The Sock Thief and A New Painting

Our Tillie - who at the end of this week will have shared our home with us for four months, has a newly discovered talent. Sock thief! I keep my socks in a large basket in my bathroom - since it's always been a convenient place for me to keep them. Lately I have found trails of  socks though coming from the bathroom to the living room. At first I thought that it was a simple matter of maybe dropping laundry along the way to returning it to draws and baskets. Now I have discovered that is Tillie - the sock thief. She plays with them and I often find them trailed from bathroom to bed when she is cozied up next to a pair or two! She is really beginning to become herself now. Although she is still skittish she has started really exploring the rest of the house - and is slowly assimilating herself into the entire house. I think that she will, eventually, become house queen and will make herself comfortable everywhere - though I think it will take some time to get to that point and I think that she will always be a bit skittish with new people. She has developed a fondness for thinly sliced deli turkey and DH spoils her with it and she cries so piteously every time he walks in the door - like she is saying that I never feed her during the day when he is gone! We love her a lot and she was a great family addition!

This a new mixed media piece that I had been working on - highlighting a favorite 1994 quote from E.E. Freeman. The Clairefontaine watercolor paper background (one of my favorite cold pressed water color papers) was textured with a gesso base ,stamped with a variety of text and letter stamps and then covered with Japanese lace paper. I used PanPastels - YES! they really are truly unique and wonderful- for the face and hair, some special decorative paper for the shirt, embossed metal for the earring and a Pitt Marker in brown for the lettering that I over-wrote with Ziller North White ink to tone the darkness in the lettering down just a bit. Ziller ink is, by the way, really lovely ink - sort of a cross between ink and thin gouache or acrylic. I love it!

I've been fulfilling some obligations for ATC's and doing some extra book reviews that were - and still are - long overdue - which is why I have been a bit quiet around here. I see the doc on 8/31 and plan to have the second surgery as soon as I can. My plan is to enter 2011 as pain free as i can be!! I will be back with some new art/fiber work and some book reviews of some wonderful new textile books. Hope You all have week filled with love, laughter and a touch of magic too !

In a close up so can see the texture of the background a bit better. The PanPastels are a bit less transparent than the photo seems to show. They are, as I mentioned a very cool new art medium that I am glad I ended up taking the financial plunge and trying. I have decided that my over riding desire is to return to England and Italy while I am still young enough and soon - I hope - pain free enough - to return to all of the places that I want to see again - and some newly added must sees too! So what small amounts I can save now will be spent less on new fun supplies than I am used to. I need a bit of travel in my life - it feels like such a strong pull to me -  and I think that ,artistically, the places I want to go to will really be a boost for me too!

Here you can see the small, embossed earring and the texture and over-layed stamped letters and text

Making Progress Every Day

Here she is - becoming more comfortable every day. The first and last photos were adjusted because the shadows were too dark in the photos - so she does not have quite the smudges these two photos indicate! The second photo is the most true to real!

Her tummy seems to be okay now - hope that will continue. Last night - in the middle of the night - she decided that she wanted to explore the blinds that are at the top of the bed. Back and forth, back and forth. I am so enchanted by this little minx! I promise I won't bore you with continual cat photos. Next post will be back to something fiber and art related !

The "White Wonder" and The Season of Glorious Sunsets Has Begun

Here she is! Our new family member. Her name has been Smudge but we are looking for a more fitting name. Tillie is being considered. If you have any thoughts on a name for our beautiful white kitty I would love to hear them!  On Wednesday I drove up to Bellingham - near the Canadian border - where this little beauty was waiting with a sign on her cage that said "I'm Going Home!"

As I mentioned in an earlier post - I fell in love with her on March 31st. Lauren and I did not have time to go and get her after my medical appointment that day but I filled out the adoption paperwork and spoke with the lovely woman who runs BelWest Cat Rescue several times - and I developed a really good feeling about her genuine love for the fabulous felines in her care. 'Tillie' was owned by a woman who had three cats. She died from cancer two hours after releasing her 'kids' into the care of Zella Chapman and BelWest Cat Rescue. The lovely thing is that before she passed away she wrote a letter about 'Smudge' - what she is like, what her habits had been and how she had been raised. I have the letter now and am really touched and honored to have it - along with the opportunity to now be  'owned' by this beautiful cat!

I had her in a carrier until I got off the freeway and picked up DH. I took  her out  of the carrier while we waited-for 2 hours- in the ferry line and she sat in my lap during all of that wait, the hour and half boat ride and then the drive home - very calm and sweet. I just carried her into the house! All in all in she remained calm and collected in my lap for 5 hours! Amazing. She is a bit skittish  - and I gather from the letter that she has always been somewhat that way, but she's a mix of skittish and amazing calm. I can;t blame blame her - she's been through a lot! She stays in her new bed in the window of the bedroom - and I have, temporarily set up food and litter in my bathroom which is near the bed. She ventures out to the living room more and more each day. Her appetite is good and her grooming is immaculate. Last night she discovered that she is welcome on the bed and we spent the night with her jumping up - waking us each up in turn for pats & purrs - then she would jump down again and it seemed like she was thinking "I wonder if I can wake them up again?!" She's met our grand dame, Cleo, who is still spry at 16. They have some issues to work out but Cleo is pretty much ignoring her now - and life continues as always.

I was nervous about getting another family member at first-but I followed my gut on this and I am so pleased that I did. Finding her has been a bit of kismet. When I considered going into the pet store that day I thought 'wouldn't it be weird if if there is a white cat in there?'. Sure enough there was - and I am so pleased that she has joined our family!

Name suggestions anyone?

I picked up a "Furminator" cat hair grooming tool at Pet'sMart on Wednesday after reading about it on JenClair's blog, Bayou Quilts. I am generally skeptical about new pet products but I thought I would try it out. It's a wonderful tool - and the cats actually seem to enjoy being groomed with it! Very good! It's sort of like a mat cutter for dogs but the teeth are MUCH finer and not as sharp. It does an excellent job of getting the shedding done faster!

We have been enjoying some lovely early Spring weather and the sunsets have started to be breathtaking again. This was what the sky looked like about 8pm this evening- look at those colors! Have a wonderful weekend. Be well and be happy!

New Hand Painted Cat Cards For Some Special Friends

Here a few newly hand painted cards. I used with a combination of inks: J.Herbin inks , J.Herbin Calligraphy inks, J. Herbin Pearlescent inks, Dr.Martin's India inks - and just a touch of Golden Interference Red/Gold. These will be off to new owners this morning. One a "huury back" rather than a "good bye" for a favorite doctor who is leaving and one for his nurse who will, once again, have to 'train' another new doc. The third card goes to the great, friendly people at the front desk of our Medical Center who somehoe seem to manage to always answer those blasted phones with a smile! Did I mention they get home made sugar cookies too?!

Peachy Cat: The Series

I am doing a series of cat faces and this is one that I just finished. I am not that fond of this one but that's okay - it will work. I am triny different color combinations and will then pick those that I like the best and do a whole cloth type of quilt with them I think. The green, in actuality, is not as flourescent as it appears here, although for some odd reason the other colors are quite true.

It appears that the hummingbirds may catch a break this weekend...we may actually have some Spring like weather this weekend. Today is sunny but chilly here - but it is snowing on the mainland!!

It's My Thing Tuesday: What In The Heck Have I Been Doing All This Time?!

There are times when it feel like I am not accomplishing a single thing. I have nothing much to post and nothing at all to 'brag' about! This is one of those alow times for me. Things are 'in the works' but nothing is really finished so I though that I would, at least, share with you a couple of the things that are not quite there yet!

First is this fabulous hoodie scarf. It was not as easy as I thought it would be to find a hood pattern so I was thoroughly pleased when I found this one from D-Made. It's under the free patterns. I love having some cabling running the length of the scarf - I needed some practice in cables anyway and this was the perfect amount to do. The hood part itself will have a cables edging to it when all is said and done. The cabled scarf part will be 7" when it's done. I am using Knit-Picks Worsted yarn in Fire Brick.

The next thing that I have been working on is something that I doubt too many of you will have an interest in - but it is fun for me! Thisis my first fountain pen restoration project. I am wokring on an old Shaeffer pen. I have to replace the sac (the thing that holds the ink) and also a small washer in the top of the blind cap. Unfortunately, no one makes the washers so I am trying to figure out what matieral i can use to fashion one from. This is truly, a mercury retrograde kind of thing, I can't finish the repairs until i figure out what to do about the washer. Arghhhhh..... Other than this irritation though it is really quite interesting to discover how pens are made. I had never taken one apart before. The book, fondly referred to as "Da Book", was given to me by a kind person on the Fountain Pen Network. This is one amazing site. Friendly people willing to share all of their knowledge and information - no no one knows where to get washer material - everyone has made their own!

Last, but not least, in the on-goingprojects is some painting. I am taking another on-line calss from Paulette Insall called "Enjoying The Journey". The first lesson was on creating backgrounds. This was the first background that I made (there have been several) and, since it was rather pale & relatively boring, I decided that I would start another in my 'cat series' on top of it. I am working on a few painting projects right now that will, ultimately, become whole cloth quilts. The 'cat series' is one of those "soon to be quilt" projects. I am playing with color & facial variations for the cats. This one is really just a flicker in my eye at this point - but what else can I say I am working on things - but nothing is 'presentation' worrthy yet!

Happy Cat : Doodling Again

I was doodling last night - and this 'Happy Cat' was the result. I had fun playing with my new set of Caran D'Ache Neocolor II artist crayons. I splurged on the set of 84. I always wait for Dick Blick sales to splurge on relatively large ticket art items! I love the smooth way the Neocolors go one & how well they blend when you add water. My friend. Sarah, gave me one of those cool water brushes last year. At the time I had no idea what to do with it or how it worked. I thought the brush would be like any other brush & would need cleaning after every color. I was wrong !! Now I have a collection of these wonderful water brushes & they have become one of my favorite tools to use with water soluble crayons or pencils. A paper towel is all you need in between colors. IMHO they are little marvels of modern technology! Next splurge (I have to wait for another sale though!) will be more Golden paints .... I wonder how long I'll have to wait ?! I am feeling very impatient ! Color is good. Color is life. Color means fun !

Mercury IS Retrograde Plus Some Photos

"Chance" attacks a post - or is he admiring the bleeding hearts?!

One of my summer time favorites

Here is that awesome orchid I got for my birthday! What a color !

Mercury is retrograde from May 26th through June 19th. There is a plethora of information about this roughly thrice yearly phenomena on the web. In general, however, a mercury retrograde can really impact communications, and information processing & distribution. It can cause communications errors and business deals & negotiations of all kinds can easily go awry. Glitches in transportation, phones (communication) and computers (again communication) can all get "twitchy" during a retrograde. Generally it is not thought to be a good time to close deals, make important decisions, start new projects (quilting and art included) or do things that require perfect mental clarity. I am a rank beginner when it comes to this sort of stuff - but I definitely have found that mercury retrogrades can and DO throw monkey wrenches into plans and can make life irritating for the duration. Certainly many readers of this blog know way more about retrogrades than I do !

Case in point for me . My computer, which NEVER gives me any trouble (it's a Mac) EVER, has been acting really weird at times this week. One night I was panicking -thinking that I might really have a serious problem. It was late though so I decided to go to bed and look at it again in the morning before I left for work when my mind was fresh. Sure enough, in the morning, it worked perfectly. This afternoon, I ordered a pizza to pick up on the way home. When I got home DH asked "no pizza?". I had completely forgotten to pick it up! Yikes maybe I should not be admitting to such memory lapses! I think I was too much in a rush to get home on a Friday afternoon ! We have been having a really cool, rainy week. It's been 48F (8.888C) in the morning - talk about a "mercury retrograde" weather!!!

Here's to a wonderful, safe, happy, calm weekend for us all ! I should have lots more art related things to share this weekend.

Watching The World Go By

This kitty seemed so content to watch the world go by outside of his roughly screened window. Maybe the owner screened it in just for him/her? I would be happy to sit for awhile and watch the world go by - taking it all in to use as inspiration for a more energetic day. Happy Monday to all.

For All Serious Cat People

I saw this on Claudine Helmuth's Blog - and just had to spread the fun a little more. Doesn't his fellow look somewhat like George Clooney in "regular" clothes?! These guys did a great job and I thank them for the chuckles !

Can You Find The Cat

How do they do this? If you look closely you can barely discern Bart's ear at the 3 o'clock position. He was oblivious when I took this photo - flash and all.

I have little news to report. Three days in bed can do that to you! I have finished knitting my scarf, made progress on the Kuryeon socks, finished two books, and have progressed on two of the triangles. I WANT to get moving . I want my energy back!

"Hear No Evil"

Doesn't it look like Chance is covering his ears so he won't have to hear something bad?! Chance got his name for a reason. When I once worked for vet he was brought in suffering from some sort of poisoning. We did not expect him to last overnight, but he did. When he had recovered I felt bad for him and adopted him. He became blind in one eye not long afterwards - as a result of the poison we think. It doesn't bother him in the least and he probably one of the most agile of the bunch. He has some very bad kitty habits though and I DO prefer it when he is outside...but that's hard to make him do on these very cold nights. He may have some bad habits - but he sure can be cute!