Book Bookkeeping

Rocky: It's book Bookkeeping Day at Artsy Catsy, and I'm calculating how many green papers we raised in the Book Auction for Billy Sweetfeets' and Beau's vet bills ...

Karen Jo won the books Category 7 and Critical
Peggy & the Cats won Blood Lies and Deadly Errors
Scooby & Spikey won Loving Our Cats and To Bend Without Breaking
Zippy, Sadie & Speedy won Obsession and Black and Blue
Spirit & Ezra won Listening with the Heart and Family Guide to Asthma
The Cat Realm won Restitution
Charlemagne & Tamar won Forever Liesl

If you don't get a comment or email from me shortly, please email me at artsycatsy(at)yahoo(dot)com with your mailing address and I'll send you payment instructions!

Also, since there have been so many sick kitties in the Cat Blogosphere lately - and it's just WRONG to be sick and have big vet bills at Christmas - I've taken every piece of my mom's jewelry inventory and set up a huge, emergency

HOLLY JOLLY JEWELRY SALE

There are more than 50 Artsy Catsy original Crazy Cat Ladies and one-of-a-kind necklaces, bracelets and earrings, all sale-priced until Dec. 21 ... and 40% of the proceeds will be given to Miles & Billy, Misty, Criz and Beau.

Oh, what the heck - I'm gonna give them 40% of EVERYTHING sold from our Artsy Catsy Gallery before Christmas! The best stocking stuffer in the world for these kitties and their caring beans would be enough green papers to pay the vet bills and get their furbabies healthy again!

Have a magnificent Monday, everyone!

Crazy Cat Lady Raffle Winner!

Rocky: Our new flashy thing finally arrived and I've selected the winner of our Crazy Cat Lady raffle to help Moki pay his vet bills! Our new flashy has video, so here I am in my motion picture debut, with my human artist as director (but, as CEO, I have total creative license to do my own thing) ....

Congratulations to Dorothy Pugh - you've won Artsy Catsy's original Crazy Cat Lady necklace and matching earrings!

Thank you all who participated in our raffle. With your kind and generous help, it raised $134 to help Moki with his ongoing vet care! We love you, Moki - everybody loves you!

And for those of you who would still be interested in wearing Artsy Catsy one-of-a-kind jewelry - or giving it as Christmas gifts - tomorrow I'm starting a HUGE sale on our Gallery Blog, with more than 50 items! Everything is on sale, and 20% of the proceeds will be sent to Misty and Criz Cats to give them some much-needed help!

Thank you all so much for helping us help kitties in need!!

Stuff on Sunday

Rocky: Still no pictures because our new flashy thing won't be here until early next week. (I tried to scan myself, but for some reason the scanner lid wouldn't close over my slim and svelte self!)

It's a sleepy Sunday here, because on top of everything else that's happened this week, my mom got an emergency call from her daughter Tiffany in Italy late last night. Yesterday afternoon Tiffany cut her finger trying to open a walnut with a knife and had to go to the emergency room, where they closed the cut and gave her a tetanus shot. (We're getting Tiffany a nutcracker for Christmas!)

A few hours later, she had a reaction to the tetanus shot and suddenly got really sick with a dangerously high fever and terrible muscle pain all over her body. So my mom was on and off the phone with Tiffany for a long time, and then we all stayed up most of the night fussing and worrying. We tried really hard to purr a couple of degrees of Tiffany's temperature to Moki, who really needs them ... and we think it worked because Moki is feeling better today, and Tiffany's fever is down and she feels a bit better, too. Ah, the miraculous power of the purr!

Speaking of Moki, we've extended the Crazy Cat Lady raffle to help with his vet bills until tomorrow at midnight, so if you haven't bought a ticket ($2), you still have time!

We're Back!!

Rocky: Humph. The human artists got home last night after leaving us for four days to market Artsy Catsy creations at a cat show. As CEO of this operation I approved this marketing strategy, but it is NOT necessary for our slaves to leave us for FOUR days when the cat show was only TWO days! So I've made it my personal task to stand guard over their overnight cases to prevent them from doing this again ...

I've missed you all SO much, and just as soon as I get some updating out of the way, I'm going to be stopping by to see you all! I can't wait!

First, I want to let you know that Mr. Milky hasn't moved in with Stan yet, so he's still with us. And pretty soon he's going to be as big as me! We're still planning his going away party, so I'll keep you updated!

Next, I want to show you some pictures from the cat show ... but be warned - some of them are really irritating! For instance, just look at the Rocky impersonators who were there trying to steal my mom away from me ...

