today i felted.

A couple of months ago I knit two cat beds but never got around to felting them. What made me snap and want to do it today? I couldn't see my kitty sitting in a floppy cat bed like this:


So sad.

The first cat bed I knit became an ottoman cozy. A neighbor joked that one day she would come over and find that I had knit cozies for everything in the house. I think that first one is going to remain an ottoman cozy, but now I might felt it too. It is really pretty: bright noro kureyon stripes in the center and araucania orange on the edges.

I wish I had tried felting sooner...I really had no idea how much fun it would be to stick something you knit in the washing machine with no idea of what might come out. Now I have ideas swimming in my head for all sorts of things I'd love to knit and then felt.

Also, I did learn this past week that the correct term is 'fulling,' but for this pattern I'm going to call it felting. cause thats what the pattern says.

As soon as it is dry, smothered in catnip, and has a kitty in it, I'll snap a pic and post it here.

gocco fun.

Here are two layers I made during yesterday's gocco play date. The one on the left was drawn with carbon pencils and the one on the right was made with carbon ink and a brush:


Tonight I'll be doing a first test print of the one on the right. The carbon ink layer made the cleanest lines when the screen was burned, so I'm looking foward to seeing the printed outcome.

I've decided to add a third layer because I'm not entirely happy with the way the colors inside the kitty 'frames' bleed onto the background. Also, I'd like the pattern of the faux painted wall background to be a different color than the paper. Oh, and I filled in the frames. So here is the design for the new screen to be burned:


I scanned in all the layers and fiddled with colors, and below is what I'd love it to end up as (note: background is the gocco test print from last night):


Indirectly this piece is inspired by the house in The Royal Tenenbaums. I really liked how every inch of wall space in most rooms was covered by artwork, and there always seemed to be patterns on the walls. Oh, and mice too!

In other news, I haven't had a chance to work on Illustration Friday yet. Theme is 'song.' I have some ideas, hope to have something up by Tuesday!

Daisy in progress.

I started on Daisy from Rowan 38 and here is my progress so far:


The yarn I'm using is Green Mountain Spinnery, from the 2005 Sheep & Wool festival. It didn't come with any tags, and I couldn't find any info about it on their website, but the receipt (yes, I'm one of those people that saves all my receipts...might have to do some collage work with them all one day) says 'handpainted tencel' on it. I'm guessing its a 50% merino 50% tencel blend. Its really silky and shiny. I love it!

The 'cluster 5' part of the pattern was confusing at first and took me many tries and then many internet searches to find out how to work it. I think I started it over 5 times. Thank you Lamp Light Writing for posting a step by step method with photos! Oh, and thanks for calling Rowan to ask them how its done!

Here are my Cluster 5 step by step notes in case you're trying to figure it out:
K1: With all of the 5 unravelled stitches on your left needle, and your yarn to the back ready to knit, slide the right needle through all 5 loops as if to knit them together. While the needle is through all 5 loops, wrap the yarn around the needle 3 times, then complete the knit action, keeping all 5 loops on the left needle.

P1: Next, move the yarn to the front ready to purl, stick the needle through the 5 loops as if to purl and keep the needle there! Wrap the yarn around the needle 3 times, then pull it through completing the purl action.

Then continue the same for the following K1,P1, etc... On the last K, slide the cluster over to your right needle, and make sure the connection is tight. The following K is a good time to pull the yarn to make the cluster ends tighter.

A lot going on here and my main advice is to move the yarn forward/back depending on whether its time to purl/knit the cluster. Gets a little awkward at times, but its fun when you see the pattern of swirls come through! If any of you have done this and have figured out a better way, please let me know!

Note: The yarn I'm using is actually lighter than in the photo above. You can see a more color acurate version of it in my Stash post below: its the ball of peachy colored yarn at top, center of the bottom case. mmm...peachy!

Knits. knits. etc...

