Kitty Cats and Airplanes

Some new members of the family!

2012-05-24T21:39:00.002-04:00

No, little Baby A didn't come early. Remember a few months ago when I had to put my poor kitty down? (Worst day of my life, btw.)

Well, my family thought they were ready to bring some new fur babies into the home. I kept suggesting to them that having two kitties is so fun and they should try it.

"No, no. We don't need the stress. One is enough for us."

Ladies....meet Dakota.

She's a four year old diluted calico. She recently had a litter of kittens and sent them off to wonderful families. My parents just fell in love with her, she is a such a sweetie. Affectionate, cuddly, and so friendly.

And...meet Sachi. (I love it when I'm right.)

She's 10 months old. They found her abandoned with a little chunk missing out of her ear. She's timid yet tough, a great match for Dakota.

We are such cat people. It's sad to be "moving on" from my darling Jellybean but saving two little lives from the animal shelter is worth it. :)

PrintRunner Giveaway

2012-05-19T09:39:00.001-04:00

Thank you so much for all of your well wishes on the soon to be arrival of our little one! David and I are thrilled, and I can't wait to show you all the baby things I've been working on! But for now, how about a giveaway?

Today, I am happy to introduce ALL of you toPrintRunner.
What is PrintRunner?
PrintRunner.com was established with little more than a small press and a dream. Ten years later our company became one of the foremost quality printers in Southern California. Our commitment to provide the best value and high quality full color printing at affordable price made our company grow. PrintRunner is a full service high quality printing company located in Chatsworth, California.
I love that they are located in California (my hub's home state!). PrintRunner provides printing services such as banners/signs, bookmarks, brochures, business cards, calendars,catalogs, club card flyers, flyers, greeting cards, postcards, posters and online sticker printing.
I decided to check out their website and I found that it was super easy to navigate through (a huge plus). You can upload any file! (as long as it is one of their accepted file formats.) Also, if you have trouble uploading your file, you can either call or use the live chat option. I don't think you will have any problems. It is super easy! You could also design your file online and use the buy now/upload later option. PrintRunner also offers more products such as bumper stickers, carbonless forms, cd/dvd sleeves, color copies, door hangers, envelopes, hang tags, holiday cards, letterhead, magnets, presentation folders, rack cards and sales/data sheets.
PrintRunner also provides customers with coupons for some of their products. Offers exclude customer orders and cannot be applied to tax & shipping. So, be sure to take advantage of their offers. Also, they offer live chat so if you have questions, PrintRunner's customer service representatives will help you in a flash. (I LOVE live chat!!)
PrintRunner is offering one of YOU the chance to win...

Stickers

Sticker Shape: Standard Stickers

Flat Width: 2"

Flat Height: 3.5"

Quantity: 250

Paper: Premium Sticker Stock

Colors: Full Color ( 4 Color Process), Black and White

Proof: NONE

Ready to Ship In: 3 Business Days

*Giveaway is open to US Residents only, ages 18 years old and above.

This giveaway prize is a $43.26 value
How to enter the giveaway?(Please leave your email address so I may contact you if you are the lucky winner)
MandatoryBe a follower of Kitty Cats and Airplanes
Additional EntriesFollow PrintRunner on facebook and twitter (1 entry each).Tell me another product that you would love to buy from PrintRunner.Tell me what you would do with the stickers if you won.

This giveaway will go till May 25th and the winner will be announced on May 26th. The winner will be chosen by random.org. The giveaway is open to the US and anyone 18 and older. Thanks for your support. Good luck!

Disclaimer - Thank you to PrintRunner for providing this giveaway, I will receive a set of stickers for hosting this.

Parasite

2012-05-14T14:33:00.001-04:00

I told you yesterday that you wouldn't want to miss today's post! Because today is a big day. Sit down kids, let me tell you a story.

Way back in mid February, I started to feel really sick. I mean REALLY sick. I was nauseated 24/7 and in bed 18 hours a day. I lived off of ginger ale and saltines and lost a bunch of weight. I had permanent purple bags under my bloodshot eyes; I looked like the walking dead. The mothers of my students were so concerned, and a lot of them sent me home because I looked so awful. It was miserable. MISERABLE. And it went on for WEEKS.

Finally, after about 6 weeks of this, I went to the doctor. A brand new doctor that could hopefully tell me everything that was going on with me. After a bunch of poking, prodding, peeing in cups and several vials of blood, she came in with the results.

I had a parasite.

Srsly? A parasite? How could I have gotten a parasite? That good for nothing (kidding) husband gave it to me. Argh. So I ask her, how long until it will work itself out?

She told me for most people it'll take a least another good six or seven months.

