Somebody missed me…

Since I’ve been home from the East Coast, I’ve had an orange shadow.  The kids were home while we were away, but this goofball cat thinks I’m his mother.  In a way, it’s true – when he comes home after losing yet another argument with the neighborhood cats, I’m the one who patches him up, not to mention feeding, brushing and general babying.  While I was gone, he didn’t get his usual in-the-door, out-the-door service and I think he missed being able to plant himself in the exact spot where my feet need to be on the kitchen floor.

Helper_Cat_post_vacation

I was deep into a number of projects and he kept coming into my tiny craft space, talking to me and demanding my attention.  Apparently I wasn’t responding with enough enthusiasm, because he managed to get up onto the counter and plant his orangeness where he couldn’t be missed.  Fortunately, he has a sufficiently dopey expression to be endearing, and he purrs at the drop of a hat.

Now to get the cat hair out of the Snail and Sticky Strip.

Let’s get it started…

Let’s begin at the beginning.  I’ve thought about a blog for months, but many things – not the least being fear – have kept me from publishing.  About 2 weeks ago I logged onto wordpress and signed up…and within 24 hours, I’d gotten a call asking if our family would be interested in hosting an exchange student for the school year.  Oh, and by the way, could we let them know today?  The young lady is waiting…

Our answer was yes, and what followed was an insane amount of activity based on one fact:  our new daughter is allergic to cats.  If you know me, you know that we’ve got a cat, and he has the run of the house.  Further, he sheds a ridiculous amount of hair.  After a week of vacuuming, carpet shampooing, laundering, and vigorous cat brushing, we felt as though we’d done our best.

The Feline Hair Machine

The Feline Hair Machine

To all of our relief, Kseniya and the cat are co-existing well.

But this isn’t the point of this post…it’s an excuse for its belated debut.

One of my primary purposes is to share my paper crafts.   My first love is card-making, but I do some 3-D and some scrapping.  The card I want to share today is a simple one, and it’s inspired by a sample in the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Mini catalog.

Bird in a Berry Christmas Wreath

Bird in a Berry Christmas Wreath

  • Real Red, Always Artichoke, Brushed Gold and Very Vanilla cardstock
  • Berry Christmas and Teeny Tiny Wishes Stamp sets
  • Stampin’ Up! Perfect Details Texturz plate, Stampin’ Up! Merry Details, and the Big Shot
  • Stampin’ Dimensionals
  • Rhinestone from clear Rhinestone Brads
  • Black Stampin’ Write Journaler
  • White Uni-Ball Signo Gel Pen
  • Stamp-a-ma-jig

I don’t promise to blog every day although I do have a goal of regular posting.  I also don’t promise to stick to one topic or another.  It may take me a while to find my voice here.  What I do promise is variety, whimsicality, and the occasional moment of lunacy.  Pretty much the way I live my life.