Mother's Day Mama & Kitten Plush Kitties

It's almost Mother's day! 

If your mom is a cat lover, she will love this sweet pair of kitties!

And here's an original watercolor pencil kitty card to go with it!

Or how about a trio of kitties?

Also a great gift for birthdays and new moms!

Available in my Catcalls shop along with lots of other gifts for cat lovers! 

Mews & Purrs!

Do You See What I See?

looking vs Seeing

How much time do you spend looking versus seeing? 

Looking is passive – seeing is active. How many of you after spending several minutes or even several hours with someone can answer this question? 

What color were their eyes?

Unless there is something that creates a striking contrast, most people will never remember eye color.

I wonder how much of life we are missing because we have turned into passive lookers rather than active see-ers? I am taking up a challenge this year to become more of an active see-er rather than a passive looker. I expect it to filter its way into much of my life, but I am making it a monthly artistic challenge and writing about it for the online publication I work for, GeaugaNews.com, where you will find my full article. 

Below is my office-craft-laundry-bedroom. It is about 10' x 15'. 

This is the linoleum floor.

Here is a close up of one of the squares.....what do you see?

Here's what I saw.

I made a pencil rubbing, 

cut them out and added the second pencil rubbing.

I cut out appliques from cotton fabrics and placed them on a cream polka dot background that has fleece lining underneath.

I stitched the cats on, 

and placed the third tiny cat where I wanted him,

then traced around him with my fine point brown marker and used acrylic paint for details.

I added clouds

and a cotton back with another striped cat like the front one,

quilted around the clouds and small cat then added the road for perspective with some random stitching.

After sewing the back and front together, I now have a lovely pillow for my Catcalls shop! Click on the picture if you are interested in purchasing it or any other of the handmade cat-themed items in my shop! 

TADA!

What do YOU see that others only look at?

Felt Christmas Doggies For Your Tree!

Here's a few Christmas items I've been adding to my Dogbarks shop!  

Isaac

Angel 

Bing 

Some day I hope I have a whole Christmas tree decorated with little felt dogs and cats! 

My Warm & Fuzzy Prezzie!!

I received these super cute fingerless gloves in the mail today from AnnieKDesigns! It's been very cold here in the mornings, and the room I sleep and work in gets down to the 50s at night and takes quite a while to warm up during the day. I can't tell you how much I appreciate these! They even match the long underwear I have – LOL! Thank you, dear friend!

If you want your own pair of very cool and cute fingerless gloves, visit her shop HERE. 

The time has come! After 30 some years of waiting and wishing......

Stevensville, MT

I'm moving to Montana! 

I'll be leaving in July with my sister, who has also decided she is tired of Ohio, and we will drive with whatever we can fit into our cars. Everything else must go! Chubbs, her kitty, and my guinea pigs, Tooey and Violet, will be coming. I will be looking for homes for my other piggies. 

Since Chubbs will be traveling with us, he needed a harness for our rest stops. I have not made such things before, so like any good creative soul, decided this was a good time to try! He has never been in any kind of clothing or harness before, so this was quite a shock to the fat guy! Fat indeed! He has 22" girth! 

As you can see, Chubbs has some adjusting to do! 

I had such fun making this one, that I made another 'plus size' kitty harness-jacket and listed it in my shop. I do believe these will become more populous in both Mewmart and Catcalls! 

I will try to keep you posted on our preparations. I am having a moving sale this Saturday, June 9 and my sister is having one June 23 to raise money for our trip.  So we have plenty to do. I have very little - she has much more! LOL

Prayers are always welcome! For both the leaving and the traveling.....

I CAN'T WAIT!!!! 

New Red, White, and Blue Art and Clothing!

I've been on the red, white, and blue kick lately and added these to my shops in the last week. 

This first one came into being as I was considering the plight of the greyhound. The good news is that only seven states still allow racing. But that is also the bad news. One day it will be just a shadow from the past. It can't come soon enough. 

Visit  http://www.grey2kusa.org/  and follow @grey2kusa on twitter for ongoing updates about  the state of the racing industry. 

