Faults

OK, sometimes it's hard to admit to your faults, but it is what it is so here
is one of mine.

Clutter

I think I may have inherited it from my  Dad, he couldn't throw anything
away either., he even reused the wax paper packaging the cereal comes in..

 I'm sitting here in my little art studio/computer room looking around. 
So much stuff, so little room.  Being an artist helps add to the clutter, I
have so many cool things to work with and art involves lots of stuff ! 
Frames I have been saving for artwork yet to come, pieces of projects past but
you may never know when you might need that again , STUFF I keep

Then I think about the kitchen.

I have so many kitchen tool, real cool ones from all the years I worked as a
chef in fancy restaurants. I continue to keep them, but most of the stuff just
doesn't get used that often and some I am embarrassed to say, never.

Stuff I keep

 It just seem a waste to just get rid of it. What is one to do ?

How do you really de clutter ???

Looking for answers if you have them , PLEASE send them to me ASAP

FREE SHIPPING on orders totaling $160 or more!

Learning to Draw

My Granddaughter, Katy who is 5 1/2 years old, has been coloring since she
was about 12 months old.  Grandma, me, gave her crayons at a very early
age.  I am an artist and she always watched me drawing and painting and of
course she wanted to do it too .Now that she is getting older she wants to learn
more.  This week she asked me to teach her to draw a face.  So we both
got out our pencils and paper and we started with an oval. The pictures here are
our first attempt  on drawing a face.  I think she is doing pretty
well for the first time . I found this other drawing on my desk after she went
home, looks like she was practicing her shading.. I am very pleased that her
crayons, Crayola of course, and art set are her favorite toys. She got a big
beautiful art set for Christmas from her great grandmother, which of course was
her favorite  gift of the year ! She will play with art supplies over any
video game and what a great thing when a child learns to use their imagination 
which is a rare things in today's world. When my www.dickblick.com catalog arrives , we
both can't wait to sit and read it together. For those of you who don't know
www.dickblick.com, it is an art supply house that has just about anything  you
could ever want in art supplies, our wish catalog ! Hope you all enjoy the
unspoiled art of a child as Katy progresses on her journey.

Star Light Star Bright

 

Annie's Story

Just before Christmas , one of my Facebook friends dog, Annie was ill 
and everyone was praying for her to get well.

One morning I got up and my friends profile picture had been changed to her
Annie's picture and I knew right away Annie had passed. I cried and then had to
go about my duties

I was out most of the day doing errands and picking my Granddaughter, Katy up
after school, then we went home and she was playing.  After awhile I booted
up again and went to Facebook and was reading the comments about Annie's passing
and I put my head down on my desk and had some tears, then I felt a soft touch
on my arm, I looked up and it was little Katy, she looked at me and quietly
asked what was wrong so I showed her the picture of Annie and told her that she
had died. She gave me some hugs and words of love to cheer me up, it always
helps, then she went back to whatever she was playing. You never really know
what little kids are thinking.

Soon it was time for Katy to go home, my daughter picks her up after her work
around 6, and I walk her out and get her settled in the car.  This night
she grabbed my hand and walked around the corner of the house and said

 " Grandma look up at the Old Grandpa star," when her Great Grandpa died 2
years ago we told her that he went to a star and we showed her the brightest one
and every once in awhile we look at it.  She continued on, " Grandma do you
see the little star next to old Grandpa , that's Annie and Grandpa will take
good care of her, he loved dogs so don't worry she's going to be just fine. "

So if you look to the sky and find the brightest star and the little one
right next to it, you will know Annie and Old Grandpa will be just fine !

Children and animals just make you feel good, even when you don't !

An Antique Christmas Tree

My Christmas tree has always had great importance in my life., even when I
was a little girl, it had to be tall, and it had to be real !

In my adult years I have always preferred a white pine, not always so easy to
find.  This year the stand we always go to had one white pine,

would it be tall enough, full enough, why yes it was perfect. Stands about 10
foot tall, perfect shape and oh it just smells so good , passes the " Katie "
test.

Now its up has it's lights and the decorating can begin.

