Our Year in Pictures

Rocky: As 2007 comes to a close, we're reminiscing with pictures of some of the high and low points of our first year of blogging:

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As you know, my dream is to use my human artists' skills to help kitties in need (and also to keep us in stinky goodness!) Without YOU, we couldn't do that! Mu Shue was the very first kitty you helped, and wow, how you helped! In February we held a Bookmark Benefit for Mu Shue to help pay his v.e.t. bills, and in less than 24 hours, you helped us raise $660 for Mu Shue's radiation treatments! Here I am helping the human artists create all those bookmarks -- more than 60 of them:

Also in February, Lucy was honored with an invitation to join the Pink Ladies Gang! Here she is in her gang colors: In March, war broke out in the Cat Blogosphere and I was called upon to give my State of the Cat Union Address: In April, I suffered an attack of glandular hyperplasia in my ears, and was forced to fight back against the treatment:

In May, I got to go horseback riding:In June, Blogger wrongfully accused me of operating a spam blog and I was incarcerated and tortured at AbuBloggerGhraib prison:

I became the Great Pumpkin:

And tussled with Santa Claws:

And now, as we say goodbye to 2007, we're polishing our nip champagne glasses and getting ready to ring in the New Year tonight with all our fantastic friends at Dr. Tweety's Grand New Year's Eve Party! See you there!!

Awards!

What an exciting day! I'm so proud to announce that Artsy Catsy has been honored with two awards!

On behalf of everyone at Artsy Catsy I, Rocky, humbly accept this Extraordinary Gold Star Award from our beautiful friend Diamond. This award, created by Storm The Furry Fighter, is for Bloggers who have achieved or done something special, and celebrates beyond what is ordinary or usual.

Diamond said, "I wish to pass this award on to Rocky and his staff at Artsy Catsy, including their human artists. Not only have they helped rescue many cats and given them gainful employment, but 20% of their proceeds go to Cat Blogosphere and to the Rescue Farm. Artsy Catsy is also the blog that I first find out about Cat Blogosphere from, so they are very special to me because of that."

Thank you so very much, Diamond, but what makes us special is all of you!! Now I must:

1) Post the explanation and rules of the award and link back to the blogger who presented you with the award and repeat the reason why you received it.

2) Pass the Award on to two other Bloggers who you think deserve it and explain why!

It is my honor to bestow this award first to Sanjee, Boni, Mini, Gree, Pepi and Mom Robyn of House of the Mostly Black Cats and the Cat Blogosphere. Not only do they bring the worldwide community of cats together into one big loving family, Mom Robyn is always there for my human artist when she gets way too human and goes crazy on me! Thank you, Mom Robyn, for always being there to lend a sympathetic ear, or my ears would be worn out by now!

And last, but definitely not least, I present this award to my extraordinary friends, Mu Shue and his sisfurs Lilly Lu and Iris. Mu Shue is the kitty who inspired us to do our very first fundraiser, and over our first year of blogging he has become my best bud! The beautiful Lilly Lu is my very best friend and is always there for me - she lends me a sympathetic ear while my mom is bending Mom Robyn's ears!

And I just learned that our good friend Tigger the FBI Cat has created the So Special Award, and we are among the first to recieve it! Tigger, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts ... and because you're just as special to us, we award the Award right back to you!

In closing, we're so pleased that you think we're special, but we want you to know that without all our fantastic blogging friends, we would be nothing special at all!!

Saturday Adopt-a-Caturday

Rocky: I've made an executive decision. On Saturdays, Jodi from the Rescue Farm spends the day at PetSmart to find furever homes for kitties and woofies she rescues. Here are my human artist and Jodi at PetSmart:To help the Rescue Farm with their wonderful work, I've hereby proclaimed that Saturdays on my blog will be "Adopt-a-Caturday" and will feature Rescue Farm kitties looking for a home. May I present our first featured kitty ....

Misti

Misti is a beautiful 6-month-old girl kitty who was abandoned when her humans moved away and left her alone in the house. She was so lonely and hungry when Jodi rescued her! But she's so happy now that she loves to snuggle and purrrr and play. Sweet Misti is a perfect kitty who loves other cats, kids and even woofies!

