The Mouse Nativity (11/12 November 2010)

The Mouse Nativity

18 November 2010
First of all, I want to say a huge thank you to Ruth, a lovely lady I recently met on Flickr after being introduced by another lovely lady, Janet, who I met at the Saltaire Makers' Fair in September (don't you just love the internet?!) It turns out that Ruth is a great fan of my wee mice, and after some creative exchanges, I went off and came up with The Mouse Nativity!

Barrister Cat and Anaesthetist Cat Tree Decorations (b.15 December 2009)

I received another commission this week from another former colleague of mine, who had seen Springbok Cat and wanted to know if I could make up a couple of tree decorations for her grown children based on their occupations. And I was delighted to do so!

This is the third Barrister Cat I've made up, and each one has had a very different demeanour - I love the different characters which show up each time! I have to say that I had certain misgivings about putting a screw eye top pin into his barrister's wig, but in the end, by using a tiny silver hook with white organza ribbon, I don't think it looks to intrusive. It just goes to show that any of my designs can be adapted to a tree decoration, as long as I'm willing to impale the head with a hook!

The second request was for an Anaesthetist Cat tree decoration. This was a little more challenging, but I based him on Surgeon Cat (as yet only seen on Facebook - I consider him as a bit of a work-in-progress).  However, I decided to go with blue scrubs this time, which I made up by mixing turquoise with white to get the right shade. I also decided to make more of the surgical mask, and I think that adding the piping to the edges does make it more realistic (or as realistic as a cat in surgical scrubs can be!) Having two sets of ties coming from the mask also helps to make it more realistic, although I used the thinnest setting on the clay gun which meant tying the knots at the back was rather fiddly!

I completed the look by making up double thickness white paws - I think they look rather like a pair of clogs. I'm pleased to report that my colleague was suitably delighted with both characters!

I'm going to develop both these character cats over Christmas. For the Barrister Cat, I'm going to include a brief (pile of papers) tied up in pink ribbon, and there's so much scope for a whole range of specialty medical profession cats!

Santa Piglings and Robin Tree Decorations (b.28 November 2009)

After the success of Santa Cat Tree Decorations, I decided to make the rest of the range - so here are Santa Pigling and Robin Tree Decorations!

Santa Cat Tree Decorations (b.23 November 2009)

The first of my Christmas tree decorations! I've been meaning to convert a few of my designs for a while now, and I was prompted into action by a commission request through Etsy from Sarah in California (many thanks, Sarah!)

Although I toyed with the idea of changing the shape of the Santa hat so that the ribbon could be fed through it, in the end, I opted to keep the standard shape and add a top pin (known as a screw eye peg). The hardest part was pushing the top pin into the Santa Cat - it just seemed so harsh! I added a small dab of liquid polymer clay to seal the pin in place, and after curing and varnishing, I added a generous length of thin red ribbon, loosely tied at the top so that the length can be adjusted as necessary.

I went on to make up another three Santa Cat Tree Decorations, and I'll be listing them online when I get the chance. In the meantime, if you want to order any, just get in touch.

I've also received a commission to make up Santa Piglings, so that's the next on my list, after some Wee Robin decorations!