Supertastic Secret Sale: 20% off til Dec 1st

(Sticky post--scroll down for new ones) It's holiday gift giving time, and we're all feeling the crunch. So here's the deal: all of my blog readers are entitled to 20% off one total order from my etsy store (as many items as you'd like; shipping rates stay the same) until December 1st. This even goes for custom orders, so if there's something you'd like that you don't see listed in my etsy shop but would like to have made that's fair game too (cat tags, for instance, or a different key chain or cell charm than the ones I've got up now). Just contact me to find out whether or not your particular idea is feasible.

So how do you get your discount? When you make your purchase there will be a section entitled "notes to seller"--simply put "blogsale08" in the notes there, as well as what your preferred method of payment is (PayPal, Rme, or check/money order) and I will send you a revised invoice with the discounted amount.

If you have any questions about the process just let me know!

Cell phone charms, cat tags, key chains, and zipper pulls

Who was it that said "if it wasn't for the last minute, nothing would ever get done"? Besides me, that is?

Anyway, after requests from a while back that I make cell phone charms, key chains and zipper pulls, I started doing some product testing. Now (at long last--whoo-hoo!) I've started to list them. Each of these shown here are hand-drawn, and can be attached to either a clip (for zipper pulls), a lanyard (for cell-phone charms) or a figure-8 style keychain. My current official listing is for the rainbow cat keychain, but you can get any of the ones shown here.

I'm still working out all the kinks on the cat tags as I wait to hear back from all my lovely product testers--the initial responses are favorable though (see Angus wearing his here, or Grr wearing her's here)--I'm simply working on figuring out the best way to attach them to cat collars so they don't dangle too low--so if you want one, feel free to ask and we can sort out the attachment that will work best for your cat's collar based on your individual needs.

Well, I always knew I was immature...

I've never been fond of acting my age--and apparently my tastes in reading match this inclination. First it was Harry Potter, then the Inheritance Cycle (Eragon, Eldest, etc.), and now Twilight--all book series aimed at teens or children, and all series I've come to love. Twilight is my most recent obsession--and I've only read the first one so far, so no spoiler messages about what happens next please!

Anyway, if you don't know what I'm talking about but want to, or if you're already a fan and want to indulge, you're invited to check out my Twilight page on squidoo (with a spoiler-free review and some other fun stuff).

Oh--and Allie Mae (who is developing quite the crush, no matter how many times I warn her he's already taken) has asked me to request everyone send good thoughts to Lux as he continues to heal from his tooth removal (Allie had one of those several years ago, so she's sympathizing big time)

Just listed: Winter cat cards

Well, I've finally gotten my tookis around to putting up the first of my holiday-themed cards in my etsy shop: The Catnip Carolers (thanks to Sharon for her suggestions on some slight edits to my original design).

Anywho, I have 2 other designs that are equally adorable (I know, my perpetual modesty just continues to awe and amaze, yes?) that will be going up in the next couple days, but I'll include a little preview of them now just for you, my super-special blog readers.

I know, I know--by this point you're probably feeling overwhelmed with the whole "awe and amaze" thing (super-modesty and a super-special preview? my goodness!), so I'll leave you to soak it all up in peace by bestowing my final gracious act of the day: shutting up. ;)

Wordless Wedsness--More of my holiday jewelry dreams

A few Holiday dreams: Jewelry, part 1

I've been spending too much time lately drooling (note: this is bad for the keyboard, so don't look at pretty things you want if, say, you just got a new ergonomic keyboard to keep your wrists happy and your hubby might be particularly upset to find evidence of droll on it) over pretty things on etsy that would be so lovely to get for the holidays. Since I know I can't get all of them, I thought I'd just pretend I was filthy rich and could get anything I wanted and thus was showing them off as items already in my home--except instead I'm not at all, and I'd never let you into my messy home because it would take hours to clean it first, so I'm showing them off on my blog.

I know, I'm demented and strange, but in a (usually) harmless way. (Unless you ask some of my students. They might disagree that it's harmless. So I suggest not asking them; it's easier that way.)

Anyway, doing one entry on my drool-fest would be waaaay too long, so I'm going to break it into sections. This first section in my little fantasy-world series is on jewelry.

