House Do-Over

OMG!  Daddy Cat and I have been working and working on this little house we own, trying to get it ready for Baby Cat to move into.

We have spent weeks cleaning, scraping, sanding, and painting, and there is still so much to do!  We are almost through painting the kitchen.  This is the before picture.

The before picture of the kitchen

Nothing except the ceiling has been painted in this photo.  All the light fixtures and wiring is new.   At this point we were just trying to clean, and get things sanded and prepped for painting.

This is the after picture.  The ceiling, walls and cupboards have all been painted.  It's not quite finished, the drawers are still being painted.  But, you can see how nice the colors are and how clean it looks.

The "after" picture of the kitchen

Baby Cat and I chose some fabric for the curtains last weekend.  So now we can make it look real pretty!

New kitchen curtain fabric

We can hardly wait to see how this looks hanging in the windows!

-  Momma Cat

LOOK WHO WENT TO THE FAIR!!!!!

Last Friday evening Baby Cat and I went down to the Multnomah County Fair, and we took a few of our friends with us.  We didn't go down for the rides or the food, the fair hadn't even started yet!  We went down to enter some of our handmade stuff in the Fair to see if we could win some prize ribbons.  

I entered several of my dolls including Kaari, Hiapo, Caolainn, Eulalia, and Lena, with all of her clothes.  

Kaari and Caolainn were much admired and got high scores, but alas, no ribbons.  

Hiapo won a First Premium blue ribbon

Hiapo with her Blue Ribbon

 
My ribbon says "Youth" on it.  Now I don't know if that's because I look so young (har-har), or if the judges just made a mistake?  Anyway, I'm keeping it!  Hiapo is very excited!

Eulalia came home with a Second Premium red ribbon.

Eulalia with her Red Ribbon

  Eulalia is so happy, because red is her favorite color, just like Momma Cat!

Lena's Christmas outfit also won a First Premium blue ribbon

Lena's Christmas outfit with it's Blue Ribbon

If you think this is exciting, just wait until you see what happened to Baby Cat!

Captain Jack won a First Premium blue ribbon and a Best of Show rosette! Not bad for a pirate, eh?

Baby Cat also entered her special new doll in the fair. Her name is Queen Lorena, and she was finished on the bus on the way back to Portland! Baby Cat will write a longer blog post on the Queen later, because she has a lot of detailed features that Baby Cat just made for the first time on this doll, and she is completely hand-knit on double pointed needles!

Queen Lorena won a first premium blue ribbon and a Best of Division royal purple ribbon. Her Highness looks very pleased with her success at the fair.

In addition to all of the ribbons and rosette, we each got a check, a gift card from Montavilla Sewing Center, and Baby Cat got a gift certificate for The Mill End Store!  Not bad for a couple of Cats, huh?

- Momma Cat & Baby Cat

A Day In Gresham

Last Wednesday, instead of working, I spent almost the whole day with my good friend NadineCat shopping in Gresham.  We went to the old part of town, the downtown area, and looked at all kinds of shops.  First we went to a coffee shop called Cafe Delirium and got coffee to go. Very good coffee.  Yum!  Watch out Starbuck's!    

We went to great yarn store called Little Lamb and Ewe.  It was really nice.  They have a lot of really nice yarn and upstairs there's a big loft with lots of couches where you can go and have a knitting/crocheting party! Doesn't that sound like fun?  They also have a beautiful resident cat that we just had to pet.  She was so sweet and friendly.  I wanted to take her home with me, but the owner said I was one of dozens of people that had the same idea.  So I had to leave her there.  Dang!!

 We visited some really nice antique stores.  I don't remember all the names, but I bought these beautiful little handkerchiefs at one called All Things Beautiful Antiques.

Pretty hankies from a All Things Beautiful  antique store

Aren't they pretty?  I'm going to use them to dress some of my new little dolls in.  

 There was a cool flea market, a wonderful little jewelry/gift store, a clothing store, even a candy store!  There was also a cute little shop that sold all kinds of bags, accessories, and gift items.  I bought my friend MaureenCat a little charm there.  It was called Accent On Attitude. There a little bit of everything in that store.

NadineCat and I had  our lunch at a restaurant called Nickolas' where they serve Lebanese food.  It was wonderful!  We both had stuffed grape leaves and pita bread with tzatziki sauce.  I loved it so much! Afterward we went to a wonderful deli called Selmas, where we bought baklava and other yummy treats.

Next  time you want to have a little adventure, not too far away from Portland, just take Powell Boulevard east until you get to downtown Gresham, find a place to park your car and just walk around.  It's not that big, and you won't get lost, but you'll have a great time.  Especially if you have a good friend with you like I did!

