It's the final countdown ta na na na

It's raining and I think autumn is finally here, or could be even winter as it will constantly rain for the next three months + even the temperature won't go below 10 degrees.

My baby is kicking and rolling and dancing and hiccuping and it feels like ages since I first felt the butterfly wing sensations in my belly. He's got a strong will that makes me think my body is not mine anymore or it's just to rent.

I won't lie and say it's all peaches. I feel very heavy and slow lately, especially when I do things that used to take minutes and now take hours. The fact that you can't tie your own shoe laces can be frustrating, too. Watching helplessly how your body changes, having mood swings, feeling like you don't have a clue about anything anymore... Uhm, have I mentioned the back pains? :-)

But the good part, oh the good part is that it's all amazing beyond words. You don't have to trust me, just try it!

There is just one week left. Regarding the previous post we wrote about time... It's really hard not to run to the future. From worries of missing stuff like chairs or carpets at home, or that we might need an extra blanket or basket or... whatever, to imagining the first moments with the baby it feels like the biggest adventure so far, honestly.

Thanks to ceiling cat for my friends that are helping + caring + positive! My admiration and love go to all women who travel this road of motherhood, of course beginning with my mom + my dear friends who have babies.

Also, to the wonderful women who make it home safely carrying babies and groceries, to moms who don't have the luxury of a washing machine or another item we might be taking for granted, to working moms, single moms and student moms, thank you for keeping on loving your children and yourselves.

3, 2, 1...

Illustrating women's fashion

... but it all went confusing after the year 2000 and I couldn't choose one representative style.

Any suggestions?

Help, my sewing machine is gone

Hello beautiful people.

As you've been waiting for the goodies I promised and they didn't show up, I owe you an explanation + apology.

The thing is kittns haven't been able to finish their latest work (yes, blame it on them) because the sewing machine they were working on... disappeared. Long story short, we were using the machine the landlady lent us until one day last week when we entered our room and it was gone. I will refrain from &*%#@%&$ making comments for now, but I'm really sorry for this awful event that delayed the work.

Kittns and I are currently saving money to buy a sweet darling of our own soon, which no one will take away anymore. Just so you know when you are ordering t-shirts or other goodies, almost everything goes to the sewing machine fund.

Until then please accept Sewing is my art free card, an original drawing pencil on paper + red thread handmade stitch.

Kisses and many thanks for your understanding.

Bluebird

Hello cats.

I wanted to write yesterday as it was Monday, but I got interrupted by an electricity breakdown that lasted more than 24 hrs, from 11 a.m. until today. Well, here at kittn we start the week on Wednesday with a free card you can use, words of wisdom and bluebirds + rainbows like the song.

This week we will learn more about those things we have, but we cannot lose like kindness, tenderness, generosity, empathy, humanity.

We'll also see that some things we think we own are not exactly ours to have, but to share.

Like love.

Brand new day, free card

You know by now to save the card, then send it or collect it.

Start your week with crazy courageous optimism!

One more free card

Right click. Save. Send (to the cutie you like). Start a conversation. The end. The beginning!

Freebies!

In this post I am glad to present you some e-cards that I've been drawing... not only they are very cute but they're absolutely free!
You can safely save them in your computer (good old fashioned right click, save image as) and send them to your loved ones: so far you have three friendship/love cards and a thank you note, but there will be more to come, I promise.
Meanwhile, you can leave your feedback about the freebies or even if you have ideas of your own that you want to illustrate.
Come on, let's bring a smile to someone today! :-)

Place-a-day project, may 2011.

I always forget about thing-a-day, the yearly creative sprint that occurs in February, so all I do is watch the beautiful people that contribute and plan what I would do next edition (when I forget again).
But I had the greatest idea some days ago: I invented place-a-day!
I'm going to travel, photograph, sketch and talk about a place worth visiting in the area that I live. It's going to be one place each day for the following month, all shared with you.
I hope the trips will be interesting, I want to meet nice people, get to know more stuff and last but not least I wish the way will be paved with surprises.



I hope place-a-day will be entertaining and inspiring for you too.
Have a happy May Day!

Superheroes.

I wanted to take part in a handmade fair here in Cascais and people showed me two women that were chatting by a jewelry stand. They said they are in charge and I should speak with them.
'The bosses' were two old sisters fearful that someone would bring in more competition for their jewelry - so their nice way to connect was 'if you are making jewelry you'd better go away'. When they found out about what I do they 'instructed' me to speak with an overlord a colleague that apparently had the final decision in everything (?!).
I've met with this woman at eight in the morning and after a brief presentation (in which I've been told business cards are overrated) I began to pull out t-shirts from my backpack watching the reactions on her face.
Have you ever walked into a store or an office and began to ask 'Would you...?' and you were told 'No!' before you finished the sentence? Well, people act a lot like that here where I live. You can confirm if you live or lived here for other than a touristic experience and interacted with locals more than 'Hi, what a nice day, thank you'.
Back to our 'comrade' who was supposed to approve of my creations, she started to ask a long list of conditions to fulfill (more like Hercules's labors) in order to be able to take part in the fair. At one time I thought 'hey, this fair is owned by mobsters' and I left with a bitter taste of positions in opposition, abject attitudes and negative energy overall.
I felt down in the last days and I didn't even know why. Last night I finished the project I told you I was working on, I showed it to Marco and he was very impressed. He asked me when do we go to the fair and I answered that I didn't want to be a part of the 'comrades' community. He hugged me and said that flowers bloom wherever we go and we shine even under five layers of clothing. He even lent me his magic bracelet so I wouldn't be afraid anymore.