Interesting week coming up! Monday night we'll be taking our collaborative Monday art night back to the Argonaut, and Thursday night will be a gocco play date with a friend! Its really amazing how much artwork you can get done when you set time aside and make it your only priority. Sean and I are thinking of making Thursdays a second 'art night' at our place to work on personal artwork.

Now, on to some recent cast-offs... The hat on the left was knit with Manos and was a Christmas present for my brother. He says its his best hat ever, so I'll be starting a second one for him pretty soon.


The purple swirly hat is not the same one I posted before. Notice in the detail how the thick/thin parts of the yarn happened to knit up together instead of randomly and how it created a spiral design all the way up. very fun. Its the same yarn from Asheville, NC (I've included details below in case you want to buy your own).

Speaking of Asheville, this coming weekend the Washington Glass School will be going on their annual glassblowing trip to the Penland School of Crafts. Have fun everyone! Maybe I'll join you again next year...


Back to knitting... Here we have another one of my umbilical cord hats paired with some booties. I bought the booties in Beirut (from Sarah's Bag) and wanted to make a hat to match using the blue sky cotton I already had. So, I knit some rowan kidsilk spray into the first few rounds, then again into the i-cord part of the hat. It gave it a fun and fuzzy feel, and made them a set! So much fun that I've already knit another hat, same color, but with some fuzzy green yarn instead. Here is some more eye candy: beads (mostly vintage, mostly glass) for my friend, the new mom:


Work in progress: Sean's first hat was a great hit, so I've started a 'lighter' version of it in black cashcotton knit on size 6 dpns, and I'm making up the pattern! Hey, I've made about 8 hats in the past 2 months, all based in some way on other patterns, so its about time I made my own one up, right?

I started a clapotis but have stopped work on it because I'm not entirely happy with the yarn, and I've heard the pattern takes way more yarn than it calls for. My decision to end seemed an even better idea when kitty#2 attacked one of the balls, split it into 7, and took it for a romp all over the house! Clapotis, twas fun while it lasted, dropping the stitches and all, but I'm gonna cast you aside and find a new scarf to work on. I'm thinking maybe the 'Daisy' scarf from the winter Rowan magazine. Hmmm...

Details promised above:
The purple/green yarn (similar to point 5 colinette but softer) 85% wool, 15% silk, from Mackey's Acres, mackeyacres@charter.com
The store where I bought it from was: Asheville NC Home Crafts in the Historic Grove Arcade, Tel: 828.350.7556.

Illustration Friday: Simple

Meet Becky. Becky can knit a sweater in 2 minutes and is one of my blog/knitting superheroes. This illustration was inspired by her fabulous 'Mystery Knit' Titania sweater she designed. Visit her site, fluffa!

Previous Illustration Friday entries : chair [chair pt 2 coming soon!] :
glamour [color gocco print] : glamour : cats : e is for : sea : flavor : holiday : imagine

Illustration Friday: Chair

Meet Alison. Alison doesn't understand some of the things big people say. And when she doesn't understand, she just giggles.



So, is Alison really going to fall? or will she gracefully rock back onto the four legs of her chair? You pick her destiny, and I'll illustrate the winning outcome.


Previous Illustration Friday entries : glamour [color gocco print] : glamour : cats : e is for : sea : flavor : holiday : imagine

Meet my stash.

Its my one year knitting anniversary! In celebration, I decided it was time to go through my stash and figure out what I had, what projects I wanted to work on next, and decide on what I wanted from the sunday morning super bowl sale at stitchdc.

All my yarn is neatly stored in four plastic cases. Every once in a while, I like to rearrange my stash. Sometimes by color, sometimes by yarn style. Sometimes just cause they look pretty together.





Today's sale was from 11-12 but it took 2 hours of waiting in line! argh! But it was all worth it. Oh, I should also mention that on Friday I did a clandestine walk-through of the shop to scope out what my options were. Want to take a peek at my latest acquisitions? My favorite purchase was the one I almost put back: the grey super chunky blue sky alpaca in the top left corner. truly scrumptious.

