Black [Cat} Friday with Inka

...Join Inka in celebrating Black [Cat] Friday and take 15% off your entire purchase from my Etsy Shop. Use coupon code BLACKCAT15 at checkout.  See what goodies await you at https://www.etsy.com/shop/SusanFayePetProjects 

Is YOUR black cat celebrating today? Post their pics on my FB page! 

(note: discount does not apply to wholesale listings)

What I'm Thankful For... (And It's Time To Vote Again!)

First of all, I'm thankful for my Kickstarter backers.

Thanks to you, my Kickstarter project has met its financial goal and it will be funded when it ends on Tuesday! Cue the fireworks! I'm so excited that I will now be able to take my "A Bouquet From The Cat" designs to our local printer and have them made up into cards and giclee prints.  

To celebrate, I'm adding these two new cat designs to the original 16 choices  (thank you to everyone who voted yesterday):

And I'd LOVE to add MORE designs. 

 So here is my stretch goal:

For each $100 that I raise beyond my goal in the next 5 days, I'll be able add another 2 designs to be printed up. So my first stretch goal is to reach $1300, and I'll add two more new designs. Here are the 8 designs that are now in the running:

Please vote for your favorite 2 new designs in the comments section of this blog post. Voting will end tomorrow night, Thurs. November 28 at 8 p.m PST. I will also be accepting votes on my Facebook page and my Kickstarter update #3, but please, only one vote per person (that is, one vote for two designs). NOTE: The kitty designs above are just thumbnails; the actual color of the prints and notecards will vary slightly from what you see on your screen...

We have just five days left to reach any stretch goals, so please help spread the word.  Even the smallest pledges add up fast!  Thanks for sharing my project link with all of your cat-loving friends: http://kck.st/1bnprOr

In the mean time, I'm counting my blessings: family and friends, my kitties, my art supplies, a warm house, food in my fridge, the beauty of Mother Nature, and generous strangers.  I hope all of you have a blessed and delicious Thanksgiving tomorrow, and I look forward to fulfilling the pledge rewards over the next few months.

NEW Bouquet Cat Designs! VOTE For Your Favorite Today!

Hello Beloved Backers old and new! Thank you, thank you, fantastic feline fanatics, for your generosity in supporting this project. As of this writing, we are just $40 shy of the funding goal, so I have great confidence that hitting the $1200 mark is very close at hand.

To celebrate, I am going to add two new designs to the original 16.  That's where you come in. Buttonwillow has pointed out that I've been a little stingy with the long-haired cats, so I have four new fluffy kitties waiting in the wings: a brown tabby, a white cat, a gray and white cat, and a tortoiseshell.  I've made up two different thumbnails of each with color variations...

Please vote for your favorite 2 new designs in the comments section of this blog post. Voting will end tomorrow night, Wed. November 27 at 5 p.m PST. I will also be accepting votes on my Facebook page and Kickstarter Update #2, but please, only one vote per person (that is, one vote for two designs-- clear as mud, right?). 

NOTE: The kitties shown are just thumbnails; the actual color of the prints and notecards will vary slightly from what you see on your screen...

STRETCH GOALS:  For each $100 we reach beyond the $1200 goal, I will be able to add another TWO designs to be printed! For example, if we reach $1500, I'll be adding 6 new designs to the original 16.

We are in the home stretch now with just a week left of the campaign. Help me reach this new goal by sharing my Kickstarter project with all of your favorite crazy cat ladies and cat guys on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. Here is the link: http://kck.st/1bnprOr

Thank You SO MUCH!! Buttonwillow, Inka and I appreciate all of your help and support!

Drumroll Please...

Miss Kitty!  She is the winner of one dozen notecards in the Bouquet Cat Giveaway. Congratulations Kitty-- you will be contacted shortly to find out your selections....

Didn't win?  Don't despair.  There is still time to make a pledge over at my Kickstarter campaign and receive combinations of 2, 4, 6, or 12 notcards.  Thank you to everyone who helped share the link!  We are 2/3 of the way through the campaign and have raised almost 3/4 of the seed money that will allow me to have 16+ designs professionally printed as notecards and giclee prints.  With a little over a week to go, there are several ways you can help me reach my goal:

1. Make a pledge at this link: http://kck.st/1bnprOr
2. Share this Kickstarter link on Facebook:  http://kck.st/1bnprOr
3. Share this  Kickstarter link on Twitter: http://kck.st/1bnprOr
4. re-pin this Kickstarter Pin to your own Pinterest page: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/100979216618695813/

Thanks for your help!

It's a Bouquet Cat Giveaway!

First, a big THANK YOU to all of my generous backers so far who have supported my "A Bouquet From The Cat" Kickstarter Project!  Thanks to you, I am now over halfway to my goal in the first week!

