Friday, December 10, 2010

Christmas Boxes...

Wow! I have had a really hectic fall this year. I just can't seem to stay on top of blog posting...but I have been getting lots of crafting done and adopting out the foster kittens and hosting holidays and I even manged to get some work done at the office too!

So I sat down last night and made myself a little list...a 'things to remember to finish' list...

And on that list was updating my Blog (over the next week or so) of all the fun scrapbooking and mini album things I have been working on.

I always try to make something for my family, friends and co-workers at Christmastime. This year I made these cute little Christmas Boxes.



I made ten all together...but some of them have already been given away...

I cut the boxes using my Silhouette, stamped up the drawers with my fav wood-grain stamp,



Added tiny (hand stained) wooden drawer pulls and feet



And decorated the top with a little 'timholtz-esque' mini tag, poinsettia and raffia...so much fun!



When Jon saw me working on the final touches for these...he asked what they were...

"Just boxes..."

"Oh...are you gonna put anything inside?..."



"Uh, no...I wasn't planning on it..."

"Oh...so it's just a box..."

"Yes..."

"Oh...(long pause)...are there anymore brownies left (as he walks away perplexed)?"

Okay, so then I worried, thought maybe I should fill it with something from the dollar bin at Michael's...but once I started looking at the dollar bin stuff, I didn't see anything that I thought would fit, or that I liked (surprise?!??!)...maybe I should just put a dollar in the box instead of wasting my money at Michael's...

In the end, I left them empty, but I guess I could tell everyone they are filled with good wishes and Christmas cheer...

Either way...Kody really likes them!







By the way, Kody...what are you doing on the dinning-room table? Scat Cat!


"Who? Me? I'm innocent!"

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Fabulous Fall Fostering Adventure...

Well, our kitty fostering adventure is coming to a close. We have only one more adorable spunky loving little gem looking for her forever home...



Looking back on the whole experience...wow...a lot more work and worry than I thought it would be...as well as a lot of fun and laughter!

Our first set of fosters (June Bug, Beaver, Whitey, Grizzly and Bobby Cat) came to us on August 15th and stayed for just a bit over a month.



In that time we had food allergies, antibiotic induced diarrhea and conjunctivitis...but they were so much fun to get to know and to watch their little personalities develop. We kept the group until they all reached two pounds (at least) and were ready for spaying and neutering and being adopted out.



After their surgery they all went back to my foster coordinators house to wait for adoption. Bobby and Griz went pretty quick...June had to wait for two more months before she was adopted and Whitey and Beav are still waiting. It just breaks my heart, and now that they are 6 months old...they are considered less-adoptable...but I know my coordinator (with my help and my co-worker's and friend's help - thanks Kim and Tammy!) will keep them health and happy until they find their forever homes...


Beaver and Whitey

Our second group of fosters came on September 19th...eight total...Figaro, Oreo, Buddy, Kodiak, Lizzy, Jerry, George and Elaine. These little angels...a real handful!


Clockwise from bottom left: Kodiak, Elaine, George, Buddy, Jerry and Lizzy

Within the first couple of days Figaro passed away from Fading Kitten Syndrome...or as I like to refer to it, Hopelessly Helpless in Saving Your Kitten Syndrome...we were heart-broken. He now lays to rest in our yard, peacefully.



Because we weren't sure what, if anything, he had that might be contagious...his sister, Oreo, had to be quarantined from the rest of the kittens for ten days. So off to the bathroom she went. In that time, though, she was forced into getting used to people and handling...she really had no options, I was in her face at least ten times a day making sure she was fed, watered, pampered, petted and played with! So in that time she went from a snarling hissing little ball of feral fur to a loving wonderful playful lap kitten.



Shortly after she was reintroduced back into the rest of the gang, Buddy reached weight and was neutered and adopted out, pretty lickity-split. He is a super cute kitten, a bit on the shy side, but a real looker...



And then came Snickers...another real cutie! And so spunky!



Snickers kept the rest of the gang on their toes!

Around this time I noticed that Elaine's belly seemed really extended. Turns out she had roundworm. No worries, a dose of strongid with a follow-up two weeks later, and she would be good-to-go. Only problem was, the second dose seemed to make her really sick. She lost her appetite, was very lethargic and wouldn't drink.