Meet Macy the Glamorous Gocco

Macy the colored bubble fashionista made it into full color!



Macy was printed using my Print Gocco CD press. It has a moveable printing bed, so I was able to adjust it in order for all the layers to register correctly. This is my first try at doing a multi-layer, multi-color gocco print, and for a first try, I'm quite happy with it!

Yes, print gocco everywhere, and I was so excited and thrilled to be doing it, I did some layers before they even dried! And I left the final black screen in the printer for hours and randomly printed on stuff. fun. My kitties were intrigued.




My favorite is the painted print (below). The ink is oil based, so it makes it really easy to paint within the lines. I can see an all-gocco coloring book in my future. Paint by number would be fun too!



Totals: 22 color prints, 5 small file prints, 1 painted small file print, 6 file folder prints, and some random prints on receipt paper. Oh, and one print on tissue paper for Scenic Artisan to do a faux finish experiment with it.

Notes:
:: I ended up scanning the original illustration and resizing it to fit.

:: It was really easy to set up the three different layers in photoshop. I then printed the pages out and made some photocopies.

:: This print came out with a lot of texture in it because the paper stuck to the screens! Yes, unexpected, but I'm hoping that when I want this effect again I'll be able to recreate it. This might have happened because the density of of black on the photocopy was too intense. Next time I'll make the printouts in another color (like green/blue) so the photocopy doesn't come up so dark. I wonder if this wouldn't have happened if I had used the carbon inked version of the illustration, or even if I had just photocopied it onto heavier paper.

:: Printing on gold leafed-paper: not a good idea. Took me yet more time to pick off all the bits and pieces. yes, with my trusty xacto.



Thanks for coming back to see the results!

Illustration Friday: Glamour

Meet Macy. Macy liked to experiment with different hair colors
to see if they made her feel like a different person. One day
she heard in the news that colored bubbles had been made,
so she stayed up all night and cracked the code. Her new invention?
A potion to make the colored bubbles match her patterned outfits.

Macy will be turned into a gocco print tonight,
with many glamorous colors.

She was painted in india ink on 6"x4" paper.
Come back soon and check up on Macy to see how
her colored bubble match her outfit!

Previous Illustration Friday entries:
cats
e is for
sea
flavor
holiday
imagine

Colin Meloy Sings.

Last night's Colin Meloy show at the Birchmere was great. I'd never been to the Birchmere before but it was quite an interesting place, and not too far from dc. My only complaint would be that most people hardly moved! Was it because of the cameras? I think the girl in front of me and I were the only ones with a little bounce in our toes! If you missed it, npr recorded it and you can download it on Monday from this link.

He played some decemberists, some new tunes, and one from his new ep. Yes, there is a new 'shirley collins' ep out, which I of course had to buy. They were only being sold on the tour, and the only place to find it now is through mr. ebay. The new stuff sounded great...can't wait till I get to listen to them over and over on my ipod. For now I guess I'll have to listen to it over and over again on npr. Thank you npr!

Oh, no carson ellis backdrops, but the new ep has her artwork on it....oh, and check out the decemberists shop for new baby onesies she illustrated. too cute.

On another music related subject, back to a few weeks ago, ipod dj night at saint-ex was fun. Basically, anyone with an ipod gets 12 minutes of play, and then the playlist is posted at www.ipodjukebox.com. Next event is Feb. 15.

Also, I'm a new fan of e.music. Give it a try! You get 50/100 free downloads to start off, then its $10/month for 40 and you can cancel anytime. Kind of like netflix, but you own the music once its over.

Artist(s): Limon Four

While going through links on illustrationfriday.com, I found another group of collaborative artists: Limon Four [M.Limon, S.Limon, J.Limon and N.Limon. Yes, they're brothers]. They sometimes work on the same page, and sometimes on different pages and combine them. On their work & progression page, you get to see what each artist did, in what order, as well as the final 'finished' piece, like this:


What I like best about collaborative work is that it really is a lot of fun. There is something special about starting something and having another person transform it to something totally different and unexpected. It sort of makes you let go of the need to make it 'perfect' from the beginning, cause someone else is gonna jump right in and change it. Spontaneity. That's the word.