To celebrate, I'm having a giveaway!  As you may know, my goal is to raise the seed money necessary to have notecards and giclee prints of my new artwork professionally printed. Here are some of the prototypes of the notecards:

Each card is 5" x 7" with an image that is 3.5" x 5.5" and suitable for framing!  They are printed with Dura-Brite inks on matte card stock, blank inside, and each includes an envelope. Pop them into a 5" x 7" frame, and I think they would make great gifts for your favorite veterinarian, pet sitter, or that crazy cat lady down the street. Here are the 16 designs that you will be able to choose from:

THE GIVEAWAY: The prize will be one dozen deluxe notecards, your choice of designs! (including shipping, it's a $45 value!). The winner will receive these cards in early December.

To enter, just tell me what your favorite bouquet is-- tulips, roses, carnations, sunflowers, mixed bouquet, etc.-- in the comments section below.   Entries will also be accepted on my Facebook page.

EXTRA ENTRIES: For extra entries to increase your odds of winning, please help me spread the word about my Kickstarter project...

1. Share my Kickstarter link on Facebook:  http://kck.st/1bnprOr
2. Share my Kickstarter link on Twitter: http://kck.st/1bnprOr
3. re-pin this Kickstarter Pin to your own Pinterest page: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/100979216618695813/

...for each extra entry, come back and leave a separate comment saying which one you did. Each comment will count as one entry. 

The giveaway will end Saturday evening, November 23, at 5 p.m. PST, at which time I will select 1 name at random from all of the entries.

Please make sure that I have a way to contact you if you are the winner, such as a link to your blog or e-mail address included in the comment.  If you don't want to make your contact info public, You may send the contact info directly to my email .  If you visit www.susanfaye.net , you will find an email link.  

THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Custom Kitty Portrait, Step By Step

As part of my "Bouquet From The Cat" Kickstarter Project, I am offering custom portraits of your very own kitty dearest (or that of a loved one).  Here is how I create them,  step-by-step.


First I take a look at a photo of the subject (or you may provide a really good description of the subject). You can see that Tamayo, a dear departed "nephew" of mine, was an especially handsome subject. If you look at his eyes you will see why he was an extra-special feline...

Then the recipient chooses the type of bouquet (tulips, roses, carnations, sunflowers, etc).  Here we're going with the mixed bouquet and this is the black-and-white line drawing that will be used. Using my computer, I add the kitty dearest's name (the copyright watermark will not appear on the original):

 Next, the recipient chooses the background colors, and I fill them in on my computer.  I print this part out onto watercolor paper using high quality inks:

With watercolor paints, I re-create Tamayo's distinctive markings:

The recipient also gets to pick out the color of the vase...

 ...and the flowers!

 Most important is capturing Tamayo's sweet pink bunny-nose and ears, plus those extra-special "odd eyes":

Finally,  I use my waterproof black pen to make an extra embelishment around his name and sign the artwork.

 Ta-da! It's ready for framing!

____________________________________

We still have a little over 2 weeks to go on my Kickstarter project, and here are two ways that you can help me reach my goal and ensure that the project gets funded:

1. By making a pledge if you haven't already (you'll get to choose "Bouquet" cat art rewards like notecards, prints or custom cat portraits like Tamayo's!).
and... 

2. By spreading the word and 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 share: http://kck.st/1bnprOr

Thanks again for supporting my creative endeavors... 

It means a lot to me!

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
                                          

Kickstarter Kickoff!

UPDATE: My Kickstarter Project is now live! Check it out at this link: "A Bouquet From The Cat"

 

Here's the thing: Your cat called, and wants you to have a beautiful bouquet of flowers because you are so adored (You know it's true!). So over the past summer I began creating a new series of illustrations called "A Bouquet From The Cat".  I'd now like to offer these images as notecards and giclee prints to brighten up your office, den, or child's room.  To raise the seed money for professional printing of 16+ images, I have created a Kickstarter campaign which will launch later today, Tuesday, November 12.  I'll be posting the project link once it goes live this evening, sometime around 5 p.m. PST.

Not familiar with Kickstarter?  It's a fantastic website for creative people that enables us to raise funds for our creative projects, including films, games, music, art, books, design,  technology, and more!

Project creators like me set a funding goal and a deadline. If people like you want to support a project, you can pledge money to make it happen. In return, each backer will receive  rewards created by the project creator, based on the level of the pledge (in my case-- prints, notecards and some other surprises).  It's a little like a PBS pledge drive (except your TV program won't be interrupted!).

Funding on Kickstarter is all-or-nothing — projects must reach their funding goals to receive any money.  Pledge money is collected through Amazon.com, but your credit card will only be charged if the project reaches its goal. 

You can learn more about being a backer here: 
BACKING A KICKSTARTER PROJECT

Click here for general info about Kickstarter:

  KICKSTARTER.COM

Once my project goes live, you can help me over the next 21 days by

1. Making a pledge (and receiving "Bouquet" 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...

I'll be posting my project link later today once it is launched. Thanks for your help!