(this is a crazy looking piece of embroidery I've been messing about with. It's not exactly subtle & minimalist, is it?!!)I'm about to become a cat owner again. Or should I say a cat caretaker as we don't really own the creatures, but merely act as their willing servants and admirers. I visited the local Cat Protection Homing Centre earlier this week as they'd shown a kitty on their website that suited me nicely.
He's called Badger, and he's an indoor only cat as he's got FIV. It's a virus that weakens a cat's immune system. He can't infect people, but if he scratched or bit another cat he could pass it on to them. So I can adopt Badger and not feel guilty about never letting him outdoors.
I've been thinking about adopting another cat for ages, ever since my Emma became seriously ill and had to be put to sleep. But my neighbours had two cats hit by cars, so I decided it was safer to have an indoor only pet. I never wanted to adopt a cat that was used to roaming outdoors, as it'd be cruel to deny them that freedom. But Badger seems ideal. He's a very sweet and gentle boy, about eight years old, and just wants a quiet and calm home to snooze in. I'm collecting him this morning and I can't wait!
Expect to see plenty of cat photos in the near future.
On the crafty side of life, I've been making fabric butterflies. Nope, I've no idea why! Sometimes you simply have to go where the creative urge takes you. They're layers of painted organza, cotton and felt, along with florist's wire for antennas.
The organza's a nightmare to try and cut accurate shapes out of. So I went with a scrappy look for this butterfly, but I also experimented with backing organza with interfacing or freezer paper to make it more stable to cut.
I also tried embroidering a butterfly, inspired by this image in Anne Kelly's 'Textile Art' book. It's a book I find endlessly inspiring and keep borrowing from the public library. I've added it to my Christmas list, and if Santa doesn't bring it to me I'm definitely going to treat myself to a copy. Anyway, I embroidered this on white cotton I'd stretched over an embroidery hoop.
I used Inktense to add the blue shading to the wings, and it's backed with grey felt. The blue paint isn't quite as subtle as I'd have like. I wanted the effect of the colour gradually fading away, but didn't entirely manage that. But never mind.
Well, that's it for now. I'm going to do a final tour of my house and make sure it's cat-proofed and ready for Badger's arrival. Wish me luck!
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