SIX OR SEVEN MONTHS!?! That's like....October!! No, that's like November! So I'm stuck with this life sucking parasite in me until November. Wonderful. Oh, and get this, she said the stinking thing will probably grow to be the size of a WATERMELON or even a small PUMPKIN before it'll work itself out?

(Is that even possible??) I finally asked her if I could see this thing that was making me so miserable. If it's stuck with me for that long, I might as well get to take a look at it right? She geared up an ultrasound machine and let me have a look.

That was it. I was a goner. David and I were so in love with that little grape sized parasite. With it's cute little nose and chin and tiny little arm and leg buds and that precious little heartbeat. We decided to keep it.

It's been another 6 weeks since then, and now we are ready to tell the world.

It's true, our little family will soon go from two to three. :)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok, for the record, I knew I was pregnant the whole time I was miserably sick. Only took about 6 pregnancy tests to confirm that. And I do not think it's a stinking little thing, hubs and I are overjoyed. :) And we always wanted to keep it, little apple was planned. I just threw in those fun details for the sake of the funny story.
And to answer your questions....

15 weeks
November 4
Don't know yet, anatomy scan is next month.

Will you forgive my absence now?

PS, did any of you pick up on my weekly fruit status updates on Facebook? I felt so dang sneaky.

Happy Mother's Day

2012-05-13T22:23:00.001-04:00

To all of you mothers, grandmothers, mother in laws, mothers to be, future mothers, adoptive mother, fur mothers, and those of you with a mother. That pretty much covers everyone right? :)

I know you've read a bunch of these today, so I'll make it short and sweet and just show you pictures of some mothers that have helped shape my life.

My wonderful Mugga (on the far left) is one of the coolest grandmas you'll ever meet. I call her every week and we always laugh. My own mom (second from the right) is the best mom I've ever had! She gave me my amazing sense of humor and taught me how to look on the bright side. I seriously have such a funny family. Whenever I go to my family's house I spend the entire time laughing my head off.

My dad's mom, isn't she so adorable? Oogling at my ring on my wedding day. My grandmas always has the best stories and has taught me how to be appreciative of everything in my life.

My husband's mom and her mom. I needed a little Cuban spice in my life, and they sure gave it to me! They've taught me to appreciate family more. And they've taught me a teeny bit of Spanish.

So happy Mother's Day to all of you. I hope you had a wonderful day, mother or not.

PS, come back tomorrow. You won't wanna miss this post. It's big. Like super big.

Very Jane deal- Super Sparkly Silver Stacking Bracelets! (plus a mini giveaway)

2012-05-09T12:49:00.001-04:00

Hello friends! Long time no talk. Well, sort of. Some of you have left amazingly comforting comments and really lifted me up high and I thank you for that. I am still working on getting a reply to each of you!

It's been a long time, do you remember these?

I debuted these back during the winter when I went to my first ever craft fair. These sold out at the fair within an hour, and I've had tons of requests for more. But, I was never able to find the beads at a decent price, the shop where I got them before stopped carrying them. I was super bummed.

UNTIL NOW!!! (Announcer voice) I FINALLY found a site that sells these for just an arm (I can keep my leg). I'm so excited to bring these back, out of everything I've ever made, I love these bracelets the most. I honestly wear them 2-3 times a week. I wear them on Sunday with my pretty skirts, on workdays with my t shirt and jeans, and on Fridays in my sweats (ok, that one is pushing it a little...)

The point is: I love these bracelets so much that I am debuting them again on {Very Jane} at 60% off their original price! They come in sets of three instead of individually, super excited that I can offer that now. :)

Squee! I'm overly excited about this. So excited that I'm doing a little giveaway! I wanna spread the word about this fantastic deal, but I know you're going to get sick of me if I post about it every hour. That's where you come in! You can share with your friends and I won't bug everyone, win win! So what's in it for you? I was ONE set of these in fabulous PINK. Only one set! This set will go to the winner of this little giveaway. How do you win?

Share on Facebook (feel free to {tag me})
Share on Twitter (you can tag me {here} too!)
Share on your blog
Purchase the deal (one time only, unless you buy the deal three times on three different days)

You get one entry for each share per day, up to three entries per day (and an extra for buying the deal). Leave a comment for each that you do, and please leave a link where applicable. So, if you share on Facebook today, tomorrow, and Friday, and buy a silver set, you'll be entered to win four times! Make sense? I'll randomly choose a winner to ship the pretty pink set off to once the deal is over (on May 12)

Good luck! :)

{FIND THE DEAL HERE}

If you could live in any fictional world....

