Rest in Peace, my little cat-child, Joy

I am so sad to tell you that I lost my dear, sweet cat, Joy, today. Earlier this afternoon, she lost her very brave, but oh, too brief battle and passed away. I knew this day was coming but your never really prepared, are you? My beloved animals are my children and Joy was the perfect cat-child. She had such a big personality for such a tiny little girl and she will be missed so much. As I write this, her BFF, Henry, is roaming the rooms up here as if he is looking for her. She wasn't with me for long enough, but the time that I did have with her is indelibly etched in my heart and soul. It was a privilege to love her and a *joy* to have her love me back.

During her last few weeks, her favorite spot was to sit behind me on the back of my big comfy chair and place her hand on my back or shoulder.

The picture below is Joy on the right, laughing, and her BFF, Henry, on the left.

"We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary than our own live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached. Unable to accept its awful gaps, we still would live no other way. We cherish memory as the only certain immortality, never fully understanding the necessary plan." ~Townsend

I'm a proud daughter!....and a proud sister, too!

First and foremost, I am so lucky to call my mother my very best friend.  She is an amazing lady.  Since I was a toddler I was convinced my mom could do anything....now I know she can!  She is an amazing artist - fiber arts, pen and ink wildlife pictures/notecards, altered arts, and even some writing!

She is so talented but in true artist fashion, she is not much of a business woman (ok, well maybe there is just this one thing she can't do :) ).  So, I decided to become her business manager and market her and set up an Etsy store for her.  I just want to show her off here............if you get a minute check out her Etsy store HERE (I still have a lot of things to list and she is working on building her inventory) but I love everything she does!! 

Yes, I am proud....here is just a sampling of some of her cool aprons - two of them are made with vintage linens...very cool:

OK, while I am sharing the talents of loved ones, let me tell you about my amazing artist BROTHER, Travis.  He does the most AWESOME pencil portraits....he is really good and now some of his commissions grace homes throughout the United States and Canada.  He is still so reasonably priced compared to other artists I have seen.  But, like mom, he is not business minded, so I set up and run an Etsy store for him as well.  Check out his Etsy store HERE and here are some of his recent portraits:

Thanks for indulging me by listening to me rave about my mom and brothers talents! 

Now if only my creative muse would come back to visit so I can reopen my own Etsy store!  Hopefully in 2010!

Talk to you soon,

Lolly