Time to start unwrapping all the special ornaments that have been collected
throughout my life.,

most of them antiques and when I tell you I have collected a lot of ornaments
through the years, I am not fooling. Not expensive or out of the ordinary, but
all special and almost everyone has a story. My daughter, who is now in her
40's, laughs as I drag out the ornaments that she made as a child in school, my
favorite being the one she made from a lifesaver package and red yarn, and the
unfired angel, bell and Christmas tree and teddy bear , she made in school and never got to paint so they
got fired white, she was out of school because she had the mumps !

The engraved silver bell my husband and I bought at at Tilden and Thurber the
first year we got together , some 30 odd years ago, really old glass balls that
were on my tree when I was a little girl., some that survived from my parents
childhood and others that have been given to me as gifts through the years , and
then there our the ones I made  sitting in the dinette in my old house in
Rhode Island with my Mom and our loved neighbor, Mary Martin.  I can still
remember sitting at that table with them, like it was yesterday, making all
kinds of Christmas crafts and little things that still hang on my tree today !
Those are the memories that make me smile, and every year as I unwrap all my
beloved treasures, I smile and it brings me right back to when I was a little
girl . Some day these will be all passed on , but the memories are really what
makes my Christmas tree every year, so I will be very careful to pass these
memories along so they will remain special for awhile longer, maybe one more
generation.

 Enjoy your time now for these are the memories you make !

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Spa Night

SPA Night


I'm sure I'm not the only one with a hectic life and sometimes it just gets so stressful . As a Wife, Mom Grandmother, housekeeper, well you know what I mean, constantly running, always something to do, usually not to glamorous and nothing for yourself

Well once in awhile it's fun to have a night to spoil oneself, exactly what I am planning for Saturday night !

First a nice Cholesterol hair pack. Then I am going to try a new product, Fructis Sleek and Shine, suppose to keep your hair frizz free even in 95% humidity, well this being Florida, we will just see about that !

Next a nice long steamy hot shower, You know that kind of shower where the bathroom gets all hot and cloudy with steam !

More spa products, let's see. Going to use Olay Body wash, which was a great buy at Costco a few weeks ago, 2 for less than the price of one.

I have found this body wash to be great for shaving your legs too, I mean you only have so much room !

OK got to get out sometime, waiting , 2 fluffy pima cotton towels, one a bath sheet to wrap in and a fluffy towel for the hair. A great time to pluck those few stray eyebrow hairs. Now some soothing face creams I have been using Olay Regenerist Micro Sculpting Cream another Costco item that was 2 for maybe a little more than one, my daughter and I split these making it great for both of us, I love bargains ! This cream makes you feel spoiled, hope it helps the wrinkles ! A comb out and a little dab of One and Only Argan Oil, I get this at Sally's, great for frizz, but use less than you think you need .

!

Next a quick pedicure and a beautiful new OPI red color on my toes and fingertips. And my favorite beauty product of all time AmLactin, use it on your arms , legs everywhere you want to be SOFT. If you have skin damage this product will become your best friend. By the way this is also another Costco item about $5. cheaper than the drug stores.

A blow dry, and tonight I will use the flat iron so my hair will be straight , soft and silky.

A last touch a dab of your favorite perfume, mine being Channel #5, and I'll bet I will be feeling like a queen,

 I think you should try this ASAP, so you can spoil yourself too !

Easiest way to cook a Perfect Thanksgiving Turkey

Visit my website www.katiecats.com to watch my video on how to cook the Perfect Thanksgiving Turkey

Tooth Fairy

About loosing a tooth.

Wow ! It's been a long time , but I still remember loosing  teeth.

Today my Granddaughter , Katy lost her second tooth !  She was brushing
her teeth this morning and out it came.  She was so happy, she kept
worrying about swallowing it during the night, I told her I never knew anyone
that swallowed a tooth, but she was very leery !

And now the tooth is out and ready to be put under the pillow.  Now when
I was a little girl, you wrapped the little tooth in a tissue and put it under
your pillow and usually you woke in the morning to find a nice shiny dime, or if
you were very lucky you may even find a quarter under there.

When Katy's Mom, my daughter, lost a tooth many years ago, I  remember
leaving her a shiny half dollar. I still have 4 of her teeth, little hard pearls
that were left for the tooth fairy, in my top drawer in an old pill bottle,
strange the things Mom's keep !