2012-05-06T20:50:00.002-04:00

Which world would you live in? I would have such a hard time choosing! I'd probably have to draw straws for one of these places....(all images found via google search)

The Wizarding World. (Harry Potter)

The Hidden Leaf Village (Naruto)

The Bending World (Avatar, the Last Airbender)

Honestly, I sometimes mix up these worlds. I watch Naruto with my husband and say "What the heck? Why didn't he just earth bend himself out?" Or I read Harry Potter and think "Just use a clone jutsu!!" Watching Avatar, "Dude, alohamora!!"

....yeah. I think I will combine all these worlds and create my own super-mega-awesome world!! But then again, what would be a world without ponies?

And you've gotta have dragons!

And include some gods too...

Well hello, perfect world!

If you could live in any fictional world, where would you live?

Things I'm Afraid to Tell You

2012-05-05T11:28:00.000-04:00

I like to think of myself as a pretty genuine and open person (on my blog), but honestly, there is a whole mess of things I've never talked about on my blog. Major aspects of my life that are completely unknown. (No, I'm not a secret agent.) I always feel like this is a craft blog, and you are here because you want crafts. Not to read the nitty gritty details of my life. Maybe I'll share one of those major things sometime.

{here}

I base a lot of my self worth on what other people think of me. I think this is one of my biggest flaws. I take things so personally. If I lose a follower I worry about what I've done wrong. If I find an old acquaintance defriended me on Facebook, I feel so hurt. If someone doesn't like me, I get all bent out of shape about it.

{here}

We live in my in laws basement, and we have for a year and a half. I'm so embarrassed by that. The rest of the blogging world is filled with beautiful women living in beautiful houses that are beautifully decorated. I don't. I'm poor and I live in an over stuffed and cluttered basement.

{here}

I am ridiculously shy and awkward in real life. Social situations make me anxious. I don't like being in a room filled with people, I usually stare at my feet as much as possible. As much as I do like to meet new people, I don't like the process. People often think I am extremely rude and stuck up because I don't talk to anyone and I keep to the few people I know. And when I do try to talk to other people, I say really awkward things because I sometimes forget to turn my "filter" on. I wonder if any of you would like me in real life.

{my pin here. I couldn't find the original source.}

Blogs and blogging over-stimulate me and zap my inspiration. That's one reason why I sometimes fall off the grid, I just get too overwhelmed by all the amazing things other people are doing and obsess over the awesome things I'm NOT doing. I beat myself up over it, and I compare myself to others until I run my self esteem into the ground. I need to take a step back and try and let my inspiration seep back in. I try to do too much and make things I think people will like, and I end up failing because I drain all my energy trying to get people to like me. (Refer to my second paragraph.)

{here}

I am so very far from perfect.

Sponsor Spotlight: In Bloom Gallery

2012-04-29T18:47:00.002-04:00

If you're in your reader, you might wanna click over and check out my sidebar. See this cute little button?

It belongs to the adorable KC&A sponsor, In Bloom Gallery. I was first introduced to Lessa's shop when I won a giveaway sponsored by her over at Sumo's Sweet Stuff. Now, if you've been around a while, you know how {bad my giveaway experiences have been.} As a result, I only enter giveaways if I really, REALLY want to win.

I really, REALLY wanted to win this giveaway! A few things I drooled over....

{double strand pearl and rhinestone necklace}

{pink wire wrapped earrings}

{multi-strand blue and silver stretch bracelets}

{callas triptych, calla lilies}

Sr.s.ly. Isn't her stuff amazing? Someone once asked me why I buy jewelry, since my shop is jewelry based.

This is why. How could you NOT drool over this?? (The earrings, not my dazzling wind is blowing in my eyes smile)

Ok, BLOGGER. There is a REASON I didn't upgrade to the "new" look. Back when it first came out, I tried it and it did NOT work very well with my computer. It SCREWED things up, like flipped my dang pictures and made it literally impossible to turn them the right way. Blogger, I blame you for taking away from me showing off my In Bloom Gallery earrings.

Ok there. Very pretty wire wrapped earrings. LOVE! I actually chose two pair....and I can't find the picture I took of the other one. If I find it I'll post it. But, they look almost identical to these ones, except the stone is a lovely frosted white. I wear them with everything!

Srsly though, go check her out. You'll be glad you did.

The Amish Market

2012-04-24T09:00:00.000-04:00

Do they have Amish markets where you are?? I sure as heck hope so, because they are awesome. AWE. SOME. It's like an epic farmers market, that's inside, and open year round. Not week round though, only Thursday-Saturday. So you gotta plan for this one. The hubs and I got to house sit for a family in another town so we were epic close. Needless to say, I squeezed it into our weekend plans.

(Sorry, phone pics, didn't feel comfortable bringing my big ol' DSLR into a store filled with Amish.)