Into the house she went. Late that night she passed the roundworms, and I felt like that was a good sign...recover should be around the corner. For the next three days we had to force feed and drink her every hour or two. She had no energy, did nothing but sleep (and go to work with me) and her normally soft coat became really dull and shaggy looking. But low-and-behold on the fourth day she started to nibble on some food, drink on her own and walk around a bit. By the end of the week she was reintroduced to her siblings and friends. Whew! What an exhausting worrisome week that was.


Elaine resting on my desk at work...

But whoa...it doesn't end there...

About a week after Elaine's episode...Snickers broke out with ringworm! A tiny little patch right above her eye. IMMEDIATE removal from the rest...she had just made her 2lb. weight and there just so happened to be a spay clinic happening that day...so rush, rush, rush...she was spayed and then quarantined at my foster coordinator's house to wait out the ringworm.



Ringworm is highly contagious, but really not a dangerous thing at all. It is a fungus, very similar to athlete's foot, that just needs a topical medicine (sometimes an internal one too) and a waiting period of about three weeks to clear-up. As soon as Snickers was healed, she was snatched up and adopted...no surprise there with her cute little face and great personality!

Back at our house, all the other kittens got daily baths and their room a good disinfecting...with lots of crossed fingers we went for another two weeks before we were hit again! Sigh!

This time the ringworm hit Oreo...and she was sent to recover at the coordinators house...which was becoming quite full of ringworm kitties. There was definitely an outbreak here in Solano County...we heard from other fosterers and vet offices and the SPCA that ringworm was everywhere this fall!

Later that week, I noticed that Elaine was very wobbly and walked like she had just downed a beer or two. Hmmm...was she getting sick again?

My co-worker and I did a little www research and found out there is a condition called Cerebellar Hyposplasia. It happens when the cerebellar region in the brain doesn't fully develop. The cerebellar is responsible for balance, so when it is under-developed, the kitten walks wobbly. Looking at videos online of other CH kittens (and people) it looks like Elaine has a pretty mild case. There is no cure for the condition and over time she will most likely adjust to it. She is in no pain, that is a relief! She will, although, need to be an indoor only kitten and will probably need a little extra attention to make sure she doesn't get hurt.



She definitely became our special kitten...our real love of this litter!

Five more days...and...Kodiak had a ringworm spot! Sigh. I decided to take her to the vet and see what needed to be done.

Three weeks in confinement, three weeks on oral medicines and fungicidal baths for EVERYONE! Wow, that was fun...have you ever given a bath to six terrified tiny kittens?



At this point, since Kody was alone (in the bathroom...the most use our spare bathroom has ever seen!) I decide to go rescue Oreo and bring her home...comforting for both of them!

At this point all the kittens had reached weight, been spayed and neutered and were ready for adoption (except the sickos)...normally this would have taken place through the foster coordinator, but with her ringworm troubles, I said I would take care of it...

So we advertised...and advertised...and advertised...

And finally got a call! And then another...and then another...and then another...all for Lizzy.



Even though most of the calls were coming in for Lizzy, I managed to get several people to come and meet the other kitties.

The first to be adopted was Lizzy, although her new family could not come to pick her up until after Thanksgiving. Would I be willing to hold her?...duh...of course!



And the first baby to leave the nest was dear Elaine! I couldn't believe it! I thought I would have so much trouble finding a home for her and her special needs...but a lovely couple from Berkeley took one look at her and fell in love!



My heart swelled...and then broke...

The day after Elaine went home, I introduced Oreo to her new family. Oreo was going to be an early Christmas present for a five year old little girl. I explained to the mom that Oreo was still on medicines and should probably stay with me until she was all done (which would be the Sunday after Thanksgiving)...this worked out fine since the family was going to be out of town until then.



Within a couple of hours of meeting Oreo, the mom called back and explained that if she gave a kitten to her youngest daughter, her oldest would be upset...so could she also adopt George?



Of Course!

So the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Lizzy went to her new home in Grass Valley...

And the Sunday after Thanksgiving, Oreo and George went to their new home in Napa.

Just like that...down to two kittens! The house seemed empty...

Less than a week after George and Oreo went home to Napa, the family called back...uh-oh, was something wrong?

