A New Giveaway & Kitten Love

Just a quick post today to let you know that I've got a new giveaway courtesy of one sweet blogger. All the details are here. The clever kitty tee (pictured above) is up for grabs.

And another sweet blogger mentioned my clever pussycat onesie, amongst some other mighty cute kitties, right here.

A Friend Down Under

I'm a day late with my announcing the winner of my latest giveaway...

so without further ado, the recipient of both kitty tees is the very sweet Helena, a really lovely artist from down under, who also happened to be the sole giveaway commenter. Her gift ideas for a new daddy were fantastic though, and I will hopefully get around to at least one of them before this coming Sunday.

This week on the work front, I'm hoping to get some more screen printing done, keep up with shop orders and get stock sent out to a new shop. On the home front, if I can keep Whitney on her daily routine of rising no earlier than 7 am and to bed by 8, with 3 good naps a day, it will have been a great week!

Wishing everyone else a great one too! Bye for now.

Papa Needs a Brand New Tee

If there's one thing that gets my goat, it's people who contact me asking for things and then never follow through with either making a purchase or in a particular recent case, giving me further info as to where to send my product(s). Especially since my time is pretty precious these days.

But I'll just chalk it up to their loss.

And possibly your (my readers) gain.

Since I am sort of stuck with some limited edition merchandise (well, not really, as I could just list them in my etsy shop), I thought why not do another giveaway? It's been ages and as I had planned on doing one each month, this is the perfect time, albeit a bit close, to do one for Father's Day.

For the men in your life who are cat lovers, I am giving away to 2 lucky readers, a pirate kitty short sleeve tee and mustache kitty short sleeve tee. I only have large sizes available, so they may or may not fit your dad/husband/boyfriend/friend/grandpa/etc. Don't let that stop you from entering the giveaway though. Who doesn't want another t-shirt? They are unisex, after all, so you could keep them for yourself too, as a p.j. tee or just to wear around the house if (it's too big).

They are American Apparel tees in these two styles:

Tri-Blend Short Sleeve Track Shirt in Tri-Coffee

Melange Jersey Short Sleeve Gym Tee in Melange Blue/Navy

(unisex version which seems to be discontinued now)

To enter the giveaway: all you have to do is leave a comment with a great Father's Day gift suggestion. This time around, I will pick the best answers (in my humble opinion) rather than doing a random draw. You have until the end of Sunday, June 13, 12 a.m. EST to enter. I will announce the winners on Monday. Be sure to leave me a way to contact you. This is open to readers everywhere!

Unfortunately I can't guarantee that you will receive the tees in time for Father's Day, but then I expect most of you already have gifts to give your dads.

In other news, our little Whit-Whit is five months old today! She is our sweetheart.

Pussycat, Pussycat

Something for the little pussycat lover in your life.
Available in my shop.

Balancing Act

Balancing being a mom and running your own business certainly requires some superior multi-tasking skills. I'll be the first to admit that I've never been a great multi-tasker, so my absence from blogging is due in part to that fact.

Each week, heck, each day with Whitney seems to present new challenges and/or experiences. I spend a lot of time googling things about babies on a daily basis.

The latest challenge has been managing Whitney's naps. Several weeks ago - I think it's related to when her eyesight got a bit better - she suddenly decided that napping in her crib was out of the question. So a typical day involves me having to "wear" her for at least one nap a day. The other naps she either takes in her stroller or else, if I'm lucky, in bed with me, so I can catch up on some sleep too.

When Matt gets home from work that usually gets Whitney a bit worked up, since she's excited to see her daddy.

She is full of smiles these days and laughed her first real laughs the other week.



The rest of the evening is spent nursing her and winding her down, with a bath every other night. As we live in an open concept loft, putting her to bed at an early hour - 7 or 7:30 - is not really manageable. At least, we have not tried doing that yet and if or when we do, will involve at least a few nights of crying and tiptoeing around with the lights off. I just try to make sure she gets a nap after 2 hours of being awake and she goes to bed when we do, which is usually between 9:30 and 10 these days.

Gone are the days of burning the midnight oil for me!
Ah, the joys of parenthood!

Speaking of which, my mom will be back for a visit next week and we'll be celebrating Mother's Day together again. But this year it will be all the more special. And her being here will not only give me a little break from our darling daughter - I love her so, but there are times that I wish I had some relief - it will also allow me a little more time to get some work done. And possibly blog some more. For now though, being a mom - and hopefully a good one - is certainly my main priority.

Spring Things

Spring is in the air and I've got some new things to show for it. Hooray!

Melange Olive Hi Kitty Tee

Light Pink Love Cats Short Sleeve Tee

Fitting in time for my own work is tricky these days - I often sacrifice a much needed nap in order to get stuff done - so it seriously feels like a little accomplishment when I can print up a dozen or so shirts.

I will be adding either one or both of these tees to my shop soon, along with some baby apparel - still to be printed - hopefully.

Speaking of babies, I think our little one is waking up from her after lunch nap, so that's all for now.

A belated Happy Spring and Easter to you!

The Cat's Meow

If you're a cat lover and an art lover as well, this is the purrfect show for you to check out! The opening reception is this Saturday, March 6 at the Intolerant Gallery in Hamilton but the show is already on and will run until the end of March. Believe it or not, I've got several things in the show... no new pieces to speak of, as time and energy did not permit me this year so far, but there are a ton of other artists showcasing their cat-devoted art.

My talented friend, one of the show's organizers, has several oil paintings in it. The one below, which also happened to win best in show at the Women's Art Association of Hamilton's 112th Annual Juried Exhibition (Spring 2008), is my favourite.

Pause, oil on canvas

As much as I'd like to go to the opening, traveling with Whitney right now is not very convenient. My friend has promised to take photos though, so I'll be able to experience the show that way. And hopefully we'll all be able to go to the next one, as there's talk of this becoming an annual show.