She has been spayed, vaccinated, wormed, flea-treated and is negative for Felv/FIV, and her adoption fee is $60. If you, or someone you know, would like to give Misti a furever home, just email Jodi at the Rescue Farm!

To read about the Rescue Farm's wonderful work, check my previous posts:

Important Announcements

Only Three More Days

Seeing-Eye COW!

Wacky/Why Wednesday

P.S. Please find a home for Misti before my human artist brings her home and violates my "No More Staff" edict!!

Our First Blogiversary!

A Thank You from the Human Artists

This is an important week for Artsy Catsy ... Christmas, then December 28 is our First Blogiversary, then Tuesday we begin a New Year. As we look back over this past year, Rocky has given me permission to share some of my reflections with you, and to open our hearts about how and why Artsy Catsy was begun.

Most of our lives, my sister Suzanne and I have worked in advertising and marketing, using our art and writing skills to promote others' businesses. And all our lives we have loved animals, particularly cats, and have opened our homes to hundreds over the years.

The last few years have been difficult for us. We lost our mother, our grandmother, and our aunt, and my daughter lost her father. At the same time, a series of unfortunate circumstances left us floundering financially. All this led to serious consideration about what we wanted, and needed, to do with the rest of our lives. We both came to the conclusion that it was long past time for each of us to "follow your passion."

It was so obvious! Since we were children, our passions have always been writing, art, and cats. So we set out to find a way to combine those passions with two goals in mind: 1) To make a living doing what we love; and 2) To expand our ability to care for cats in need by sharing that living with organizations that help cats. We decided to devote ourselves to creating artistic products for fellow cat lovers and to donate a generous portion of our proceeds to cat rescue organizations.

While doing online research about cat products, I stumbled across the first cat blog I'd ever seen, The Psychokitty Speaks Out, and on Max's blog I discovered links to a whole world of blogging kitties that I never knew existed. It was one of the most exciting days of my life - I'd found a whole world of people out there who were as crazy about cats as my sis and I!

Though I would never have thought it possible, this first year of blogging has made us love our own precious cats even more! And we have made more friends, all across the world, than in any other year of our lives. You, our wonderful friends, have not only made it possible for us to follow our passions and achieve our dream, you are helping us help cats in need by providing funds to Cat Friends Helping Friends at the Cat Blogosphere, to the Rescue Farm, to animal welfare societies such as Best Friends - and to individual kitties in emergency situations.

Kahlil Gibran, in his book "The Prophet" describes what you've given us much better than I ever could and, for this, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

~~ Sharolyn & Suzanne

From "The Prophet":

When you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God.

And what is it to work with love?

It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth.

It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house.

It is to sow seeds with tenderness and reap the harvest with joy, even as if your beloved were to eat the fruit.

It is to charge all things you fashion with a breath of your own spirit,

And to know that all the blessed dead are standing about you and watching

... Work is love made visible."

White Widebody Wednesday

Okay, Santa, I appreciate the fact that you brought me toys, nip, treats and a Cat Cube instead of coal ... but ........... ....... I have a bone to pick with you about the Cat Cube. You brought me the wrong size!
I mean, I specifically told you I wear an XXXL Widebody!

Well, I'm finally in .... I wonder if I can get out?

A Furry Meowy Christmas

to all our wonderful friends

from ...

Rocky

Fracas

Callie

Lucy

.... and Oscar, Ivan, LittleGirl, Bitsy, Somber, Atlas, Casey, Sibley, Fred, Holly, our woofie Pepper, and our four human artists. We love you all!

Meowy Christmas Eve!!

Since Santa Claws gave me such a hard time yesterday about the coal thing, I decided I'd better provide my own gifts. Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas Rocky, from yourself! Here's a nice new toy for you, the trimming from your human artist's new shoe insoles! Yeah, whoopie, just what I wanted.

But wait, hey Fracas, look! It's our very own Catmas tree, with jingle bell ornaments!

Yeah, this is WAY better than a stinky piece of a shoe insole!

Ha ha, Santa Claws! You might have gotten the best of me yesterday, but today is another story entirely, so there, fat boy! Guess I showed you who's boss!! Whew, that was exhausting. Hey Santa Claws .... Santa? ... Wake up, you've gotta lotta work to do tonight!

