Fill-Ins and Artsy Fartsy Fun

Fridays sure are fun. Not only do they mean that the weekend is upon us, but they mean we get to get our creative juices flowing by participating in the Friendly Fill-Ins challenge, hosted by our great pals over at 15andmeowing and McGuffy's Reader.

Today's fill-ins are just as great as ever:

1. Peace _________.
2. I need to _________, but I keep procrastinating.
3. A friend is _________.
4. I _________ try to _________.

My answers, well, I'll let you be the judge of that:

1. "Peace begins with a smile." -Mother Teresa
(All I can say is that this is one of my favorite quotes by one of my favorite people.)

2. I need to finish painting my kitchen cabinets, but I keep procrastinating.
(I've mentioned these dreaded kitchen cabinets here on my blog before. They're a special set of cabinets, all crooked and wonky thanks to the handiwork of the previous owner of my house. But, at least they have character. And they have extra special character because they're not even fully painted yet. I've lived at this house of mine for over a year and a half now, and the poor kitchen cabinets have become stuck in a state of stasis. They have their first coat of paint, so at least they're mostly white instead of the pink that the previous owner had chosen. But, they're a splotchy white, because they need another coat of paint, yet I've been procrastinating, for over a year. My goal is to have them done by Thanksgiving. We'll see how that goes.)

3. A friend is someone who accepts you just the way you are.
(I think this is why furbabies make such perfect friends. They don't judge. I wish us humans would take a few lessons from them.)

4. I always try to be on time.
(I think it's more or less common knowledge that being late to anything is most often considered rude. That's why I always try to be on time, or even early. I don't always succeed at this, I'll be honest, but I don't do too bad on most days. There is always room for improvement, though.)

Now, on to Eddy! For her photos of the week, she decided to, well, not look at the camera.

Why would we look at the camera? That's just silly.

Good try, Eddy! At least you're not a complete blur this time around. That's an improvement.

This post isn't done yet, because I now have some not-quite-breaking-worthy news. I'm going to try something just a bit new on my blog, and it involves using all you friends and furiends out there as motivation. This is all comes down to a couple of different things. After I finished up my daily Halloween drawings in October, our good friend and one of the hosts of the very Friendly Fill-Ins challenge, the mom Ellen from 15andmeowing, admitted that she is going to miss seeing a drawing on my blog each day. And you know what? I myself have started missing having daily art to  post.

What's more, I actually have a number of fun holiday craft fairs coming up for which I'm hoping to create lots of stuff. Not only do I want to create more drawings, but I've been meaning and wanting to create more mixed media items, which in my case is when I take things like otherwise unwanted cardboard or book pages and use them to, well, make random things. I've accumulated what seems like a ton of supplies for these sorts of crafts, but, let's be honest, I've been getting a bit lazy and not actually creating them. So, here's where you all come in. From here on out, as close to every day as possible, I'm going to try and have an art piece or craft to post for you all to see. For those of you tired of my art, I greatly apologize. For those of you of a different mind, you're the ones who will be my motivation to create more of the arts and crafts that I've been putting off for too long.

It always makes me so very happy to know that others enjoy viewing the art pieces I muddle my way through. So, since many of you have expressed enjoyment from seeing my art, you are now my official motivational muses.

Oh, and I plan to start doing giveaways of some of my arts and crafts as well. Can you believe I've never done an actual, honest-to-goodness giveaway? Awesome Ellen and so many others of our pals are always hosting such selfless and fun giveaways, and I've never done a single one. What is wrong with me?

Anyway, are you tired of my rambling yet? Yeah, me too. So, for today, I do have a drawing to share with you. In short, it pretty much illustrates my post-Halloween habits.

(Warning: Do not take my drawings as any form of good advice.

Please never feed your cat or dog chocolate.)

So there you have it. My sugar hangover continues.

Happy Friday!

***

Our Tip of the Day:

Who knows a furbaby that likes to chew on or eat cardboard? I'm sure a lot of people out there have had or know of such a furbaby. Please be cautious of this habit, though, as while cardboard itself is not toxic, ingesting too much could potentially lead to an intestinal blockage for your furbaby. And this of course goes for many other non-food items. If you catch your furbaby chewing on or trying to consume non-food items, try to think of reasons why that might be the case so that you can properly address it. Is your furbaby young and teething? If so, provide them with chew toys and try to remove any potentially dangerous items from their reach while they are going through this phase. Is your furbaby bored or lonely? If your furbaby is left alone for parts of the day and acts bored as a result, consider what kinds of toys might keep your furbaby busy, or perhaps even consider adopting a friend for them. In some cases, a animal will chew on, lick, or eat non-food items (a behavior known as pica) because he or she is deficient in one or more nutrients, such as fiber or certain vitamins and minerals. If you are concerned that this might be an issue for your furbaby, please consult your veterinarian. Although not uncommon in cats and dogs, chewing on non-food items can be a dangerous behavior, so please don't ignore it!