Fraud

This is not what you might be thinking of now. No online fraud, my bank card did not get stuck in the cash machine and I got the right change at checkout in the supermarket.

No, even if it's hard to admit - I'm the fraud.

Maybe you wonder why you didn't hear about my kitties for a while. Ponder has his own blog now and there he's telling it like it is. Before he's giving Esme the chance to call me out over there, though ... well, I decided I had to do it myself. Here's the photo that could ruin my reputation.

Esme claims I rented the place out as a two bedroom flat. And she was not happy with her bedroom. Mainly because there was no bed there, just a floor. With carpet, but not by far as nice as her brother's bedroom, a nice old big office chair with a clean blanket ... with kitties on it!!

So I guess I'll just apologize officially to Esme. I know she will keep me under surveillance very closely for a long time now.

Wish me luck.

I love them

Sometimes I say I'll sell them to the circus or I threaten to eat them with French fries. They can be so annoying when they practice their new tapdancing steps on my ribs at night or when they start a fight to get me up early for their breakfast. They can be so clumsy knocking over stuff that they usually wind through like snakes, just to get your attention. They can hurt you so much, either by turning their backs on you when you need them most (yes, it was a traumatic moment when I came home from hospital and Merlin hissed at me and hid under the bed for three hours, even if I know I had been away for weeks and probably smelled really funny) or by digging their claws into most tender spots on your body.

And then they are on the bed, on the couch or on the desk, and knowing you are close by, they'll just roll around and trust you to catch and hold them. I have watched them and they rarely do the extreme stunts when there's no one is in reach. (Sometimes they fall off the furniture, but rarely when I'm around to witness it.)

No matter if Greebo is getting ready for his training units with some light stretching .....

.... or if Ponder is rolling over on the desk just to land on my arm and leg. Hadn't I been there to hold him, he would have taken a dive right down to the floor.

Sometimes I'm easy to please, these are special little moments to me.

A photo story

First let me say that I'm not in a great mood at the moment ... which is why you don't see me around much. Believe me, that's a good thing.

This I had to share with you, though. It's what the "security camera" picked up right now, and boy, am I ever glad it did or I would have to get my sister a new necklace.

1. The master thief detects a piece of jewelry which has not been secured by a lock or something. He reaches in to check out what possibilities he has got.

2. The master thief has dug in and released the loot easily from its poor hiding place. In expert manner he checks out the value of the piece, ignoring the sceptical look of Lady Agnew of Lochnaw.

3. It's always of interest to know how long the chain is. This one is probably too long to give it to one of his girlfriends.

4. Now that the question about the chain is answered, it's time to have a closer look and sniff at the pendant itself.

5. Finally the master thief takes notice of the security camera. In an attempt to feign innocence he drops the necklace.

P.S. I cheated a little on the order of those pictures, due to bad light I had to put together pictures from different attempts to steal the Crown Jewels. Actually he tried about five times while I had trouble to hold the camera still and keep myself from rolling on the floor laughing! You'll forgive me this little artistic freedom, won't you? ;-)

The weekend is almost over ...

... which means the day job is waiting for me around the corner. It's going to be so hard to get up really early again!

As I don't know if Mabel will be overwhelmed by this fact (I found muses can get bored easily) and run away to Maui or Australia (in which case she could bring me some opals) , I took the chance to quickly work on another piece, a huge cross with lots of Swarovski crystals - blue and clear - and a faceted midnight blue glass bead as focal.

The addiction has taken over, that went quickly.

Here it is, if you want to see more pictures, you can find it here in my ArtFire studio.

P.S. "She has been telling stories about us again." "Nah, you are kidding, what did she say this time?" "She said we don't use the new box." "Doh, what does she know? Let's show her."

And that's what they did this evening. In abundance. Greebo, Esme and Ponder.

Here's just one example. Let's make the human look like a fool. Well done indeed.

Surprise, surprise!

In February it will be two years that my Merlin passed away.
Ever since he's gone, Meffi wouldn't go upstairs anymore. You could tell how much she missed him. She doesn't get along too well with the black devils. Ponder is too rude for her and although she has been seen exchanging quick nose kisses with Esme, there are times when I feel I need to buy a boxing ring for them and demand entrance fees.
The last few months she has started coming upstairs again, hm, more like running, but only if she feels the need to chase Ponder. As small and slim as she is, as big is her voice and she has the whole range, from growling to hissing, yelling and yowling and a sound that I would expect from a stag, but not a little cat.

