Aby-a-Day – 9 Augusti: Angel and her little pirate mini-me (Miniature Monday)

Last Monday, we rented a car and went to Tibro, Tidan, Toreboda and Hjo, four towns nearby Skövde that have an awesome used book store, a fantastic antique store, a retro 50’s diner and a huge toy store.

It was at the toy store in Tibro that I found a small plushie pirate in the form of a small ginger cat.

Of course, it instantly reminded me of a certain Aby I know who has been known to be a pirate at times.

Turns out, this little dude is Oscar the Ginger Cat from an early 2000’s kids’ show called Merlin the Magical Puppy, which I have never heard of until now.

Okay, so it’s fairly random that, in a small town in Southwestern Sweden, I find a stuffed toy cat from a BBC kids’ show that ran from 2001-2003 that looks rather like my one-eyed Abyssinian…but that’s pretty much my life. Plus, there’s that little toothless mouth!

Aby-a-Day – 20 December 2020: Wordless Wednesday (Warriors plushies!)

Aby-a-Day – 16 November 2020: Awesome custom plushies! (Miniature Monday)

Back in July, I found this awesome Etsy seller in Ukraine called Granny Lu who makes custom plushies based on your art.

Of course, I could NOT resist. I sent her these two drawings; Izaak as Baby Yoda and Toothless the dragon.

Well, they arrived on Friday…and they. Are. AWESOME!

Even Zak approves of them.

The detail is amazing. Just based on my drawing…she captured every detail.

I mean, look at the prosthetic tail attachment!

Zak likes it, too.

Zak’s name is also embroidered on one wing.

The Baby Yoda Zak is just as perfect.

He’s got his little bowl of bone broth.

I love his tail.

She assumed his robe has a hood, so she included one…that actually works!

And underneath the hood, Zak’s name. In a colour matching his fur. I love it.

Izaak and his alter-egos. The next great artwork I come up with…I am definitely going back to her! They were a bit expensive…but oh, so worth it.

Aby-a-Day – 11 Oktober 2020: Stealing Pusheen (Silly Singapura Sunday)

I have a collection of Pusheen plushies that I keep on the bed as extra pillows.

One day, I discovered one of the Pusheens in the living room.

Gee…I wonder how she got there…

Someone doesn’t look at all guilty, does someone?

What’s funny is, this Pusheen is almost as big as Izaak is! I wish I had seen him dragging it into the living room from our bedroom. And now Pusheen lives in the living room, thanks to Zak.

Aby-a-Day – 1 Juni 2020: Happy Birthday to me! (Miniature Monday)

Today is my birthday! A fairly important one (I was born in 1965; you do the math)…and Björn gave me gifts that coordinate with my art in the past year. First…the one that was released today and hasn’t shipped yet: a Baby Yoda doll!

My next gift was a small plushie of Toothless, who I also drew as a versiom pf Izaak.

Besides Baby Yoda and Toothless, Björn also got me a black Lucky Cat.

Okay…so, angry black Lucky Cat may not connect to any cartoon I’ve done, but he’s still adorable. I love them all!

Aby-a-Day – 15 Juli: Do they miss us when we’re gone? (Monday Mystery)

Do our cats miss us when we’re gone? Alfred and Angel are used to us going away, I was particularly curious how Izaak and Lorelai would react to our being away, since usually when we go off on a trip, they come with us.

Hero the London Lion which I had seen in a shop in Covent Garden, but we were too tired and hungry to go in and look at him. Later, after a rest and some food, I wished I had stopped and gotten the “Lion in a British jumper” because he was wicked cute!

As luck would have it, I found him at the airport as we were leaving!

I introduced Hero to Rory…but she didn’t seem very impressed.

“Really mom? Really? You left us ALONE. For a WEEK. Without taking us with you! And you bring this thing back with you?

“Look at me. My eyes are bigger, and I am way cuter!”

In the end, I am not sure if Rory missed us…or the fact that we take her outside to run.

Meanwhile, the moment we walked in the door, Zak was yelling for his chicken neck.

After he had demolished it, we sat on the sofa and I gave him cuddles. At first, he seemed happy I was home…

…but then…

…I think he remembered how much mommy kisses him.

I have a deep suspicion that he didn’t miss the kissies.

But he did miss me.

So much so that he is clearly contemplating his escape from my dastardly clutches.

Aby-a-Day – 26 Juni: Wordless Wednesday (Angel on our bed)

Aby-a-Day – 24 Juni: Tentacle Kitty (Miniature Monday)

Last week I happened to go to our local second-hand shop and found an interesting plushie.

Intrigued, I looked at the tag, and it said “Tentacle Kitty, Second Edition.” Second edition? What? A pink kitty-squid with a cute little nose has been a thing long enough to have a second edition plushie and I have never heard of it before!? How is this possible?

Turns out, Tentacle Kitty was created in 2009 by a husband and wife team in Oregon. There’s a webcomic about her and a cast of other multi-limbed kitty characters. Not sure how I missed a cartoon kitty for ten whole years…but I’ve found her now! And she only cost 29kr (about $3 USD).

Izaak seems to really like her, too. Or maybe it’s just that her tentacles remind him of his snake.

PS: Today is Cat World Domination Day. Be sure to go and celebrate it with our Somali friend, Summer!