Back in Nijmegen

Back in the old days, when we were young, I went in here with a very good friend and, a couple of hours later, left the place hand in hand with him. On the beats of some obscure punk band we first kissed. Passing this place yesterday brought up great memories ♥ *1997*

RIP Sacharov

+/-1993 - 2011

Molotov

Countdown

Blind Cat Rescue Fund

My friend Meeka supports this wonderful cause. You can help by clicking 1 Doesn't cost you any, no need to register or give your email, just a click ;)

Blind Cat Rescue
Vote for me!

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Sjors!

 Today we've welcomed a new cat into our family. Meet Sjors!

 And before you ask: yes, we have enough cats living with us already and no, Sjors isn't going to live with us. We have adopted him, but he lives in a wonderful place and he wants to stay there. He's one of the cats of Stichting Help de Zwerfkat, an amazing home for cats who can't be placed with families (because of age, illness, handicap, shyness or avoidance of the litter box). Els Verkerk initiated this as a rescue shelter, but after a while she noticed the older and shy cats were hard to find a new home for. She decided to dedicate her work to giving those cats a home in her own house and garden.

I've read about this organisation before and was touched by the story. Of course it is important for any stray cat to find a good home, but cuddly kittens have a much bigger chance to be adopted.

It was Etsy (or actually the animal loving people on Etsy) that made me decide to find a charity cause to donate some of my sales to. Many other Etsy people do the same and inspired me. Did a thorough search and this was the cause that struck me the most. They offer the possibility to choose one of their cats and send a monthly donation. Albert and I fell in love with the pictures of Sjors. Or actually, we fell in love with every single cat on the website, but it feels great to have a name and a face to donate to.
I emailed Els yesterday and received a very friendly email back today: "yes, you can support Sjors and you're very welcome to visit him". She sent along these beautiful pictures as well. Whoohoo, so happy with this decision! Visiting him will be hard, Uithoorn is quite a drive from here, but I think we'll make that trip at least once in the future. Would love to meet him and of course the wonderful people of this project!

On Etsy, I joined the Artists for Animals team. Here's a list of the members, each one donates to an animal related cause. So if you decide to buy from any of these shops, you're supporting animal causes!

Welcome to the clan, Sjors!

For my man

I love you

Meeka's Blog

Oh wow, my friend Meeka dedicated a blog entry to my Etsy work & me!
*feeling proud & happy*

Just click on the picture below to go to her blog, or here to go directly to the mentioned entry.
Meeka makes the most amazing creatures, as you might have seen in a previous blog entry right here, but there's more to see on her blog. Beautiful poetry for instance. And the whole blog is cat themed, meow!!

ps: Meeka's Etsy shop is here. You won't regret purchasing one of her items, especially since she donates part of her income to a cat rescue project!

Message from Meeka:

=*=*=Support my local Rescue Group=*=*=

$1.00 from each sale of every one of my kitties will go to my local cat rescue to help with the expenses associated with tending to local unwanted and adoptable animals!


Check them out here: http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/OH288.html

 

Munchkin & Molotov & Spring

Just noticed this hole...what kind of creature would live here?

Munchkin is curious as well! (and didn't catch anything)

Birdwatching: Mol's favourite activity
(and NO, that's not our garden you're looking into^^)

Family Day

My parents celebrated their 35th anniversary today and took us all to the monkey zoo (Apenheul) for a great good old family day. As you can see, it was a wonderful day.
Cheers mom & dad, here's to many more years of love and thank you for being such an inspiring couple :)

100% Angel now



Eugene R. Quillin

March 16th 1968 - March 7th 2011




From '02 till the end of '05 we were penpals. Both stuck in situations we were longing to get out of, we started to share our thoughts really fast. Reflections on life, thoughts about how & why each of us ended up in that dark place.What we would or wouldn't do if we could go back in time and change the past. How we could make the best of ourselves, how we would find our own way in life. What we dreamed of.
His dark place was very different from mine and we both learned to understand each other's darkness a bit more. I had more penpals at that time, but he was the only male one that really talked about his feelings. He wasn't afraid to open up and he was able to let go of judgements. Such a sensitive man. No wonder his initials, E.Q., are used to express emotional intelligence :)
He sent me his poems, I sent him mine. It felt like we had known each other for a long time.
 
Five years ago his situation changed, for the better. Hadn't expected it, but we drifted apart. He had his hands & head full of adapting to his new situation and I guessed it was time to let him go until our ways would cross again.
They did: 5 months ago I received a friendship request from him on facebook. It wasn't the intense friendship we used to have, but I was glad to have him back into my life. Was a bit worried though, he sounded like life was still not easy on him. Love was right around the corner, waiting for him, but he didn't know that yet.

