Happy New Year 

from Buttowillow and 

Susan Faye World Headquarters!

Happy Boxing Day!

 It's Boxing Day.

A day on which you might find yourself a little pooped from  the many festivities of the last few weeks...

Buttonwillow suggests enjoying a clearance sale from the comfort of your couch (jammies and slippers are recommended attire).  We've discounted over 100 items in our Etsy shop, up to 50% off of jewelry and gifts, and we will be adding more throughout the week. Get 'em while they're hot! Then go take that well-deserved nap.

Kick-Off Kitty Kudos

And now a word or two from our Project Spokescat, Ms. Buttonwillow:

"Hey there! Kitty Kudos and salutations to all of our beloved backers so far, who helped to kick-off our "A Bouquet From The Cat" Kickstarter Project!  Thanks to you, we have raised over one-third of our goal in just the first 48 hours!

"Inka and I would like to extend our Kitty-Duo-Kudos-Salute to these early backers: 

The Mysterious "J"
Donna P. 
Sandra
Georgia E.
Diane S.
Pat A.
Elizabeth M.
David
Katy L. R.
Jack
CCH
Mary S
Sharlene J
Angela B.A.

"If you haven't checked out the project yet, there's still plenty of time to jump on the bandwagon and help us reach our goal so that art lady can get her art made into prints and notecards. You can help by:

1. Making a pledge (you'll get to choose "Bouquet" cat art rewards like notecards, prints or personalized cat art!), and...
2. Spreading the word by sharing my Kickstarter project with all of your favorite crazy cat ladies and cat guys through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc... 

"Here is the link to the project:  'A Bouquet From The Cat'

(and MOST IMPORTANT of all: make sure you don't miss the project video right at the beginning, starring yours truly)"

  Love and fishes, Buttonwillow
                                          

Buttonwillow Has A Special Announcement

Buttonwillow Speaks Her Mind

Why the salty language from Kitty Dearest Buttonwillow?

It seems that when I began to create images for my "A Bouquet From The Cat" series of illustrations, I immortalized our friend Inka the black cat early on.

On the other hand, as Buttonwillow pointed out just last week, the image of a fabulously fluffy black and white bi-color cat was sadly lacking from the collection. Harrumph!

So I got right to work and added one:

That's when she said "It's about damn time."

I don't know where she learned such language, but I have my suspicions about Inka, who spent a brief time as street urchin before she found her home here.

I also created brand new Buttonwillow jewelry:

I have been forgiven.

To celebrate, Buttonwillow cooked up a special offer for this weekend only: Buy one Buttonwillow pendant as pictured at regular price ($20) and receive a matching pair of earrings absolutely free. You heard me right. That's a savings of $18! Click here for details: Buttonwillow BOGO

Thanks for visiting!

Happy World Cat Day!

I tried to keep it from her, but Buttonwillow found out anyway... 

It's All About The Sunbeams

One of the hottest days of the year so far here at Susan Faye World Headquarters (95 degrees) and guess who is lounging in the sun with her fur coat on? 

Obviously my studio assistant's devotion to sunbeams knows no bounds.

Buttonwillow's Eco Tip Of The Day

(Falling under the "Re-use" category of the "Re-use, Reduce, and Recycle" Principles of Green Living...)

Cue The Marching Bands and Fireworks!

No, I'm not talking about the Fourth of July.
But yes, it is time to celebrate. 

As most of you know,  my Snazzy Rat Kickstarter campaign successfully ended on April 23. But actually, that was only the beginning.

8 weeks,
250 Snazzy Rats,
120 I.D. cards, and
98 stuffed envelopes later
(not to mention a 2-week cross country trip thrown in for good measure)...

...Studio Assistant Buttonwillow demonstrates the current condition of the staff here at Susan Faye World Headquarters:

Yes, we may be dazed and confused, but

WE ARE FINISHED!

[commence marching bands and fireworks] 

I'm happy to report that the last four Kickstarter reward packages are going out in tomorrow's mail.  If you are a beloved backer and you haven't received your Snazzy Rats yet, don't despair-- they are on their way.

[International backers-- bear in mind that it can take up to 2 weeks for packages to make their way to exotic locales].

In the mean time, Snazzy Rat testimonials and photos of satisfied customers have been rolling in from those Kitty Dearests who have already received their rodents. 

Here's one from Cat Lady Claire of her George enjoying his newly-arrived Cheese Louise Snazzy Rat: 

 

Keep those photos (and videos) rolling in.  I'll be gathering them up and creating a Gallery here on my blog and on my Facebook page in the coming days and weeks, so stay tuned. I'll also be catching up on answering emails and messages that I am woefully behind on...

And thanks to the generosity of my Kickstarter backers, I now have the means to offer Snazzy Rats to the world at large!  Yes, they are now available in my Etsy shop.  Check them out here: Snazzy Rat Catnip Toys.

