Studded Stripes

Flora and Max

Flora, with the able pawed assistance of Maximus shows another foray into heat-set studs.  The top was a second acquisition during the Targét sale foray.  The inspiration something I saw at the mall while dashing hither and thither.  Amazing how little bits of bling will catch the eye, isn’t it?

Triangle studs, again from Qia Graphix  I tried to space them out randomly, so they give a kind of jeweled collar effect.  The studs also go around the back, so one looks as good going as coming.  After all, one never knows when an exit will be as important as an entrance.

I like the twisting and turning of the triangles.  They remind me of snowflakes, though perhaps a more cyberpunk variation.

Max thinks I should leave this shirt on Flora, as it makes the perfect bed.  For those keeping count, Max is now 2 1/2 years old.  Quite the strapping fellow, isn’t he?

Big Boys

Maximus: 12 pounds 10 ounces

This week the Hellboys went into the vet for their annual check-up.  I knew they had grown, but hadn’t quite realized how much.  They are no longer kittens, but full fledged cats.  At least in size and stature.  In my mind, however, like all the other fur babies, they are, and always will be spry youngsters.

Max weighed in at 12 pounds, 10 ounces.  He’s grown into a fine strapping fellow.  He wanted nothing to do with the vet, and decided if he could hide his face in my arm, and not see out, then obviously no one could see him, and he would avoid whatever awaited in this odd smelling place.

Puck: 10 pounds 4 ounces

Puck, his brother (yes, despite what they look like, they are truly brothers) is a bit smaller at 10 pounds 4 ounces.  There is indeed a cat under all that fur, and you can tell when he walks on you that he is not a lightweight.

Puck also expressed his displeasure at the vet’s office: growling.  A sound I’ve never heard come out of his furry self.  Low.  Deep.  Scary.  It didn’t help that the vet tech kept referring to him as a her. He’s a manly cat under all that fur, and people had best not forget it!

Max, showing off his Tuxedo Spot

Jalie 968: Dark Wash

I finished these up over the weekend, and think they turned out nicely.  Like the other pairs of jeans I’ve made from this Jalie pattern, they fit well and sew up easily.

Changes I made this time around were to narrow the legs by about 2 inches.  This gives these jeans a leaner silhouette, which I liked.  Not the skinny jean, poured-into-a-sausage-casing look the papers are showing but narrow enough to be a stylistic nod to this trend.

I also did my usual routine of rummaging through the scrap bag for pocket and fly facings.  Why not have something colorful and zippy where no one can see?

The denim is actually rather thin, not a beefy, heavy sort at all.  It was stash utilization, probably from Joann’s quite some time ago.  My memory says inexpensive.

I decided to stretch my skills a little with the zipper and used Trudy, she of Hot Patterns fame, fly zipper insertion technique.  You can find that right here on YouTube .  It’s actually easier than the other method I had been using, and produces  polished results.

Of course, now that these are done, we’ve swooped away from jeans weather.  Highs are expected to be around 80 and more all week.   They may end up put away until October!

Max and Puck need a bigger basket

Needle and…cable?

My sewing mojo is still gone, having left home with no forwarding address.  I keep wanting to do something creative with my hands, but have no incentive or staying power for sewing.  It’s driving me completely insane!

To help combat this creative malaise, I’ve gotten out the beads, deciding to work up a project from the most recent Bead & Button magazine.  I have a friend whose favorite color is lime green (not the previously mentioned niece).  If this turns out, it will be a nice Christmas present for her.

The piece with the dangling threads is 1/4 of a beaded bow.  Two upper loops, two lower loops, attach in the middle and add a pin on the back.  I promise, pictures when it’s finished!

Oh, and the cable bit in the title – while that looks like thread holding the beads together, it is actually Fireline.  Fireline is a very thin coated cable used for fly fishing.  Available at most sporting goods stores, Fireline has taken the beading world by storm.  It’s very appropriate for use with crystals and rough glass beads – ones where the edges are sharp, and likely to cut through regular nylon (Nymo, Sono) thread.

This piece is using hex beads, which have that sharp edge, so it’s needle and cable as my creative outlet.  If anyone sees my sewing mojo, please send it home!

Maximus Cat, On Top of the World!

Wielding the Crystal Wand

My cousins daughter is the closest thing I have to a niece.  There’s enough difference in our ages; that’s how I think of her.  She too has inherited the family magpie gene.