Any kind of jam or jelly you could think of. Seriously. This time around I got pumpkin butter and I cannot wait to break it in.

Specialty baking yummies.

Candy my baby sister would approve of.

Chocolate and fudge out the freaking wazoo.

CHEESE out the freaking wazoo!! I must've tried at least 20-30 different cubes. My freaking gosh. Think of your favorite cheese. Yeah, they had that, and they had six varieties of it. They even had frying cheese, which I NEVER see anymore.

Fresh produce.

And the pastry shop was three stations long. I lost my husband in this section, I later found him crouched over a vat of donuts.

Oh Amish market, why can't you be open more and closer to my house??

Solid perfume locket deal? Are you in?

2012-04-20T10:11:00.000-04:00

Hello my friends! I have really missed being here so often, I really hope to get back into the swing of things soon. :)

Anyway, since I consider you all my friends, I need your advice on something. Remember my solid perfume lockets?

{find my tutorial here}

I made a ton of them back in February and I still think they are one of the coolest things ever. Sadly though, I stopped production because the cost of the materials/time it takes to make them is much higher than most of my other jewelry, and at the time I just didn't have the time or money to keep going. It has been requested a few times to put up these up on a deal of the day site like {Gigis Petals}, {Very Jane}, {Sassy Steals}, or {Groopdealz}. But there just hasn't been a way where I could mass produce them like these site require, they just cost too much. Boo.

Now, here is the good news! I believe I have found a site that will sell gigantic lockets like this (actually, exactly like that one) at a pretty good price. (If you look at the tutorial, this locket I found here was $5, not exactly inexpensive.) Now, here is the catch. The site I found is a wholesale site, meaning I have to buy a crapload (exact amount) of them and take on a pretty big financial risk in order to get them at a good price. Kinda scary for a tiny business owner like me!

So, here is my question! If I were to put up solid perfume lockets very similar to this one, would you buy it? Or, would you at least consider buying it? I have several scents I would offer, including:

Vanilla
Peppermint
Lavender
Lilac Honeysuckle
Headache relief

and I am open to more suggestions! I'm not really into really fancy scents with a thousand different oils in them, I like my scents to be very simple.

I would love your input! I truly do value it. :)

This might just be a coincidence....

2012-04-19T13:54:00.000-04:00

But I saw this on {Living with Punks} yesterday. It was her weekly post for {Momtastic}

{source: living with punks}

And it looks AWFULLY familiar to me.

Rememer my "Jewelry Making for the Non Jewelry Maker" series from back in December? {Find it here, it's a great series!}

I mean, she used the same pleated ribbon, and even velcro, just like I used! I'm sure it's just a coincidence, I mean, why in the world would someone that big read my lil ol' blog? Plus, pretty much everything has been invented, there is hardly anything original in the blog world..

Still. I felt a little cheated. Has this happened to anyone else before?

Blog Conferences- yay or nay?

2012-04-18T11:01:00.000-04:00

There have been a ton of posts in my reader this week about the SNAP conference happening in Utah. Everyone is so excited to meet other bloggers, network, listen to lectures and whatever else happens at a blog conference. (Mason jars and paper straws anyone?)

Now, I don't mind these posts, I love reading about what makes a blogger happy and little insights into their lives. But a part of me does feel sort of left out. When I go through my reader, it really is only the "big" bloggers that are going. None of my favorite, smaller bloggers are going. Granted the big bloggers make money off their blogs and their blog revenue probably paid for the tickets, so they could afford to go no problem. But I feel like even if I could afford to go, I would end up just feeling like the girl that got invited to the popular girl's party only because she accidentally overheard them talking about it.

{from oprah.com}

(That's me on the right. Not REALLY, figuratively) Maybe it's my own insecurities talking, I do have quite a few of them. I don't know. Maybe this really is my shyness shining through, and in reality I would just be utterly terrified to try to talk to all these women I don't actually know and who have seemingly perfect lives. Way too intimidated, how can I compete with bloggers who have massively successful shops, huge blogs, thousands of admirers, and who always look like a million bucks? (I'm still in my jammies with a cat in my lap.)

I think I would love the opportunity to network. To learn how to be successful and to love your handmade business. But I don't think I would ever go to a blog conference, I just don't think I'm the type of person that could truly benefit from it/enjoy myself.

What about you? Are you in my boat where you would feel totally intimidated and left out? Or would absolutely love to go? Or, are you actually going to SNAP this weekend? Share with me! :)

Oh yeah, this is a craft blog!

