Happy New Year 

from Buttowillow and 

Susan Faye World Headquarters!

Nirvana In A Box

Ladies! 
Forget about that quest for eternal happiness as you search high and low for the perfect pair of shoes. It's not about the shoes.  It's all about the SHOE BOX! I've searched high and low and behold: I've found the perfect fit... 

Just the right size 

AND the perfect color too. 

Welcome to my little slice of heaven.

Shipping Day

Today was a very big shipping day.

Don't know what I would have done without my Junior Shipping Clerk, Inka.

Happy World Cat Day!

I tried to keep it from her, but Buttonwillow found out anyway... 

More Fun Than a Barrel of Monkeys

It's a simple equation:

2 cats + 1 paper bag = more fun than a barrel of monkeys.

 

 Hope your day is just as much fun!

Couch Vegetables

Buttonwillow has been giving lessons to her new protégé on the fine art of being a couch potato.
 

 It's an area of considerable expertise in Buttonwillow's skill set.

 Inka is a quick study, except that she seems to be more of a couch string bean than a potato.

Hope your weekend was just as relaxing!

Caption This! Giveaway Ends Tonight with $50 Gift Certificate!

There is still time to enter the giveaway for a $50 certificate to my Etsy shop!  Just think up captions for Inka and her friend as depicted in this photo and leave them in the comments section of the original post, where you can read all of the cute entries so far. There won't be any judging (winner will be selected at random) so just have fun!

Here are a few of the entries so far: 

From Carol Mai

From Chrissykat

From Jhitomi

Giveaway ends tonight. You may enter a second caption suggestion over at my Facebook Page for a second chance to win.  For more information please visit the original giveaway post:  

Caption This! (and a Giveaway)

What I Did This Summer

Something I miss about Autumn is the annual "what I did this summer" report that seemed to be a staple during the first week of school-- a pleasant way to linger over the joys of summer vacation.  Here is my report:

1. My 8 days in HELL, er, I mean my beloved birthplace, Southern California

My recent descent into the flames began with a solo two-day, 1000-mile drive south during which I had a "tire separation" (an inside belt broke) and a nerve-wracking detour to a Les Schwab Tire Center in Modesto (god bless you, Les Schwab).  The goal of the trip was to help my little sister move out of her 100-year-old two-story house. It should be noted that my sis, like every other member of my immediate family, was endowed with the Packratitis gene.  In her defense, she is an antiques and vintage clothing dealer, which accounts for 90% of her glorious accumulation.  My brother, sis, and I spent eight days in the 95+ degree humid heat moving boxes full of treasures, closets full of clothing, and well-made [translation: HEAVY] antique furniture.  On my last day there, the mercury settled in at 108-110 degrees in the afternoon-- the day that we had rented the truck to move the furniture! The only thing that saved me was a wet kerchief tied around my neck-- and old trick from my hiking buddy Mary-- the evaporating water creates the sensation of coolness around your head!

These are the only pictures I have of the trip-- the succulents in my sister's back yard.  It was just too dang hot to stand out in the sun and take pictures.  These are going in my "to paint later" file...

Happily, I survived my time in the sun, the sale of my sister's house went through (yay!), and I got to spend lots of quality time with my siblings and my BFF Anne, the hostess with the mostess who provided lodging, mint chocolate chip ice cream, and Boggle games to revive me each night!

2 and 3. THE FARM FEST and HARVEST FEST

Like many other places in the USA, leisure-time activities are heavily influenced by the weather  and the seasons here in the Pacific Northwest.  This means that outdoor fairs, festivals, and such are highly concentrated between the months of May and September.  Our local Yamhill County Historical Museum plows and plants their fields the old-fashioned way at the May Farm Fest:

then they reap it all at the August Harvest Fest...

It really makes you appreciate farmers and the food on your table!

4. THE LAVENDER FESTIVAL
 The most aromatic festival in the county and my favorite art fair! 

My new lavender sachets were a big hit this year!

The Yamhill Lavender Festival takes place in mid-July, in the town of Yamhill Oregon. It includes a plein air art show, lots of vendors, and entertainment, all in the lovely shaded Beulah Park.  The Festival is part of the larger Oregon Lavender Festival Tour, where you can visit lavender farms throughout the county, a real treat to see AND to smell (we're talking MEGA aromatherapy!). 

5.  PDX ADULT SOAPBOX DERBY

By far the most hilarious event of the summer, the PDX Soapbox Derby takes place in Portland each August where "Portland's finest freaks pull their home-built creations to the top of Mount Tabor and let gravity guide them to the bottom of the hill." 

The derby draws crowds of over 5,000 people who come to watch this hilarious spectacle with 40 some teams letting loose with their creative coaster cars. 

zoom zoom

Yes, indeed you are seeing Three Men In A Tub racing down the hill in a trail of soap suds...

The crowd favorite was this airliner, complete with sassy stewardesses handing out salty snacks...

6. LOOSE GOOSE BALLOON RALLY

It turned out to be too stormy and windy at 6 a.m. for the hot air balloons to ascend at the Loose Goose Balloon Rally at Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum , but in the evening we enjoyed a piano concert out on the lawn; the Evening Glow with inflated balloons was cancelled due to wind, but we enjoyed the showy Candle Stick Glow where just the burners were fired up in the twilight sky...

7. THE DAHLIA FESTIVAL

I'm a new dahlia fanatic, thanks to a visit to the Swan Island Dahlia Festival in August, and as you might already know, I am especially obsessed with bees on dahlias.

All in all, it was a glorious (but somewhat brief) summer. The Art Harvest Studio Tour starts in less than two weeks, so it is time to pack away the shorts and flip-flops and get in gear as I look forward to a glorious Autumn!  Now where did I pack away all of those sweaters?

4000 Likers to Love! [And a Gift Just For You...]

I enjoy milestones, and this is a biggie for me! Sometime during the night, my Facebook page passed the 4000 "likers" mark! Here is why this is a meaningful milestone for me:

A few years ago, shortly after I started my Facebook page for my fledgling internet business (back when it was a "fan page" and you were all "fans" instead of "likers"), I excitedly sent a message to my son. I was bragging that I had finally reached 50 fans. He teasingly wrote back, "You can do better than that. Get back to me when you reach 1000." I thought he was crazy. I had worked so hard to get 50 people to look at my page, I couldn't even imagine reaching another 50, let alone 950! But I loved my son's optimism, and decided to work just a little harder at it.

So you can imagine the thrill it was for me to wake up and see that I passed the 4000 mark some time in the night.

I hope you can also imagine how GRATEFUL I am for EACH and EVERY ONE of my "likers", Cat Ladies, Nature Lovers, family and friends, and fans who visit, support, and contribute to this blog and to my "Susan Faye Art for Feline Fanatics and Nature Lovers" page! It is such a joy to be able to share my creative process with you!

So I have a little gift for you:  

It's a printable mini-poster that should print up nicely on an 8.5 x 11" piece of paper to put on your refrigerator or office bulletin board. First click on the image so that you can see the whole thing at full size. Then right-click and "save image" to your computer. You should be able to print it from there. [these are directions for a PC-- if anyone has MAC directions, please post in comments]. All I ask is that you use this image for personal enjoyment and use only; please do not use for any commercial or business purposes or for resale. 

Thanks a million for your support! 

And thanks, Chris, for the little "kick in the butt" when I needed it. Moms need that too, once in a while.. ;-) 

Play Time

Little Inka has discovered the joys of the Great Indoors.

The forecast calls for feline frivolity and hijinks.

Inka has also discovered Buttonwillow's stash of cat toys.

Buttonwillow is only mildly amused, 

but sharing nicely.