One of my fave jewelry-makers right now is the awesome steampunk stuff at CatherinetteRings (except they make more than rings, and neither of them are named Catherinette. I'm hoping this means they might be as demented-and-strange as I am, and might suddenly suffer such a strong demented-and-strange episode as to feel the overwhelming need to give me lots of beautiful jewelery. Unlikely? Of course--but hey, "likely" just gets so boring, ya know?).

All these pics are of CatherinetteRings's incredible stuff. Did I mention it was incredible? And that I love it? Oh, and, um, that it's incredible?

Yeah, I guess I covered that...

Anyway (wait, I already did that once this entry. Okay, definite sign it's time to wrap this sucker up), here's to hoping my hubby gets my heavy-handed hinting and buys me one of these beautiful pieces for the holidays this year! Especially one with moonstone or amber in it--hint, hint, and again with the hinting!

By the way, if you happen to rich, generous, and/or just demented-and-strange enough to want to buy me pretty things, you can see my full list of etsy faves here.

My favorite (unusual) Thanksgiving tradition

One of the options for the EtsyBloggers blog carnival this time around was to describe your favorite Thanksgiving tradition. I must admit, I usually don't think about Thanksgiving much any more because it tends to make me a bit sad; my mom always organized these incredible turkey-day dinners for anyone and everyone who wanted to join and she passed away 4 years ago, so Thanksgiving has never been quite the same.

Still, sometimes it's good to squeeze through that initial sadness to remember something good.

I was lucky enough to grow up in a house with giant dining room (we could seat 25-30 people in there--no, I'm not rich, my parents just happened to buy a run down country "estate" for a song and fix it up before I was born). My mom was a very inclusive person--she definitely lived by "the more the merrier" cliche--and this willingness to have anyone and everyone sometimes translated to some pretty odd collections for Thanksgiving dinner.

See, my dad had been married twice before he married my mom, and had kids from both those previous marriages. My mom not only invited her step-children, but their mothers and even their mothers' other children (the ones not from my dad) and parents to join us. She'd also invite and neighbors and family friends who didn't have a big gathering of their own to go to.

It's funny how what you grow up with just seems normal until you get enough exposure to other people's families--I think I didn't realize just how unusual it was for my mom to invite her husband's ex-wives and the family of those ex-wives until I was 12 or 13. Still, even after I'd realized it was a bit "weird", it never stopped seeming anything other than perfectly suited to the spirit of the holiday itself, no matter how un-traditional a tradition it was. My mom was never terribly big on very "traditional" traditions anyway--that's her pretending to pour the pot of stuffing on my half-sister's head in the picture above.

Turquoise tales: Storybeader

I have a confession to make. It's about a secret addiction of mine, one I rarely allow myself to fill because I know it would quickly grow out of control. Promise not to tell? Okay, here it is...I'm addicted to turquoise. I don't even care that it reveals me to be the uber-caucasoid faux-southwesterner that I am, that wearing the chunky native-american or tibetan style pieces would permanently embarrass my oh-so-fashionista sister; I loooove turquoise.

Thus I was delighted to see that this month's featured EtsyBlogger is StoryBeader, an artisan who makes, among other things, lovely turquoise pieces. Even her blog has a turquoise background. She is obviously a long-lost-turquoise-lovin'-sibling. So if you, too, share in this (not-at-all-) devastating addiction, be sure to check her out--and rest easy knowing you are no longer alone.

One word Wednesday

Hurray!!!!!!!!

A quick note from Zorro

Mom is too anxious/hopeful about the election to have anything interesting to say today, so she asked me to come up with something instead. Unfortunately, she failed to remember that I am far too regal and important (and therefore occupied with regal and important things, i.e. not her blog) to waste my valuable intellectual resources on some entertaining snippet for the blogosphere. However, since she bribed me with Greenies I had to at least post this much as a simple matter of honor. Speaking of, now I'm going to go collect my reward...

When Zorro's away, Ms. Mae will play...

Since Zorro was finished with his "costume", Allie Mae decided it was her turn to have a little fun in the cardboard box (with pauses for all important scratching and cleaning, of course). I guess the brown blending with her furs did not bother her today.



This is my first ever uploaded video, so please let me know if something doesn't work! And I apologize for it being perhaps a bit longer than necessary--in case you hadn't guessed it already, I'll give away my big secret: I'm obsessed with cats. If there was a cat lovers anonymous, I'd be competing for the presidency of it. Or wait--no I wouldn't, because I'd never agree to abstain from overly adoring all things kitty in the first place.