Velvet

Velvet sitting on the settee in the back yard.  She looks a lot like Grumpy Cat, doesn't she?  Notice the one white whisker on the right?

I had a Friend request the other day from an old school mate of mine from University of Phoenix  (hi Katrina!).  What a pleasant surprise!

Now, that's probably an every day occurrence for you, if you're on Facebook.  And while I get a number of Friend requests, this one was special.

First of all, Katrina lives (I think!) in the UK.  She lived here in the U.S. when I met her, and we spent many an hour in classes and study groups, so I had the opportunity to get to know her fairly well.

But the best part of getting to know Katrina was that she had a purebred black Persian cat.  If you've read this blog for any length of time, you know my cats are my Kidz.

Katrina's cat got out one day when she was in heat, and as a result, there was a litter of 6 or 7 kittens born.  All but one were black, like Mom.  The outlier was gray. 

I had just lost my black Persian cat of 22 years, Dusto, so when the kittens were born, I told Katrina I'd take one of them, as long as they didn't have the smished in face that's indicative of purebred Persians.  As it turned out, they didn't.

So, for my birthday that year (1998), I got Velvet!

I don't have any digital photos of her when she was that small, but over the years, I've taken a number of them.  After cats get to the age of about 2, they're pretty boring photo ops...  They tend to just sit still, OR, move at such high rates of speed that it's difficult to get a good picture.

So, just for you, Katrina, here are some photos of Velvet in the past 5-6 years!

On the patio.

Sitting in the backyard - must be spring - there's green grass growing!

Another one where she looks like Grumpy Cat.  Must be winter - she's got a LOT of fur!

Out in my Stampin' Garage.

Another in the Stampin' Garage. Another Grumpy Cat look.

Out on the patio, enjoying herself.

Checking out the patio furniture pads, just before they were replaced with some newer, prettier ones.

In the hallway, with her younger brother (Smedley - gray) and sister (Smudge - black).  A rare photo when I can get them all to sit still at the same time!

 Velvet's still my favorite (but don't tell the other two!) and the smallest of the lot.  She weighs about 6 pounds...  Her sister, Smudge, on the other hand weighs about 13 pounds!

One of these days, I'll feature Smedley (AKA Melie) and Smudge (AKA Mudge) with their own posts, but for today, Velvet gets to be the star!

Thanks for indulging me in my trip down memory lane with Velvet.  She's been a joy to have in my life!

Come back soon!

Memories...

Stampin' Up!'s convention this year celebrated 25 years of FUN!  I've been a demonstrator since 1991, so I've been able to celebrate over 23 years with them.  And it's been FUN, FUN, FUN!

In my last post, I shared the beginnings of my SU journey with you - I still have more pix from my This & That "Stampin' Up! Journey" to share with you, but in today's posts I wanted to bring back memories that MANY of you can share with me - some of our STAMPS!

There was a display at convention that showed ALL the covers from our 25 catalogs, along with photos of Shelli & Family, AND, STAMPS!  I did not take the time to photo the covers, since I have most of them - but I WISH I'd photographed the first catalog - it's the only one I don't still have.  I threw it away!  NOOOOOOO --- yes.  Still kicking myself for that one!

So, here are the stamps that they had in the display. What do you think?  How many of these stamps do YOU remember?

Bow Wow - my favorite dog stamp EVER!

BUTTON BEAR!  We had him around for a very long time...

Don't remember the name of the set, but I do remember the gecko!

Another one I don't remember the name of, but I did love this stamp!

Think this one was called Prancer.  He was a very cool stamp to use on Christmas cards, since he was so simple!

We had three different sets in this style, and I still have all three of them! Most of the sets featured women.

Stella Stamper!  Still have her and her accompanying pieces and parts.  I have one DL who asks me EVERY YEAR if I'm going to sell her - NO WAY! She's going with me when I leave this earth! Ha ha.

This one's fairly recent, but I still love it!

This was Dee Greunig in caricature.  She demonstrated at our first conventions.  What a creative soul!  I learned a LOT about stamping from her.

The TRUCK!  I was amazed at how many of my customers purchased this, who I'd have NEVER thought would be interested in it.

Loved this gardening image - you could color or just leave as it is.

Another favorite Christmas image - but it was also good for later in the winter.

The HEDGEHOGS!  Always loved them - they were so cute!  We need them back, don't you think?

Another garden vignette - this one was fun to color!  I think it was one of our first single stamps after we went exclusive.

Our stained glass set.  This was my favorite from the set.  So pretty when stamped on vellum and colored on the reverse side, then added as a window to the card.

Another garden image.  I used this one quite a bit, as well.

So - what did you think of our trip down Memory Lane?  How many of these stamps did YOU have?  Leave me a comment and let me know!

Thanks for stopping by - come back soon!