2012-04-15T22:57:00.000-04:00

When was the last time I actually posted something crafty I'd done? Geeze, I don't even wanna know. I promise I still do crafty things, but lately it's been working on jewelry, filling orders, and the like. Ah, the life of a handmade sorta business owner. The shop is going through some fun changes right now, I can't wait to show you everything I've been working on!!

I've been working on a great Amy Butler bag! The fabric isn't Amy Butler....it's Joann, but I thought it was really cute and you know how obsessed I am with gray and yellow. I added the monogram using my Silhouette (named Stella...it'll make sense in a second.) and I love the touch it adds!

The other night {Meg} and I got together and crafted the night away. Using a ruffler foot (great invention!!) we made these fantastic ruffled bookmarks. Took about 10 minutes each, pair it with an Amazon giftcard and you've got a great gift for a reader!

There are sooo many sewing projects on my to do list! I've really missed Bella! (My sewing machine. Stella and Bella are my BFFs)

T-shirt update from {Make it and Fake it}

Basket weave quilt from {Honeybear Lane}

Circle tee from {Sweet Lemonayde}

Camera lens strap from {Crafty Staci}

What's been on your crafty plate? Share with me, I love new ideas!

My birthday in crappy phone pics

2012-04-13T13:49:00.001-04:00

I know, soooo totally last week. But I've been sick all week and haven't had the energy to post, sooo you get to hear about it now. Yay!

Yay?

....yay....

Funny how David bought be that super expensive camera and yet I am updating with crappy phone pics. Sorry honey...I just don't always lug around that huge thing when I'm driving home from church and see...

Giant fiberglass chickens! On the side of the road. Next to an antique shop. My dad thought they were hilarious and I thought it matched my $13 Target clearance dress very nicely!

Easter egg hunting. Never thought I would see my grandparents fighting over eggs with my little sister. Ahh, family. :)

SO MUCH CHALK. Best afternoon ever.

Wrapped the day up with homemade pretzels and Skyping with my little brother. Can it get much better? I submit that it cannot!!

....I'll have something worthwhile to post soon. A recipe, maybe a craft too!

PS. Instagram is on Android now! Feel free to follow me: amienallen

Yay instagram!! There is so much social media to keep up with.

I'm on GigisPetals!

2012-04-10T14:12:00.001-04:00

Hello friends. I'm sick in bed today but I wanted to let you in a super amazing awesome deal going on right now.

These super cute, super springy, super study filigree mum rings are only $3.50 on {GigisPetals}

I really like them, I mean, I made them, so I should like them. But c'mon, they're super cute right?
Nice matt mums, contrasting shiny ring bases. So springy!

And they come in six pretty colors!

Ok, I've blabbed about them enough. I'd love it if you shared the word! And if you decide you like me enough to want to buy one (or twelve), mention this blog post at checkout and I juuuuust might throw in a super special something extra. Maybe a coupon code, maybe some earrings, ohhh secrets are fun aren't they? ;)

{Get this deal now}

Happy Easter!

2012-04-08T23:04:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! Mine was filled with egg coloring, Easter egg hunts, tons of candy, ham, birthday cake, and presents!

Yes, today also happens to be my 25th birthday. Quarter of a century old, holy crap! I know, it's really not that old....but last I checked I was 21, and the time I checked before that I was 16. Quarter of a century is huge!! And I have a feeling this is gonna be a good year of my life. It's all nice and even....well, not EVEN, but you know what I mean, right? Just pretend you do.

Yeah! Just you wait, I'll have lots of fun things to talk about now that I'm all even and such.

I've only shared my birthday with a holiday a few times, but I'm so glad it's always Easter. I am a religious person, and it is so wonderful to spend part of my special day being uplifted by inspiring messages of redemption and love. Easter is a such a glorious time of year, a great time to "start again."

But, being the selfish human that I am, I still managed to squeeze in some birthday fun. But honestly, I can't think of anything much more fun than scrambling the house for Easter eggs with 6 other adults, fighting over them until they smash. Or eating ham and cheesy potatoes until I want to throw up. Or filling up on so many jellybeans I might overdose. So it worked out well. Mm, such a great day. I'll update you with pictures later, I have literally ZERO bars here and I can't send any of my pictures to myself. Ah well, you're probably in a candy coma too. :)

Hope you all had a great Easter! Real life starts again tomorrow, so you can expect your ~~regularly~~ scheduled totally sporadic posting soon. :)

Neons

2012-04-04T13:00:00.001-04:00

Ok, I am the first to admit that I am not fashionable at all. I am still stuck in a jeans/tee/converse stage that I will likely never get out of. Sometimes I make the effort to put together a really rocking outfit, but I don't feel I have a knack for it. I do my part to look pretty my putting on make up and doing my hair.