This watercolor pencil work was just for fun. Kittens are just so cute, and I envisioned a little CAT-det hiding away on July 4th, taking everything in. 

Keeping with a red, white, and blue theme, I finally used this cheery polka dotted fabric to make a skirt. I love polka dots - they are always happy! Add a little bird and a few cats and it becomes triple happy!

Click on any photo to be taken to the listing in my shops. 

Weekend Skirt Creations!

Some new creations from the weekend! I found this lime green dotted fabric while at my local thrift store on Saturday (which I love). It was a sundress of sorts - rather ugly, actually, with this yucky green lacy stuff all over. But the fabric itself was very cute. So I bought it ,and after washing it, cut it into a skirt. I added some ribbing I had on hand and then mixed some fabric paint Itogether - red, white, and blue - to make the kitties. I had just had a customer tell me the day before that she liked my cat themed clothing in Catcalls, but there were no plus sizes, so this is, hopefully, the beginning of more of those sizes. It was quite fun to make! 

Not to leave my Dogbarks shop out of the fun, I pulled out the left over flannel you see here, and after looking it over, decided a skirt would be a cute creation for this remnant as well. So I did the same thing again, adding pockets and a waistband from a black t-shirt. It's very comfy! 

Just click on the pictures to find more info on them. 

So what did YOU create this past weekend? 

Our Handmade Gift Exchange Presents!

Happy Day After Christmas!

I hope you enjoy Christmas as much as I do! Several years ago our family decided to make a rule. All gifts had to be handmade! We have 11 in the family and have a secret Santa draw in November. We have enjoyed the most unusual, unique, and personal gifts one could imagine over the years. It is a day everyone looks forward to with great anticipation, not just for what you will receive, but to see the reaction of the one who receives your gift! It's the coolest thing ever! It is far removed from the commercialized version of the holiday and completely focuses on the incredibly deep love we have for one another as a family and the gift of God's Son to us which has made such love possible. We all feel so blessed!

This year I had my son-in-law. He and my daughter own a gymnastics club in the community which also employs four of the seven siblings. My husband and one of my sons also received names of members who work in the gym. So we decided to give them all dolls with a wire frame that can be posed as desired. I had never made anything like this before, so it was a great new challenge! The guys formed the frames and wrapped them with blanket strips. I finished them with socks and made clothing that matched the gym clothing they wear.  I printed their faces out on my printer by running fabric taped to paper through the printer. I was really happy with the end product!

Mr. Jim

Mr. Judah

Mr. Judah

Miss Nikki

The Trio

*****

And this is the gift I received from my 14 year old son.

A clock decoupaged with photos of my two little grandsons. I love it! 

Psalm 127 says:

3Behold, children are a gift of the LORD,

         The fruit of the womb is a reward.

4Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,

         So are the children of one’s youth.

5How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them...

I had 7 'gifts' and I have been blessed beyond measure with love. And now they are expanding with 'gifts' of their own. 

Life doesn't get any better....

I wish you the same love and joy I have been blessed with for your 2012 New Year!

IT'S FREE SHIPPING DAY!

Check this out!! YES! There is FREE SHIPPING today ONLY, Friday, Dec. 16th, at Catcalls.etsy.com! 
Use coupon code FREECAT at checkout. 
TheCatRack.etsy.com has FREE SHIPPING every day!! Here are a few of the goodies you can get today!

Click HERE to go to Catcalls

and 

HERE to got to TheCatRack. 

Happy Shopping! 

You'll find LOTS more at both shops!

Catcalls (FREECAT coupon code) and TheCatRack offer the coolest cats and cat themed gifts, clothing, housewares, and art! 

Boxers Anyone??

 Who doesn't love a pair of soft flannel boxers? Custom orders always welcome for both pants and shorts and any dog of your choice! Both guys and gals available.  

Click HERE to see any of these in Dogbarks! 

Mention this blog at checkout and receive 10% off any pair or order! (refunded through paypal)