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?

Favorites from my shops this week

I decided it would be fun to start a line of pillow covers for both my Catcalls and Dogbarks shops. I, as many of you, have lots of fabrics laying around! I thought this might be a great way to help use some of it up. Of course, I will always want new ones, so it is completely futile! 

Here is my first pillow cover!

 "PHOOEY!"

I also am going to include some knit items in my shop, The Cat Rack, a cat lovers boutique of cat themed clothing. After making this white knit sundress, I sat down and began doodling. Doodling is really fun! It just 'happens'. Little or no thought goes into it. It's very spontaneous and the pen just does as it pleases. The fun part about this dress is the hidden pictures. Remember Highlights Magazine? I LOVED the hidden pictures page and would always turn there first. This dress has many hidden drawings spaced out over the dress. The words  peace, cat, sun, love, and kitty are among the doodles as are 6 cat faces and a pear. Can you see any? Click on either picture for more close ups in my shop. 

Have a fabulous weekend and create something cool! 

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Creations from Clutter Week 6

Last night I was looking through my scrap drawer. It was about 12:15 am. I didn't want to go to bed without making one more thing. I came across one of my  all time favorite fabrics. I had found this vintage feedsack at an antique shop several years ago. I made a skirt with it that sold within days of listing it. I kept the scraps and when I saw them last night, I decided another kitty was in order. This one I named Mabel because it has that country vintage ring to it. She is just a little kitty; not itty bitty like some in my shop, and not a full sized pillow pal either. But she is definitely very sweet! Though I really didn't use up much clutter in the making of Mabel, I do feel good about giving life and purr-sonality to an otherwise lifeless scrap! 

Clicking on Mabel will take you to my Catcalls shop where you will find many plush pillow pals! 

IT'S BLUE MONDAY!!

This fun idea comes from Deb over at Quilts Galore and More. If you want to know more you can visit her blog here.

We chose something BLUE from our shops and are offering a great bargain JUST TODAY!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/48821789/cat-shaped-pillow-for-people

This is my BLUE fleecy kitty pillow. It is $17.50 but today ONLY it is $12.00! If you write SBS in the note to seller box, I will refund your $5.50 through Paypal.

Please leave a comment or follow so I know you stopped by!

Thank you for visiting and have a sunny BLUE Monday!