Ok, I'm not a quote person, but I found this quite relevant. So, before I change my mind about it, I'll post it. And yes, make it italic: "Creativity arises out of the tension between spontaneity and limitations, the latter (like the river banks) forcing the spontaneity into the various forms which are essential to the work of art or poem." Rollo May, The Courage to Create, 1975.

Illustration Friday: Cats

And in this exhibit we have some cat tags:



Ink, watercolor, colored pencil on cardstock.
Size of top left cat tag is 1" x 1.75."
Previous Illustration Friday entries:
e is for
sea
flavor
holiday
imagine

work in progress.

Here is the state of a commissioned portrait I'm currently working on:

carbon ink.

I took a little walk over to Utrecht and bought carbon ink and carbon pencils to do some freestyle print gocco work. With the ink and pencils I'll be able to draw/write/ink/paint my designs on paper, then shoot a screen directly from it. The ways I've tried so far are:

:: Photocopies :: excellent. My usual gocco screenmaking process is to draw/paint/print something, scan it in, mess around with it in photoshop/quark to make it the right size and composition, print it out, photocopy it, and maybe photocopy the copy for interesting marks and textures. Definitely a winner.

:: Riso carbon pen :: a 0.3mm pen was used (the one that comes with the PG/B6). It worked well in the areas that had a lot of coverage, but not so great with the finer lines. Will try this out again.

My next print gocco experiments are going to be with the carbon:

:: Wolff's Carbon Pencils :: 4 different levels of hardness, and
:: Speedball Super Black India Ink [100º carbon black, no pigments] ::

Once I try it out I'll post some results.

pomegranate martinis.

yum.

Yes, Stitch'n'bitch was lots of fun. Besides the knitting, lunching, and pomegranate martini drinking, we took a little trip to visit all about yarn in columbia, md. Every inch of the shop was packed with yarn goodness so we spent quite a bit of time inspecting everything. I made it through with not too much of a dent; I got the latest Rowan magazine and some kidspray haze for a little hat I started.

Bonus: we all walked away with gifts of yarn from the hostess, and homemade cookies from the martini goddess. yay!

Tonight is collaborative art Monday, and instead of working in one of our studios, we're taking it out to a bar.

I don't have the recipe for the pomegranate martinis on me, nor the cookies, but I'll leave you with a recipe of the previously mentioned Long Island Champagne:

all top shelf:
3/4 oz tequila
3/4 oz rum
3/4 oz gin
3/4 oz vodka
3/4 oz triple sec
3 oz champagne
2 fresh black cherries

Shake liquors. Pour in short glass. Add champagne and garnish with two fresh black cherries.

I have no idea where the Long Island Champagne comes from. All I know is that it is on the menu at Lila Braun and Pacifico in Beirut, and now here.

Illustration Friday: E is for

Exhausted Erin.

Meet Erin. Erin is not a happy camper. She is exhausted.
She spent all day swimming around and still can't find
what she's looking for. Maybe she'll find the light at the end
of the next pipe.



Happy Friday the 13th. Hope you all have better luck today than Erin!

Erin was painted in watercolor and ink on
2.75"x3.75" amalfi cotton rag paper.
You can access my previous illo friday entries here:
sea
flavor
holiday
imagine

knit stuff, finally.

