Our Christmas Kitten and Christmas Cards!

 
Hi Friends! I hope you had a lovely Christmas with your friends and family.  It was a quiet day for my hubby and I, and our three furry kids.  Those of you who know us may be wondering about the ‘three’ as you know we have Lewis our cat and Rosey our hound.  But a week prior to Christmas a new addition joined the Weller household.  I was on my way to a brunch with some stamp club friends, about an hour’s drive from home, when I drove past a little kitty on the side of the road.  It wasn’t itty bitty, but I knew it wasn’t very old either.  My first thought was ‘Gee, I hope it doesn’t get hit by a car – it’s awfully close to the road.”  I considered picking it up but assumed it must belong to one of the farm houses on the rural road I was on and continued towards my friend’s house.  That was about 10am.  It was getting dark and the forecast for heavy snow was evident on my way back home, around 5pm.  And who did I see on the side of the road, in the same spot as earlier in the day? The kitty.  So I turned my van around and pulled over.  As soon as I got out of the van the kitten practically ran up to me.  The first few seconds it was a bit timid but when I crouched down and called it the kitten didn’t hesitate.

 It immediately came to me, meowing and purring a blue streak.  I could see then that it was skin and bones and very obviously starving.  It’s entire body was covered in some sort of grease – and it didn’t smell good – the kitty was just filthy.  And it’s front left paw had been hurt – it was scabbed up and a chunk of fur missing, but it looked like it was healing.  I wondered how in the heck I was going to be able to drive all the way home (as mentioned earlier, it’s about an hour’s travel) with the kitten in the van.  While I needn’t have worried – the kitty just curled up in my lap, good as gold.  When it placed it’s head up on my chest and stretched it paw up to my shoulder I knew we would be keeping this little sweet soul.  And just as I pulled away from the side of road the sky got really dark and the first heavy snowfall of the season began.  That kitty was some lucky, lemme tell ya.  I don’t like to think about any little animal starving, scared and freezing outside, let alone in a storm.  As we drove home along the bumpy country roads I spoke reassuringly to the kitty to let it know it would be alright now – I think it knew.  Once home, my darling hubby was getting the plow truck ready to clear the driveway when he noticed the furball I was holding when I got out the van.  He asked “What’s that?”.  “A kitten.”, I replied. “Where did you get it from?”  I grinned and told him “I found it on the side of the road.”  Well, we took the kitty into my hobby room (we didn’t want to traumatize it too much by taking it into the main house, with our cat and dog).  Hubby proceeded to get some cat food while I took some time to properly check out the kitty to make sure it had no more injuries, which it didn’t.  When hubby came back with the cat food, the kitten went berserk and practically dove into the dish.  It was the same when we gave it water too.  Once fed and had enough water we put the kitty in the spare room with a cozy comforter, some more water and a kitty litter tray and lots of lovin’s before closing the door so it could have some peace and hopefully a good sleep.

I think the kitty thought it died and went to heaven.  Which probably would have been the truth sooner rather than later.  Well, one week later I’m happy to report that Lucy (named after “I Love Lucy” TV show and also because we thought Lucy was a bit of a spinoff from ‘Lucky’) is happy, MUCH healthier and getting along with Rosey and Lewis.  Lucy is still a wee bit scared of Rosey but is coming around.  We think she may have a bad experience with a fox or coyote, as they are plentiful around here, and would explain her fear of a dog.  But I think she will be completely fine towards Rosey in just a few more days.

Little Lucy has also been putting on weight, which is really nice to see.  I still can’t believe how skinny she was when I found her.  She also cleaned up nicely when I gave her what you could call a bath.  That was fun (not!).  I ended up using a cloth, natural oatmeal doggy soap and a bowl of warm water while I held her on my lap.  Suffice to say I got as wet as she did (but I have more scratches…).  She still needs more cleaning up but I’ve since clipped those little weapons of hers, so I may not need band-aids this time around.  *wink*

So all is well with our ‘Christmas Kitty’ – Lucy is really affectionate and is very content to curl up on the sofa (or chair) and enjoy the warmth and love in our home.

Speaking of warmth and love, I have some amazing friends who LOVE TO STAMP! I received lots of beautiful Christmas cards from these lovely ladies, and I am truly blessed to have a business that brings the gift of friendship into my life.  I am so grateful that ‘Stampin’ Up!’ is such a big part of my life, thus bringing me friends that I wouldn’t have otherwise.  They each touch my heart and each time I see them at stamp clubs, events or just hanging out I know how lucky I am.  I think that it’s the feeling of love and gratitude for your friends – and family – that fills your heart with the Christmas spirit.  Not just during the holiday season, but throughout the whole year.  So on that note, let me share with you some of the beautiful cards we received from my sweet friends:

Love the glitter on the pretty card made by Heather

Friend and Stampin’ Up! demonstrator Donna Doiron made this lovely card!

I’m framing this work of art, made by my friend JoAnne.

Love this elegant embossed Christmas card from Kathy

This sweet card was made by Karen

Major WOW! This card is from my friend and fellow ‘Serene Stamper’, Vi DeBow

My Mother made this beauty (Mom’s the one who got me ‘addicted to stamping’ when I was only 15  – so you can blame her for my contagious stamping passion that got YOU addicted too! LOL)

This card is from my BFF, Shallon. I love how the front embellishment opens…

…and reveals a gorgeous family photo! If you need a demonstrator in Nova Scotia, Shallon’s your girl! Click HERE to visit her website and blog (Shallon is also a massage therapist and Reiki practitioner – so you can book a massage AND a stamping party! How awesome is that???!!!)

 

Denise used a very popular stamp set (Snowmuch Fun) to make her adorable card!

My buddy Heather made this cute card…”owl-love-it”!

 

Love how Leigh used vellum for the snowflake! So pretty!

Friend and demonstrator, Kim Lanigan, used this fun stamp set (it’s retired) for her holiday card!

Katrina (who is also a member of my ‘Serene Stamper” group) made this great card! I loved the beautiful simplicity of it and even cased it for some of my stamp clubs this month!  Thanks for the awesome idea Katrina – this card was a hit!

Check out this amazing card! LOVE IT! It was made just for me by my ‘Sister of the Heart’, Hedi (who is also a member of my Serene Stampers group, back home on Vancouver Island). Thanks Sis! It’s gorgeous!

This pretty card was made by my friend Kathy.  She used the classic “Lovely as a Tree” stamp set and I love the rustic feel to this card.

This was the sweet card Kathy made for her gift tags (and I loved my knitting gift and can’t wait to start it!)

This gift card was made by JoAnne.  She gave me a cute ornament, along with a map (‘for blondes’) with all the members of our stamp club highlighted in areas they live in.  I always get lost when I go to our clubs because I don’t usually go into timbucktoo except for our clubs, and my GPS always has me going on old, deserted roads that take me the long way ’round).  LOL

Love this adorable card and snowman stamp that Deb made.  Thanks my friend! And thank you for the spending Christmas dinner and evening with us – we had so much fun with you and hubby! (We went to see “The Hobbit”, which was super!)

Tomorrow I’ll share the card that I made for friends and family this year, along with a video on how to make it.

HAPPY STAMPING and MERRY CHRISTMAS!