Paper Whiskers

Photo on a Friday

I have a couple of posts in the works, but in the meantime, here's something cute to look at.

:)

catch up on a Tuesday

The latest:

I successfully acquired as many Nick Bantock (of Griffin & Sabine fame) ink pads and re-inkers as I could, after recently discovering they are discontinued. This line includes my very favorite brown dye ink: Van Dyke Brown.

 

One of my favorite things to photograph is the sky, and one of the best spots to see it is on the drive home from work, taking the 'bypass' - a short stretch of highway into CR from Marion. The sky is wide open and frequently full of amazing cloud formations. An example from last week (actually, this was taken in our parking lot):

(click to enlarge)

Over the weekend, our oldest cat got sick with a uti. I'll spare the gory details, but suffice to say I am very thankful for emergency vet clinics, even if they are more expensive. It's worth having someone to call and ask questions, and that can see you at any time of the day or night. I ended up taking her on Sunday, and was impressed with how they dealt with me and her. She's not the friendliest cat with strangers, and her last vet appointment was a disaster. Funny thing though: when they put a cone on her so she couldn't hurt them she calmed right down and was super sweet. Weird.

They brought her in to sit with me while they got her meds ready, but she wasn't having it. And later, when I gave her the first dose, she screamed so loud she blew out her voice. She can barely squeak. So, it's been a rough few days for this one. And our other cat's reaction has been really interesting to observe. She knows Kahlan is sick, and is not happy about it. When I have to give Kahlan her medicine, I have to shut Edie out so she doesn't hiss and make Kahlan more agitated. We don't often see how tuned in they are to each other, but it's been apparent

Yesterday I took the long way to pick up lunch (because I just needed to drive for awhile) and I passed a familiar sight to Marion-ites:

A Knight's Sweet Corn stand. I know, I couldn't believe it either. So I stopped for cash and picked up a dozen on my way back home. Eric and I had several ears for lunch/supper, and I stripped the kernels to freeze. I think I'm going to make corn chowder. Yum. Here's another glamour shot of the goodness:

Week in the Life - Monday photos & notes

Read Hawaii 5-0 fic, io9.com, manga

Listened To 100.7 – “American Band” “Free Bird” (the extra long version - it was playing when I turned the car on after work and still wasn't over by the time I got home - :D)

Ate Cut fruit, granola bar, turkey sub, banana, water, apricot fruit leather, steak tacos, cherry limeade, fudge popsicle

Wore Current favorite work outfit – blue flowered shirt, grey slacks

Watched Disc 2 of The Vampire Diaries with Eric

Edited to add scrappy notes: p22 Hopper Josephine (font); A Daily Beauty digital design kit (designed by Kitty Chen)

(This post is part of my Week in the Life project running 25-31 July. Read about Ali Edwards' concept here.)

currents

drinking: water

wearing: tan pants, green top, black strappy sandals, hair in boring ponytail because it's just too hot/humid to leave down

feeling: good about working out a small work thing this morning

weather: sunny, hot, humid, windy - I'm so glad I finished errand running last night; I shouldn't need to do any running around today

wanting: a new lens for my big camera; the autofocus is shot, and I really should get a better one than the kit lens anyway. I've had my eye on this Tamron one for a few years (pricey, but worth it!): 28-75mm f/2.8 lens

enjoying: messing around with an old laptop I bought from work - I love dinking around with programs and settings, getting things just right

wondering: how Trent's visit will go. I know he's looking forward to it, but I still wonder what he'll think.

loving: my crazy cats - I want to figure out a better lighting situation somewhere in the apartment, so I can get some good photos of them - it's been awhile

wishing: for more willpower/motivation in certain areas of my life - It'd be nice if that was something you could learn.