This Saturday my friend is hosting a Stitch'n'Bitch, so nows about a good time to post some knitting related stuff, right? Here are some recent knits:













The olive green man hat was knit with 'araucania nature wool chunky', 'mistralee farm studio' lace weight charcoal grey alpaca (from the last MD sheep & wool festival), and 'alpaca cloud moss' lace weight baby alpaca from knitpicks, all held together. I really like the random coloring that holding 3 different yarns together created, and have ideas swimming in my head to do this again on my next project. The pattern is called 'kim's hats' from the 'last minute knit gifts' book but I changed it slightly by doing a moss stitch instead of ribbing/garter, and also made it a couple of rows 'taller' than called for. This way it can be worn looser off the head, or folded down and tighter. Oh, and I should mention this hat is super warm. Here is a detail:









The bulky thick/thin purple hat was knit with a silk/merino yarn I bought last February from Asheville, NC. I had started knitting in January, so by February I was yarn crazy. I was in NC with the Washington Glass School taking a glassblowing class at Penland, and on the last day we all took a trip to Asheville to check out some art galleries. And thats where I found a great little yarn store. I can't think of the name, but when I find it, I'll post it. This yarn looks like colinette but is much softer and was spun in NC. Another detail:









The Stitch'n'Bitch umbilical cord hat was knit with 'blue sky cotton' and the umbilical cord part was finished off with some knitpicks moss alpaca.

Also, here are some things I got from my friends shop Sarah's Bag in Beirut. If you happen to be planning a trip there anytime soon, I highly recommend you stop by! Their stuff is awesome, and their packaging rocks. Lookie here:










On the left (and bursting out on the right) are two stuffed bobble crochet scarves, then clockwise to the right a brown and red crochet scarf, a belt purse, and in the foreground a pair of crochet mary jane baby booties (for a friend). They are packaged in tulle drawstring bags, with shiny sequence swimming around the rim. Delicious!

line o'tags.

These guys have yet to be named and turned into tags/cards.
Hmm...the kid in the middle looks like a 'fred'. What do you say?

thoughts asea.

This week's illustration friday 'sea' theme got me thinking
about the mediterranean sea. During my visit to Beirut
in December the weather was strangely warm, bright,
sunny, 70º. Perfect weather. There was only one, maybe two
days where the weather changed and it rained a little.
And for those one, maybe two days, the sea turned crazy.

Here is a photo of the sea during a calm, warm, winters day
(and how it looked most of the time I was there):


Now a photo of the sea during a rainy, windy winters day.
Looks like a bad day, doesn't it? I couldn't get out on the
balcony to get a better shot because it was so windy:


And here is the sea view from the sidewalk of the 'corniche'
during the same rainy, windy, winters day:


The sidewalk is a couple of meters wide and a popular place
to hang out at most times of the day. Its kind of like a
concrete boardwalk with many mobile vendors with food, coffee,
renting chi-chas and offering shoe shines. What I like best
about the corniche is that when its really windy and rainy,
the water crashes so hard against the rocks that it sprays
everyone on the sidewalk.

Illustration Friday : Sea

Meet Antoinette. Antoinette watched Jaws one too many
times. As hard as she tries to relax and have a good time,
she can't help thinking about what lies beneath as she
stands in the water. She is terrified. And when she feels
that way, her eyes do something funny.























Antoinette was painted in watercolor and ink on
2.75"x3.75" amalfi cotton rag paper.
You can access my previous illo friday entries here:
flavor
holiday
imagine

Artist: Carson Ellis

Life is sweet when you manage to buy tickets before
dcist posts it or OC plays it and they are sold out.
Life is even sweeter when your favorite music comes
with fabulous artwork.

Why yes, I have tickets to the Jan 28 Colin Meloy
solo show. yay! I love the Decemberists.

Through their website, album artwork, stage drops,
and tshirts, I learned about the fabulous artist behind it all:
Carson Ellis. Her lines, hand lettering, and use of color
create such thoughtful, expressive, and moody works of art.

Here are some details of her watercolor work:





















And my personal favorites, her flyers:



















Her work rocks. You can see more of her work and
details at carsonellis.com and on the decemberists' website.

one down.

