Sweet Stems

Hi there Stampers! Thanks for stopping by!
So I don't have a Furry Friends post other than we are still trying to find a home for our foster kitty, Venetian. She is such a sweet girl and would be the perfect addition to a family. If you are local you can see her at Petco in Thousand Oaks tomorrow and on Sunday at Petsmart in Simi Valley. Please help us find her the home she so deserves!!






I was browsing through the Splitcoast Stampers gallery and found this cute card. So I had to CASE it. I used it in a workshop and everyone seemed to really love it!
Ingredients:
Stamps: Sweet Stems, Polka Dot background stamp Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Rose Red, Regal Rose, Raspberry Tart DSP Ink: Basic Black Accessories: 3/4" circle punch, 1/2" circle punch, Rose Red SU grosgrain ribbon, Dimensionals, SU Markers
Have a super Friday!
Hugs,
Elizabeth

Furry Friends Friday

Welcome to another edition of Furry Friends Friday! Hope you are having a terrific day!

Today I am going to introduce you to two of my favorite furry friends. Maui and Kona are my BFF, Molly's babies. They are almost 5 yrs old and are brothers from the same litter if you can believe it!

They are both so sweet even though I have only really gotten to know them over the last year or so. Before that they would NEVER come out for me! NEVER! Even when I would come over to take care of them while Molly was out of town they would hide under the bed! Stinkers! I was so excited when Maui first came out one night when I was visiting a year ago.

A couple months later Kona mustered enough courage to come out and see that I wasn't that bad after all! ;) Now they come out without too much hesitation, though Kona is a bit of a scaredy cat like my Mr. Moe-any sudden movements or sounds and *flash* he's gone! My favorite thing about Kona is that he's a big love-he likes to rub his cheek against you when you say "kiss" usually when he's coming to get a kitty treat!

Maui cracks me up when he races back and forth on top of Molly's couch chasing a laser pointer beam! He's so fast!
I am so glad they have decided to come out and play when I come over-I was heartbroken when they didn't!

Thanks for stopping by! Hugs, Elizabeth

Furry Friends Friday

Good Morning Stampers! Happy Friday! Welcome to another Furry Friends Friday post.
Today I am going to introduce you to Baby. We got Baby about 6 years ago (maybe more?) from a friend of a friend who couldn't keep her anymore and was having a hard time finding a new home for her. Being that we are BIG SUCKERS in that way we took her in with the intention of finding her a permanent home. Well here we are years later and she is still with us. She is a real love and definitely a BABY! She loves any kind of attention-even the not-so-gentle kind that our kids have bestowed upon her when they were littler and didn't know better. She's a bit of a chicken when it comes to thunder (thank goodness that doesn't happen often here in So. Cal)and fireworks. We usually have to sedate her for the 4th of July and New Years, especially if we aren't home. She has destroyed our gate a few times during firework filled nights!
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great day!
Hugs,
Elizabeth

Furry Friends Friday

Hi there stampers and furry friend lovers! Well this week has been such a struggle for me with the loss of my foster kittens and other terrific financial issues we've been having. I am so glad it is Friday and we are going to play Bunco tonight. I plan on having a great time and forgetting all about my woes for at least the duration of the evening.
So onto the post of the day...
Today I am going to introduce you to Willy. Willy is easily the biggest dog we've ever been around. I've seen a few in my life that are bigger but never for more than a minute in passing. We are taking care of him for a friend who has had him since he was 2 yrs old but now does not have a place where he can keep him. We agreed to take him before ever meeting him which was a blessing for him! We might not have agreed to it! Willy is 11 years old but plays ball like he's just a puppy. He's so big and can really be a nuisance, but he's just a big sweet boy that we can't help but love despite the slobber, gas, food stealing and ginormous land mines!
Hope you've enjoyed meeting our big stinky goofball!
hugs,
Elizabeth

Furry Friends Friday

Good Morning Stampers! Thanks for stopping by. I had a wonderful post full of the sweetest little kittens but sadly two of them passed away during the night and I feel awful.
I picked up these precious little furballs from the pound Thursday night. There were five kittens in all, three boys and two girls and their foster mamma. They thought they were about a week old then so now they should be 2 weeks old. My vet tech friend, Diane, who gets us the foster kitties, came over to check them and their Mamma over and we discovered that this isn't their biological mother because she is expecting! There's no way to have a litter of kittens and then have another a couple weeks later! Apparently either the people at the pound didn't realize or the Mamma, who we have now named Venetian, just took to taking care of them on her own? We have no idea! She has been nursing the little guys(we named them Paris, Mirage, Luxor, Caesar and Bellagio) and they seemed to be doing pretty good despite having nasty colds. Unfortunately last night I discovered two of the five kittens struggling. I called Diane and she came over with IV fluids and milk replacement. These little guys are so small, literally the size of hamsters and have to fight to survive with this nasty cold. Unfortunately it is fairly common for newborn kittens from the pound to get sick and not make it and there's not much you can do but pray.

This little gray guy's named Caesar. I took down the close up picture of Mirage-it's too heartbreaking to leave it on here for me.
We are looking forward to the remaining babies to all get better quickly and for Venetian to give birth to a healthy second litter soon.