Rocky vs. Santa Claws

'Twas 3 nights before Christmas when I went to his house,

To tell Santa Claws to not be a louse.

My stocking was hung by the chimney with care,

But I'd heard that coal was all I would snare!

Away to the North Pole I flew like a flash,
Tore open his shutters and threw up the sash,
“Hey, Santa”, I yelled, “you got it all wrong!
I’m Rocky, and I’ve been good all year long.”

He took out his list and checked it twice,
And suddenly his eyes turned cold as ice,
Upon my back he came with a bound,
Then he choked me and wrestled me right to the ground!

He was chubby and plump, a right weighty old elf,
Who said I had 3 days to redeem myself,
I should go home and cut my staff some slack,
If I ever wanted Santa off my back!

Then he sprang me loose and gave me a whistle
Told me to get home as fast as the down of a thistle
And I heard him exclaim as I flew out of sight,
“You want something but coal, boy, straighten up and fly right!”

Secret Paws!!

Rocky: Oh, look! It's our Secret Paws and it's from Bonnie & Victor!

Fracas: Yay! I'll open it!

Rocky: No you won't; I'll open it! Rocky: Look at this! Our very own Artsy Catsy stocking, full of toys!
Fracas: And a nip candy cane! Mine!!
Rocky: I don't think so! Gimme that! Callie: Take a memo, big guys: the nip candy cane is MINE!

Lucy: No way! Oh, I'm sooooo happy the nip candy cane is mine!!

Fracas: Okay, I'll just sit on these Temptations so they won't see them.

Rocky: Hey, get your big butt off MY Temptations!

Fracas: All right, I'll just hide this red mousie on my back.

Thank you so much, Bonnie & Victor, for a fantastic Secret Paws surprise! Beautiful cards with pictures of you, lots of Bonker Balls, mousies, jingle toys and that nip candy cane that belongs to ..... uh ... somecat. What's that? ... oh, our human artist says we have to sign off now and listen to a lecture about sharing ...

13 Christmas Miracles

Here are Thirteen Christmas Miracles we're purraying for:

1) All neglected, abused, and abandoned pets and children will find loving furever homes and there will never be another mistreated animal or child.

2) All nations will heed the wise words of Mahatma Ghandi: "The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way it treats its animals."

3) All humans will love and support each other the way all Cat Blogosphere kitties and their families love and support each other ... a sure way to bring "Peace on Earth"!

4) Together we will raise enough money for Cat Friends Helping Friends at the Cat Blogosphere to help every kitty through any emergency they might have.

5) We will also help raise enough money for the Rescue Farm to become the "Best Friends" of the midwest so they can help many, many more animals in need.

6) A cure for cancer will be found. Cancer touches all our lives: one in three humans in America alone will die of cancer, and more than one-third of all cats will die of cancer ... and these numbers are increasing.

7) Our troops will come home safely, and there will never be another war to put them in danger.

8) Peace and love will become more important than war and hate.

9) No one in the world will ever again have to do without the basic necessities of life, including food, shelter, affordable medical care, freedom from fear, and loving families and friends.

10) "Love one another" will be not just words on a page, but will become a way of life.

11) "Let there be peace on Earth, and let it begin with me" will be not just song lyrics but a promise.

12) The spirit of Christmas will remain in all our hearts every day forever: "Christmas is not a date ... it is a state of mind."

13) All our blogging friends, and everyone else on Earth, will enjoy long, happy, healthy and fulfilling lives!

Wacky Fracky Wednesday

Rocky: I'm in need of professional advice. My Vice President Fracas has an odd habit that is becoming quite worrisome as well as annoying. He grinds his teeth, constantly, against both inanimate and animate objects! Here you can see him grinding his teeth against banana stems: But it doesn't stop with banana stems. He's been found grinding his teeth against table legs, boxes, chair backs, cabinet handles, faucets ... even against human fingers. If a human just touches the corner of his mouth, he immediately starts grinding!

Mind you, he doesn't actually put the object IN his mouth -- he just puts the corner of his mouth against the object and grinds away, getting a faraway expression in his eyes while his jaws make a loud gruesome gnawing sound!