So, with that out of the way, I am curious to know your thoughts on the spring 2012 fashion of NEONS.

{via fashionbomdaily}

The hubs and I were at the mall yesterday (at Build a Bear :D) and I dragged him into a few stores to look at clothes. Almost every store I walked in hurt my eyes, there was neon everywhere!! Neon shirts, neon pants, neon shoes, neon accessories. So. Much. Neon.

{via alethiabelle}

Now, I don't hate neon. I think a little neon is fun! Maybe neon nails, neon bag, or something like that. But I think this neon trend is just a little outta control. Especially with neon color blocking (which, I am not really a fan of anyway. Color blocking, that is.) I just feel like you'll look back on pictures of yourself wearing head to toe neon and think "Oh gosh...please burn that I don't know what I was thinking!!"

{via rossanecia}

Example: I think this is way too much. Way too 90s for me. The color blocking. The neon is too 80s.

{via shefinds.com}

This is borderline.

{via campcomfort}

These are simply adorable.

So what do you think of the neon trend? Yay or nay?

Remember how I went on vacation?

2012-04-02T21:58:00.001-04:00

Yeah, this month hasn't been month. You know how every once in a while you have "one of those days?" I've had one of those months. But, that's a post for another day. Wanna see pictures from my vacation to Biltmore?

It's the biggest house in the United States. It's more like a castle really. Four acres of floor space. For a family of three. Built in the late 1800s, it was fully electric, had an indoor swimming pool with underwater lights, refrigerators, 40 something indoor bathrooms, and a full gym. Ri. Dic. U. Lous. It took us hours just to walk through it!

I know you're bored hearing me talk about it, so I'll stop. But man, this house was amazing. The land was amazing, it was just a freaking ridiculous.

Omg, I wish you could have seen the gardens. My pictures don't even KIND OF do it justice.

This was just perched on the edge of the reservoir. It made me squeak.

And I got to go horseback riding. All over the estate. Gah, it was awesome. That's me and my MIL.

And now I have no more energy to type. Peace.

R.I.P. Jellybean

2012-03-29T18:33:00.001-04:00

In case you don't follow me on {facebook}, I've been taking a short break from blogging since we had to put my beloved cat, Jellybean, down last week.

I know, I'm a grown woman, I shouldn't be so upset about my cat dying. But I've had my darling since I was 10 years old, she's been a major part of my life for 15 years! I begged and begged and begged my parents to get me a cat, for YEARS I begged them. When they finally caved in shortly after my sister was born, they even let me name her.

I named her Jellybean. I saw the name in a magazine and I thought it was just the cutest thing ever.

Back when I was 10, I didn't exactly know how to handle a brand new kitten. She had just scratched my face when my parents decided to take the picture. At least my siblings are still cute, look at my brothers just hamming it up!

She always did the dumbest things. Like sit inside of lunchboxes on hot days.

And play Monopoly.

And become very protective of hangers.

The funniest thing she did was lick laundry baskets. It always cracked me up, she would just lick and lick and lick!

She slept/sat in a lot of weird places and positions.

(Ok, ok, this one was posed.)

She was always very tolerant of the hilarious things we would do to her.

Notice I said "tolerant." She was such a cute kitty. Old and grumpy, just like me.

This one is just because she looks like a crazy, evil plotting psycho kitty here.

*Sigh* I miss her so much. I loved her more than I love most people, I'm just a crazy cat lady. Putting her down was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. (Even though I didn't actually put her down...) But it was just cruel to keep her alive, the poor darling was suffering so much I couldn't even bear to think about her living like that for one more minute.

As a gigantic cat lover and someone who doesn't yet have kids of her own, losing my 15 year old cat was just devastating for me. But, I've been reassured that I will see my beloved kitty again, and she's happily prancing around chasing lasers like she hasn't been able to for years.

R.I.P. Jellybean.

What about you? Have you ever lost a pet? Do you believe in a pet heaven? Got any fun pet memorial crafts?

Winter Wrap Up

2012-03-19T19:54:00.000-04:00

'Cause tomorrow spring is here!! I've been waiting ALL SEASON for this post. No lie.

Sorry for my absence. My cat is dying, we expect the worst when we take her to the vet tomorrow. Even if you don't know me personally, I think the title of my blog gives away that with the loss of my beloved 15-year-old cat I am just all to pieces. I haven't lost a pet since I was in second grade so I just have no idea how to deal with this. I feel silly with how strong the grief is, but it's overwhelming.

Jellybean and I, summer 2006. Hence the lack for wedding ring. Oh Jellybean...I don't know how I'm gonna live without you.

Any coping advice would be greatly appreciated. More than likely, I will go with her to the vet tomorrow to be put down. I can't bear the thought.