Stay tuned to next week's Furry Friend Friday-hopefully we'll have a few more healthy little fur babies to show off and no more sad news.
Thanks for checking in. Come back tomorrow for my Kristina Werner Color Challenge for the week!
Hugs,
Elizabeth

Furry Friends Friday

Hi there fellow stampers and furry friend fanatics (well ok you don't have to be a fanatic like we are)!
Welcome to another furry friend post. Today I want to introduce you to the oldest of our clan, Sox. Sox came into my life when I met my husband, John. She is a sweet girl who pretty much just eats and sleeps. She has become a permanent fixture on the end of my girls' bed like a big fluffy throw pillow. :) She will meow on command which is quite funny and will meow your ears off for a wet food treat! I think she weighs close to 18 pounds which seems so crazy for a cat! She's been on a diet for as long as I can remember but never seems to lose anything but fluffs of fur here and there! Maybe it's something in the water!

Well I hope you have a great Friday! I am looking forward to the 3 day weekend for sure!!! Thanks for stopping by!
Hugs,
Elizabeth

Furry Friends Friday

Good Morning Stampers and welcome to another Furry Friends Friday! This is our Mamma kitty. She came to us about 3 months ago along with her beautiful litter of 4 kittens. Someone dumped her at the pound like trash. I've tried to call her something other than Mamma but nothing seems to stick. She has the strongest mothering instinct so I guess her name suits her. Her kittens have gotten homes but we had a hard time finding one for her so she's become part of our family now. She loves to help with each new litter of kittens that we foster. I think she thinks they all belong to her. It's the sweetest thing to see her mothering the new kittens.
The picture with the four kittens are her babies-we named them Jackolantern, Candy, Boo and Dracula (we got them around Halloween can you tell?)of course they have gotten new names when they went to their new homes. The other picture is Mamma with Dawn who just got a home last weekend!
I hope you enjoyed my furry friends for today! Thanks for stopping by!
Hugs,
Elizabeth

Furry Friends Friday

Good morning Stampers! Welcome to another Furry Friends Friday! Today I am going to introduce you to Squishy. We rescued her from a hard life on the streets when she was just a baby. Her real name is Squash but when we first got her she would dart for the door everytime someone came in or left and we would almost "squish" her in the door trying to keep her inside. I absolutely prefer my kitties to be indoor only kitties but we've made an exception for poor Squishy. :)
She's about nine or ten years old now and a real hunter. She likes to leave us "gifts" now and then, thankfully she leaves the "gifts" outside. She loves to be outside but at night she is usually curled up at the end of our bed. She knows where the most comfortable spot is!


Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you tomorrow with another stamping post!
Elizabeth

Another Furry Friend Friday

Happy Friday and welcome to another "Furry Friend Friday" post!
Today I am going to introduce you to Polka Dot. I met Polka Dot when she was just 4 days old. She was so tiny! She is so not tiny anymore! She is huge! She is almost 2 years old now and is bigger than her older siblings! She isn't the friendliest kitty-not big on cuddling and definitely not a lap kitty-but she likes to play and especially loves our dogs. She likes to lay on their beds, eat out of their bowls and wants to go outside with them when I let the dogs out in the yard. She has a stubby tail due to an accident when she was 9 weeks old but it doesn't slow her down at all.

Hope you enjoyed this week's kitty post! Have a great weekend!
Elizabeth

Furry Friends Friday!

Good morning! Here's another "Furry Friends Friday" post.
OK, so those of you who know us know that my family and I are crazy cat people. We have quite a few beloved family members of the feline persuasion as well as a couple of dogs floating around the Fortuna compound. This summer we started fostering kittens through an organization called Valley Vet Non-Profit. It's head is a friend of mine named Diane. She is a vet tech at Valley Vet and she helped start a low cost spay and neuter program in our city to try to lower the number of cats and dogs euthanized because they were unwanted. I have a link under "sites to visit" to read more about the program.
Through Diane we take in kittens that would have otherwise been euthanized at the pound or are strays and we take care of them until we can find a home for them. We get them used to people, kids and other animals and prepare them to be loving, family kitties. Before being put up for adoption, Diane makes sure they are spayed or neutered and have their shots. It has been both fun and rewarding saving these kittens from certain death and finding them homes and familes to love them. Of course the hardest part of doing this is letting the kitties go after bonding and taking care of them.
The first litter was a litter of four, two boys and two girls. We always name our foster kitties a temporary name, the first litter was of course, Eenie, Meenie, Miney and Moe. They were all so sweet, but Moe he was a snuggler. That little guy with his wide nose and big goofy ears was always happy to see us and would purr instantly. Try as we could there was no way we could let him go, so introducing one of the newest members of our family...Mr. Moe

He is a little skittish sometimes and loves to snuggle under the covers (like me!) and is all boy. He loves to sneak up on a sleeping Peek-A-Boo and attack her. It's like the WWF when he plays!
Hope you have enjoyed meeting our Mr. Moe and that you'll come back and check out my post tomorrow!
Elizabeth

Furry Friends Friday #1

Good Friday morning! Are you happy it's Friday? I am! The first week back from vacation is always hard to adjust to.
So I have decided to make Fridays my "Furry Friends Friday". We are a animal loving family and I thought it would be fun to post some of my favorite furry friends. So if you are only here for stamping you might want to skip Fridays ;)
So... introducing the furriest love of my life, Peek-A-Boo.
We got her from my friend, Diane, who works at a vet office here in town. Someone dumped her there along with a couple of her siblings almost 2 years ago. I loved her immediately. :)She is the silliest cat I have ever had. We're pretty sure she thinks she is a squirrel. She likes to launch herself from across the room to land on your shoulders. She's pretty accurate though I've had some nice puncture wounds from near misses. She is also the most tolerant cat I've ever seen. We have been fostering kittens since the summer and with every new litter that shows up here she just accepts them without so much as a dirty look.

I hope you enjoyed the first of many of my furry friends posts. Come back tomorrow for another stamping project :)
have a great day!
Elizabeth (the crazy cat lady)