So what do you think? I've checked his teeth, and they're fine. Is it job stress? Is he obsessive-compulsive? Does he have temporomandibular joint disorder? Is he a neuroticat? Or just weird? Is it a gingercat thing? (I hope not, because I have ginger spots!) I really need answers because this abnormal behavior has earned him the nickname "Wacky Fracky" which is quite embarrassing to my catporation!

Toiling on Tuesday

Rocky: C'mon staff, let's get these orders ready for shipping so they'll get there by Christmas! I'll help the human artists put necklaces, bracelets and bookmarks on Artsy Catsy display cards ... Fracas: Hey, Mr. CEO, remember your own rules ... "The staff shall not chew on or deposit cat spit upon Artsy Catsy products"! Rocky: Hey, I'm the CEO and you're just the Vice President, so stop telling me what to do ... and knock it off with the dirty look or I'll write you up! Callie: All this macho posturing wears me out.

Easy Like Sunday Morning

It's a cold, snowy Sunday here, so the staff commandeered one of the humans' art supplies carts, rolled it in front of a heating vent, and transformed it into a bunkbed Cat Cart:

Who is that ginger cat on the floor, you ask? Well, our silly human artists, not content with trying to accumulate all the cats in the known universe, sometimes make their own!

Photo Hunters: Small

Rocky: Even though I'm the bigwig now at Artsy Catsy,

I was very small when I was first hired:

Then:

Now:

Never underestimate the power of thinking big!!

T-13 Rescue Stories ...

.... that reveal how the Artsy Catsy cat staff was formed ...

Rocky was only one day old when he was rescued in 1999 from the woods near Raccoon Lake, where a raccoon sent his feral mother and fur siblings over the Bridge. Recognizing his potential as a future mover & shaker, he was bottle-fed and burped by his human artist and coddled by Dustbunny, as he quickly moved into the position of CEO (Cat Executive Officer) ...

Callie was rescued in 1990 as a 6-weeks-old feral kitten from a garage by brave members of the Artsy Catsy household wearing helmets, gloves and body armor. She is living proof that you can take the cat from the wild, but can never take the wild from the cat! Her assertive nature serves her well as Rocky’s Catministrative Assistant ...











Lucy was rescued as a young kitten in 1991 when she was found walking the streets. A natural enchantress, Lucy left her streetwalker past behind and positioned herself on a pedestal as the Artsy Catsy Official Spokesmodel ...












LittleGirl, Atlas and Somber were rescued in 1995 from an abandoned house when they were three weeks old. LittleGirl had only one functioning eye, which she focuses on her duties as Quality Control Manager, and Atlas & Somber assumed the role of Artsy Catsy Bookends ...






























Bitsy was adopted in 1996 as a tiny feral kitten by Ugly, an Artsy Catsy outdoor cat, and had never been touched by a human until she was brought inside as a young adult when Ugly passed over the Bridge. Her stealthy ways serve her well as Artsy Catsy’s Director of Corporate Espionage ...

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Oscar was rescued in 2002 with his fur siblings after they were born to a feral momcat in a cord of firewood in the Artsy Catsy neighborhood. Oscar was the only kitten with no tail. His siblings found furever homes, but Oscar was hired as Artsy Catsy’s Maintenance Manx ...












Ivan was rescued in 2003 at one year old from a local pet store that was subsequently shut down due to poor conditions. His high meezer intelligence earned him the position of Information Technology Director at Artsy Catsy ...











Casey was rescued as a kitten in 2002 from a humane shelter in Cleveland, Ohio. His serious nature serves him well as Artsy Catsy’s Corporate Comptroller ...













Fred and Holly were rescued in 1997 as young adults from a humane shelter in Bloomington, Indiana. After traveling the world, they now reside in Rome, Italy with their human voice artist Tiffany. Fred is President of Artsy Catsy’s European Division and Holly, as his Catministrative Assistant, is the power behind the throne ...

Pepper, Artsy Catsy’s Official Woofie, was rescued in 2002 after she wandered into the Artsy Catsy backyard with a stray pitbull, and decided it was time to get a job ...