Layout - "Everyday Companion"

Sharing another layout today. Darling Edie - almost impossible to take pictures of unless she's not looking at you (which is rare). She's such a love. Also, this layout is more proof that she exists! ;)

Supply notes: cat chipboard (Martha Stewart cat, stripped of the colored paper layer, then inked; I glued a Sassafrass flower sticker on top, then trimmed to the shape; added another sticker and an initial)

"Hello"

This is probably the best photo I've gotten of Edie. She is always far more interested in investigating the camera than staying put. I've had a copy of it hanging on our photo wall, but decided I needed to add it to my scrapbook too.

Scrapbooker details: patterned papers (Sticker Studio), title (Doodlebug Design), flower (Sassafrass Lass), journaling card, definition sticker (7Gypsies), "edie" letter rubons (American Crafts), and I used a Fiskars punch (threading water) to create the scalloped bottom edge

"Everyday Moments"

Back from the blog break, and I actually can't guarantee it will be any more active around here, but I do have lots of layouts to post. I attended both Spring scrapbooking retreats this year and got tons done.

This layout has lots of stuff on it, so I won't try to list it all. I used some of my favorite stuff on this one, like the bronze nailheads, a piece of film, cool leaves, a journaling stamp that was a lucky rummage sale find, and I edged with a gold paint pen, most of which is cropped out.

Christmas Round-up: Whiskers

Pets have always been part of our families, the only difference being that I had cats and Eric had dogs. So, it didn't take too long until we had our own. Cats for now, hopefully a dog someday. We don't go so far with Kahlan and Edie to celebrate birthdays, but at Christmas they get their own gifts. And last year, I managed to even find pet paper at PetSmart. It's not very pretty, but it is nice to have something just for their gifts. And they seem to like the crackly noise of the paper and they definitely like the special treats they get.

For the most part, they don't bother the decorations or the tree, thankfully. They do like the fuzzy Santa hat tree skirt, though. Edie especially likes it, and will curl up under there quite often. She is also the one who rings the bell hanging from one of the bottom branches of the tree. It's a tradition from my own family's tree, that a cat bell is hung where the cat can brush up against it as she investigates presents.

Edie is also the one who chews on the tree branch that came off when I put it up this year. She pulled it out of the box one night and now I keep finding it all over the apartment.

The big gift this year was a cat hat, with reindeer antlers. It's silly, and not very well designed, but I couldn't resist it. Maybe if it had ear holes, they might have tolerated it longer.

Or not.

Happy Halloween!!

Ha! I couldn't resist posting this old layout to celebrate the day. She cracks me up.

details, for them that care: cat and Happy Halloween stamps from A Muse; alpha stamps from Hero Arts; I layered strips of Chatterbox vellum and cardstock to make the background; the photo was printed in both black and white and in color, then I layered Kahlan over the black and white; it is hung with leather cord on a Making Memories eyelet

Hope you have a great Halloween weekend!!!

Whiskers: An afternoon in the sun

Despite this being the worst winter in a long time, two members of our little household have been enjoying themselves. Strong, unfiltered sunlight floods our front room for the middle part of the day (on sunny days, obviously), which Kahlan and Edie soak in for as long as they can stand. If Eric doesn't close the blinds (the glare is killer on his monitor), they will lounge in rotation, taking turns in the best spots. From the windowsill, to the back of the chair, to the floor, back to the chair and over and over. With short cool-down breaks in the 'shade' (any non-sunny spot). They flop. They doze. They watch the orange tabby who lives across the way. They fight half-heartedly. They bask.

The photos below were taken one such recent sunny day. Click on them to see close-ups. Enjoy!

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It's interesting to see all the different ways the light looked in these first three photos, all taken within the same half hour. Where she was sitting and what she was sitting on, made all the difference.

I just want to reach into the photo and scrunch my fingers through her fur:

The only one I converted to black and white, because there was a distinct red/pink glow reflected from the tree skirt Kahlan was lounging on. It was going to either be impossible or take too long to fix, so I did this instead:

And one more, just because it made me laugh out loud . . .