Black Cat Friday
Small Business Caturday
Cyber-tooth Cat Monday
and Giving Toes-day
New holiday decorations! Above is the Star of Wonder feline votive, another of the ideas I've carried for years until I could figure out how to economically add my artwork to a votive of some sort. This glass votive is etched inside by me and finished with a clear label I printed from my artwork “Star of Wonder”. I am thrilled with how it turned out.
And the day after I made "Star of Wonder" I also made a Dusk in the Woods votive, my other quintessential winter holiday art. Because I know many of you also appreciate nature, landscapes and wildlife I'm also including this votive (and the ornament below) in this feline-centric newsletter.
Votives are made from a purchased cube-shaped glass vase 3.25″ in each dimension and come with an LED tea light, though unlike my votives handpainted with alcohol inks, this can be safely used with a standard wax votive. Votives are $10.00 each plus $5.00 shipping, handling and tax. Visit this post to read more about the votive, the art, and to purchase.
Holiday Ornaments
Holiday ornaments have also been on my list of "I'm going to figure out how to make that work if I don't sleep for days" list. “Dusk in the Woods” and “Star of Wonder” are on 1/8" thick 4″ round polymer clay disks I cut with my cookie cutter, one handpainted and one with an image transfer, ready with hanging hooks for decoration this holiday season. The transfer technique for Dusk in the Woods I’ve been trying to get to work since July, and in both cases I'm so glad not to have to wait one more season before I could offer these. Ornaments are $5.00 each plus $5.00 shipping, handling and tax. Visit this post to read more about them and the art, and to purchase.
And then there is this...
I have been busy in my studio(s, upstairs, downstairs, and in between), designing, printing, painting, constructing and otherwise creating new items, and current items in new styles or different artwork. In the ornaments above I mentioned the technique I'd used for Dusk in the Woods was one I'd been trying to work out since July—transferring an image onto polymer clay so that it looks as if it's printed. And when that worked I knew I could move onto...
Tiles! And lots of other items with my artwork transferred onto a flat surface like coasters and pins and pendants for necklaces and possibly even earrings, and who knows what else. The tile above isn't available yet, but I am deciding on my designs and making them this weekend, mostly 4" square but also some rectangles. And I'm also reworking the tiles I'd made in the spring with air-dry clay on polymer clay instead.
I had hoped to have these and many more items all completed in time to share in this newsletter just before the holiday shopping season officially begins. Instead, they'll be ready at the beginning of December, a little less than two weeks away.
Visit my shop
And don't forget, if you're local you can shop at my home by appointment. Contact me to find a good time to meet, and my cats will be waiting at the door.
Also, if you stop in to shop, or shop online and pick up your order, I have a discount for you that's good at any time. Use LOCALPICKUP in your shopping cart to deduct $5.00 from your order. Or if you shop here you'll automatically get $5.00 off nearly everything you purchase since I won't have to ship it.
I hope you enjoy reading about my new products, creative activities and commissioned portraits, recent TNR and rescue, my fosters, and popular articles on The Creative Cat. Scroll down and enjoy!
Exclusive Discount for Subscribers
~~~ 25% OFF Everything Including Handmade Gifts I only offer discounts on handmade goods when I introduce them, and only to members of this list. Because of the cost of materials and my time to design and then make each unique item individually my margins are fairly slim. But we are headed into the holiday shopping season and I'm busy for part of every day designing and making new things, and I decided to set up an ongoing discount. Use the discount code HANDMADE25. Good through November 30, 2018.
Don't Forget Holiday Cards!
Of course I have cards featuring cats for all the major holidays, especially the holidays at the end of the year. Most are commercially printed 5″ x 7″ on 12 pt. card stock with a choice of opaque white, red or green envelopes and packed in a clear-top white cardboard greeting card box. I also have a few special hand-printed cards. Find these cards and more inspired by my fine felines on Feline Seasonal and Holiday Greeting Cards.
What's New?
Are You An Ailurobibliophile?
In order to realize this design, I FINALLY set myself up for screen printing. I tried it as a stencil and it was so difficult to print, just too detailed. I tried making my own screen and the small text just didn't make it. So for this design I had a screen made and I can print forever, or nearly so, and not just on bags. I have framed prints for sale, and I think it would be cute as a pillow, and I plan on other colors as well, so keep watch on PortraitsOfAnimals.net for more new items with this design.
About that word, “Ailurobibliophile”. What does it mean? Just what it says. Yes, I made it up. It popped up in my design consciousness about a decade ago when I was photographing my cats in the cat book library, on the books, in the books, napping, bathing, posing, and I held it there until I had such time to really work it out.
My initial idea was just “lover of cats and books”. Then I photographed Basil last August 2017, at right, and I knew it was time. Visit this post for more information and to order.
Lastest Rescued Kittens
Meet the Greenbriar kittens, four littles and a feral mom who I helped to trap but am not fostering, only assisting three neighbors a few miles away who needed help with trapping and socialization, plus vetting and adoption. Aren't they a real beautiful mix? Read more.
My Fosters—Are You Interested?
Mariposa Makes Her Debut
We’ve been busy around the house here, and one exciting thing has been integrating Mariposa to the house! She's doing so well, adjusting easily and getting along with all the other cats, though she stays upstairs and still eats in the bathroom. It's hard to believe Mariposa used to live at the abandoned house where I did TNR earlier this year, that filthy place where so many kittens never had a chance. But she made it, and somehow she let me know the night I trapped her that, even though she looked like all the rest of them, she wasn't really like the others. She's made her journey from feral to friendly in a way I've never seen before. She is precious, and very special. Read more...
Sienna is Absolutely Adorable
"I still love curling up on your lap and having a love fest at any time. Once I have seen visitors a few times I’m fine with them. To my surprise I have really grown to enjoy other cats, especially the nice cats here. I love my food! I have never complained about any food I’ve been given."
We all thought Sienna was a feral kitty when she showed up at a feeding station, but after an overnight in the trap it was clear she was friendly, but very shy and easily frightened. She has actually begun to be brave with visitors. Read more...
And don't forget, if you're local you can shop at my home by appointment. Contact me to find a good time to meet, and my cats will be waiting at the door.