Oh sure, this one has some black spots, but he's still trying to impersonate me:

And even though this one smooshed his face, he's still trying to impersonate me: There was even a Mr. Milky impersonator:

And a Lux impersonator!

When they weren't drooling over these imposters, the human artists displayed some of our new products. We're going to put them all up for Christmas shopping in a few days on ArtsyCatsyGallery.blogspot.com, and each week donate 10% of the proceeds to the Cat Blogosphere kitty who needs it most. Here's a sneak preview ...

CRAZY CAT LADY NECKLACES & EARRINGS ...

KITTY NAPKIN RINGS & WINEGLASS CHARMS ...

EYEGLASS / BADGE HOLDER NECKLACES ...

Fun artwork like this LITTER PAN SCREEN ...

Lots of new bookmarks, cell phone charms, ceiling fan pulls, keychains ...

... and hairbands and jewelry and lots more, coming up in just a couple of days! We can't wait to show you and try to raise some funds for our friends in need ... but right now I need to go help my human artist unpack the car and then I'm heading straight for the Cat Blogosphere to check up on all my friends and come over to visit you!

13 New Things

Rocky: I've been very busy snoopervising and assisting my human artists with new product development ...... but I want to take a break to reveal to you 13 New Things we'll be offering over the rest of this year to help raise funds for Cat Friends Helping Friends and the Rescue Farm ...

1) Kitty ceiling fan/lamp pulls (Coming very soon!)

2) Crazy Cat Lady necklace & earring sets (Coming soon!)

3) Cat charm eyeglass holders
4) Kitty keychains
5) Kitty plastic grocery bag holders/dispensers
6) Kitty wineglass charms
7) Kitty napkins rings
8) Cat Christmas tree ornaments made from gourds
9) Hand painted litter pan privacy screens
10) Hand painted dried potpourri bowls made from gourds
11) Cat-themed gourd birdhouses
12) Woven wire cat pins
13) Lots of new cat-themed jewelry

200th Post Contest!

Our 200th Post is coming up -- no wonder my paws are so calloused and tired! So, I'm putting together some surprises for the kitty who comes closest to guessing the date and time (Eastern Daylight Savings Time). And the winning kitty's bean will get a $10 Artsy Catsy Gift Certificate! Just leave your guess in the comments of this post by Monday, March 31 -- one guess per blog, please.

And, speaking of March 31, that's the last day of our March Madness Fundraisers for Moki, Project H.A.M. and Lilly Lu. We still have some cell phone charms, necklaces & bookmarks left, along with cat greeting cards, flower greeting cards and Earthrights notecards & fine art prints.

We've raised only about $50 each for Moki and Lilly and $35 for Project H.A.M. :-( Thanks to our anonymous benefactor those amounts will be doubled, but we were so hoping to raise more. Moki's and Lilly's beans have already spent thousands of green papers, and they're still sick, so more bills are coming. And the anonymous benefactor is willing to match MUCH more - multiples of $100!

I know all our beans are short of green papers these days, and it's hard to buy a $15 or $40 item ... so I had an idea: What if all us kitties tell our beans that we're willing to give up just one bag of Temptations or a mousie toy they planned to buy, if they would make a small donation for Moki, Project H.A.M. and Lilly? Even if it's just a dollar or two, that adds up, especially since the anonymous benefactor will match your donation!

I'll start it off ... I'm donating the price of 5 bags of All Natural Temptations right now! (My mom says I need to lose some weight anyway.) If it's at all possible for your beans to make a small donation, they can use the PayPal button below.

Everyone, thank you so much for all everything you do to help all the kitties who need it so badly. Your purrs and purrayers are so precious, and would be all that was needed ... if only our vets didn't insist on being paid in green papers.

Finally Friday

Whew! It's finally Friday! I've worked so hard this week I have goobers in my eyes and my mom says I need to wash my face. No time for that!

First, I want to thank all the kind and generous kitties and beans who helped us raise funds this week in our Cat Jewelry Fundraiser and our Cat Greeting Card Clearance. Thanks to you, we'll soon be sending some much-needed green papers to Project H.A.M., to Cat Friends Helping Friends, and to Lilly Lu to help pay for her surgery.

Both sales end Sunday, so it's not too late to help. We still have a few beaded items (cell phone charms, bracelets, necklaces & bookmarks) and some cat greeting cards available. So for this final weekend, we're reducing all prices a little bit more on the few remaining items to try to raise as much money as we can for our kitty friends!

I also want to thank Zoolatry for this beautiful graphic they made of me in honor of my friend Lilly Lu:

Lilly sent me the gizzy quilt as a gift, and pink is her favorite color, so Zoolatry did an absolutely perfect job on my graphic! Lilly will be having surgery soon, and I dedicate my graphic to her to let her know she's in my thoughts constantly and I have my whole staff purring for her.

