Thursday, 19 May 2011

Cards and Cat and Commerce.

 These cards were made for my son to send as 'thank-yous' after he was best man at a wedding.
He asked me to make them for him to send so I pulled out the stops.
 It was so nice that he asked me. It tells me a lot!
 It was strange to move back to silk paper from felt.

 I enjoyed making them but there's a lot of work in them and they wouldn't be commercially viable.
But when your son asks....well....you just have to don't you?

In other news..we have at last used some of our airmiles to book a flight to Paris to meet with friends for a few days in the summer. After the booking was done I did a dummy 'buy' of the flights to see how much we'd saved: £179. Not bad. But I had been under the mistaken impression that airmiles gave you nice luxurious non-budget airline flights.


Something else we had to do last week was take 'Mummycat' to the vet. She's white, and she sits in the sun all day and had a wound on her ear that just wouldn't heal. Her ear has been getting smaller, so we had to do the deed.
Before:
(The pictures of her have to be taken at a great distance)


On the first day we booked, we failed to catch her and had to cancel. On the second day my husband managed to shove her in the carrier (which had been their dining quarters for two weeks) and shut the door. She is semi feral and after having had her for 11 years she still can't be picked up or handled. They call her feral at the vets.
Feral the peril.. or perhaps we should change it to Beryl?
It took 6 of them to catch her last time the vet tried to examine her.

So the ear tip and a tooth were both removed.
Guess how much?
Go on

Go on..

Yes

£178.50

So..you could say we got the cat sorted on 'air miles' with 50p to spare if you don't count the extra £20 baggage costs.

When she got back home I put the carrier on the table. We looked at the poor cat, bleeding from her mouth and her stitched ear tip, half alseep, post operative, and I said 'We have to keep her in for three days, can you lock the cat flap?'

At the very moment I said 'I'm opening the cage', and my husband said 'Im just opening the door to check the flap's locked',  the supposedly sedated cat de-materialised.
I have never seen anything move so fast. Actually I didn't see.

There was much shouting and recrimination.

My husband and I being very different types of people reflected on the event.

Me: She could die of cold outside and we spent all that money .
He: Poor Mummy Cat.. she must be so frightened and might not come back.

After:

She was back bossying about at 7pm and is recovering.

47 comments:

jinxxxygirl said...

Loved the cards! Wondering if you could lay one of those on a scanner and scan it into computer then make a print of it to make a card out of??? That might be more money savy and you could sell the image?? Anyway they are lovely like always. So unique. Hope mummy kitty will be alright.
hugs deb

Annie said...

Those cards are stunning. Making prints out of them would be a great idea.
Poor puss....needs must and it looks like that although feral she knows where her bread is buttered :-)
A x

Jennifer Tetlow said...

Yes, I think you must make a card range with prints of these lovely images, I'll be your first customer!

Poor feral feline, but she'll feel much better thinking she's free.

Rosie said...

Oh poor ole pussycat, and poor old bank balance too! Hope she's OK now? Love the cards but can appreciate that so much time goes into them that you can only make them for love rather than money!

Corinna Nitschmann said...

Great cards!!!

The cat-story made me smile. THanx. :-)

Nancy Bowron said...

The cards of your artwork are stunning. You have such a distinctive and wonderful style!

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

The cards are magnificent.

Sorry, I would feel like your husband did. We go through heck for our animal friends, don't we.

Sarah Payne said...

Love love love those cards! I agree with your other comments leavers about getting them printed as cards. They would be fabulous.

Poor kitty! At least she came back! My cats wont come anywhere near me after I have taken them to the vets!!!

Marigold Jam said...

Love the cards - beautiful.

Poor cat and poor you but at least it didn't really cost you any money!! Hope she will make a speedy recovery - cats are amazing creatures aren't they?!

Hanni said...

These are such wonderful cards, beautiful design and colors. I love them.
Poor kittie, well hopefully she will be back to her normal self in no time. I have 3 cats in the house and a stray outside, taken them to the Vet is a small furtune these days, but we love em.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful! That raised a smile. Hope she is still doing well.

Rachel said...

As others have suggested, perhaps printed cards based on some of these designs? They're really lovely, and your son must be very proud of your work!

Conni said...

Jackie, the cards are beautiful!

And "Mummycat" doesn't know what a lucky girl she is to have you and your husband to watch over her. Hope she's all better, soon!

Carol Q said...

stunning cards Jackie. I bet they're not viable financially lol. They're small works of art really. Love your cat's escapades.

Dan said...

They're beautiful Jackie! Oh your poor puss! I was glad to hear she was back to her bossying self soon after. Paris is fantastic, have a wonderful time! Even better on airmiles! I wish builders yards did airmiles, we'd be off to the Caribbean by now!
Dan
-x-

jennyflowerblue said...

The cards are very lovely-it's nice to be appreciated by ones own children.....I imagine! I would be with you on the cat front I'm afraid but I hope she's better soon. xx

Jill said...

Typical cat all that worry about keeping her in -she knows where she is best off!
The cards are lovely.

menopausalmusing said...

I love the way you were asked to do the cards.... like you said: it said a lot.

Re the cat........ sigh...... had a lot of that at this end too. Ours is NOT feral, until a trip to the vets looms and then.........

Actually, make that two trips and two lots of HUGE vets' bills. But,he is such a part of us.....

Celia Hart said...