Today however she was suddenly there, standing in front of the library, Greebo and Esme behind her looking just as surprised as I did, it seemed.
She checked out everything, first the library, then the old oven that stands in our hallway until the house's hallway is finished, and now she's in the library, sleeping on the pinball machine.


I just hope this won't be a one time incident, I always felt bad that she seemed to feel restricted to downstairs.
And there's this tiny spark of hope that one day she won't mind the noisy siblings around her anymore ...

Visiting the library - a photo story

I'm not talking about a public library, but my own one at home. It's off limits for the cats right now because my light tent is there and lots of stones, finished pieces and just stuff in general is scattered around. From time to time one of the kids goes in there with me.
Today Ponder was the one. He had been like a little child all afternoon. "Play with me." "I'm hungry." "I want to snuggle." So finally we went into the library together. I started taking pictures, but then I found a waxed thread necklace I had broken and we settled in for a nice game of string instead.
I know it must seem as if I neglect the others, but Ponder is really the one who lets me take pictures easily while the others do funny stuff right up to the moment I get the camera out - then they freeze.
So here's our story.

"Throw, Mom! I promise I won't use my claws!"


Yeah. Right.


Ouch! I was too slow. When will I learn??


"That was fun, but I think I hear something."


Muffled sound: "There is something here under Roosevelt. Give me a moment." (Roosevelt is the bear's name. He has been with us since 1988 and he has seen a lot!)


"Aaaaalmost got it."


"Roosevelt, what do you think? Looks yummy?" (Enlarge the picture to see the delicious meal.)


Happy sigh. "I love dessert. Roosevelt, a back massage would be nice now!"


After stuffing his face like that, he's in the chair behind me now, peacefully sleeping.
And I can hear a snore from under the desk ... Greebo's favorite place ...

P.S. Ehm, I do know that Ponder doesn't speak, by the way, at least not the human language ;-)

Can you see me?

Ignore the cat behind the curtain .... ignore the cat behind the curtain ...

Animal instinct

The Smooshers have a whole lot of new members AND the Smooshers have a new blog task force. Today I'll combine all those new powers.
Our subject is animal instinct.
Let me think, let me think .... hmm .... what animal would you never expect me to write about? A monkey. Nah, too obvious. A horse. Sheesh, right, that's what you are just waiting for.
Hey, I know. Cats! No one EVER would think that of me!

Ok, so I didn't fool you. Who cares? You'll have to pull this through with me now. I can't risk the wrath of basement cat or the half-vampirette, the cow cat or the lady with the stripes, aka my feline masters.

Here we go. Four new Smooshers with four very different approaches to cats.

Let's start with a cat that probably just lost his or her witch. I'm not sure if she will make it back out of the cauldron. So if any of you wants to adopt a very probably homeless black cat with knowledge of spells, rush over to C Dowdle Designs.


A lot more ancient looks this little faux ivory cat. I'm sure she never had to do with a witch, I can see her much better together with a nice granny.
But even if you are not a granny, you might want to take her in? You can find her at Rueschka by Laurel Steven.


Ha! I remember when my masters used to look like that, cute and cuddly and ... oh gosh. They can still look like that and I'm wax in their paws.
Isn't this little fellow just crying out "Take me in your arms" while waiting in the studio of Artsy Clay?


Last but not least is this cat with the expressive eyes by Blue Jane. Wow, just wow. I'm hypnotized.


Talking about hypnotized, I think it's time to feed the masters ......

Hide the cookies!

Ponder has an obsession. If he can't be a chimney sweep, he wants to be a master thief. Let me tell you, he's doing very well so far.
He started his career when he and his sister moved in here - they were about three to four months old - and improved his skills constantly.
He has been here for five years now and he stole everything from calzone from my plate (not that he wanted to eat it) to Christmas ornaments, jewelry, scarves, he stole wet food pouches out of the cupboard to rip them up and share them with the others.
When he was younger, he stole bread which always made me wonder about how he had been treated at the place he lived before. He gnawed on it a little and left it on the floor to die.
Once he opened a plastic bowl and stole some cake, just for the fun of it obviously as he didn't eat from it. That taught us to store bread and cake in a safe place right away.

Funny enough he doesn't like snacks much, neither the kitty nor the human kind and he loses interest in all of his stolen goods pretty fast. Just now I looked up and this is what I saw.

No way, mister! He looked a little hurt. I'm such a spoilsport. So he went downstairs and puked into the kitchen.

