Marketplace: Start Your New Year With “Great Rescues Day Book”

January 2, 2020November 1, 2020 Bernadette

day book with cat portraits great rescues day book — Great Rescues Day Book, cover and two-page spread.

If you enjoy my rescue stories and my artwork, you can have, or give as a gift, a year’s worth of my portraits and rescue stories in Great Rescues Day Book. The book also includes basic information about caring for cats and interesting cat facts and background on each portrait and on my artwork, all in a book you can also use to keep track of annual events—birthdays, anniversaries, events with your cats and other pets, and personal memories.

I’ve used a day book for over 25 years and have all the arrivals and, sadly, departures of each of my cats along with my friends’ weddings, my nieces’ births and the births of their children, the day I first registered a business name, all that sort of stuff, conveniently included in one place.

It’s based on my original Great Rescues Calendar and Gift Book and features a commissioned portrait of a rescued cat or cats along with their story each month. The month isn’t dated for one year, but has all the dates in a month for you to fill in the birthdays, anniversaries, holidays and social and personal events in your life to track in perpetuity, or at least until you fill up all the spaces.

Buster's page in "Great Rescues Day Book" — Buster’s page in “Great Rescues Day Book”

On the left is the featured portrait with the kitty’s story, below that the monthly quote of something feline. On the right is the month name with enough lines for all possible dates in that month, and each month is headed with a cat- or pet-related theme. The holidays that are celebrated on a certain date are marked on that date, but ones that float, especially those Monday holidays, are explained at the bottom just to remind you that they also happen in that month. If animal-themed holidays are celebrated on a certain date, like Spay Day USA, they will also be included, but just the same if they are ones that float like Pet Memorial Sunday they will be explained at the bottom. The book is 8″ x 10″ and spiral-bound on the left edge, small enough to be easily carried around, large enough to have space to record things you’d like.

Great Rescues Day Book Two-page spread with portraits. — Two-page spread with portraits.

I had long wanted to share those stories and the lovely kitties I’d painted. This book shares the stories and art, and can do that for years to come.

Although Great Rescues Day Book is a 12-month book I am still featuring all 15 portraits of rescued cats that were included in the original Great Rescues Calendar, plus the portrait of my own Fawn which I consider my first portrait, ever. These portraits as a collection won a Certificate of Excellence and a Muse Medallion in the 2011 Cat Writers’ Association Annual Communication Contest.

And the stories continue…

While the portraits are lovely and I’m proud of my body of work, the stories of these cats, and the people who rescued them, is what compels me to share them with you. Each of the stories tells of cats from shelters and cats abandoned and saved, cats found inside car engines and cats reluctantly surrendered by people who could no longer care for them, but each one has a happy ending as a cherished companion in a loving home.

And while each cat has an individual story, each rescuer has a story as well of reaching out to an animal in need to bring it in from the streets—because rescue is really about the rescuer as well as the rescued. In many cases they helped heal physical and emotional wounds and gave that cat a lifetime of love, in return receiving love and devotion; often those humans received some healing in return they weren’t aware they needed.

Following the calendar section is a section of stories of the rescuers and their feline families today and notes on the design and rendering of each of the portraits.

The stories continue in "Great Rescues Day Book". — The stories continue in “Great Rescues Day Book”.

You can also read the individual stories of the Great Rescues families each month as I featured rescues and commissioned portraits.

Resources for feline health and welfare

The book also includes a mini cat-care book illustrated with my pencil drawings. It’s a section of information answering the most frequently asked questions from people I’ve been able to help through the years such as basic needs, needs by age, exam and vaccine best practices and when to take your cat to the vet or to emergency aside from routine veterinary care, household toxins, age equivalents, spay and neuter, rescue, pet loss and more.

Resources pages in “Great Rescues Day Book”

Decorative paper for your notes

I’ve always loved overall patterns of different cats on wrapping paper and fabric, and when I looked over the portraits I’d included I immediately saw the potential to create my own overall pattern with a feline theme which I named “22 Cats” for the number of different cats included in the design.

In the back of the book is 20 sheets of lined notepaper with “22 Cats” printed on both sides in black and white for you to use for your own notes or to send notes to others. The 22 Cats Notepaperwon both a Certificate of Excellence and a Muse Medallion in the 2011 Cat Writers’ Association Annual Communication Contest.

black and white notebook paper featuring a collage of cats — Award-winning 22 Cats Notebook Paper

More about Great Rescues Day Book

Great Rescues is spiral-bound and measures 8″ x 10″ to easily fit on your desk or in a purse, briefcase or backpack. The cover is a solid 12 pt. gloss for durability. Each calendar and information page is 80# uncoated cover stock for opacity and durability as you write your notes and turn the pages year after year. The “22 Cats” notepaper is printed on 28# bond so you can easily fold a note and mail it.

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Purchase a copy of Great Rescues Day Book

You can purchase a copy of Great Rescues on Portraits of Animals.

**A Special Offer for Creative Cat Readers**

Three Favorite Gift Books for $25.00

Great Rescues Day Book, Feline Style Sampler and The Creative Cat Coloring Book are fun for your own use, and they are also great small gifts as thank yous, thinking of yous and all occasion gifts for cat lovers, for people studying art, for children to color and make notes.

The regular price for all three is $40.00. Through January 31, 2020 you can purchase the trio for only $25.00, including shipping and handling (US only, please ask for a quote for international shipping).

This offer is only available here, not on any of my other sites and to subscribers to The Creative Cat Preview Newsletter. Use the shopping cart information below to purchase.

Marketplace

Susan pets each of the boys.

Take a look at other new merchandise and featured artwork.

Once a week on Thursday I feature something new in my “shop”, whether that’s here on The Creative Cat, on my main website or even at one of the bricks and mortar shops that carry my work.

Read about creating custom items

Find out more about creating custom items for your own home using the images you see here. Visit the “Ordering Custom Art” page to see samples and read bout how to order.

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It’s all done under the close and careful supervision of my studio cats!

Copyright

All images and text used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission, although links to your site are more than welcome and are shared. Please ask if you are interested in using and image or story in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of an image or a product including it, check my animal and nature website Portraits of Animals to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.