Fab Preview

***Update: The sale is now live.  Check it out here.***

Hello! My sale starts in about 9 hours, at 5 pm EST.  When it goes live, I will update with a proper link.  Here's a little sneak peek!

Snippets of Christmas

 

We finally got around to putting up our little Christmas tree the other day and it's starting to feel more festive around these parts.

Since we'll be spending Christmas with my in-laws this year, we didn't really go all out with decorating and gifting.  Plus I've been preoccupied with preparing for my upcoming Fab.com sale, which is now slated for Dec. 20-27.  Who knows if it'll be a hit or a miss, with the timing right around Christmas?  All I know is that I've invested quite a bit of time and money into it already, so here's hoping it's a hit!

I'd like to be able to spoil this little monkey with some big ticket items I've had in mind for a while, as she will be turning 3 in about 3 weeks.  My heart goes out to all the families affected in Connecticut recently... it's a constant reminder to love and cherish those dearest to us.

I''ll be back later this week with the details of my Fab.com sale but the blog will probably be pretty quiet until the New Year, so here's wishing everyone a very Happy Holidays!

Pre-Fab Prep

 

  
I am gearing up to do my first Fab.com sale and have been a busy bee the past week and a half or so!  Needless to say, I am a little stressed and hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew, especially at this time of year.  It's happening this coming Thursday, Dec. 6.  Still need to find out the exact time and other details and will post about it here again as soon as I know. 

Meanwhile here's a peek at some new things that will be available and what's been going on around here.

Black Friday

Just a quick post tonight to let you know about the Black Friday sale in my shop, starting tomorrow.  All regular priced items will be discounted by 25%, with the exception of address labels and shipping.  I promise to blog again soon.  Happy Thanksgiving to my Southern counterparts!

Happy Halloween!

Whitney and I played hooky from swimming lessons this morning to get some last minute Halloween decorations up.  That, and we both have colds.  The bats were inspired by Martha Stewart's hanging bats and the spiders we found at Winners the other day, heavily discounted.  Fingers crossed Hurricane Sandy doesn't totally put a damper on trick-or-treating tonight.

This year our sweet girl is dressing as one her favourite things to eat - a cupcake.  Here she is pretending to eat herself.

And here's Dex, looking a bit spooky.

Hope everyone has a Happy and Safe Halloween!

O is for Owl and Oh My, October's nearly Over!

O is for Owl Print available in my shop.

Time flies when you're having fun and napping entirely too much.  That's what I spent most of September and October doing.  With a little work fit in here and there.  

I'll blame it on the little one in my ever growing belly :)

We are expecting a new addition to our family next spring and this time around has had me wiped out for the past few months.  As I head into the second trimester,  I'm already feeling like my energy is returning (knock on wood), as I would normally be napping instead of blogging during Whitney's nap.  Of course, it seems like Miss Whitney is not into taking her nap today.  Murphy's Law, right?

A long post wasn't meant to be today.  Until next time!

Owls and Pussycats

new totes for fall 2012

some sketches for new items

owl & sukicat :)

some sweet press from the new modern cat magazine

Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall!

my darling nephew, Jackson Jivan

at Grandma's & Grandpa's, in Saskatoon

Whitney with Grandma

at my sister's awesome baby shower

I'm an auntie now!  My sister had about 2 and a half years in that role and is now in the throes of being a super mom!  Whitney and I traveled to Saskatoon for about 10 days last month to meet her cousin, Jackson Jivan Peng Harrison.  He turned one month on August 22 and is eating like a champ to make up for arriving 2 weeks early.

I took full advantage of a little mini summer vacation (and my mom's extra hands) and did absolutely no work, in spite of bringing some things with me... which at one point, I thought had been stolen out of my suitcase by airport staff.  Seriously, it took me about a week before I even thought about taking out my work and then I had forgotten exactly where I put it.  And of course, it was still in my suitcase, just not in the place I thought I had put it.

Anyways, now that Fall is almost here, I'm in the midst of prepping new items for retailers and my shop.  The miniature tuxedo calendar is now in the shop.  Hoping to add a few new seasonal prints and introduce a new screen design in the coming weeks.  Be back again later this week with sneak peeks and some recent press.

Sunday Funnies

I had a little helper in my office today... 

Quality Control Checker

She was making sure that the new kitties were okay. 

They are fine and there's a new print featuring twelve new tuxedo kitties in the shop.

Twelve is the purrfect number of cats for a calendar, so be sure to check out my shop in the next few days if you're on the hunt for a new one.

Free Time

Last year on my birthday, we went to the zoo.  So this year, I asked for a little "free" time to do some work today.
Yes, I'm funny like that. 

Anyways, here are some peeks at things that have been on my desk in the past few weeks.

new mailing labels (since revised slightly)

new calendar in the works

new format for last year's calendar

Yo-Yo & Yeou-Cheng Ma book I illustrated for Dragoneagle Press

Two new calendars will be in the shop> later today.  And since it's my birthday, I'm going to have a little sale going on for the next week.  Just enter BDAY20 at checkout and receive 20% off your purchase (not including shipping) of anything already in my shop.  Does not apply to custom orders or made to order items.

Little Reminders

... of why I'm lucky to do what I do and also love what I do:
Because I have some of the sweetest customers.

