the christmas kitten story

soooo, over the weekend i was watching the MST ADORABLE bull terrier named buster. i actually was really scared of this breed for a long time, until him. he looooved me! his owner had never been away from him before, and had me coming 3x a day for walks. eventually he learned to hop up and hug me when i said "up! hug!". i totally spoiled him.

ANYWAY, last sunday was probably one of the coldest, windiest days i have ever experienced. it was just-- bitter. the streets were empty, as everyone was trying to stay in as much as possible. after my very last walk, in the pitch dark of 830pm, i was heading toward broad street (big busy main street in philadelphia) when i turned to my right to see a tiny kitten huddled in a recessed store front stoop. he(?) looked sooo cold, as i think the wind chill had it feeling 20 degrees colder (something like 8? it was just miserable). and i just exclaimed, "oh! kitty!" because it upset me so much. and he IMMEDIATELY hopped out and started rubbing on my legs, purring, trying to stand up to get me to pet him. i initially didn't touch him because
1. i have gotten attacked by a few strays here that SEEM really nice and purr-y and then just flip
2. i didn't want to take anything home to lilly & scuz
but he was relentless. i mean, nicest happiest cat ever. and i said, kitty, no no i can't take you home. but i knew he was freezing so i took off my scarf and tried to wrap him/make a bed in the recessed store front... to no avail. he just kept rubbing on me and trying to get me to pet him. i tried to walk in circles to see if he would go anywhere, or if he had a notion of home... and he followed me. i mean, right behind me. purring, meowing, and marching behind me like we were a team. i had nooo idea what to do, because scuz is INCREDIBLY violent and would probably flip out and hurt us/the kitten if i brought him home. plus, again, i wasn't sure if this cat potentially had illness or anything. i was near my friend carolyn's, so i gave her a call to see if she had any food or anything i could bring back. kitty, of course, followed right behind me the block and a half there. i wasn't talking to it or encouraging it, and was in fact getting more and more stressed about the situation.
i knew i COULD NOT leave the cat in weather like that, but that i couldn't take him home.

so i got to carolyn's, who didn't have anything but some water, and the cat just rubbed all over her & her roommate. he was so happy, and so nice. when a big gust of wind came, he would sit and wrap his tail around himself and shiver. i mean, it was just so sad. i said goodnight to carolyn and tried to figure out what to do.

my plan was literally to walk around until someone showed interest, or the cat would run off to wherever he had been living (most cats stake out a territory and get fed by the same people)... but no. he followed me for almost half an hour. i was so desperate i was thinking about knocking on doors and asking people if they wanted to adopt a cat.

well. i decided to at least feed him, and walked over to walgreens. he sat and waited, watching me, as i crossed the busy busy street. when i came back out, he was trotting after a woman i had just seen come out of a pizza place. i yelled after her, is that your cat? and she laughed and said no, that he just started following her, too! so i stopped and opened the can... he was totally famished. and i started talking to the woman, and she said she also had two cats and seemed just as torn about the whole thing. she eventually said, i can't leave him, i just can't. my boss has been looking for a cat for his store (lots of places around here keep store cats, often fat and spoiled and happy, to catch mice)... and she decided to take him home and temporarily keep him downstairs, then give him to her boss! i said, well, great! do you want any help? and she laughed and said, no, i think he'll probably just follow me. she picked up the can of food, and sure enough, he trotted after her all the way home.

sorry that was so long! it was seriously soooo heartwarming. poor ryan had cooked us dinner and was waiting for me to get back, but i couldn't just leave that cat. some strays are obviously just happy being strays. but this cat wanted a home, and was so so full of love. did i mention he was a little tortie like lilly, and had one half ear? like typical cartoon stray cat. he seemed totally healthy otherwise, and was just so so cute. i came home and hugged lilly SO TIGHT. every animal is a treasure, and i am glad there is one less on the street.

whew! i love this season. it was just magical. :)

now, a break from words, some of the finished notebooks from my digital patterns. !




alright, back to studying for finals. i cannot believe the semester is over, and that i will be in GA in a week and a half.

taking a break

ahhh!! my last full week of classes! next week we have 3 regular days, then two days off as "study days" before a week of finals. i cannot believe the end of the semester is here. i don't think i realized how little would be left after thanksgiving... it's such a blur!