-  Momma Cat  

Baby Cat's Next Project

The closer I get to summer, the deeper I go into crazy "I want to knit/crochet/sew/build every project I see" mode. I think this is mostly do to the promise of having slightly more free time than I do as a full-time student. I'm also dreaming of having a little corner in my and Boyfriend Cat's new house to set up my sewing machine and my new dress form.

The fact that I am having more difficulty than usual resisting new projects will explain the new one I just picked up. I was at the Creative Duck searching for doll dress ingredients for the doll I am making for the Multnomah County Fair, and I noticed the cutest little embroidery patterns sitting tucked in a basket in the corner. They had a bunch of different themes, from beach babes to camping. My favorite one was the travel one, because summer also makes me want to go exploring.

This is what the pattern envelope looks like.

Here are all the cute pictures I can embroider from this pattern!

Now I hardly ever embroider. I like the way it looks and it is kind of fun, but I never know what to do with it when I am done. A girl only needs so many cross stitch wall hangings, no matter how pretty they are. And if I can't get excited about the finished product, I usually just don't finish it. Most of my embroidery projects are hanging out in the bottom of my sewing basket for this very reason. So what makes this embroidery project different?

Well, I thought of all those unfinished projects and told myself I couldn't have the new pattern unless I found something cute and useful on which to embroider it. That way I would be more excited about the project and more likely to finish it. Later, when I was at Hirons, I found these adorable handkerchiefs!

The only problem is these are way too pretty to blow your nose on.

I love the lace around the edges, and I think they would be just perfect with a little embroidery to jazz them up. If the handkerchiefs go well and I don't get too sick of embroidery, I think it would be fun to try all the travel pictures on a tote bag or something. What do you think?

-Baby Cat

Kaari is here!

Momma Cat has been very busy lately!  She's been so busy she hasn't had a lot of creative time.  She's been cleaning and painting with Daddy Cat.  They are fixing up their rental house for Baby Cat and Boyfriend Cat to move into in June (More on this story later).

Anyway, she managed to finally finish another little crocheted doll that is made from the same pattern as Caolainn.  Her name is Kaari, which means "pure". 

Kaari posing for photos

Momma Cat plans to enter Caolainn and Kaari in the Multnomah County Fair on May 24th, along with one of her fairy dolls.  Wish me luck!

As you can see Kaari's dress is also made out of a vintage ladies handkerchief.  Her little purple shoes match it so well.

I hope you like Kaari.  Drop me a line and let me know what you think.

-  Momma Cat 

A Kitty for Momma Cat's Mothers Day!

Baby Cat and Baby Brother Cat weren't able to come home for Mother's Day this year.  They were too busy at school.  But, Daddy Cat  and I were able to go visit them the week before and spend some time with them.  Baby Cat was presiding over an art show opening that she was in charge of.  So, Boyfriend Cat, Baby Brother Cat, Boyfriend Cat's Mom and Dad, Baby Brother Cat's friends and some of Baby Cat's friends were there too, plus a lot of other people.  

The art show opening was a big hit.  We all had a good time at the reception, with some delicious treats and some live music and poetry reading.  We all went to Starbuck's afterward to enjoy some coffee.  It was so crowded that all the parent cats had to sit at a separate table from all the kid cats! Too bad!

Anyway, Baby Cat and Baby Brother Cat gave me my Mothers Day gift that day.  Here it is.  

A Kitty for a Cat

   
This is a soap or lotion dispenser.  It's so cute!  I took it home and I ordered my favorite lotion  to go in it from my Avon Lady, Angie Cat.  I can't wait until Monday, then I'll get my lotion, fill up my Kitty, and  then I'll be soft and smell good too! 

Thanks Baby Cat and Baby Brother Cat!  You made your Momma Cat very happy!

LOL

-  Momma Cat

Garage Sale Finds!

Last Friday, some of my girlfriend cats and I went to a garage sale.  There were all sorts of great things there, and I think we each walked away with several things.  I spent only $3.00, but this is what I got.

First I got this cute little baby doll, all I saw was the top of a head sticking out of a box, and when I pulled it out, she was there in all her cute little glory.  Now I have to make her some clothes (my favorite part).  

I also found this adorable little Sun/Moon decoration.  I've always wanted one of these, and now I have it hanging in my kitchen!

It's made out of a coconut shell!  I don't really know how the rest is done, but I really like it.

The next thing I got was a digital bathroom scale that works great, and it measures your body mass index too.  It only cost me a dollar.  I thought that was an amazing deal.

Last but not least, I got this doll clothes pattern for free!  I thought I was meant to have it because I found the cute little doll too!

Not bad for a mere $3.00 huh? It's amazing what you can find when you weren't really looking for anything in the first place!

-  Momma Cat