Lizzy and Katie were kind enough to share these photos with me.

Lizzy

Katie in a Japanese kitty cafe

They both look smashing in their kitty tees.  I always hope my tees are being enjoyed by the buyers and/or recipients and it's especially rewarding to see the tees being worn out and about, or just to hear from a happy customer.

If you've ever bought or received one of my tees and feel like sharing your photos wearing it, I would love to add it to my Happy Customers Gallery.

Lots of new things are brewing around here.  Will be back later this week with some more photos and details.

Home Office Peek

My home office has gone through many rearrangements in the past year and a half. I'd been meaning to share the latest one since the addition of a much prettier window treatment earlier this month, but June has been packed with a flurry of activity, that I'm only getting around to it now.

The curtain panels are from etsy seller Exclusive Elements.  I'd been coveting yellow chevron ones for a while and hers were on sale, so I finally ordered them.  I think I sort of messed up with the measuring as they barely cover the width of the window, but they are 100 times better than the curtains we had before (pictured below), which were left by the previous homeowners. 

the terribly blurry photo does not help its case

my little helper

It's a little difficult to get good photos of my workspace during the day as the window does not allow a ton of natural light in, but I like how it looks as the sun is going down. 

And as the sun sets this Friday evening, I'll wish all my Canadian readers a Happy Canada Day Long Weekend! Be back soon with more sneak peeks of our ever changing home... next up, Whitney's big girl room!

Stripes & Glasses

Stripes and glasses have been a prominent theme of late... as you can see by some of the newest things in the shop.

 Owl Father's Day card

Pirate Kitty Goes on a Sea Adventure Art Print

Bookish Clever Kitty Art Print

Striped C is for Cat Tee

More things coming to the shop soon. The last several weeks we've all been recovering from a rather nasty cold so it's been kind of slow going. And now Whitney just picked up another bug, so it may get quiet again around here.  Wishing everyone a healthy and happy Weekend!

Catsparella Giveaway

I was contacted by the sweet Stephanie of Catsparella a few weeks ago to do a giveaway.  She wrote some lovely things and now there's just one more day to enter this kitty-licious giveaway.

Hope all the mothers out there had a wonderful day yesterday!  I had a restful weekend, but now feel like I'm coming down with a little cold.  So I'm off to lie down for a wee bit before Whitney wakes up.

Birthday Cards, Mais Oui!

Birthday cards are finally in the shop! French versions will be available soon.  You could say I was somewhat inspired by my parents' recent trip to Paris. Maybe someday, Matt and I will get to visit the famed City of Love.  Au revoir for now!

Hoppy Easter!

In honour of the holiday, I'm having a little Easter sale in my shop today and tomorrow until midnight Easter Monday. 20% off all regular priced merchandise in the shop. Just enter code:HOP2IT at checkout.

Duplo & Doubles

Ever since my sister gifted Whitney with 2 sets of Duplo, it has not only become part of her daily vocabulary, but also part of the daily routine for Whit.  Her day is not complete if she has not built a house or tower.  A lot of the time on her own, but usually there is a request that mommy or daddy play with her.  

On another note, the other day, while Whitney and her daddy were doing a google search for pictures of her Auntie Audrey, they found this beautiful painting (below, left).  It's entitled Audrey with Teddy Bear by an artist named Xi Pan.  I couldn't help but gasp when they showed me the image, as it bears a striking resemblance to Whitney.  That bear she's holding could be her beloved pink kitty cat.  Matt calls it the painting of Whit, but of course it's not her since it was done even before she was born.  There are a handful of other paintings with children by the artist, but mostly she paints women, either nude or clothed.  I recommend checking out her work.

Confessions

I've been debating about posting about this for the past several weeks, but finally just need to get it off my chest:

A few weeks ago, I was considering giving up on my business.

Seriously.

I was feeling so rotten about it.  Lack of sales, retailers returning stock to me, and dwindling funds made me question the legitimacy of my business.  Not only my business, but my path in life.  If I'm not making enough to help support my family, is this really my calling?

But it's not as if I went into this line of work for the money.  And thankfully, my mister has a full-time job that allows me to keep doing what I'm doing, so most of the money I make goes back into the business or else covers things for Whitney and occasionally goes towards some household bills.

Let's face it, though.  My full-time gig right now really is being a mom.  Take today, for example.  We booked a nanny to look after Whitney, since Matt is busy working on a film and I had hopes of getting in more than 3 hours of work.  But due to unforeseen circumstances (a car accident - no major injuries, I think), the nanny couldn't make it and my plans went out the window.  I could have made a stink about this.  Instead, I see it as a sign that today was simply meant to be spent with Whitney.

These years with her are so precious - though they don't always seem so - and I need to remember that I won't be able to get them back.  She won't always want to spend this much time with me.  

So, what it basically comes down to is that I have to remember not to be so hard on myself.  I am a full-time mom, running a part-time business.  No matter how much money I make, I don't want to lose the love for what I do.  And I am NOT giving up.  It just may take me a bit longer to get to where I want to be.

On the bright side, I finally designed some baby congratulations cards, currently available in my etsy shop and also at Kid Culture.

And I am looking to expand my list of retailers this year, particularly in Canada, so if anyone has suggestions for cool shops to approach, please do share.  Thanks for listening.