Recent Handmade Purchases - Scarves, More Kitties, Calendars, Signs

Well, as promised, here's another round of my recent handmade purchases!  All of my previous posts can be found here.  Now that everyone in my family has opened their holiday gifts, I can chat about some of them.  And true to form, many of the things I bought were just for me!  First up, are 2 more new additions to my handmade stuffed kitties kabal!  Meet Madame Meow from S. Auman Smith's shop on Etsy.  This fabulous lady is about 1 1/2 feet tall! She looks amazing on my dresser in my bedroom and even though I couldn't sleep at first, I'm used to her all-knowing stare now!

I've also added another kitty from Marjii's shop...the golden raisin cat!  Isn't she gorgeous!

Next up is an awesome sign from SignFail that perfectly exemplifies my life within my Risky Beads empire.  It couldn't be more true!

It's gotten pretty cold here in NC as of late, so I was back buying one of my major must-haves...screen-printed scarves.  I bought 3 for myself from Rainbow Swirlz and one for my sister from ellembee.  So here's the one I got for my sister...

And here's my favorite one from my recent splurge, and no, that isn't me in the picture, lol!

And last but not least by any means are the new calendars I bought.  One for me from Modern Printed Matter, one for my assistant from Sudachan, and one for my mom from Chicks In Hats.

Here's mine:

And here's my assistant's.  She has new dachshund puppies so it's appropriate!

And here's my mom's. Please note that the artist takes all the pictures herself and no chickies are ever harmed, just adorned for a few seconds! They are beyond adorable.  I almost can't stand it!

The buying will slow down for awhile, but I'm sure it'll pick up again before too long.  Ya can't teach an old dog new tricks, ya know?

~Lori

Recent Handmade Purchases - Art, Coasters, Kitties, and Vintage Goodies

It's really, really hard to shop for your friends and family on Etsy and not end up buying cool stuff for yourself.  And when I say it's hard, I mean like impossible.  So, as is my long standing tradition on my blog, it's time to get nosy and see what I spent some of my money on...for me!

First up is a new little friend I've been eye-ing for quite a while.  He is so cute and he looks fabulous in my bedroom just smiling at me while I sleep.  I cannot confirm or deny whether it was I who bought the last two cats she had today.  You can torture me...I'll never tell.

Oak Ridge Cat from Marjji

Next up is a little vintage decor treat that I found on Cyber Monday on Etsy.  Risky Beads started out as a home for quirky beaded jewelry and though I've moved on to mostly metal stamping, I still have a great fondness for my beading days, not to mention the fact that I still have all the beads!  So, when I found this vintage abacus at a vintage shop called Charlie's Nest , I had to have it! It combines my joy of beading with my joy of running an Etsy shop!  It's going on the wall in my office/studio once the holidays are over and I can actually get to the walls in here.

Moving on, I have yet another fetish that I've probably never divulged on my blog, and I blame this fetish on my mother who convinced me that I would drop dead immediately if I ever sat a glass on a piece of furniture without a coaster!  As a result, coasters play a big part in my comfort zone, and I bought this new set from Nature's Heavenly Art because it combines my coaster fetish with my tree fetish.  And let me tell you something, these things are STURDY.  My eldest cat decided to push two of them onto my hardwood floor the other morning because I was not awake enough for her and they survived without a mark.  That's my kind of coaster.

And now the last purchase for this post is the perfect addition in my new home.  I can't wait to frame it and finally decide where to hang it.  It just makes me so happy every time I look at it!  It's burlap art from My Adobe Cottage.  It is seriously amazing people.  Seriously.

I've made some other purchases (of course), but I don't blog about them until I get them so stay tuned for some more insights into my consumer behavior. :)  You can always read about past purchases anytime! You'll find some great shops that way.  Have a great day!

~Lori

Recent Handmade Purchase - The Zoological Garden - Christmas Candy TWO Tough Cat catnip kick pillows

Well, the holidays have come and gone, and I think I've survived them, not completely sure yet. I was so busy that I didn't have time to do my regular posts about the awesome handmade things I've bought lately either for myself or as gifts. I'm going to be doing several of these posts this month because I have lots to share with you!