Lovely card designs - perfect for thank yous.

Oh cats! When I was young I had a white cat, and long after I left home my parents went through the same thing as you have - the cat had ear and teeth removed. He too had a reputation at the vets, having bitten clean through the vets thumb on their first meeting when the vet was just a student. I think the ear removal sort of evened the score between them!

Celia
x

Els said...

O boy, what a great idea to have the cat sorted out at the vet for airmiles!!! ;-) But ...she came back in : she knew you meant well. You haven't lost your touch with those cards! They will be happily recieved!

Robin Mac said...

Typical cat!! I am sure she will recover after giving you losts of stress. the cards are beautiful and I think that is a good idea of jinxxxgirl's. Have fun in Paris. cheers

silverpebble said...

Those cards are exquisite Jackie.

Oh dear. Poor cat. I hope the recovery continues.

lilylovekin said...

Your cat story reminds me of why I don't have a cat!

Lyn said...

The world would be a sad place if there was not people like you to care, she is a fighter isn't she, I hope she forgives you....soon!
xxx

Sheeprustler said...

I definitely agree that getting the cards printed would be good. It is something I am thinking of doing myself but don't actually know how to go about it!

Poor cat, hope she is ok. Don't our furry kidlets cost us!! But they repay so much too :)

Jan said...

Poor kitty! I'm glad she didn't disappear on you. I had a feral cat who I caught and took in to be neutered, wondered if I'd ever see him again but he never left. In fact I finally tamed him down and he is the sweetest boy now. I hope yours recovers quickly and completely.

Love your cards, the suggestions seem good to me, make photographic copies. I'm sure they'd sell. they are gorgeous.

Magpie's Mumblings said...

How wonderful that your son appreciates your work and requested something special. I'm in agreement with the other comments that they would be perfect scanned and made into paper (and saleable!) cards. They are cost prohibitive to sell as original cards, but I think they'd be great as prints.
Glad your kitty has such good 'parents'!

Jude said...

Beautiful cards..
I assume Mummy Cat rules your house.
Take care
x

Twiglet said...

Got to agree with Wipso - prints from your cards would be lovely.

Lynette (NZ) said...

So beautiful - your son and the recipients are so lucky. My heart skipped when it saw the pink one
:-)

Susan said...

oh poor baby. Straight to the heart of the matter, forget the cards - they are beautiful by the way - and on to the cat.

Hope she recovers well.

Emma said...

Ouch!

Cards are fab but as I'm a skinflint I'd have cut the 1st one into 4 beautiful cards & the 2nd one into 3 gorgeous cards, 7 for the price of 2 but not before I'd taken a limited edition print run off each before I cut it up...We'd do most things for our sons tho, wouldn't we?

Mary Welsh Hubbard said...

Those cards are gorgeous! and glad the cat came back.

thebigmango said...

The cards are gorgeous and cards with prints of the work would be lovely, even if they miss out the texture.

Gigibird said...

I arranged for 'my' feral to be caught and have his manhood removed last year but he returned after a 2 week absence...
I think £178 is pretty cheap....I was quoted FROM £315 for Harry to have 2 warts removed...needless to say he still has them.
It's lovely you have sorted out her problems...good luck with trying to put sunscreen on ;-)

Jensters said...

Such wonderful cards....u can see so much work have gone into them.

Thimble Fingers said...

Great cards, and I agree with jinxxxygirl ... perhaps photos of your work on cards would be viable.
Sat here shaking with laughing at your tale of mummycat ... sad she's not been well, but could visualise the whole escape routine ... too funny!!! Hope she's better soon.

Annie and Lyn said...

Beautiful cards and have to agree with everyone that you should consider prints. Had to laugh at the money side of things with the Paris trip and the vet - fate loves playing tricks like that! But glad that mummycat is ok. Pets are just as much of a worry as children.

A time to dance said...

oh poor cat...i used to have a cat called beryl...i cant wait to see you in the holidays...much to tell...hope puss cat recovers...

Body Centering Pilates said...

Posting a comment from my friend's new blog in the Wicklow mountains. Showing her your blog as a good example. Other friend delighted by her i-phone case! Love the cards!
Margaret (maggik)

Sarah Anderson said...

Gosh if I received one of those cards it would be framed instantly! They're absolutely STuNNiNG!

Anonymous said...

I really like the texture of the stitching on the silk paper and the end result is lovely. The cat story gave me a much-needed giggle although a bill like that is never funny - ouch!

Heather said...

Those cards are beautiful - lucky recipients. As soon as you save money on something, a vet, osteopath or car mechanic sucks up the savings! It's Sod's Law!! Hope Mummy Cat is recovering - she's one tough lady.

Linda Vincent said...

Jackie your cards are so lovely; I bet the recipients will treasure them. As for 'Mummycat'- her story made me smile (especially the photo of her lying on her side, lol!!)
What a character....I hope she's recovering well (along with your bank balance ;-)
xx

Wendy said...

absolutely stunning! I was going to suggest the same thing as jinxxxygirl - though perhaps get them professional printed?

Sabine said...

I just discovered your blog and your stunning embroidery works. I think you're a great artist: love your style and association of colors and fabrics.
Thank you for sharing your art :)

Fibrespace said...

ah bless, our white cat had both ears done, whilst having an op to stop her eye lid curling in, vet did 2 ears for the price of one but it still cost over £500! Hope she's making a good recovery



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