Snoozing Sheamus

Sheamus Popokikins... or Sheamus Floofikins. What a ham. This is the preferred way of snoozing no matter the surface.

My floofalicious boy has become more affectionate in the past few months. He rubs against my legs or my arms or back (if I'm seated on the floor). He's not a lap cat like his brofur and sisfur, but he does not mind being cuddled... much. He might mew in protest a bit, but most often, he revs up his purr engine.

How I adore this buff ginger boy

What Marlene has been doing...

Hi Everyone!

We are still here, but August has been quite the month for Mom. The last few months and weeks, Mom has been burned out at work and just plain tired. She's been drawing a lot, but somehow, she just wasn't as energetic as usual. So, last week, she went on vacation. First, she went to the Mojave Desert to view the Perseid meteor shower at the Integratron.

 She didn't get any pictures of the meteors themselves, but she did get some lovely shots of the Milky Way.

Next, she went to Scottsdale to stay at the W hotel.

Where she took photos of the pool. She said that the temperature was very hot, so it was nice to put her feet in the water.

On the way home, she went to Red Rock State Park near Sedona, AZ. She loves Sedona for its natural surroundings and the art scene there. She went to a few galleries and became very inspired and reinvigorated. So, when she came home, she finished another IBKC sketch (of the Lady Winifred)

AND she finished Chani's Om kitty painting... Well, Chani's paws are in prayer position, so we're not sure Om Kitty is quite the right title for this...

As you can see, Chani is unimpressed by her painting.

Finally, Mom hung up all 3 of our Om kitty portrait paintings. She is quite pleased with herself.

So, here's a summary of last week. Mom was gone for about 4 days. Her vacation was a road trip and to get back to us on the last day, she was on the road from 9 am on Tuesday morning and got back to us at 4:00 am Wednesday morning. (She and Fizgig's mom left Scottsdale, went to Red Rock State Park and Sedona, got gas in Flagstaff and then drove all the way back to Santa Cruz where Fizgig lives. Then, from there, Mom drove to us... she says she should have planned the return trip better). And so, on Wednesday, Mom slept for a few hours, got up and ran some errands. And then spent that night and the next day and half watching TV with us. She felt a little guilty about not producing any art during that time, but we made sure that she rested a lot. We think that is what she needed the most. Friday was her birthday, so she had to go out for dinner with some family friends and our grandparents. Saturday was an errand day and Sunday was an art day.

All we can say is that we are glad she is back AND we are glad that she is inspired by what she saw on her trip and re-energized.

Oh, she did take a number of photos of us during her 3 day rest and relaxation period.

Marlene's Drawings

Hello everyone. Marlene here.

Last month The Itty Bitty Kitty Committee ran a FUNDraiser for the Seattle/Tacoma Humane Society's Dog-a-Thon. All together, the site raised over $117,000 for homeless kitties. The fundraiser itself raised $234,000.

I helped a bit by offering to draw little sketches of donors' kitties for a donation of $25. The limit was 20. Donations #20 and #21 came within seconds of each other so I said that I would be happy to do 21. Now, before the offer was published on the IBKC website, Fizzgig and Oberon's mom donated $25. So, I have 22 sketches to do. Haha... it's all good.

The first 3 sketches are done.

 Belle

 India Rose and Zoubisou

 Meiga

India Rose and Zoubisou are drawn on cold press paper, so there is a lot more texture on it than I prefer, but their mommy likes it. So, that's all good.

The others are drawn on hot press paper. Much smoother results there.

And I needed a bit of a break from drawing kitties, so I drew a phoenix. Uploaded this to Zazzle as an iPhone 5 case.

9 spent time in my lap as I was working on Belle. Then, Chani. Sheamus Popoki headbutted my leg for attention.

A new camera

So, I bought a new camera. A Canon SX50. I bought it for the super zoom, 50x optical. I really wanted a camera that was lighter than my Nikon and could zoom better than the lenses I can afford for my Nikon.

Above are some shots of the moon.  I'm rather pleased with them. I am going to try using a tripod next, just to see if it helps with the stability and focus.

Reviews of this camera say that it's not good for low light and lots of action. The shutter is really slow, even with a flash. But, if your kitty poses well enough, you can get a good shot. Sheamus Popoki was a good boy for me.

Sunday Snoozing and posing

Mom gave us treats the other day. We lined up prettily and ate them. She was pleased to show off our colors here

9 snoozed on Mr. Crab a lot this weekend. Yes, he always looks like he is winking at people.

Chani reclaimed her spot in the closet from the Orange Interloper.

She was so happy that she reached out for a little mini high-four.

 Very happy girl here.

Sheamus snoozed under Mom's desk next to her feet in his typical belly up position. Mom found it very hard to work while he was being so adorable.

We hope you all had a wonderful weekend and will have a wonderful week!

We are happy!

Hello Furiends,

We're sorry, but no adorable pictures of us today. Mom promises to take some soon. However, we are being very forgiving of her since she's been working from home since Wednesday!

You see, Mom's office had a half day on Wednesday, so her art director thought it was silly for her to trek up to the office for only 4 hours of work. (Her commute takes about 2 hours one way on a good day). So, she worked from home and put in a full day's work. (The art team has way too much to do to take a half day off.) We cannot tell you how lovely it was to rub against her legs and get attention and pets and treats while she was working.

Yesterday was a holiday, but she did a little bit of work too. And then today, she got to work from home again! It was great! We really wish she could do that more often.

Oh, and she did apply to a new job but hasn't heard anything back. She's not discouraged. For her, the biggest challenge was applying in the first place. Mom hasn't had to look for a job in 6 years so it was  a bit nerve wracking to write up her resume and to get some of her work out there. If you're interested in seeing how Mom pays for all our treats and toys as well as our bed and the roof over our head, click on this link.

At any rate, we hope our American friends had a lovely 4th of July and that the weekend will prove to be just wonderful for everyone!

New Friend: Leila Rose Bean!

The other day, Mom indulged in her not-so secret pleasure. Taking photos of animals! Well, this time, she got to take photos of a 12 week old English Bull Dog named Leila Rose Bean.

You see, her friends recently brought this pup into their home and Mom just had to take photos. In fact, if Mom could make a living off of taking photos of pets, she would totally do it.

Here is Leila Rose looking coy. It was really hot out, so she retreated to the shade as much as possible. Smart pup!

Mom arrived at around 11 am and Leila was pooped from playing hard all morning. She was napping for a bit in her new pink bed.

Later she let out a big yawn while getting her beauty shots taken outside.

She really is quite adorable (for a dog, that is...)

Thank you for letting us indulge in sharing Mom's photos! OH! and apparently, yesterday's post was our 500th post! Mom had no clue until she checked out this post. Silly Mom! So, yay for us for having 500 posts! Here's to the next 500!