Congratulations to the Winner of the October Giveaway!

Congratulations to Little Doll, whose name was drawn for the giveaway. She supports the Butte Humane Society in Chico California.

http://www.buttehumane.org/

She is the winner of the gift certificate for a mini custom portrait AND because there were 47 entries, $47 will be donated to the Oregon Humane Society. THANK YOU to every one who entered and for mentioning all of the wonderful Animal Causes to support!

Cat Lady No. 301...Don't Call Me Skinny

Illustration Friday

(theme:"skinny")

Cat lady Myrtle prefers to be described as svelte, trim, slender, spare, slim, sylphlike, willowy or lithe, thank you very much!

Cat Lady Myrtle can be found on a variety of giftware and t-shirts at my CafePress Shop:

Just Ducky

Cat Lady No. 300...Faithful Feathered Friend

Autumn is in full swing now, which means that Cat Lady Claire and calico pal Trixie have fewer and fewer feathered friends to admire. Only a brave handful have lingered, including this little song sparrow, but most have taken wing to head for warmer climes.

Until they return, Claire will amuse herself with many projects, including making pop-up bird/birdhouse holiday cards, using the step-by-step instructions she found by the pop-up genius Robert Sabuda. Here is the link: Pop-up Birdhouse

Enjoy!

This brand new watercolor painting, called "Bird Watching", is another sneak peek at one of the fine art Cat Ladies that will be part of a special art exhibit at Lawrence Gallery Sheridan here in Oregon. "Gallery Gals Holiday Art Exhibit" will take place November 1 through December 31, and will feature the work of four gallery staff members, including yours truly!

Cat Lady No. 298 and Cat Lad 299...A Happy Family

When soon-to-be Cat Lady Teresa and soon-to-be Feline Fella Tony were wed in July of 2005, they started talking about adopting a pair of cats. So, one Saturday in September that year, they visited their local Petsmart for a Fancy Cats (www.fancycats.org) adoption fair. The rest is heart-warming history as recounted by Teresa...

"After looking at all of the kittens, our eyes were locked on a small muted calico kitten named Rita. Everyone in the store kept commenting on how beautiful she was. So, we asked to hold her. It was love at first sight.

"She had two brothers, Reggie, a tabby cat, and Batman, a black cat. We would have to adopt Rita and one of her siblings. But, we could not leave one of the brothers behind. We ended up with all three.

"The woman who had brought in the litter said that there were two more siblings that had already been adopted. Later that year, I went to the rescue website again to see the new cats on the webiste. I found out that their siblings (a calico named Abby and tabby named Riley) had been returned to the rescue.

"I called the woman who we talked to at Petsmart and she said they were available for adoption. So, my husband and I decided that we should try to reunite the family (mostly because we wanted Rita to have a sister). After a few days all five were running around like best friends. They are all very loving and cuddly cats, and their favorite thing in the whole world is turkey. "

Sadly, Rita-- the smallest of the family-- passed away from feline anemia in December of 2007. Although her time on Earth was short, Teresa and Tony are sure that her life's work was very important: ensuring that her beautiful littermates would be united in a loving, happy home.

Thanks for visiting!

Numbering Note: It might appear that I skipped Cat Lady No. 297, however, it turns out that I used No. 127 TWICE back in May, hence the correction!

Cat Lady No. 296...Hummin' In the Rain

If ever Cat Lady Debbie is feeling a bit blue, all she has to do is hug kitten Chompers, get out her brightest umbrella, and hum a little bit of "Singin' In The Rain".

Debbie is not quite bold enough to sing it out loud with joyful glee and wild abandon, like Gene Kelly did. But she has been known to stomp through a splishy-splashy puddle or two and swing around a light pole when no one is looking...

Perhaps one day she will be slightly delirious (as Gene Kelly possibly was--he was coming down with a flu bug and had a high fever when the sequence was filmed) and she will bust out singing:

I'm singing in the rain, Just singing in the rain
What a glorious feelin', I'm happy again
I'm laughing at clouds, So dark up above
The sun's in my heart, And I'm ready for love
Let the stormy clouds chase, Everyone from the place
Come on with the rain I've a smile on my face
I walk down the lane With a happy refrain
Just singin', Singin' in the rain

Thanks for visiting!

Look at what Cat Lady and Etsy Seller ElleJays made out of some of my new quilt blocks!! I can't wait to see what else she comes up with!

Cat Lady No. 295...Bumbershoot Blunder

Cat Lady Katie in Chicago depends on her bumbershoot this time of year to keep herself and her new kitten Chloe dry. Until today she had always assumed that the word "bumbershoot" was a British expression.

Not so, said her co-worker Alice who hails from London. She said she had never heard the word until she came to the U.S. So they went to the internet and found this helpful, and apparently well-researched, explanation: The Word Bumbershoot

Who knew that it " seems to have been yet another of those gloriously facetious bits of wordplay so characteristic of America in the nineteenth century"...

Thanks for visiting!


This original ACEO watercolor illustration is the second in a brand new series called "Raindrops & Kittens" and has just been listed for sale in my Etsy shop...add it to your collection by visiting
Raindrops and Kittens No. 2 ACEO Art

Cat Lady 294...Raindrops and Kitten

It's raining and Cat Lady Freda and Kitten Clooney are thrilled--Freda because she's been wanting to try out her brand new umbrella, and Clooney because he gets to snuggle up with Freda.

It's also been raining comments on the 365 Cat Ladies October Giveaway post, and Freda and Clooney are amazed at just how many cats have been entering the giveaway by naming their favorite cat shelter or rescue organization...

Kaze, Latte and Chase said: Darn it Skeezix beat us to our favorite rescue- Siamese Cat Rescue in VA. However, we will then put up in the running Rocky Mountain Siamese Rescue because they are awesome too!!

Da Fambly Kitties wrote: We support the Chippewa County Animal Shelter. I am furry proud to say that we are one of only a few county run shelters that are a no-kill shelter that uses foster homes for momma cats and their babies and have 100s of volunteers that walk dogs, groom cats, play with kittens, you name it - they do it.

Morgan the Pirate Gato commented: Our favorite rescue is Save A Sato. Although they do a lot of doggy rescues - they really do a TON of Kitty rescues! They are located in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

I was born with Diabetes and Cat-A-Racts - and I now live the life of a spoiled Pirate in Bethel, CT. My cousin Montoya was born blind, and thanks to Mom he now lives a spoiled life in Calgary, Canada. Mom did a fund raiser with Catster Moms and they bought some new kennels for the shelter. She and Aunt Tracey have been helping to do fund raising to get the shelter re-done little by little. They had old wood cages with bugs living underneath, and many rusty ones too. We love your portraits, and the Interview on the Catster Blog was PAWSOME!

To date there are 47 comments which means $47.00 will be donated to the Oregon Humane Society plus each commenter is entered into a drawing to win a gift certificate. There is less than a week to enter, so if you haven't already, visit this link: Gift Certificate Giveaway . Thanks for participating!



This original ACEO watercolor illustration is the first in a brand new series called "Raindrops & Kittens" and has just been listed for sale in my Etsy shop...add it to your collection by visiting
Raindrops & Kitten No. 1