March 16th, his birthday. I went to his facebook page to congratulate him and got the shock of a lifetime: messages about gathering for his remembrance, instead of birthday messages. My friend was gone.
Afterwards I learned he had júst fallen in love again with a girl from his past. They died together.
My friend, I hope you and your girl had an amazing couple of weeks together. Someone said you were her knight in shining armour. I can imagine that picture :)
Did you find ultimate freedom now?
Spread your wings and fly in peace,
thanks for being in my life. Hugs to your mom!





Someone

Got themselves a letter
In the mail the other day
It's already worn and tattered

And I guess
It gives away
All the things we keep inside
All the things that really matter
The face puts on its best disguise
And all is well
Until the heart
Betrays

She knows
As she reads the letter
That things were bound to stray
Winds blow
She pulls her coat tighter
And the letter flies away

With all the things she keeps inside
All the things that really matter
The face puts on its best disguise
And all is well
Until the heart betrays

Lord bring on the night
Wrap it all around me
Let it hold me tight
Soak up all that I bleed

And I'll fly away
Yeah I'll fly away
Yeah I'll fly away
Watch me

Lord bring on the night
Wrap it all around me
Let it hold me tight
Soak up all that I bleed
I bleed

Busted!

Molotov hearts Sarah :)

Cats cats cats and a piggy!

Meet my newest company: Sarah & Darby!

Both come from the USA, where MeekaMew has her studio and where she creates the most gorgeous creatures. Isn't it amazing how much character these two have, even with just buttons for eyes? Love love love the style and I'm so proud to now own an original k.i.t.t.i.e. and an adorable p.l.u.s.h.i.e. piggy!

MeekaMew and I met through Etsy and we share both the passion for cats as the urge to create one of a kind items. She's got 4 cats as well and I've made 3 miniatures of her cats:



Boscoe




Gilligan, the one on the right



Andee, the one on the left

MeekaMew and I decided to trade, a great experience! Go have a peek in her shop, you'll fall in love!

And of course you're VERY welcome to visit my little Etsy corner as well. If you should decide to buy something, use code XAMANTHALIGHT at the checkout, it will give you 15% discount :)
Here's my Etsy shop (click)

Learning from the best

 Yes, I admit: got a lot of Etsy in my mind. That's just my way of being really enthousiastic about something, guess we'll have to live with that ;)

I'm not just selling there, I'm also meeting people and I do a lot of browsing to get inspired. That's what all my "treasuries" are about: a way to say "look what I found!".

And sometimes browsing leads to buying. My excuse: I want to see IRL what other people make and how it looks when it arrives.

Got excited when I found out there's a lot of 'darker' stuff for sale on Etsy, items I instantly fall in love with. Like the cat bookmark and card on the first picture. Blacklilypie made it, and I don't think it acquires a lot of imagination to see why I couldn't resist that bookmark >^^< It came in such beautiful wrapping as well, love how creative people are in all areas!

And then there's Amy. She kinda introduced me to the places where Etsy sellers get to chat with one another (and promote their stuff as well of course^^). Got to chat with her a bit and she's just as nice as her artwork. I bought a set of artprint postcards from her (2nd & 3rd picture), aren't they awesome?

I've met loads of new and very nice people and it would just not be fair to name them all, too much of a risk to forget to include someone. But I hope to be blogging more here and I promise to talk about other people's creations as well!

You might have noticed the look of my blog ;)
The template I used was broken, so I thought it was time for a change. The background and the hearts were designed by BlackPumpkin. Yes, she's an Etsy seller as well :)

The Klepto Kitty

Giveaway Treasury

I've "hidden" 13 book titles and 3 names of authors in a Treasury. Find them all & win a bookmark + book! >^^< (click on the picture and you'll be taken to my treasury)

Color Me Caring

Just *have* to share this...click on the picture to view all the wonderful items & their good causes!

Cats. Crafts. Love.

A lot is going on in my life, but at the moment my activities on Etsy are a sure thing.

I try to make or work on something every day and I spend a lot of time photographing the items I want to sell, adjusting the photos, listing items and connecting with other Etsians. Although there's something going on there as well, I found a few groups with wonderful people. For sellers' talk, for fun, even for friendship.

I'm learning how to promote and what kind of words to use when describing something, how to become visible to shoppers. I like it, especially since these things require less inspiration (can't be in a flow all the time) and more concentration. Keeps my mind busy.

I've made 6 sales so far. Quite an ego boost when others like your stuff enough to pay for it :)

I would like it if you'd take a peek in my little shop right here. Gonna try to figure out how to give coupons, would be nice to give readers of this blog a discount!

Yours truly,

Xamantha. Craftster

Cats & Threads, take a look!

Etsy Xamantha

Albert with whiskers

One of Alberts clients drew him a portrait, I love it! Especially the whiskers :)