Here are my happy little garden gnomes which I decided to paint.
As you can see, they were tired and faded after a summer in the sun so they needed new outfits.
I used acrylic paints and I’m going to varnish them before they go outside to make sure they’re extra protected. I want my hard work to last a while.
Being ill has really drained my creativity and sometimes I need to do silly little projects like this to get myself back in the mood for making things. It was a lot of fun. I’m going to be on the look out for gnomes at carboot sales this summer :D
One of my lovely friends started a group on Facebook called Love Rocks to spread a little bit of love around this month. Lots of people are taking part all over the world.
Just paint hearts on rocks and leave them around for people to find to brighten up their day. If you don’t want to paint rocks you can do all sorts of other things like crochet hearts, origami etc. I chose to paint some of the sea glass I have a giant collection of.
Here are a few of mine, you can see more on Facebook
I decided that I wanted to brighten up my shop a bit. I liked the blue backgrounds but felt that something lighter would work better. I’m not done with all the photography yet, I’m doing it over a week or so because I’ve got so much stuff it would take so long to do all at once. I’m pretty pleased with how it’s looking so far. I might work on my website next.
Wow, what can I say about 2012? It’s been fantastic. 2012 is the year that Doodlecats really took off and now it’s a full-time job and I’m making a living doing something that I really love.
I couldn’t have done it without all of you lovely customers and followers so thank you so much!!
On Friday, Daz and I screen printed Doodlecats t-shirts :D It was a lot of fun but hard work. My arm muscles still ache today after all that work. I could not be happier with the results. I thought I’d share some of the photos we took throughout the day. If you want a CATS ARE AWESOME t-shirt they’re on Etsy right now!
The screen
The press – it’s like a big mechanical spider
Ink time!
On the drying rack
Obviously we needed a snack break whilst the ink was drying :)
Heat pressing to set the colour
THe final results – We’re pretty pleased with our efforts!
Last night I had my first go at screen printing, it was awesome!!! I have been wanting to do it for so long and I can’t wait to get experimenting with t-shirts and bags.
This was my first attempt so it’s a bit patchy. the drawing I used to print from wasn’t quite black enough so some light got through which has created the slightly faded look. Lesson learnt, I know what to do to sort that out now. It’s quite a nice effect on these prints anyway so I’m not worried.
On Thursday, Daz and I had the privilege of attending the National Cat Awards at the Savoy. It was amazing. There were several categories, each with three cat finalists and an overall winner of Cat of the Year. There were some wonderful stories of cats who had made a huge impact on the lives of their humans, some of which brought a tear to my eyes. It’s so wonderful to be able to celebrate cats and all that they do for us. So often, when you rescue a cat, you’re not just saving them, but they are saving you. The ways that the help to transform the lives of people is incredible.
Photo – Jessi-Cat and Lorcan by Paul Maven Photography
The overall winner was Jessi-Cat who has helped Lorcan overcome his selective mutism. Watching the footage of Lorcan and Jessi-cat, you can see the love between them and what this incredible bond has done to help Lorcan find his voice. I am so happy that this kitty won and has helped to raise awareness about anxiety disorders as well as how cats can help people. I have Aspergers Syndrome which means I understand all too well how scary social situations are and how difficult it is to communicate. It was my Pixie cat who helped me to deal with some of my problems and helped me cope in the real world a little better so this story is really close to my heart.
You should watch the video :)
I didn’t get to meet Lorcan and his mum yesterday, I wish I’d had the confidence to go up and talk to them.
So, as I couldn’t say it in person, I decided to draw Lorcan and Jessi-cat to say CONGRATULATIONS!!
You can read all about the other kitties and why they won on the Cats Protection Website.
We went to the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta on Friday and as usual, it was rather impressive. We were lucky, we went on the night when the weather was best so over 100 balloons were launched! I took most of my photos with a film camera so need to get them developed. Here’s a few I snapped on my phone. There were no cat balloons :( There were lots of other cool shapes though.
The Tobacco Factory, where I have my weekly market stall, was taken over by UPFest this weekend. It’s a massive graffiti festival where lots and lots of artists paint live and it’s awesome.