i am taking a break from a night of intense cleaning (hour 2, still about 2-3 hours until i'll be satisfied) to watch the lighting of the tree (can't wait to see miley cyrus perform!!) on NBC. I LOVE CHRISTMAS! i really do! i have just about finished my christmas shopping-- most of which was on etsy. i got some really, really amazing gifts for my family. i did do a little regular store shopping, and it just reminded me how much i love gift giving. i sort of pride myself on being super good at listening to what people like/want and being a good gift giver, so it's REALLY fun for me. i especially have fun shopping for ryan, since he is a challenge with him having his birthday 5 days after xmas. last year i prepared stockings for us along his gifts, and i have great ideas for super sweet stocking stuffers this year. ack, i am going to be the best aunt/mom/godmother ever some day!!

okay, so it's been a while since i've posted. and a while since i've had time to make anything new, since any craft time lately has been devoted to orders. BUT i have lots of new ideas, and am going to start focusing a little on printing on card stock to make notebooks as well as all of the traditional printmaking techniques i use. here's one of the first ones that will be made! i can't wait to see how it turns out as a notebook:



you can also use it as a tiled background for your desktop!
oh my goodness i cannot wait to watch tony bennett & miley cyrus perform christmas music!!! i am going to try to get to NYC the weekend after this to see the tree, as one last hurrah before i head to atlanta the weekend after. this weekend, i have a crafty fatty sleepover planned with melissa and jamie... a reunion long, long overdue. i am a happy girl. i stopped taking my prednisone and suddenly i'm back to my old self! i'm going bald faster (ack! ha) but at least i feel physically well again for the first time in months. hope everyone is well!!

winter shop update!

ahh! i can't believe i totally forgot to update this with the new winter/holiday stuff in my etsy shop ! i didn't even do anything this weekend-- in fact, besides some homework and papers it was the laziest weekend i've had in many many months! but yeah, i got this stuff in the shop last week but who cares because it was just so nice to take time to myself to create winter-y fun stuff. i do think that i will include some of 'em in gifts to family this year.

i cannot believe that thanksgiving is ten days away-- and going home to visit is only one month & three days away!! i can't wait. i only wish i wasn't going to be TOTALLY BALDY the first time seeing friends/family in over a year and a half :( ! i am sooo excited, and have already started the bulk of my xmas shopping through etsy. i can't post links for obvious reasons, but i have found some GREAT stuff ! and only on etsy could you get someone to ship to "JULIE CHRISTMAS DO NOT OPEN" at your mom's house in georgia. :)

anywho! here are some of the things i got to make last week...

two block, four color hand-pulled linocut merry cards! these were lots of fun to doodle, but a real pain to carve out !



block printed winter wonderland cloth dinner napkins!



winter wonderland notebooks (few other colors available)


hope everyone is well, and adjusting to our SUPER EARLY SUNDOWNs (it's dark at 5pm here! sad)

being a creeper

i have been CARVING CARVING CARVING all night long (it feels greeeat! i'll show new stuff tomorrow) but wanted to brag about knowing someone so talented... i know a handful of people that i'm really, really proud to even be in their life- one of them is allie w. and she makes the craziest most amazing stuff i've seen. i really wish i got to talk to her more when we were in class together, and i wish our schedules were a little less wacky so i could get to know her now. i don't take many people seriously (esp myself, HELLO i make ugly animal block prints) but all of her work just. makes me stop what i'm doing and wonder where she gets it all from. i wish i could articulate it better, but honestly her work speaks for itself much better than i can. just check out a few:





her blog is http://fishwithoutbicycles.blogspot.com/ -- for much much more. on another note, i hope she and i get to hang out very soon. and that she doesn't mind i just snagged her photobucket images :)

i just ordered 240 cans of cat food.

finally working on some new stuff... putting aside a little homework to allow myself creative pleasures. christmas-y creative pleasures-- i think i've earned it! i'll show you later this week, when i finally finally have a little time to finish up and take pictures.

otherwise. just health stuff, work, lots of class, trying to find something to cover up my head. here are some other pictures from boston.







how is your mid-november shaping up? i cannot believe how close the holidays are. i am quite ready for another vacation, sigh.