So I fell asleep and I dreamed that I was a superhero going to do the trick to a powerful monster that was terrorizing the city. It would appear at a fancy cocktail party so I went there. I was dressed in my stay-at-home-leggings, a t-shirt and sneakers and I was a bit afraid from time to time: I was saying to myself gosh I'm small, but then I remembered the strength of my kicks and punches would smash the monster into the nearest wall (I forgot to mention that in my dream Marco was a superhero too and we made a team, but he had something else to do so I was facing the villain by myself).
I got to the party and I asked a woman about the possible ways to the roof of the building. She looked upon me with scorn, but I was smiling knowing 'hey, if it wasn't for me you would be monster's supper tonight'. I went on to the roof constantly visualizing the might of my actions.
The dream ended here, but even without the actual fight I felt great when I woke up.
You know that confidence feeling that makes your heart burst with enthusiasm? The bad news is that we sometimes lose it cause of one monster or the other, the best news is that it's always there with us, we can use it to overcome any problem we might have and go forward with our heads up.

Hello kittens!

I wish we all have a happy day today on international women's day! I wish we all feel good in our own skin, wearing our own shoes - however you call it - I wish we all feel we are beautiful.
So... it's good to be back!
I didn't really plan to reopen kitten blog on this special day, it just happened. Let me tell you the long story short: a few months ago I felt I should stop writing. I've had a terribly weird 2010; at some point I felt like not only the last drop had filled the glass, but the water was overflowing. For a while my faith drifted, but then I shook my shoulders, straightened my back and raise my head... I opened my eyes and accepted things as they are, not how I wanted them to be.
You were by my side and gave me support, through your messages or even simple comments. So I remembered why I started kitten - the main thing was to have fun and feel at ease - and I plan to keep it this way.
Thank you, with all my heart!

Leaving the poetry and getting more technical, you’ve probably noticed kittens have a new domain name and a few pages. You have all the information at hand and everything is very easy to click use. I’ve also managed to organize my work better as a portfolio and that is a performance considering the fact that I’ve been saying “I’ll do it tomorrow’ for over a year.
I will soon upload a new logo/header, write all the details on the pages and hopefully own a new online shop.
As usual, I have lots of ideas and fun on my mind... You are welcome here anytime you want, I'm available for thoughts and dreams, jokes and cups of tea (don't worry if they're virtual, our friendship is real).

PS. T-shirt clearance tomorrow, be here!

Boo!

Yesterday, while chatting with my dear sister Alice we realized we don't celebrate too many holidays, better said, the holidays listed in the calendar are not enough. So... we decided to invent our own holidays.

We didn't have to think much, the idea for a first holiday just came all of a sudden: October 27 will be Creeps Day for us. We probably felt instinctively that we need to loosen up a bit on the sweet behavior, so we made a plan that tomorrow we'll follow in the footsteps of some kind of a Wednesday Addams, telling people exactly what's on our minds without any gallantry. Seriously, straight face, no kidding. Our bits of talking to people will be spontaneous; right now I don't know what we'll say but here's an example of how our interactions at work could be:

I don't hug.
(colleague) Oh, you're just shy.
Nope, I'm contagious.

or

(colleague) How do I look?
Disturbing.

Well, I'm expecting loads of grins laughter, wish me luck anyways! :-)
What's your idea of a fun day?

Cause...

... objects don't make time stop.
Cause drawing stops time for me.

How about you? When does time stop for you?

Trust me...

... it will only get better.
*to Denisa & all supergirls out there.

Hey...

... turn the lights on!

Computer Love.

Camyla and Paulo have a computer shop here in Cascais. They are a sweet couple and even if you don't know their language to well they are willing to help. They printed my documents, my business cards and my flyers and they all the time did it in joy.
Paulo ordered a t-shirt, of course it would be with a computer design as he is so passionate about them, and I sketched a drawing. Camyla and I say it's so cute and lovely, but Paulo wants it to be more hi-tech and manly. So until we lose the hearts and the girlish coloring I want to show it to you anyway, in the hope that you catch their good vibe.
Have a cool weekend everyone, be it outdoors or in front of the computer screen, sipping your favorite drink and talking to your dear friends!

The trees-of-don't-worry-about-a-thing...

... should grow in our gardens or in front of our buildings, on everyone's street.
We should take care of these trees, watering them with a bit of easiness and laughter, feeding their soil with unity.
We should be able to pick their fruits anytime we need them cause they should be at hand, so close that we could take a bite every time we're hungry for hope or thirsty for trust.
The trees-of-don't-worry-about-a-thing should always arise in front of our eyes. Even through the thickest fog.

(Un)lazy night.

C: Oh, look how brightly that star shines. It shines like you, it must be yours.
M: No, I don't want to own it. I am just happy to see it.

Wish.

If you happen to be my friend, don't say that you love me.
Just say I can trust you.

Good kitten.

My left hand.

I discovered I can use it and do it well at Play Therapy training. We were doing an exercise as we were supposed to create something using the hand that we don't have a preference for in our habits (in my case, the left one). I do most things right-handed, so at first it was rather difficult to create using my left.
I chose to do a bracelet using colored paper and glitter glue, but without much confidence. I kept the right one behind my back and during the process it felt like it had a will of its own trying desperately to get into action. I tried not to focus on it, but to the left that had to handle stuff like cutting, folding, gluing, fitting. I also tried to follow my emotions as they grew from joy to anger... and then to joy and surprise again when seeing the result.
Everyone said the bracelet looked amazing and I think it did too. I somehow felt like a winner, happy and relieved after the achievement (although it doesn't look like much effort, it really is).
Ever since, I began using my non-preferred left hand in doing a lot of actions. It's really nice to discover they are both equally able, although one needs more practice.