I love cats.

Do you believe in ghosts?

Late at night this weekend Ponder was sleeping in the hammock. As I have been working long lately and am knackered when I come home, I don't have much hammock time for him. He hates being robbed of his special time at the computer, therefore he enjoyed it thoroughly on the weekend. So much in fact that my feet fell asleep trying to accommodate him the right way.
Suddenly he jumped up, though, ran to the staircase and started staring upwards while making these funny high-pitched sounds that I had never heard from him before. From his sister, yes, but not from Pon.

I called him, but he didn't move. So I went over there to look for the exciting spider, fly or bug that fascinated him so much. Nothing. I heard nothing, I saw nothing. He kept looking up there for five minutes, singing. And I took the chance to take a picture. Suddenly he looked at me, walked over the tall guy's desk and demanded to be snuggled again.


I still wonder what he heard or saw. Ghosts? Spirits? Some kind of rare, invisible bug? Something in the attic that my ridiculously weak human ears couldn't hear? A mouse, a weasel or a bat? Is there a ghost living in our attic? Did he wait for the feline portal to open up to attend a cool party? Or did he just think it was time to scare me a little?
I don't know and I probably never will. Darn. I want to be a cat in my next life.

Ugly beads - a challenge, Part 2

I didn't think I'd be back so soon. Seems that Mabel did some overtime and she came up with a few ugly bead designs.
I have to warn you, two of them are not really me. As I said, this challenge is pushing me over my personal limits. Yes, it's true, I did NOT use a crochet hook for them. Don't worry, it didn't take me long to go back to my beloved hooks as you will see on piece #3.

1. The green beads with the black spirals on them
Actually I like these beads although I'm not much of a green lover. Had they been a little smaller, I might have tried to combine them with crochet beads, but somehow I felt I had to pick up the spiral pattern. And maybe the 70s worked their way up in my brain again ... or in Mabel's ...
I did a little test and although it doesn't "flow" on your neck, due to the slightly springy nature, it's amazingly comfortable.


2. The "painter palette" beads
One problem with these beads is the "filling". While the powder in the green beads cleaned out pretty nicely in vinegar, the palettes have something inside that almost looks like concrete. I tried to clean it out as much as I could, but I was a little afraid to break them (in fact when I dropped one, not even from very high, it broke), so I looked for a way to cover the holes. My Bali silver beads were too small, the Bali cubes were not at hand which is always a problem if you have a sleeping feline on your feet and are too scared for your life to move, so I settled for seed beads instead which turned out quite pretty, I think. Probably the silver even would have been a little dull in the combination. Strung on silver and finished off with a black double suede cord it didn't look ugly to me.


3. The vase
Everyone saw vases in these beads. But what to put into the vase? Flowers, yes, but how? This is what I came up with. Crocheted blossoms with seed beads, green leaves and everything held together by sterling silver wire through the hole of the bead. It's a pity that the beads are so heavy, they would make nice earrings otherwise!


Now all that is left are the matryoshka beads and four more vase beads. I have another idea for the vases, but that will take a little longer, as for the matryoshkas I'm still pretty much at a loss. Some wire, some earwires, I know, but that would be so unoriginal, don't you think?
Again - I'll keep you updated ;-)

P.S. And while I struggled and worked and thought and designed today (I haven't even shown you my beach pebble pendants yet!), someone else took the chance to occupy my computer chair and to look adorable. Esme, my half vampirette (she lost one of her fangs recently, therefore half).

Where would I be ...

... without my secretary?


Unfortunately he joined the union and they made me give him regular naptime. Wherever he chooses to take them.

It's the cat's meow

Believe me, these cats are the cat's meow. Click the picture for more and have fun!

Its the cats meow

Curated By: CatsWire

ArtFire.com

Handmade Gifts

Mode of annoying the human - on!

In my jewelry forum, Starving Jewelry Artists, there's always a daily topic that does not necessarily have to do with jewelry, just to get to know each other better. Yesterday the topic was pets and how they annoy you sometimes. First I was afraid to answer because I thought I might never be able to stop again. Oh yes, as much as I love the furry beasts, I regularly threaten to sell them. I'm not sure if I interpret their looks right, but to me it looks like "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn". I shouldn't quote movies that much around them, they only use it against me.

But what do they do to annoy me most? Let's see.

