Fall Photos with Skinny McGhee

No words needed....cuteness abounds :).

Always in your heart....

A dear friend of mine lost one of her beloved kitties last week very unexpectedly. I wanted to create a happy memorial to him illustrating that our precious pets always remain in our hearts. The joy and love they bring never dies.....

Sleeping Minnie...

Yesterday was rainy and dreary here all day, so it was especially nice to crawl in the bed and snuggle with the furballs. Minnie was purr-ticularly happy and content....

15% OFF in my Etsy shop!

To celebrate fall and the relaunching of my Etsy shop, I am snipping 15% off of everything!! Just use coupon code FALLSNIP15 when you checkout. Hip Hip Hooray!

I. LOVE. CATS.

On Friday, I had to pick up a sick old tomcat, now named Mr. Ed, at one of the trailer parks where I TNR. The wonderful feral colony caretaker, Regina, found him huddled on her doorstep Wednesday night and brought him in. We were both very anxious and worried about him, but the good news is that he should be ok after some meds and TLC. And hopefully, we can get him neutered in two weeks once he is stronger. So, while I was there chatting outside with Regina, I looked up and saw what has to be the funniest thing EVER!!! Her voluptuous indoor cat, Maggie, had squished herself down between the back of the sofa and the window. I was crying laughing and hooting and hollering like a lunatic over this scene. Regina said that she does it all the time and sometimes falls asleep like that. Absolutely hilarious. It looks like she is levitating. And she just keep blinking at me as if to say, "what is wrong with you lady and why are you laughing at ME?" I can never say it enough. I. LOVE. CATS.

A Purrfect Trio

Here are 3 of my current foster babies helping me cook dinner. The adult tuxedo boy is Freddie Patterson. I bailed him out of animal control twice after a man trapped him while trying to trap raccoons in an area where I had TNRed in the spring. Needless to say, I am so glad he is safe now. Freddie is THE most awesome cat. The big black kitten is Pepe (le Pew). We trapped him at a trailer park where we were TNRing in June. He was sick and tiny and needed some TLC. Pepe is a lovebug and weighs 8 lbs now...whopper kitten!! And the little black and white girl is Minnie Mouse. She was dumped with some other kittens at a Wendy's :(. These cuties are full of purrsonality and joy and ready for adoption!

SnipPets Celebrating!

My newest little SnipPet critters are ready to celebrate birthdays, baby showers or simply the joy of every day! I created these with the hope that they would be very special, unique cake toppers that could be displayed and treasured in a child's room or nursery for many years. Happy celebrating!!!

New Wedding Cake Topper Designs

I have finished a few new wedding cake toppers that can be completely customized with different animals and color schemes. I am totally in love with the bunting banners that I so often see on Etsy these days, so I just HAD to incorporate miniature versions in my cake topper designs. The birch bases are new too. I adore the natural, woodland touch they add. These are all available in my Etsy shop right now. Ok, back to the table to work on new animal clown birthday cake toppers... Happy Wednesday!

Long time, no see!

I cannot believe that the last time I posted was in late March!!! These past months have flown by. I am sad that I haven't shared all of the cat adventures I have been on during that time. You see, in April, I decided to take a break from my artwork and dedicate myself to volunteering full time. A few of my cat loving friends and I TNRed close to 200 cats and kittens...in trailer parks, homes and businesses all over Lexington. It was an incredible journey with many highs and lows....full of many happy beginnings and a few tragic endings...a truly emotional rollercoaster. But no matter what, LOTS of positive work was done and TONS of kitten births have been prevented. The lives of so many cats have been vastly improved! And that makes all the heartache and exhaustion well worth it. So, as fall approaches, I have decided to take a break from the cat rescue and TNR and get back to the art table! It feels really good to make this transition and return to my other passion...CREATING! And there will still be lots of cat photos (be that good or bad :)!). We currently have 2 foster kittens and 2 foster cats residing here with our crew. And here is our most recent addition, Wilson, overseeing my artwork. We adopted him in April after we TNRed a few cats at a scrapyard. He was so sweet and disheveled that I couldn't bear to let him go especially after we found out that he has FIV and Leukemia. But you would never know it....he is one happy, hearty cat now! You'll see his "before" photo too. Purrs to all!