In today's world, my daughter has a plastic contraption for Katy , that you
put the tooth in , there is a place for quite a few teeth, and a little slot for
the fairy to put the money in, and all the baby teeth are saved forever . Katy
informed me that she was left five dollars for the first tooth she lost, a and
was expecting the same this time. Of course, Katy wanted to know why the fairy
didn't take the tooth from the plastic thing, so her  Mom had to come up
with a quick answer. She told her the fairy had an overload of teeth at the time
and needed to leave them for the time being and maybe collect them at another
time when she had a shortage.

Times have sure changed, but they have stayed the same too.  In today's
economy, maybe I got the better deal when I was a kid !!!

Happy Birthday Rudy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUDY
Boy, it's amazing how fast time goes by ! Our youngest kitty, Rudy, has been
with us for 10 years, it seems like yesterday !
Rudy's story
A week before Halloween, 2001. I got a call from my husband saying to hurry
home from my exercise class there was a surprise at home waiting for me.
So home I went and there was this little tiny ball of white and black fur
squeaking away.
For about 2 weeks this little kitten had been living under a tree next to my
husbands work and he had been coaxing him out and finally he caught him. 
We think his Mom was probably killed or for some reason just never came back for
him.  Anyway the little guy had been living on bugs and whatever he could
forage. so you can imagine when I opened a can of cat food for him he just
started chowing down.  After a nice meal he curled up on my chest with my
hand over him and he slept like a little baby for about 3 hours, I never moved
and neither did he ! I never saw an animal sleep so soundly in my life, he
really must have been exhausted.  For days all he did was eat and sleep !
During this time my Dad was very ill and was in a beautiful Hospice facility,
and every day when we visited , Rudy came with us, traveling in a little basket
that had a cover.  You can not believe how much joy he brought to many sick
people every time we visited !
 In my Dads last few weeks of life we had many things to do and Rudy
joined us on all our errands. Of course at the time we were eating most of our
meals out and of course every where we went the basket was sure to go ! Not to
many restaurants in town that Rudy hasn't been in , don't tell anyone though
it's remained a secret to all those unbeknown restaurant owners for years ! It
was a very sad time in my life loosing my Dad, I never would have gotten through
it without my husband, who is the best in the whole wide world. and our little
gift, Rudy, who I am sure was a gift from God to help us through this bad time ! 
On Thanksgiving night, 2001, my Dad passed away.  10 years of joy this
little stray cat has brought to our lives, Happy Birthday to our little guy !

Good by Mr. Bear

This morning at 7:15, my beautiful boy died in my arms. Mr. Bear has had diabetes for the last 6 years and did very well on his insulin until about 4 weeks ago when things started to go wrong. In the last month we have just tried everything, in the last 2 weeks we spent every day going to the doctor for fluids and blood tests trying to get him healthy again, but nothing worked, and his quality of life really started to fail this week. Yesterday My wonderful veterinarian, Dr. Kroll, told me it was near time, so I brought my baby home to spend his last night with his family. I made him a little nest with his favorite pink blanket on the sofa and my other 3 babies, Soleil, Millie and Rudy and I spent the night snuggling . I got Mr. Bear when he was 3 weeks old and had to bottle feed him for weeks until he got strong enough to eat on his own, he was just the sweetest little thing. Even when he was a baby , he was all black except for his tippy tail. In honor of my precious baby, all the paintings I paint of cats will have white tippy tails forever.

I passed my baby from my hands to GODS hands where he will be safe forever now.

Fly with the angels and chase butterflies Baby Bear,

Love and kisses,

Mama

Saying Goodbyes

Tonight's
offering is a puzzle, kind of different, not a print but a painting !

I haven't really written here in the last 2 weeks.

Our Dad died suddenly on July 12th and my heart is just so broken that I
really don't feel like doing anything. I haven't even been painting, which
is unbelievable for me, something that happens so quickly like this has just
drained me. This is my husbands Dad, but the 4 of us, Mom , Dad, Willy and I ,
have been together for so long that we forget who belongs to who. I love
his parents as much as if they were my own. We have shared a beautiful
little duplex for the last 22 years . Now all has changed !

