Repainted rain barrel

 I recently repainted our rain barrel. Of course it has a kitty theme.

A new crochet project: Orphaned kitten sweaters

 As some of you might remember, I've been crocheting cat beds for the local shelter for several years. It's a nice project, relaxing while I watch tv. However, our friend Connie sent a suggestion to me: Would I be willing to crochet sweaters for orphaned kittens?

After seeing the blog post, the answer was yes!

I've started making The Millie, the smallest size, and have made four so far. I found a small plushie to model one for you.*

*Note that this one doesn't have Velcro sewed on just yet.

If you're interested in trying this, here is the blog post with instructions.

Here is information about the organization.

I love everything about this--kittens benefit and I get warm fuzzies by making them.

Re-painted garden statue (and an update)

 I have some good news, and some bad news. First the good--I've repainted the garden statue and placed it outside.

Now for the not-so-good news: Yesterday Jim got a positive COVID test, so we're in quarantine. I am truly surprised by this. He had been filling ill and developed vertigo, so on Monday I drove him to the doctor. We suspected an inner ear infection but surprise, it was COVID!

We are in quarantine until at least the 20th (when his symptoms first started). I pray that I stay healthy.

Belately sharing a Christmas project

A few days before Christmas, I visited my parents and sister. We spent an evening making wood signs. My sister has a Cricut (an electronic cutting machine) and she printed out patterns, which made a sort of mask on the wood. I painted in the design with acrylic paint, and later added some glitter.

What did I choose to make? A cat design, of course!

Tie-dyed Easter eggs, 2019 edition

Every year I color eggs using men's silk ties. It's always a surprise to see how they turn out.  I present this year's eggs!

This one was from a dark purple tie.

This one is pretty too.

Coloring Easter eggs, 2019 edition

It's a tradition to color Easter eggs at our house, usually with kitty "help."

This year, Benny, Lucy, and Ringo were all over the place while I was getting the supplies ready.

Ringo was being cute and sitting in the Easter basket I use for photos.

Lucy was in the middle of things. She batted off things onto the floor (thankfully no eggs).

So was Ringo. We were disappointed that the Dudley's egg coloring kit we bought only had THREE colors in it. So we used food coloring to experiment with colors.

The pink and turquoise were in the egg kit. The green and dark blue one were food coloring.

Hey mom, don't forget about me!

Ringo: Hey mom, over here!

What are you doing? Wouldn't you rather take a photo of ME instead?

I'm all cute and stuff!

While I do appreciate Ringo's "help," I was trying to photograph a new stamp set I bought. I rarely buy new stamp items these days--but I could not resist this set. Plus, it works with the punch (on the right) that I already have!

 I love the True love has four paws sentiment (and I can use it for cat and dog stamps)!

Thrifty Thursday: Cat rubber stamps

This week's Thrifty Thursday is compliments of our friend, Amy, who found these rubber-stamp sets at her local thrift store and gifted them to us.

This one was never used, and had been on my wish list for a while.

This Valentine's Day set has both a cat and a dog.

And lastly, this Halloween set with a kitty. I have the coordinating circle punch for these stamps.

This year's tie-dyed Easter eggs

Another tradition here is to use men's ties to dye Easter eggs. I present this year's eggs.

Thrifty Thursday: Yet another cat pin

Over the weekend I found a Christmas cat pin! Isn't it cute?

While this isn't a thrift item, my friend Susan sent me this cute stitched pin.

Felted kitty #3

I recently completed a third felted kitty, made from cat fur. This kitty was made with fur primarily from Melly of Scarlett & Melly fame.

I used actual cat whiskers, and the eyes are courtesy of our friend Roberta. They are stick-on craft eyes, and I think they work perfectly!

We are gifting this kitty to Scarlett & Melly's mom. :-)

More adventures in felting cat fur

I continue to experiment with felting cat fur. I recently completed a small cat. The fur was mostly courtesy of our friend Connie.

He looks a little sad to me, and he's far from perfect, but I think he's a good first attempt. I added a collar.

I sent a photo to a co-worker and he surprised me by asking to commission a cat to represent his recently deceased cat, who died of cancer. While I don't feel I'm ready for commissions yet, I could not say no to a request like this. I'm working on this one now.

That's a pipe cleaner to mark the tail. Thankfully, the cat was mostly white with a gray tail and a couple small spots of orange. Wish me luck. I hope he will treasure the completed piece.

Experimenting with felting

A couple of months ago, I bought a book on using cat fur for crafts. I thought it would be funny, but I found the crafts quite nice, so I've been trying some. I first made some finger puppets.

I ordered an inexpensive felting kit and made some pillows. Aren't they cute?

The purple fabric is a wool sweater, and the fringe on the one pillow was part of the sweater. I thought it added something interesting to the pillow.

The white kitty's fur is from our friend Laila. The gray kitty is a combination of Ringo and Benny. The orange balls on the right-hand pillow are from Lucy.

It's been interesting so far. Some cat's fur is easier to use for felting than others. Lucy's fur is just right, but she dislikes brushing so I don't have much from her.

Speaking of Lucy, she seemed to like my pillow.

Paw of approval.

Then I noticed her sitting in a strange way.

Ok, Lucy, if it works for you!