No...they were loving the kittens and having a blast! And now Grandma and Grandpa wanted to get in on the fun! So was Jerry still available? Yep...so off to Napa he went (but shhhhh....he will be a surprise for Christmas!)



So now we are down to one...

One adorable...spunky...sweet little bundle of fun...

She is still available....

She is still advertised....

But...

She may already be 'home'....



From laughter to tears....

From frustration to contentment...

From joy to anguish...

We have been through a lot of emotions this fall.

In the end I am glad we did this. It was definitely a learning experience, and I now know more than your average crafter should about the bowels of kittens...

Remember...please spay and neuter your pets!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Just Checking In....

Overworked....
Overwhelmed....
Overrun.....with kittens, that is....

I have been so busy and scattered the last few weeks....

When did November get here????

Holidays????

Ack!!!!!!

I walked in the door last night after work, and there was my eight-year old beautiful cat Clyde waiting for me by the door. I reached down and gave him a pat on the head and said, "Hello, George..." and went on into the kitchen...

Pause....

"...I mean Hello, Clyde...sorry...."

Fast-forward an hour and I am getting dinner out of the fridge. I turned around and bumped into my wonderful ten-year old lab, Rusty...."oops, I'm sorry Sam, did I step on you?...."

Pause....

"....I mean, Rusty...."

Fast-forward a half hour and now I'm getting all the zoo their dinner and my one and a half-year old kitten Rooster jumps on the counter and I said, "Be patient Clyde, I'm getting your dinner right now..."

Pause....

Sigh....

"...I mean, Rooster..."

Sigh....too much on my mind....

Rooster
Clyde
Bonnie
Rusty
Sam
Lainey
George
Jerry
Kody
Oreo
Lizzy...

and who is that man sitting in the living-room watching TV...

"Hey, you....what's your name?"...

Thursday, October 28, 2010

...more stuff

Here is another project I finished (finally) over the weekend...





This mini album has a funny story behind it...basically it is for pictures of a scarf I made for a friend that my friends and I all take on our vacations...it is the Traveling Scarf.



Each page of the album is a pocket that I cut out using my Silhouette, that way each picture of the scarf on vacation is kept with the postcard my friends sent me.



And then on the next page is the picture of the scarf...this is a picture of me and my friends at Lake Tahoe)



I stapled ribbon to the top of each postcard, so it sticks out of the top of the album...I used the Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher for that....totally love that stapler!



I used Tim Holtz book corners (not sure that is the real name for those) on the front and back covers...I love the way they look!



And I gathered up all my travel embellishments for the cover...this was the first time I really used the clear acetate pieces like this...I love the layered look!



All in all I am super happy with the way this came out...and I cut a bunch more pocket pages than there were pictures so I am ready for all our future travels!

Here's to traveling!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Finishing up...

I had a whole weekend to myself...and had great plans for finishing up all the lingering projects I have hanging around...

I won't bore you with the looooong list, suffice it to say, the list is only slightly shorter now...

But it is shorter!

I put the final touches, i.e. journaling and binding, on my Tahoe Bike Trail mini album...

You may remember little June Bug helping me with this back in August...


Well here are the final results!






I used SEI papers and embellishments from their August Kit Club (sorry the papers are exclusive to club members...and even then, I just checked, and the kit is sold out).

The book is 6" X 8", and it was fun to mount the pictures edge to edge on the pages.




I inked up everything! Patterned paper, pictures and pages! Unfortunately, it got a little messy, and some pages are a bit smudged.


I used some free downloadable travel themed embellishments on the pages...I think they are from Scrapbooks Etc. online...


I also pulled out my bag of bling...and added something to just about every page!




My fav little embellishment is this cute water splat from Cloud 9...I just love it!


And I think I am in love with making paper rosettes! This was my first one and I loved how it turned out...although it took FOREVER to make...I just started using my score board to make them and have cut the time from 30 minutes to about five!


And a quick update on the kitties...everyone (except Lizzy) is getting ready for spay/neuter on Thursday, and then ready for adoption!

All healthy as horses...and eating me out of house and home!

Little Lizzy is still not quite 2lbs, so she won't be available for another couple of weeks...the better for me!

Ain't she sweet!