Last Sunday we scattered Dads' ashes over the Gulf of Mexico in the most
beautiful service I have ever seen. 10 of us left the dock in 2 boats ,
just family members, It was a beautiful morning and the gulf was like a
mirror. As we proceeded on our trip all of a sudden we spotted dolphins
feeding and playing and once they knew they had an audience they really put on a
show. When we got to a quiet little place between 2 islands we set the ashes
which were in a floating container that looked like a woman's brimmed hat . We
all traced our hands on and wrote our hearts. Then flowers were thrown
into the water and a gentle rain started to fall, you could hardly feel it.
It was like tears from the angels. Then the ashes sunk and the rain
stopped, it was very surreal almost like being in a quiet church , very
peaceful. My son in law, one of the boat Captains made a cross
over with the boat and we began our journey home. The world is a lesser
place without this wonderful man, he will be missed by many.

This will be very hard on us all. Mom has been married to Dad for 52 years .
Little Katie has taken this very hard she has lost old Grandpa as she always
called him. We took her out and showed her the brightest star in the sky
and told her that was old Grandpa twinkling down on her, now every night she
goes out ,looks up and yells I" love you super much old Grandpa", not a dry eye
in the house ! Very hard to explain all this to a 3 1/2 year old little
kid. Very hard !

Now we will start to try and get over our loss and create a new normal.

Sad for now

meows and purrs,

Katie

SUMMER SUNFLOWERS

Mr. Bear is my big beautiful black cat who I paint often.
He has diabetes and takes 2 shots of insulin daily which has been working
great. BUT, it's a nasty disease and is starting to take it's toll. Mr.
Bears kidneys are starting to fail and at 16 years old time is running out

When I first got Mr. Bear, he weighed about 5 ounces. We got
him and his brother Andouille, a spicy little orange tabby who died suddenly at
the age of 5, at the local animal shelter.  The lady told me they would be
euthanized because they were to little to be in the shelter, meow meow, just
call me their new Mama.  Home we went with the new little flea bags, there
were more fleas than kittens. So home we went and de bugged our new babies. 
Next we started feeding them with little bottles  and special kitten milk
from the vet and they grew and grew.  It's amazing how a little food and a
lot of love make kittens grow.

Mr. Bear goes back for another check next Friday so I will
update his condition then.

Thank you for all the emails of encouragement and the prayers.

They help more than you can ever know.

Meows and purrs for tonight,

Katie

Happy Birthday

This
painting was just so much fun to do.  I made the girl  on watercolor
paper then colored her with oil pastels.  After adhering her to the canvas
I made her clothes from collage paper, it was like the old days when I was a
little girl making paper dolls and their clothes hour after hour.  I still
have plenty of inner child left in me !

My birthday was Monday so we celebrated over the week
end.  My sister made me a gourmet Chinese dinner, which included the best
dumplings known to man, she has this down pat !  My mother in law made a
double layer chocolate cake, from scratch of course, with a chocolate butter
cream that was really special.  So we all pigged out and had a great time. 
Little Katie liked the balloons and the cake !  A good time was had by all. 
Did I mention the Mimosas ? Yummy !  It was worth getting a year older for.

Mean NASTY people

Well here I am listing these paintings again !

 

Someone keeps turning me in to ebay for improper listings because I had links
to my blog and web page, just like most of the artists on ebay. Why someone is
doing this is beyond me, I don't bother anyone. But for some reason someone is !
This is the Third time in a week that my listings have been cancelled and this
time the only Link that I had was to my "about me" page on ebay which is not an
illegal link!  So I have no money coming in this week.  I have e
mailed ebay but so far I have not gotten a response from them.

What a shame there are such nasty people in the world who have little to do
except  try and make it uncomfortable for others, just think ...  if
the energy that most mean people waste on being mean was used for good , the
world would be a better place and I'm sure that person wouldn't feel so ugly !

I try and do a good deed every day, this week I am going to try and do a few
extra good things for others, in hope of making up for those of us in the world
who choose to be mean and ugly !