Smiling Cat Illustrations now in my shop!

Hip Hip Hooray! I just added 10 new original Smiling Cat illustrations to my Etsy shop! Hope you enjoy them....happy cats for everyone :).

World Spay Day

It's WORLD SPAY DAY today!!! Spay your cat, your dog, the strays you are feeding...any cat or dog you can get your hands on :). Or donate to a spay/neuter program at your local shelter. Just spay it forward if your pets are already snipped.

What is the best way to make a cat smile???

A few more smiling cats....

Just wanted to share a few more illustrations.... I think I am getting into a groove with this. More cat chat coming soon! We are hoping to TNR another feral cat colony this week. In the meantime, I'll be illlustrating as much as I can. This goal is to complete one a day. Better get crackin'!

Pine Street TNR

For the past few months, my husband had been noticing a lot of cats and kittens living in the front yard of a house he passes by on his way to work every day. He had been urging me to go by there and approach the homeowners about TNR, but I seemed to keep getting tied up with other cat situations. Well, I finally found the time and mustered up the nerve to go talk to them two weeks ago. Thankfully, they were very kind and very receptive to having all of the cats spayed and neutered. The family that lives there started feeding stray cats many years ago and had done their best to spay/neuter the first few, but new ones kept arriving and they couldn't afford to "snip" every single one. Soooo, as it always goes, many litters of kittens have been born and things have gotten a bit overwhelming for them.

Last Friday, I trapped 15 of them and ran them all through our monthly feral cat spay/neuter clinic on Saturday. There are about 20 cats total, so I got most of them taken care of and will try to get the rest at a later date. Some of the kittens were quite sick, so 4 of them are still here with me so I can give them the meds and TLC that they need.

Here are a few photos that I took the first day that I met with them.






The kittens snuggling in a warm bed here at my house....

Wishing you all.....

...a purrfectly Happy Valentine's Day!!!! xoxoxo

HUGE SnipPet Sale!!

Ok, Blog buddies, I am having a seriously HUGE sale in my Etsy shop. Use coupon code: HALFSNIP for 50% off of every handmade SnipPet doll!!!! And ALL of the proceeds will go toward a big spay/neuter project that I am tackling on Friday. So, buy a doll and give a cat the kindest gift of all....snip, snip!

I posted this on Facebook this morning, so several pieces have already sold, but there are still some great dolls and ornaments left!

Experimenting with Illustrating

I have been playing around with my illustration skills (or lack thereof). I have wanted to write and illustrate a children's book for years, and I feel like it is the right time to do it. I am a bit burnt out on the sculpting, so I am putting that on hold for the time being to pursue my book dream.

Ideas are swirling in my head, so I am doing a lot of brainstorming on the text while I experiment with different media....

Here is what has transpired on the art table....

Princess Goldilocks

Yet another cat in need of a loving home. Goldilocks was abandoned into a feral colony at a Golden Corral right near the Kroger colony that I have been telling you about. She just cried and cried...sooo sad. My dear friend, Carla, was finally able to trap her and get her to safety. I went over to her house a few days ago to see her and take some photos so that we can start trying to find her a permanent home. Goldie is so sweet and friendly. She ran up to me as soon as I arrived and let me hug her and give her chin scratches. Carla says that she defintely wants to be the queen of her domain because she does not like other cats at all. Goldie wants a person all to herself. She has been spayed and vaccinated and is all ready for her next adventure.

Can you say fluffalicious?





This one cracks me up...she was OVER the photo shoot :).

It should be illegal to be this cute!

My Punkamunk in her favorite tummy washing position on the couch pillow....CUTE overload. Happy Thursday everyone!

Cat adventures in Atlanta and a little artistic inspiration....

Audrey, Charlene and I made it to Atlanta last week safe and sound. The drive down there always stresses me out a little bit because I worry about my precious cargo. But they did great....napped most of the way and settled in well at Good Mews. I visited with all of the GM kitties and caught up with one of the wonderful volunteers. As I've said many times before, I LOVE that place and wish that every city had a no kill shelter like Good Mews!!

Christopher...a totally adorable 3-legged Good Mews kitty.



Freddie...cutest boy ever and a GM volunteer favorite!



