New Items, New Groups... New Everything It Seems

I got tired of making the first edition Hexcats or the Blob cats as I now call them. But I always enjoyed making their little ruffs. I've seen how popular cuffs seem to be so I decided to try out putting HexCat faces on them. I think they're cute and have the added attraction of being wearable.

I also joined a new Etsy group called the Freethinkers Team. We have our own blog/gift guide here at Blogger too. http://etsyfreethinkers.blogspot.com/
It seems like so many people were trying to segregate themselves in to groups of similars...which is fine. I like and make Dark Art so I joined the Spirit of Dark Art group too. I think that when certain groups gather up , like conservative Religious or Political groups it just makes more open minded people feel uncomfortable. I like this Freethinkers group because anyone who is willing to be tolerant is welcome. We also have a Flickr group called the Unherded Cats of Etsy http://www.flickr.com/groups/569592@N23/
Please feel free to visit us on etsy forums in our chat thread in the street teams section http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5338998
or either of these 2 other places.

I'm going to start featuring artists from both groups here in my blog . I just have to come up with a fun questionnaire for the featured person to fill out. If you have any fun ideas for questions or want to be featured let me know.

Ultraman Ultra Strange

As a kid, I used to watch Ultraman regularly. My husband did too. Recently we got the DVDs of the show. I never realized how many strange things went on in that show.

What was up with those tiny shorts that all the little boys wore?
Why did the Science Patrol sleep in their cheesy orange uniforms?
Why didn't the Beta Capsule that turned Hiata into Ultraman, come with a clip so he could attach it to his belt? He was forever losing that damn thing.

And where the heck did Ultraman put the beta capsule when he was trouncing the poor alien of the week? Did it become the Ultra butt plug? I mean look at his Ultra suit in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GD4q7KFEp6k
Can you see a pocket?

The Aliens and Monsters - I always felt bad for these guys. Ultraman tore them to bits most of the time. I liked the Toho(movie studio that did the Godzilla etc films) solution to monsters... they got captured and put on a nice island. They even had their own medical staff to look after them.

I watched one episode this weekend where the Science Patrol had a memorial service for all the defeated monsters... it was nice, but a far cry from a private island. As an adult, Ultraman makes me sad now, but I still like all the old Toho movies. They seemed to have more respect for their monsters.

New products - Eyes and Stories

I've been experimenting with making these crocheted wrist cuffs. I just finished and listed this one this morning. Since it was a Hex Cat I used the old resin eyes.


I used the glass taxidermy eyes on this cuff. I really like how this turned out. I'm working on a new Futhark Cat that has hand painted glass eyes. I love that VanDykes offers glass blanks that you can paint yourself.

I really thought I might give up the resin eyes, but on some pieces they just look so good to me. But having tons of eye options is a great thing because it opens up so many possibilities for new styles of dolls and accessories.

My newest venture is the Pet Shop of the Old Ones coloring book my husband and I have been working on. We found these great string tie folders to use as portfolios and the drawings and the story are at the local printing shop now. We hope to have these listed in our Etsy shop by the beginning of next week. I finally put down all the stories I've added to my descriptions of the animals I make. MJ's drawings are beautiful and I hope my story is as good.

New ! Pet Shop of the Old Ones Coloring Book

My husband and I have been working on a new project. A coloring book based on my Pet Shop of the Old Ones line of animals.

The entrance to the pet shop is what I want on the front cover. MJ says it should be a close up of the hanging shop sign
with the name of the shop and the cat logo.

Here's a few of the drawings of the animals too.

Any comments about this coloring book idea are welcome. We're still debating what we want to charge and which cover idea we want to use.