T-shirts from Targét, to which I added a little more sparkle.  Her favorite colors are lime green and electric blue (thank goodness she’s out of the pink phase!) so I did my best to follow that with the green shirt.

The shirts are not decorated with crystals, but something called rhinestuds.  They are faceted metal, and also hot fix.  Not quite as sparkly as true crystals, but much less expensive, and more prone to staying affixed through multiple washes. Sewing for teenagers is, at best, a temporary thing as their tastes change so frequently.  Decorating something already assembled seemed a much better, and easier way to go.

I am sorely tempted to keep the grey shirt for myself, since it is very much my colors: silver and purple.  So, we shall see what the holidays bring. Maybe she’ll get it, and maybe, she won’t!

Mojo Update: still missing!

Puck scales new heights!

Hellboys 1st Halloween

Tonight will be the Hellboys first Halloween.  I wonder what Max and Puck will do when the neighborhood urchins start to call?

Just in case something untoward should happen, they’ve gotten their first collars, to be worn on special occasions, like tonight.   Puck has developed into quite a fluffy fellow.  Collar discussion around the dinner table said “No PINK! No matter how fluffy he is. No Aqua or Lavender either!” We wouldn’t want the little guy to have a gender identity complex.

Puck got something suitably macho

While Max chose something more colorful, with his favorite:  food!

The cat formerly known as….

Pip.  It just never suited him.  He was only small for a short while, not  cute in the traditional sense, and now shows signs of growing into a lean lanky monster.

Pip.  Pipster.  Pippin.

They would not do.  None of them fit him, and a name must fit the being.

Prince Charming and I had a lot of conversations about him, and how he bears such a resemblance to our beloved Empress Minnie.  He’s black, making him always well dressed.  He trills, as did she.  He’s adventurous.  He’s protective of his home.

I said we couldn’t have a little boy  named Minnie.  (Shades of Johnny Cash! No thanks!)

Prince Charming said he’d have to be Maxi.  So…

Meet Max.  Mischief Max.  Maximus Cat.

Emperor Max-a-Million

Snipped & Chipped

The boys went into the vet this morning to be snipped and chipped.  At 6 months, it was about time.  Claire, however, thought it should have been done much sooner!

They were absolute demons when I went to pick them up, fighting in their carrier, growling, hissing.  Enough so that I got a cardboard box to separate them for the drive home.

Not that one can blame them for being upset!  I would be too if someone had just removed my manhood without asking.  Would it be tomhood, since male cats are toms?  In any event, they now have “teabags” instead of “pom-poms”, to phrase it euphemistically.

They have also been micro-chipped, so if they are ever lost, they can be scanned and returned to us.  Puck likes to attempt escapes through any open door, so far without a real jaunt out of doors.  We want to be sure if this should ever happen, they both come back to us.

Fluff, do not Fold

Meet the Hellboys

Ever since our beloved Empress Minnie Moo-Chee Thunderpaws crossed over the Rainbow Bridge we have been trying to increase the Tribe.  First Cruella Cat, who alas, followed her namesake as a complete bad *ss b*tch.  Then with Rupert Valentino (who did not survive FIP), and finally with Zorro, who the existing Seniors (Viktor, Claire and Otto) did not like.  The feeling was mutual, as Zorro didn’t care much for them.

Long story short, the wonderful folks at our vet Amigo Animal Clinic had two foundlings that were looking for a home.  Enter The Hellboys.  Two wonderful brothers who are just the most darling, kind, loving wee little beasties a person could ever hope to meet.

Puck is a very light Siamese with blue eyes, while Pip has short silky black fur, with three white spots on his tummy.  He reminds us very much of Minnie, who, I think, would approve.

Prince Charming and I are having quite the time adjusting to curious kittens.  Puck is the escape artist of the two; definitely more curious.  His current fave is scampering through open doors into places he doesn’t belong (storage under the stairs, out of doors, the garage).   Puck wonders what all the noise is about.

Pip is more daring, and has already scaled to the top of the 12 foot cat tree (which has since been taken down, until they are older – much better for my nerves!).  He has taken to playing with Claire’s tail.  She, thank goodness, doesn’t seem to mind.  He’s also apprpriated the nap tube.  Beware!  Sleeping kitten!

The lone complaint is from Claire de Lune and I.  We are outnumbered by boys!   Ahhh, but what wonderful boys these are.

A special Thank You to everyone at Amigo for all the hard work, kindness, care and compassion they have shown the whole Tribe.