48 questions

2012-03-14T09:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Pi Day! All you math nerds make yourself and pie and eat your heart out. Personally, I love any reason for pie. I love pie. Anyway, since I'm on a mini vacation, enjoy a little randomness!

1. What time did you get up this morning? Early! Got lots of fun vacation-y things to do! :)

2. How do you like your steak? I used to be a well done kinda gal, until the hubs introduced me to medium well. Mmmm.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Um...I think it was Beauty and the Beast in 3D. Totally worth it to see the Tangled short.

4. What is your favorite TV show? HAHAHA. Favorite TV show. Well, there's Naruto, NCIS, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, The Big Bang Theory, MLP:FIM, and so many dang others. Mostly kid shows, I refuse to grow up.

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? As much as I love living in my home state of Maryland, it would be nice to live somewhere with perpetual sunshine, like California.

6. What did you have for breakfast? I don't usually eat breakfast, I'm just not hungry when I wake up.

7. What is your favorite food? Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Spirals.

8. Foods you dislike? Raw onions, bell peppers, all mushrooms, tuna melts.

9. Favorite place to eat? David and I love to go to Mimi's Cafe for breakfast, I also love Red Robin and any steak house.

10. Favorite dressing? Italian or red wine vinegarette.

11. What kind of vehicle do you drive? I drive a 1998 Nissan Maxima and sometimes I drive my hubby's Chevy Malibu.

12. What are your favorite clothes? Skinny jeans + boots + cardi.

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? France. Or Fiji.

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? I do my best to see it half full.

15. Where would you want to retire? I just wanna retire!

16. Favorite time of day? Late evening, time to wind down and be with the hubs.

17. Where were you born? Maryland!

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? Blech. I watch the Superbowl and the Olympics. And occasionally BYU games.

19. What is your favorite fragrance? Oh it's always changing. Love fruity mixed with floral. I don't like either by themselves.

20. What is your favorite face cream? Clinique.

21. Favorite baby/kids products? None of those in this house.

22. People watcher? Absolutely.

23. Are you a morning or night person? I'm usually more productive in the morning, but I'm totally a night owl.

24. Do you have any pets? Three cats. Jellybean, Aeris, and Cleo.

25. Any new and exciting news you’d like to share? The hubs and I are moving in a few months!! :D

26. What did you want to be when you were little? An artist. I still do, actually.

27. What is your favorite memory? Are you serious? How in the world could I have one favorite memory?

28. Are you a cat or dog person? I think that's obvious.

29. Are you married? Yup. 12.19.08.

30. Always wear your seat belt? Absolutely.

31. Been in a car accident? Just a few fender benders.

32. Any pet peeves? Most any noise that comes from your mouth I hate.

33. Favorite pizza toppings? I LOVE white pizza with spinach and a million kinds of cheese. Or, pepperoni.

34. Favorite flower? Lilies.

35. Favorite ice cream? Chocolate chip cookie dough or mint chocolate chip. But, I don't eat ice cream much.

36. Favorite fast food restaurant? Chipotle.

37. How many times did you fail your driver’s test? Haha, twice. The first time because I was 13" away from the curb instead of 12" and the other because the lady HATED me and got on her hands and knees to measure that I was 1/4" over the white line when I stopped at a stop sign. I went back the next day and passed with flying colors. That jerk.

38. From whom did you get your last email? From my personal account, my dad. From my blog account, a deal of the day site.

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Esty. Does that count as a store?

40. Do anything spontaneous lately? Took a week off a work to drive down to NC for a mini vacation!

41. Like your job? Love it!! The best job I could have ever been blessed with.

42. Broccoli? OMG YES. I could eat a whole bowl for dinner. Raw or cooked, mmm I love broccoli.

43. What was your favorite vacation? Aside from my honeymoon in California, Disney World with my family. :)

44. Last person you went out to dinner with? My mother in law.

45. What are you listening to right now? The sweet sound of silence.

46. What is your favorite color? All shades of pink, turquoise, mustard yellow, slate gray.

47. How many tattoos do you have? None, never wanted one.

48. Coffee drinker? No, I do love coffee but I abstain from it for religious reasons. I drink herbal tea though, I love me some herbal chai!

I really miss this guy though. Really, really, reaaaaaally miss him and our Tuesday dates.

Rubies and More knockoff (a tutorial)

2012-03-13T09:00:00.002-04:00

This necklace was a special request by a friend who was gracious enough to take some pictures for my shop with her fancy camera. As compensation, I told her I'd make her anything she wanted, and she chose this beauty.

The {Rubies and More} necklace from {Sundance}. Sadly, it's no longer available, but I AM going to teach you how to make it so that should make up for it! I think it turned out really nicely.

