Taco Tuesday: slurp.

Keep it clean, folks.

Happy Winter Solstice, or whatever you want to celebrate when the days get short.

Make it furry and bright, whatever it is.

And messy.  Definitely make it messy.

polka dot ascot owl

 

 Anthropomorphic Mail Art Project!

This one I actually sent in to Mail Me Some Art, for the brown postcard swap.

Hopefully, there will be some new swaps in January.

:)

Taco Tuesday - how to give a cat a psychological complex

It started as a joke...for the humans.
Anytime Taco was being bad (and that was often while he was a kitten)
we'd just use the remote control to flip the lights on and off.
It wasn't all that ominous until we also started saying things, like, The fan knows. The fan watches all.
There may have been some ghostly woo-woo-ing.
Everything is better with sound effects.
Maaaaaaaaaaybe we kicked it up a notch by switching the ceiling fan on, or up to a higher speed.

We didn't think all of our efforts did much except, perhaps, distract him from naughtiness, like stealing papers or chewing cords or what-have-you.

But then I started to notice that anytime there was a loud noise - construction from next door, a thump, truck traffic from outside - Taco would exit the room very swiftly.  Or, if I was holding him at the time, he'd twist and turn and struggle to get away.  By the time he got to the floor, the offending noise would be over.  Then he'd either glare accusingly up at the fan (obviously only when he's feeling cheeky) or stare up in fear, and sort of slink out of the room.

Now, pretty much anytime he's startled, he'll visually check on the fan while taking cover.  Sometimes being under the coffee table is enough "cover".  Sometimes he has to leave the room.
I have, on rare occasions, seen him belly-crawl across the room, as if to escape the notice of the fan.
But only in the summer, when the fan is actually moving.  That's when the threat of the fan weighs most heavily on his little kitty brain.
Taco is terrified of the ceiling fan.

 I feel a little bit guilty about giving him a complex...but I have to admit...I also feel a little bit accomplished.

So, remember, kids, be good, not because Santa knows if you've been naughty or nice,
but because THE FAN KNOWS ALL AND THE FAN SEES ALL.

Taco Tuesday - He's ready for his close-up!

Taco enjoys hanging out under tables, especially if there are piles of footwear nearby.

He also enjoys table legs.  Apparently they are good cheek-scratchers.

Oh, well. It's just about nap-time. See ya later!

Am I absolutely obsessed with cat faces right now?
Yep.
I just put these babies up in my shop today.
MORE CATS! MORE POSTCARDS!

chalkboard owl named Winston

Anthropomorphic Mail Art Project!


This adorable entry is from Lynn. (It's her second AnthroMAP card! Yeah, participation!)

I love the texture of the green board.  And the pinwheel hat - who doesn't love silly hats?
And the tiny bits of finger-like wings peeking through the sleeves? Perfect!

Lynn wrote,
"Winston did not enjoy giving book reports.
He was more of a numbers guy."

I believe it, especially with that teeny tiny pocket protector!

self-love through selfies

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

And if I behold me, what do I see?

Well, me, obviously.
And Fangtooth, that's my shark puppet.

Sometimes I need a partner in crime for my selfies.  A little furry encouragement, if you will.

I actually don't like taking selfies all that much.  They make me feel very self-conscious.  And I know that I have to take about 50 billion before I get one that looks okay enough to show people.  That's a lot of editing, man.

But you know what I do like? Drawing. Taking pictures.  And it doesn't matter so much if they come out well (hence the 50 billion deleted selfies) because I enjoy the process.

Yeah, I hardly ever draw people or photograph portraits.  Usually I capture things...or just Taco.
But sometimes I run out of steam, creatively, and self-portraits are a really good exercise when you run out of subject matter.
Plus, you get to enjoy all that spotlight intensity without any stage fright...it's just you, after all.

I had a mirror, watercolor pencils, and some time to kill.

It's totally okay to stylize your portrait.  And make your eyes greener while you're at it, why not?

Or just go for the mostly-conceptual: I am a rainbow.
You guys, that's like art-magic - I just turned myself into a rainbow.


But MOSTLY - here's what I think about self-love.
Don't worry about it.
Do what you think is totally awesome, whatever it may be, and eventually, you'll realize that you are the totally awesome human being doing all of those awesome things.
Which sort of makes you awesome.

{self-love link up for uncustomary}

Happy December!

On the first day of the new month, I kicked into high gear for the holidays.
It's time to craft it up!

...Or in any case, it was definitely time to start making gift tags. 
Which I did.

In serious abundance.

How cute is this mix tape gift tag? SO CUTE.  I got it from the Yellow Owl Workshop, which is so full of adorable that it makes my eyes cross.

In the interest of giving, I'll be including these free gift tags with any orders at my shop this month.

My mom always managed to get to Christmas Eve without having wrapped anything, and she'd be in a panic about not having any gift tags at midnight. So this is definitely inspired by her.  :P

You can pick whether you'd like the Christmas ornament, or the all-occasion mix tape by leaving me a note during checkout. 
And if you don't say anything, then I get to pick! MUHAHAHA!

Have a Happy Everything!

about those Monthly Marvels the kids are all talking about...

I signed up for a Monthly Marvel in October, because I heard it will arrive by mid-month...and you know what's mid-month in October? My very own birthday! So that was my birthday present to myself this year.

First of all, it's quite an experience.  I woke up on my birthday, and headed out to the post office (where else would I want to hang out on my birthday?) - but WAIT. There's something at the bottom of the stairs.
It's big.
It's round-ish.
It's orange.

Hmm.
It's a pumpkin! Maybe my neighbor's kid forgot it?
Nope.
It's for me. It's got a mailing label that says so.

I tore back up the stairs, pumpkin clutched in my greedy little hands.

I managed to take some pictures before breaking in to the lid.

What a happy little pumpkin.

Here's the lid, which Mary had to fabricate.  I've never seen a pumpkin bucket with a lid, have you?

A first look inside the pumpkin reveals a Halloween-themed mixed CD, which I enjoyed greatly.
I might be partial; one of my favorite songs of all time happened to be on it.
(That's "Rock Lobster" by the B-52s, in case you were wondering.)
Plus, it's always good to have a CD full of dance tunes hanging around.  You never know when a dance party might break out.

More Halloween things than you can shake a stick at!
My personal favorite was the ring with a tiny glow stick in it.  Very fancy.

And of course, here's Taco, trying to get in on the fun.  He liked the glitter pumpkin and the dangle-y skeleton.

So, basically, if you're looking for a literal bucket full of fun and surprises to arrive on your doorstep, Monthly Marvels will surely quench your thirst for a mail adventure.

I kind of already can't wait for February...I might hazard a guess that it would be a better Valentine gift to myself than anything I could pick out.  :)

Thanks, Mary - you're doing a cool thing.