The Story behind May 2026

Happy May everyone! This month’s calendar image was designed by Violet, Crispina’s youngest daughter. Violet’s design this year features the family cat, October. They’ve had October for many years now, and he’s around 14 or 15 years old.

Over the years, both Lucy and Violet have used their own pets as inspiration for their calendar designs, and this year was no different, with October shining in this image!

Below, I went through our archive to find some of Violet’s past animal-inspired designs as well.

When it came to printing this month, Violet and I went back and forth choosing colors. Finding the right combination on paper can sometimes take a few days, but we eventually settled on a light tan and a bluish green. Below are some of the color tests we experimented with before deciding on the final version.

Throughout May, I’ve been asking readers of the Sunday Splash to send in photos of their cats. I’ve only been featuring one cat a week, but this felt like the perfect place to share some of the other cats people sent in — along with plenty of inspiration photos for this design’s star, October!

Hope everyone had a great May!