Today's post is about a gift I got for my kitties! During the holidays, I felt so bad that I didn't have time to sit down and just play with them, so I decided to get them some Christmas-inspired catnip kick pillows from The Zoological Garden on Etsy. Here's a pic:

Aren't they adorable? Jenny (the shop owner) was even nice enough to accommodate my request for a little less organic catnip than is standard for these pillows. My cats tend to have a rather psychotic reaction to huge amounts, so she cut it in half for me. Worked perfectly!

I have to admit though that the ribbon that came with them has gotten even more play time, lol. It is currently carried around my both of my cats like it's their blanky. I think that's pretty cute!

Hope you like this peek at what I bought. Stay tuned for me and be nosy and see what else I've bought and bragged about!

~Lori

Playing with the kitties tonight....

I took some time out to play with my kitties tonight in between all the photo-switching I've been doing.  They were sitting so funny; I took pictures!

Here's Charlotte, my youngest, before I suggested we get a little exercise, lol.  She's 13 years old and v.v. chubby!

And here's Darcy, my oldest, clutching her toys before we played.  She's 15! It's hard to believe that sometimes!  Look at her gorgeous green eyes.  She saw me coming, lol.

Enjoy!
~Lori

Flowers on my patio and kitties in the window

My Mom visited last weekend and we went shopping and got some flowers for my patio and a plant for my apartment. I purposely bought geraniums because mosquitoes eat me alive in the summer and mosquitoes do not like geraniums! I also got a gorgeous red begonia!

My geraniums seem to be going through transition.

My begonias are 24/7 fabulous!

I tried to take a picture of the wandering ivy in my bedroom, but it came out blechy.  I was able to snap pix of my girls...Darcy and Charlotte hanging out by the sunny window though!

Catching Charlotte awake is a rarity.  She's really sweet and really shy, so most of my friends never even see her when they come over! 

Darcy is a different story.  She's my alpha-cat with gorgeous green eyes and a 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot' personality.  Aw, I love my little girls.  Have a great weekend!

~Lori

Bad Dreams are Made of This...

If anyone ever wants to recruit me to join a terrorist organization or a fight club, they should hit me with it at approximately twenty seconds after I wake up in the morning. I'm in such a bad mood in the morning that my first thought is almost always, "I should go buy a gun." I think this phenomenon of morning rage is caused by some bizarre dreams that I always have after waking up 4 hours prior to feed my entitled cats. (And the second I typed that sentence, my youngest cat started crying right next to my chair.)

*spends 5 minutes cuddling her*

Now, I know what you're thinking? Why would a would-be-terrorist take any time out of her day to cuddle a cat? Well, she's not just any cat. She's enormous and when you pick her up, she feels more like a chimp that a cat, and since chimps are close to humans via that radical thing called 'evolution,' I can pretend I have a devoted child who wants to cheer me up. And claw me by accident.

Ah, parenthood.

Well, I'm feeling a little better now. My desire to fire a shotgun has faded away. Have a great day everyone! (Or else....)

~Lori

Still time to enter my giveaway.

Nightmares and Vision The Fork by strange fascination..

A great feeling!

Admittedly, it's probably sort of the first step into a wormhole to blog about someone blogging about you, but I can't resist it today. I sold one of my Nurse Purses to a mom the other day, and today she convo'd me on Etsy and let me know that (1) she loved the Nurse Purse and, (2) that it worked! Her little one is no longer pinching her while he's feeding. I hear that from moms now and again, but what made THIS feedback so awesome was that she also blogged about it, and in doing so, included a picture of her sweet little baby holding onto my necklace!

Awwwww, now I'm all smooshy emo for the rest of the day. My cats are hiding because they're afraid I just might put bonnets on them, stick them in a double stroller and take them to the park--which is just silly because they know I haven't finished making their bonnets yet.

bwahahaha ha.

-Lori