Now I must turn to my work for the weekend. I'm hosting Carnival of the Cats this Sunday, and I need to prepare for the big event:

Fracas, do you think this is something we can use for the Carnival?

Hmm, let me give it a whirl ... Uh, maybe this one is the wrong size ....

Fracas: Um, Rocky, maybe you need to cut back on the Temptations!

Rocky: Shut up, Fracas. I can squeeze everybody in for Carnival of the Cats #208 ...

All they need to do is submit their post HERE!

Cat Jewelry Auction for Churchill

Our new friend Churchill, the abandoned kitty with a broken leg, is having surgery today. The surgery is very complex and expensive. It was recommended that Churchill be "put down" but, fortunately, his new parents, Michael and Rhiannon, had already fallen in love with him, so that was not an option. One look at this handsome guy, and you'll fall in love, too!

We're charmed by Churchill and his loving new family, so we're auctioning some Artsy Catsy kitty charms to help pay his vet bills. 100% of the auction proceeds will go to Churchill - we'll pay the postage.

So that we can get the funds to Churchill's family quickly, the auction will run for three days only - today through midnight Friday. To bid on an item, just leave a comment with your bid and the item number. We'll contact all winners on Saturday.

# N-1 Necklace with gold Laurel Burch cat charm

# N-2 Necklace with silver "Cats Meow" charm #N-3 Necklace with silver picture frame charm
(We'll add a photo for you, if you like.)

#B-4 Bookmark with gold cat charm

#P-5 Gold & silver cats pin
(Not handmade, but we love it!)Thank you so much for helping us help Churchill!

Day of the Cat?

In Italy, yesterday was Giornata del Gatto, The Day of the Cat. That's a national holiday, so FredBaby and Holly Golightly, Artsy Catsy's European Division, were off work and out celebrating. Not so here in America.

Yes, while Fred and Holly were out dancing in the streets of Rome, imbibing fine wines and huge platters of pasta, generally living la dolce vita, I was forced to spend the entire day working my paws to the bone, micromanaging the production of cat jewelry and bookmarks. To make matters worse, my American feline staff objected to having to work on an Italian holiday. Callie called in sick, Lucy had a hair appointment, and Fracas organized a mass mutiny, so the remaining staff spent the day picketing and chanting, "1-2-3-4, we don't want to work no more!" and "Growl, growl, hiss, hiss, Rocky's a filthy catpitalist!"

I tell you, being the CEO of Artsy Catsy is about as easy as herding cats!

P.S. You can learn more about Giornata Internazionale del Gatto at Cat-a-log. We thank them for their research and agree that since this is an international holiday, we need to promote it in America and elsewhere. Here's to International Day of the Cat (IDOC?) 2008!!

Bookmark Benefit for Mu Shue

ArtsyCatsy is worried about our new friend Mu Shue. As you may know, he’s very sick and needs treatment that will cost his Mama Laura $1200. She has already spent her savings helping him, and even had to sell the heirloom jewelry her grandmother left her.

With 15 of us kitties, our humans have been in the same situation, and our hearts go out to Mu Shue and Mama Laura. We ArtsyCats are very impressed by how this wonderful world of blogging kitties pulls together to help each other out, and we want to do our part. So we met for a brainpurring session and had an IDEA! The human artists are making hand-beaded waxed linen bookmarks to offer for $10 each on our blog and we'll send ALL the proceeds to Mu Shue and Mama Laura.

To order bookmarks to help Mu Shue, just email ArtsyCatsy@yahoo.com with your mailing address, the number of bookmarks you want to order, and whether you want to use PayPal or mail a check, and we’ll email instructions right back to you. (When you order, you can add a dollar or two to help cover mailing costs if you want, but you don’t have to. And, yes, we will ship internationally.)

We'll make as many bookmarks as we can from now through Feb. 22, and then we’ll send ALL the money to Mu Shue and Mama Laura. Just think – if we could sell 60 bookmarks, that would completely cover the $600 down payment for Mu Shue’s treatment! And don’t forget, if you don’t need a bookmark, the wonderful Mr. Hendrix is also helping to collect donations for Mu Shue.

Our heartfelt thanks to all you kind and caring cats and beans for helping Mu Shue and Mama Laura. We’re very proud to be a part of this beautiful kitty community!

NOTE: Your bookmark may not be exactly like the ones you see here (and please excuse our quick photography) because we’re hurrying to help Mu Shue so we're using jewelry supplies already on hand. But each one-of-a-kind bookmark will have a kitty charm, and we promise you’ll love it!