite slides and videos, (not mine!). I just enjoy them and hope that you do as well.

This first slide show is of the collages that Inkwell has been making all year for the group that follows her on Ustream. She calls it All About You, and pulls bits and pieces together based on information provided by her "subject". Each piece has special meaning to the "subject", and Dede, being the kind and generous soul that she is, then sends the finished collage to her "subject", wherever he or she may be in the world. To me, it's a wonderful gift for doing something you love doing, which is to watch Dede create art!

So Merry Christmas to all and especially to YOU!

December Doodles

It's December again and my worst month for blogging. I usually end up signing off until the new year, so if I don't return until then, you've been warned.

Been having problems with the Flickr photostreams on my blog so I've removed them. Half the time they don't show up, and I've noticed this on other blogs as well. I don't know what the glitch is but I hope they work it out eventually, it's been going on for a long time. I'm also having problems with Google, Facebook, etc., all being connected so I'm going to disconnect them! I don't know where the problem lies, but I didn't have it before and I hate when simple things don't operate correctly.

And I didn't make a December calendar because I'm doing Dawn Sokol's Doodle 12-31 class. I'm using a board book as she suggested and following along with her daily prompts, videos and word for the day. She's giving good tips too. It's really a pretty basic class, but I'm learning a completely different type of journaling so I'm rather pleased with it, (especially since I don't journal!). I like Dawn's style and lettering is really fun...I just don't know anything about it! I was kind of hoping she'd teach a bit of lettering but apparently not. Really don't think I want to take a formal lettering course.

On that note...here's the beginning of my little holiday doodle book! Fast and easy, no stress!