- Meffi and Greebo are "lickers". One of this days I'll post a picture of me, but I won't have a nose and I won't have arms, only bones sticking out because they licked all flesh off me. Oh, I forgot, I also won't have hair as Greebo does his best to eat it whenever he gets a chance. Don't worry about them, it's not a sign of malnutrition, I had that checked. They are just weird.


- Esme and her "five minutes". Besides the fact that she can't stand me whistling - which earned her a blog post already if you remember - she thinks she's allowed to annoy me with her squeaking. If stupid human Mom doesn't understand right away, she can get so mad that she starts jumping up, aiming for my arm. She doesn't bite, it's more like "Listen to meeeeee". Which I gladly would if I had any idea what she wants. It's usually not food, not playing, not snuggling. What else is there??


- Esme and her behavior when I try to take a photo on the chest of drawers in the tall guy's playroom. LOUD squeaking, jumping me, the chair, the table, the chest. Up, down, up, down, getting louder by the minute. If I take a picture anywhere else, no problem. One opinion about this is: The chest is haunted and she wants to warn me. Ungh.

- Ponder and Esme think my keyboard belongs to them. Have I ever told you that once I thought my monitor was broken because it suddenly was black when I looked up? My only excuse, it was dark and the cat in question that blocked the view is black. And big. And silly. Ponder, who else. I almost got a heart attack when the "black monitor" suddenly moved. They are usually so loud, but also they can materialize in half a second and without the smallest sound.
The other day Ponder had parked his big head on my ctrl-key which I hadn't noticed. I had to use the + and the writing on the screen became bigger and bigger. After being confused for a bit I saw Ponder moving. On the key. He was not amused that I dared to move him then!


- Bedtime. Why is it that Meffi and Ponder always have to use me as a trampoline?? Why does Greebo think my side of the bed belongs to him? I have woken up before with one leg in the bed and the other foot firmly on the floor outside the bed while my cat stretches as if he's going for an entry in the Guinness book as the world's biggest cat.

- T-shirts have to have holes, don't they? The boys love to cling to me with everything they've got. Everything meaning some very sharp claws. They don't want to hurt me, I'm sure, they just want to hold on to me. Greebo is so afraid of losing me that once my dermatologist asked me if I had a bad itch. I said no, why and he pointed out the heavy scratches on my shoulders. His look when I said it was my cat told me everything. I don't even want to know what exactly he thinks I'm into. I have thought about bringing Greebo as proof the next time.


You know I could go on, but just now the big, black, silly cat landed in the hammock. The purring and the adoring look (what actors they all are!) makes me forget all the annoying things for now. I'll just enjoy cuddling with one of the four best cats in my world ;-)

The hammock

I often hear about cats scolding their humans because they spend too much time at the computer.
When I settle down in my armchair, I need to wrap a blanket around my legs. I call it the hammock because usually, as soon as I sit and many times even before I'm really ready, my black panther invades it lying down as if it is one. He stretches out, trusting I won't let him fall, rests his head on my arm (preferrably the right one, on rare occasions he chooses to lie the other way round) and starts purring.
And then the black panther, aka Ponder, turns into a sweet, adorable, harmless, innocent little kitten. The cat going through the house like a rocket on doping gets all snuggly and sleepy. The monster that likes to dig his claws into most delicate spots softly puts his paw on my shoulder.
He can stay there for hours and as the cat slave you already know I am it's hard for me to make him go, even if my legs start hurting, if I'm thirsty or hungry. How could I resist him?
I'm doomed.


On the other hand, what better excuse do you get for long computer sessions? ;-)

P.S. Just now his sister Esme made one of her more rare hammock visits. For your information an "archive picture" .....

A yoghurt, a kitty and I

First of all I'd like to apologize for the quality of the pictures. It's not easy taking a picture with an arm extended trying to get a moving cat into focus without being able to look at the display or use both hands.

The following didn't happen today, but it happens everytime I dare to eat yoghurt.
Suddenly a furry girl with large round eyes sits next to me and hypnotizes me. Esme loves yoghurt.
You'll see.


Gee, Mom, that is good. That's organic yoghurt, ain't it?


Mmmmmmm, thanks for leaving so much for me!


I just wish it was easier to get in there with my tongue!


Don't pull away, there is a bit left here at the rim.


It does look empty now, what a shame!


What do you mean, clean my face off?


Oh, all right. Calm down!

P.S. I wish I had caught the cross-eyed look yet that she usually gets when she really concentrates on getting in there. I promise as soon as I have a picture of that, I'll let you know. It's worth it, she is adorable when looking like it.