After I left there, I went to my dear friend's apartment to spend the night AND help her trap some feral cats she has been feeding since she moved in there in June. She has been a bit terrified of the whole trapping process, so I knew that I had to get her started and help ease her fears. We easily trapped one of the girls and two of the boys and got them all spayed/neutered and vaccinated the next day. She was very afraid that they would be mad at her, but I told her that once feral cats are back in familiar territory they are so happy and quickly forget about their "snipping" :)! Sure enough, one of the boys even escorted her back to her apartment the next day after feeding time and gave her extra leg rubs. She has 2 more females and 3 more males left to TNR, so paws crossed that she will get them all taken care of before spring arrives. (I totally forgot to take photos of her colony...darn!! Sorry!)

In between all of the cat transporting/trapping/transporting, etc., we did manage to hit a few fun Atlanta shops! I went craaaazy over the new Johnathan Adler store that has opened up in Midtown near my old loft apartment. (oh to think if we still lived there, I could walk there every day!!!) It was amaaaazing...so vibrant and whimsical...a jolt of decorating joy! And, of course, we had to check out the new Anthropologie as well. As always, I could spend hours in there. They had the coolest display that has put me on the hunt for clear plastic spoons (I want to try to find recycled ones).

This quote should be my mantra. LOVE it.



A very expensive lounge and ottoman that I will be dreaming about....



Endless wonderfully whimsical ceramics...



Fantastically fun kid's room...



Flower/snowflake pendants made from spoons at Anthro. I WILL be making a few of these to hang from our celing.

Uncle Cracker

Some of you are probably wondering if I am ever going to show you any artwork again. It may be awhile, but I promise it is on the horizon. I will explain later. In the meantime, thank you for checking in for the non-stop cat chat :).

It is time to introduce the beloved Uncle Cracker! I trapped this handsome boy at the Kroger parking lot back in late October for the TNR clinic. He went through the program and had already been neutered. In fact, the doctor said that he had been neutered so young that she thought he was a female. Uncle stayed with us for a few days and then we had to put him back out with the Kroger colony. I can't express how much I HATED to do that knowing how tame he was once he got indoors and felt safe. I cried my eyes out the whole way to Kroger that night. I just had zero adoption prospects at the time and Good Mews was not taking in any new cats.

We continued to feed him and the others, and then last week, when some changes occurred at the Kroger lot, I knew I had to get him out of there for good. People had been dumping trash...tires, mattresses, all kinds of mess...behind the empty Kroger and the owner of the property finally put an end to it by cleaning it up and posting "No Dumping" and "No Trespassing" signs along with surveillance cameras. They also threw away our covered feeding stations and bowls. I was extremely worried about Uncle, so we tried to trap him the following night with no luck. There wasn't a sign of him anywhere. When I returned the next day, a policeman was camped out behind the building. I snuck some food into an inconspicuous spot and decided to return the next day with a fellow cat rescuer/trapper friend of mine. Long story short, we managed to trap dear Uncle Cracker! He was meowing like crazy and seemed incredibly happy to be in the backseat of my car. When I got home, he practically leaped out of the trap and into my arms. He has been snoozing comfortably in our "foster" bathroom for the past few days.

I took him to the vet to be combo tested (negative, thank goodness!) and asked them to also check for a microchip since he had clearly been neutered at such a young age. I had the suspicion that he could have been adopted from Lexington Humane. Sure enough, he had a microchip. That has NEVER happened in my 6 years of rescuing cats. We have called the owner's number several times and left messages, but he hasn't returned our calls which honestly doesn't surprise me. The address of his owner's home is about 2.5 miles from the Kroger, so who knows how he ended up there. Doesn't matter now because he is safe and sound with me and hopefully we will find him a loving home soon or he can go to Good Mews in Atlanta eventually.

I am actually driving to Atlanta on Monday to take Audrey Hepburn and Charlene Gingerbean to Good Mews. As always, I am thrilled and incredibly grateful that GM is willing to take them in! I know they will get wonderful homes quickly once they are there. For those of you who are new to my blog, Good Mews is an AMAZING no kill, cage free cat shelter. I can't say enough good things about them. Check out their website if you get a chance. www.goodmews.org

So, here is the huggable and ever so loveable Uncle Cracker! Can you believe those eyes???? He may have the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen.