Mint Condition

I'm working on some interior selections for an exciting project that is near and dear to my heart! Hint...there is a lot of black and white. Keep your eyes peeled for the details as they unfold!

October Bulletin 2017

Burnt orange, patterns on patterns, and exotic ideas

Anthropologie Cat Knob

I replaced the drawer knob on my desk with this cutie, the treasure of my Toronto shopping jaunt.

Mittens the Fiend

My Mittens the Fiend design is now for sale as fabric, wallpaper, and gift wrap in my shop!

Smug Kitty

That smirk says it all.

Vintage Cat Bookmark: 1919 Emerson Book

I bought this book at a book fair in the spring. It is from 1919, was written by Emerson, and has an interesting green leather cover with Art Nouveau art. My mom is currently reading it and it appears she is the first person in all these years to do so--she has to slice the pages apart with a letter opener! 

That said, someone at least picked it up in the past and slipped a bookmark inside, cause as she was reading it this little guy fell out from the pages! Oh the delights of vintage books!

Summer Surface Pattern: Contrast

Now in my shop as fabric, wallpaper, and gift wrap: Aegean

Thrilled to Bits

Finely Carved

Flourish

Liquid Cat

The French Cat

If you need to escape to Felineland and/or France, this book of breathtaking photography is your ticket. It's absolutely gorgeous!

Liquid Cat

My Liquid Cat fabric is up for voting in Spoonflower's Cubist Cats challenge of the week.

Mittens the Fiend

I love how childhood memories can provide such heart-warming inspiration. My Mittens the Fiend fabric, an illustration of the misadventures that led to adventures I had with my first stuffed cat, is in Spoonflower's Kittens in Mittens challenge of the week. 

12 Days of Fabric 2014: Day 4

Today is all about Independence! Now you can find Single

and Kitties in the fabric shop.

Cat Love Shirt

Way back in the spring I had hopes of making myself a lavender cat print romper.

I undertook the project and printed out various cat silhouettes onto cardstock, cut the shapes out with an X-Acto knife, laminated the paper, and then cut the laminated cat shapes out to make 4 cat stencils. While searching for some lavender fabric and a good romper pattern, I tested the stencils with different types of fabric paint. I never found the fabric and pattern I had in mind, so the stencils sat on my desk the whole summer acquiring dust.

However, with cat print clothing items popping up in many stores this fall, I became even more determined to accomplish the task. I began my search for a t-shirt to modify. There were so many t-shirts on the clearance racks in stores, but none of them fit the bill. The neckline, material, or color were all somehow wrong for what I had dreamed up. I am rather particular, so my crafting always involves some form of a massive process of elimination. Then, one night as I was falling asleep (that's often when I manage deep and successful creative pondering, and then I am forced to lay there, wide awake with excitement) I remembered the dark grey knit fabric in my closet--a Lands' End turtleneck. Since I am a fabric vulture I had been hanging onto that men's extra large shirt for some future use, and I found one! The fabric itself is some mighty fine combed cotton. Just like a furry feline, it is very soft, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the knit is flexible but sturdy to sew. Most knit fabric is not that cooperative.

I cut the neckline, shortened the body, took in the sides, and used the top halves of the long sleeves to create shorter ones for my altered shirt. There was a lot of draping, pinning, sewing, and seam ripping involved! Through that complicated trial and error process I created a relaxed shirt with a sweetheart neckline, a scooped back, and fluttery sleeves. Considering I was completely winging it and teaching myself as I went along I can't even describe how amazed and amused I am with the result! Although that was just the base.

Then the cats came back.

I used the stencils and white fabric paint to add a heart crawling with cats spelling out the word "cat"!

Talk about a multidimensional learning experience! I even got to practice my patience skills! It's no lavender cat print romper, but I am just as delighted with this shirt as I was with the romper prospect.

 As a final note, of course I have to wear this shirt with my hand painted cat pendant! My crafty cat love is finally satisfied!

Doodle, Fabric, Frame

I had this ornate white frame sitting empty on my shelf for several weeks, and, unsure of what to put in it, I whipped this up. I used a black marker, pink pencil crayon, and some cardstock to make the cat drawing. Then, to make it a little more interesting, I added the pink calico bow that I made out of a scrap of the fabric. The idea of adding fabric to a plain drawing could be altered in numerous ways to make whatever image you like. The simple portrait of this self-satisfied kitty in his fancy frame makes me chuckle every time I look at it. An inexpensive DIY artwork, if it makes you smile, is the best kind of décor. It certainly doesn't take much effort to fill a frame with cuteness!