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!

Buttonwillow Has A Special Announcement

Snazzy Rat Testimonials

Thanks to the generosity of 99 Kickstarter backers in April 2013, Snazzy Rat Catnip Toys have now made their way into the world, and testimonials and photos have been rolling in ever since...

Here is one of my favorites so far, sent in by Cat Lady Mary R.  It seems that Piggy, Hugo, Squeeky, and Chaps have been enjoying their Snazzy Rats! (Maybe TOO much... check out the glowing eyes!)



"Had to tell you that your Snazzy Rats are a favorite now at our house! Onyx Kitty just loves her Snazzy Rat!!!"   ~photo courtesy of Cat Lady Pat A.

 
"I wanted to write and let you know that your wonderful Snazzy Rat arrived safely and has been causing an excited ruckus with our 2 cats - Dutch, our elderly (16+ years old) and our young (barely 1 year old) Thelma.They had a fun time wrestling each other and licking the rat, and when Dutch fell into an exhausted heap on top of it and went to sleep, Thelma climbed up onto the couch and began eating the paper that came with it! Thanks so much! We will be spreading the word amongst our family of cat lovers!"  ~from Cat Lady Elizabeth M.

"The snazzy rats are a hit! Clawing open the mailer was just the start." ~photo courtesy of Cat Lady Joana E (on behalf of Baloo, Percy, Ming and Pikachu)
Apparently a lot of resourceful kitties have tried to open their own Snazzy Rat packages!

"Got my Kickstarter Ratz toy and inadvertently started a small household war! Had to take it away until I could get a second one so they didn't kill each other over it! :)  I don't know who grows your 'nip, but they *love* it--20 minutes later my (older, generally rather sedate) cats are still fighting over the bit of floor where it lay for all of 5 minutes! The catnip I had on hand simply will not do. Compliments to your supplier! And to the toy--it's *perfect* wrestle size!  (And I, of course, appreciate the awesome artwork. I'm afraid it's lost on their happy little drugged-out brains though.)" ~ from Cat Lady Dianne D.


"My kitty George supported your kickstarter project. He got his loot today and he's through the roof, high on catnip. We could smell it as we were opening the package! We also bought a rat for my mom's 2 kitties. I just wanted to say thank you, i am eternally looking for made in the US cat products that are also esthetically pleasing and fun for my cat. I'm sure George will sneak online and buy more in the near future!" ~photo courtesy of Cat Lady Claire. 

George isn't going to let his "Cheese Louise" Snazzy Rat get away...

"My cats are going nuts over these, thank you thank you thank you for creating them! I'll definitely be ordering in the future as well, your shop has so many cute things. I don't know what brand of catnip you are using but keep it; it smells so fresh and strong (in a good way) and had immediate effect"~ from Foster Cat Mom Katrina F.

"This thing must be made from something really awesome because my normally docile sweet orange tabby nearly tore straight through the mailer to get to this toy!! I've never seen her so excited about a toy in my life. She and my other cat (grey, unknown type, kinda bitchy) have been loving on their cosmic snazzy rat for over 20 min now. They only stop to take care of the munchies. Anyhow, thank you for this wonderful rat and the kitties love it!!"  ~ from Cat Lady Alison M.


~ Photos of Tango from Cat Lady Missy D:
"She even helped open the package! Tango is very possessive of her rat. I put it away for a few days a week - then she thinks she is getting a new toy when I bring it out."

This was Tango in constant movement

 when I gave her the rat.

This picture was taken after 20 minutes of wild play.

"My cat went nutty. She is 13 and was acting like a kitten. It made me so happy. If I could snag a few more with an Etsy listing, please please! I'll take 4 more of any cloth/color." ~ from Cat Lady Anne

Kitty Dearests!  Need more 'NIP?  Don't panic;  just tell the humanoids that Snazzy Rats are now available in my Etsy shop at this link: 

 SNAZZY RAT CATNIP TOYS

 

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...

I'm Back! And Playing Catch-up!

Did you ever feel that you needed a vacation to recover from a vacation? 

Last month I took a cross-country trip to Alabama and back with my girlfriend Anne.  It was quite an adventure as we spent many 10-hour days on the road, did a lot of "picking" for antiques and treasures along the way, stayed at her dad's ranch where I saw my very first cardinal, my very first fireflies, and my very first sassafras tree, experienced Nashville, dodged a tornado or two on the way back to Southern California, then flew home to Oregon with a pesky head cold.  Whew!  

I was giddy as a schoolgirl to see a cardinal for the very first time...

Not only did I see a Sassafras tree for the first time, I also TASTED one for the first time.  Yummy!

I've been back for almost two weeks and laying low a bit while playing catch-up.  I'm happy to report the cold is long gone and things at Susan Faye World Headquarters are back in full swing.  With the help of my son Chris (and Buttonwillow and Inka), we are back into high production mode on the Kickstarter Snazzy Rat Catnip toys and the next batch of reward packages are ready to go out in the mail today and tomorrow. 

That means that close to 2/3 of the rewards are finished, with just one more batch to go!  I'm already receiving photos of many happy Kitty Dearests with their new Snazzy Rats, and I'll be setting up a gallery here on my blog and on my Facebook page very shortly.  Please keep sending in photos-- you can post them directly on my Facebook page or send them via email.

I'll also be posting more of my road trip photos sooon, so stay tuned!