Meows and purrs,

Katie

 

Re listed

These two I'm re listing again. ebay
cancelled them because I had a direct link to my blog and web page which is
against ebay rules ...OOPS !

I have fixed everything now so to get to my blog or web page just go to my me
page.

Thanks for looking

Meows and purrs,

Katie

Listings removed

For those of you bidding or watching my auctions they were removed because I
had a link to my blog and web site on my ebay page.

Please just go to my me page to get to both sites now.

Sorry for the inconvenience

MC018 eBay Listing Removed:
Inappropriate Links (302836011)


 

Dear katie-cats

You recently listed the following listing:



110395750322 - ORIGINAL Folk Art Cat Painting Mixed Media
KATIE-CATS

110396138860 - Folk Art 2 Cat Painting Geraniums SWEET -
KATIE-CATS





Unfortunately, we had to remove your listing because the
following information violates our policy:



Description: "Check Out My Website Katie-Cats.com "





We don't allow sellers to direct members away from the eBay site
because we can't ensure their safety and security once they leave our site.
Also, if a member buys something outside eBay, they're not protected by our
services, including our Feedback and buyer protection programs.



If you use any mechanism that directs members away from our
site, you are violating our links policy.

A link is anything that
takes a member off the eBay website, including text, images,
logos, or icons (both clickable and non-clickable).

Memorial day fun

This
shabby chic painting really came out very colorful and neat.  It has
elements of collage, crackling, pastels and acrylic paint.  Reminds me of a
postcard from Paris for some reason.  I framed this one with a crackled
frame. A purrfect match.

I took the long week end off to enjoy with my family. 
We had a great cook out and splashed around in the pool all day.

Thank you to all the military people who keep our country
safe and free, the day really belongs to them.  Thank you, Thank you !

Aqua blue waters of the Keys

This  picture I took from the moving car window but it did capture the color of the water that I was going for !       Statues outside the Art Gallery       The view from the porch of our room         Katie playing poolside

The aqua blue waters of the Keys

We were so lucky, the weather was perfect !

Key West vacation

 

Rudy is just about the silliest little guy around. 
This is pretty much the position you can find him in on most days.  The
birds have caught on and sit as close to the screen as possible, they just love
to tease him, pretty funny !

I am in packing mode tonight, leaving Sunday morning
for 7 days of vacation, so no paintings will go out for delivery this week. 
When I get back I will have lots of photos of the beautiful waters of Key West,
I hope I can capture the gorgeous aqua blues of the waters, it's breathtaking !

This will probably be my last blog for the week,
hubby and I are having a nice romantic dinner tomorrow night before I leave for
a week, I will miss hubby and my 4 kitties very much, but will talk to all 5 on
the phone every day !  Soleil saw the luggage come out and has already
started getting depressed, funny how they know whats going on !

 

Decided against taking the laptop with me, I think I
really need to just take a break, this is a brave step to be out of contact with
the internet world, but I think it's good to do once in awhile so ....

See you in a week,

Meows and Purrs,

Katie

Come in ... the waters fine

 

Wow, time just goes by so quickly ! This has been a quick week.

Our pool just hit 83 degrees, so we are now swimming every day !  I know
that sounds warm to some, but once you get used to Florida, that temp seems
perfect ! Hard to believe when we lived in Rhode Island we swam in 68 degree
water, BRRRR, NEVER again, I hate to be cold !!!  Only problem here , once
we get in the pool it is very hard to get little Katie, a 3 year old, out !  
After 2 hours, both Grandpa and I are pooped and Katie is the one that gets the
2 hour nap ! We sure are getting our exercise in .

Tonight's painting was inspired after we baked some cupcakes the other day,
the babies just can't resist BUTTER CREAM frosting !!!

Packing for my Key West getaway......it's almost time !  I'm so excited

Meows and purrs,

Katie

New ...Mini SWEET PEAS

Happy Friday, hope everyone
is ready to start their week end.

Tonight's ebay offering .....

Introducing a new series .....

SWEET PEA MINIS

You can find these sweet 
little guys

 hiding everywhere !

They especially love the garden,

 where I first saw them
hiding !

This little SWEET PEA

 is fast asleep in a pea pod

with his little tabby cat ,

SHH,

you must be very quiet !!!