catching fireflies fun and unique gifts

drunk on sunshine

Working at my home office this morning... I can't help but to grin at my furry companions as they soak up the sun.

 

 

  

hmmmm... I wouldn't mind having their schedule - just for a couple days;)

meet our latest furry friend

 

So... we weren't planning on adding another cat to our four-legged family, but then we met Shideh. (which means bright in Persian)

This two-year-old pretty kitty was giving one of our friends some serious allergy problems and she needed to find a good home for her.  And we thought it'd be fun to add a young playmate for Tuesday (who's going to 11 years old this year!)

As you can see she's super-duper soft, purrs like a V8 engine and is very shy so I don't foresee a trip to catching fireflies anytime soon... but maybe someday!

I can has cheezburger - funny name... funnier photos

Warning... you could spend a good chunk of your time perusing through all these funny animal photos (primarily cats) with even funnier captions.

These are a few of my favs...

Like discovering funny finds on the web?  Simply subcribe to this blog and we'll email you our latest and greatest links. 

presenting the john mayer jazz cats

I got an email last week about a crafty John Mayer video contest and I thought... was this designed for me?  I started brainstorming and remembered an interview when John was asked what he'd like to do next and his snarky-young-self replied, "I think it'd be great to play with some actual jazz cats."  So with that visual combined with some inspiration from a Claudine Hellmuth art workshop... I came up with this super silly ditty:

It was quite a project (all 109 still shots) but the winner gets two tickets on the Mayercraft cruise (a three day live music adventure in March).  I had lots of fun putting it all together.  Here's how I did it:

First I searched for all my faces and props online with a Google image search.

I sized the images accordingly and printed them out in black and white.

I sketched out how I wanted my compositions to look.

Then I started to cut out the body components... using handmade paper scraps and painted newsprint.

Tuesday and Piper are the emcees of the video so they needed some fun poses.

Here's the band!  I didn't glue down their heads because I wanted to be able to move them back and forth with ease for the video.

I scanned in all my images and manipulated them in Adobe Photoshop Elements.

Then I made loads of still shots like this funny one.

I placed the shots in order and added music using Adobe Premier Elements.

And that's how I brought the John Mayer Jazz Cats to life!

the FURminator is fantastic!

Now that summer has officially arrived, so has the amount of pet hair in my home.  Per the recommendation of a fellow animal lover, I invested in the best pet brush EVER!

Even our cat Tuesday was amazed to see her long-lost cousin It appear after her grooming session.

These miracle brushes work on cats and dogs.  They may seem expensive, ($39 for the medium size) but they'll easily pay for themselves in lint rollers alone!  They're available at most large pet supply stores.

Happy Furminating!

tuesday's memorial day festivities

Nothing like some morning theater sitting in the newly screened window sill.

Followed by lounging in the soft green grass (and purposely getting in the way of me planting flowers)

A snooze in the sun after a day of fun.

kitty said what?

Since we're promoting catching fireflies' participation in the Humane Society's Mega March this month, I thought it'd be fun share these very humorous YouTube videos with you.

... one for the kitty lovers

... and one thug pug (who like to rub his butt on the rug)

C-U-T-E spells kitten

It's kitty season and you know what that means... super cute pictures of frisky little felines.

I've found the perfect way to waste your 15 minute work break.  How you ask?  By playing Kittenwar!

This very addicting site simply posts two random kitten photos and you click on which one's cuter.  You can also submit your own kitten pictures! So what are you waiting for... let the kitty wars begin!

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dogs, frogs and cats - oh my!

Meet Rich Kolb of Yardbirds. He has the very cool job of creating humorous animal sculptures from various scrap metal pieces.

Rich and his dad created the first Yardbird in August of 1991 in Jamestown, Kentucky. His dad had spent most of his career making things from metal and the first bird came about from talking about and tinkering with scrap materials. People instantly loved them!

Today, Rich creates numerous critters of all shapes and sizes.  When people ask him about his creations, He smiles and says, "The things in life that bring us the most joy are those which are fun and unexpected, not the mere necessities." He believes we can all benefit from a little more whimsy in our lives!

We recently received a big batch of Rich's creations at both our stores.  We have fruity frogs, funny felines, down right goofy dogs and even a silly squirrel with a nut.

We also have select styles available online in our dog and cat sections.

This piece is affectionately called "fried chicken".

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party pooches

Meet Jill Beninato... pet photographer and altered artist extraordinaire.   She lives in Virginia Beach, VA with her husband, daughter and four crazy dogs. She has a BFA from the Maryland Institute, College of Art in Baltimore, MD where she studied fine art and metal smithing.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE these Artist Trading Cards (ATC) she posted on her blog.

They make me want to chop up a picture of Samson and give him a ridiculous party hat.

A portion of her bio reads, "Dogs and kids are a real source of inspiration for me - they are so “in the moment” and honest with their moods and expressions. 

My style is typically candid shots, on location, using natural light whenever possible. I love photography and feel lucky to be in the position to meet so many great people and a lot of really cool dogs who make me laugh, as well as, teach me daily what life is really all about."

See more of Jill's lovely work on her website, www.sitstaysmile.com and on her inspiring blog.