   

Kitty Dearest will be glad you did.

Now excuse me while I go curl up with my cats and take a quick little cat nap...

Time To Hit The Road

Buttonwillow just about fainted dead away when she heard the news...

I'm leaving on a road trip tomorrow!

My friend Anne and I are driving cross-country to visit her dad in Alabama.

I'll be gone for two weeks, but my Etsy shop will stay open.  Wholesale listings will not be available, and special requests won't be available, but everything you see listed in my shop will be available. The shop will be in the capable hands of my son Chris who will be handling shipping in my absence and will try to answer any questions that come up.  I'll be checking in periodically for anything that might stump him. Don't forget-- I'm having a Spring Cleaning Sale for the entire month of May, so check out all the bargains here:  Susan Faye Pet Projects on Etsy.

KICKSTARTER SNAZZY RAT NEWS

For the past two days, Christopher and I have been busy sending out some of the first Snazzy Rat Kickstarter pledge packages...  I had enough of my prototype fabric to make up about 10-12 of each rat, so we've been able to fill about 30 of the orders. 

  
Here are the package labels that I designed to go on each glassine paper bag.

And I have ordered the rest of the fabric, more catnip, packaging, shipping supplies, and the tote bags, so that when I return from my trip, we will go into high production with the goal of finishing up the pledge packages and having them shipped out by early June.

 I guess I'd better go finish packing. I'll post some photos from the road if I get a chance... 

Spring Cleaning

Buttonwillow  says:

We've been working on lots of new goodies for summer and fall here at Susan Faye World Headquarters, including new jewelry, DIY fabric squares, and Snazzy Rat catnip toys. But first it's time for a little spring cleaning in my Etsy shop.  Out with the old to make room for the new!

The sale starts today and dozens of items have been marked down, with savings 25% - 50% off.  It's a great chance to stock up on gifts for your favorite crazy cat ladies and nature lovers, or treat yourself to a special little something. Click here to see what's on sale and get 'em while they're hot before they're going, going, gone:

 SALE SALE SALE

 

How To Get Your Tail In a Twist (In A Good Way)

As the pledges continue to climb in my Kickstarter "Oh Rats!" campaign, we have already started working on production of the first large batch of Snazzy Rat catnip toys, plus other aspects of fulfilling rewards for my Beloved Backers.  Here are some project pre-production notes: 

TAIL TWISTING
As requested by Inka, each rat must have a squiggly, wiggly tail in snazzy colors.
 

To accomplish that, I start by wrapping the yarn around a board that is just the right width, then I cut the yarn at both ends.

  For each tail I use two strands of yarn in different colors.

 Then I tie two strands together and twist the whole length multiple times.

 When I bring the two loose ends together, the pieces "re-wind" around each other into a pretty twist, and I secure it with a knot.

  

Okay, one down, about 200 more to go. :-)

  
There, now that's better.  With help from the very patient man who lives here, we'll have our tails in a twist in no time!

 If you'd like to learn how to  make your own twisted cord for a project, just Google "twisted cord tutorial" and lots of great how-to's will pop up. 

LAMINATION ELATION
I'm not a big fan of plastics, so I don't know what it is about sending a piece of paper through a lamination machine, and having it come out the other end perfectly preserved and impervious to the elements, but I confess-- I LOVE it! In an unselfish act of motherly love, I decided to let my son and studio assistant Christopher share in the joy.  He spent last weekend making up the first batch of generic I.D cards for the project.

 
A COUPLE OF CUT-UPS
As many of my long-time readers know, Buttonwillow has an intense fascination with scissors and continues to try to master the art of using them.  

 

When I ordered the fabric to make my Snazzy Rat prototypes, I made sure I had enough to make about 10 of each to give me a little head start on the project.

So Buttonwillow and I put our scissors to work and cranked out these puppies in no time at all.

 

SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED

Time to put my sewing machine to work.  I love listening to TED talks and to Jango radio on my computer when I sew.  Just look at this happy pile o' grinning rats!

 

Turning these babies inside-out and stuffing them are two more fun tasks that I am sharing with Chris, and he's doing a great job!

Funny story about the catnip. I've been making different catnip toys for several years now and I store these bags of 'nip in our garage where it is dark and cool.  We moved into our new house about 18 months ago and soon had our first garage sale-- in the garage-- and met many of our new neighbors.  About halfway through the sale, I noticed that my four large polybags of dried green herbs were prominently lined up on a back shelf in full view.  I wonder just what might have been going through the minds of those neighbors, but no one had said a word.  Just to be safe, during the rest of the sale I hid the bags inside the house, lest there be any confusion about just what kind of herbs were in those bags....

Next pre-production task: Packaging. I'll show you what I've come up with in the next post.

Thanks again for all of your support and enthusiasm as this project progresses!  There is still time to procure your own Snazzy Rats by making a pledge at this link.  The campaign ends Tuesday, April 23.