I altered it a little bit according to what she wanted, like adding an extender chain. Want to make one yourself?

You will need:

Side drilled, tear drop shaped red beads. I needed two strands
Flat, coin shaped silver beads
Shiny faceted silver beads
Tiny little pearls
Extender chain
Lobster clasp
Thin cord. I used cotton cord but the original necklace uses leather.
Fray check (if using cotton cord)
E6000
Jump rings
Tiger tail or other stringing material
Crimp beads
Crimping tool

Yikes, that's a lot. Got it all?

Whenever I string beads, I always string directly onto the spool or tiger tail to make sure that I don't run out of material. String on about 15-20 red beads. Then alternate flat beads with pearls so that you end up with three silver beads and two pearls (I changed it after I took the pic.) Then strong on three more red beads.

Next, we need to finish this part of the necklace. String on a crimp bead and then a jump ring to the loose end of the tiger tail.

String the end back through the crimp bead, like so. Push the crimp bead up to close up that gap, you want the crimp bead to be close to the jump ring.

To use the crimp tool, line the crimp bead up into the second section of the crimp tool. Just look at the picture, because I know I didn't explain that well.

Squish it down.

Open it up again, and position the now squished crimp bead into the first section of the tool. See how it got smushed into a C shape? You want it to then be smashed on top of itself again. Think of it as a double knot.

Smush it. Now it's nice and secure.

This is what it should look like finished. Push all the beads up against the crimp bead (make sure to thread it through both strands of tiger tail). Now we'll do it to the other side.

Now you can cut off the strand of beads from the spool. Start off the same way as you did on the other side.

However, on this side, you need to thread that extra strand of tiger tail back through the beads. A little tricky!

Just pull it through the first bead or two, and keep pulling and adjusting until it's nice and tight. Then crimp it like you did on the other side. Does that make any sense at all? I'm no good with words. Thank you, pictures.

Now, the cord. Tie the cord around the jump ring.

I dabbed a drop of E6000 in the knot to make sure it didn't come undone. I also fray checked the ends when I cut it.

Divide those sparkly beads in half. String half of them onto one side, and half of them onto the other side. (After you've tied the cord on the other side, that is.)

It should look something like this. Tie a knot at the ends of the beads so that they don't slide around all over. Then, tie another loop at the end, just like you did with the jump ring.

Attach the lobster clasp to one side and the extender chain to the other. I added a silver bead to the end for decoration. If you were able to understand any of that, you should be done!!

Lay it out on some rocks in your backyard and take pictures of it. Or wear it, your choice. :)

Please let me know if you have any questions! I feel like this was more of a visual tutorial rather than a wordy one, so if you need more words, shoot me an email.

A little bit of spontaneity!

2012-03-12T09:00:00.000-04:00

My mother in law is a secret shopper, and she always has the COOLEST shops. She gets paid to watch movies, go to fancy restaurants, and even to go to Joann. This time, I think she hit the jackpot.

{source}

Seriously, how lucky can you be to get an all expenses paid vacation, and then get PAID. That like, never happens. Especially at a place like this. This is pretty much Mr. Darcy's house, and I get to visit for free! My sweet MIL invited me to go along with her on this mini vacation! I am so lucky. I took the week off of work and I am going to spend the week relaxing, touring and going to restaurants for free. Ahh.

I actually have some things lined up for the week! Go figure, after all of my slacky-ness lately. Look out for a shop review, a possible tutorial, a little randomness, and pictures! Yay!

See you Friday. :)

My Memories giveaway winner!

2012-03-11T21:12:00.000-04:00

Whoops, totally forgot to announce the winner on this one! My bad, I am the QUEEN of ball dropping lately! Good thing I don't play football for a living.

The winner is, lucky number 8! And who was lucky number 8?

Allison W who said:

+1 I follow KC&A on FB!

Congrats Allison! Good think you took the time to like my FB page! ;) Please email me at kittycatsandairplanes at gmail dot com within 72 hours to claim your prize. Otherwise, I will choose a new winner.

Thank you to everyone who participated! I have some more fun giveaways lined up for you in the upcoming weeks. :)

Oh hai!!

2012-03-08T21:40:00.000-05:00

Remember how I used to blog here? Nah, me either. I'm glad you missed me though (right? :[ )

I've been crafting a bunch, but I have come to find that when I finish the craft, I have NO energy to write about it. It wouldn't seem like blogging would be hard work, but it totally is. Anyway, wanna see one thing I've been up to that I'm writing a tutorial for?

I love knock offs! I hope to be done with this tutorial soon!

Also, did you enter the My Memories giveaway? End tonight!