Yay! I've almost completed one of my New Year's missions:
participate in more art shows. Today Scenic Artisan
and I dropped off artwork at the Montpelier Arts Center!
The show opens this Friday. Thats only two days away.
Less than one week into the New Year. Now thats crazy fast.

Now my next mission is to keep this pace up for the rest
of the Year.

the crazy course of life.

Buy it, use it, break it, fix it,
trash it, change it, melt - upgrade it,
charge it, pawn it, zoom it, press it,
snap it, work it, quick - erase it,
write it, get it, paste it, save it,
load it, check it, quick - rewrite it,
plug it, play it, burn it, rip it,
drag and drop it, zip - unzip it,
lock it, fill it, curl it, find it,
view it, curl it, jam - unlock it,
surf it, scroll it, pose it, click it,
cross it, crack it, twitch - update it,
name it, read it, tune it, print it,
scan it, send it, fax - rename it,
touch it, bring it, obey it, watch it,
turn it, leave it, stop - format it.


[lyrics from daft punk's 'technologic']

Illustration Friday : Flavor

Meet Clementine. Please note her stylishly coiffed hair
and pink sash. Clementine is not vanilla. As the three
cherries appeared on her screen, the only thought
she had was holding her glass full of apple martini straight.

Wishing you all the luck of Clementine for the New Year!

Cheers!























Additional Notes
1: Clementine was painted in watercolor on
calling card size 'carta a mano di amalfi' cotton rag paper,
2.75"x3.75". Each page is very special as it is handmade
in Amalfi, Italy at 'one of the oldest and most presitgious
papermaking centers in Europe.' Some more history.

2: I updated Clementine. Some more 'flavoring' was needed.
If you want to see the original for comparison, here you go!:

nice work, shoofly.

I looked up some stats on my site, and apparently someone got here
through doing a search for 'flaming shots' on google. great.

Illustration Friday : Holiday

Meet Margaret. She delivered all her presents, stayed up late
playing sudoku, and is still asleep, even though its almost noon.
Margaret likes to think that the best holidays are the days
you get to sleep in.


















Update: Margaret was painted in watercolor on a hot pressed
'Aquarelle Arches' watercolor block.

please don't go, gocco.

Last Thursday was the first day I participated in Illustration Friday and I was so excited I just had to click through as many of the other submissions as I possibly could. I was the 455th person to post, so my clicks were pretty random...sometimes I clicked because I was intrigued by the name, but mostly I clicked blindly down the list to see what would come.

All was very, very exciting (I even commented on my faves!) until I came across a post on one site that said there are rumors that Riso in Japan was no longer going to make/export print gocco machines! ah! terrible news!

I spent most of the next day searching for Gocco stuff to buy. I found that most sites had sold out of the printer bodies, but accessories still seem widely available. An e.mail bounced back from a major supplier and I near freaked out, especially since I had been trying to call their number all day and no one answered. Good news: I did hear back from them later. phew. I managed to buy a fabric printer and will be crossing my fingers till it gets here. Yes, I still plan on buying a ton of supplies.

You can read more about efforts, news and how to save gocco here.



In case you also want to stockpile gocco stuff, here are links to some US distributors of Print Gocco accessories and suppliers that I have used:
welsh products
think ink
northwood studios
dick blick

Illustration Friday : Imagine

Meet Stella. She's often contemplated about what life would be like (if her house were upside down).

Merry Christmas!

oh lila.

Beirut nightlife is all about being in the right place at the right time. The right time means the place needs to be totally packed with no room to stand and people bouncing off the walls. In DC, the closest comparison would be with Eye Bar. Lila Braun has no sign but everyone knows where it is, more like a swank 18th st lounge.

The night before my brother's engagement party, after he had met her extended family and friends from out of town, and after he had answered all their questions and had said his goodbyes for the night, we turned around and walked into Lila.

We got there at the perfect time. We had just been at place across the alley at a bar/resto called Pacifico and were the last ones to leave. Lila was absolutely packed. It took a lot of shuffling to get to the bar, but very soon after all our 'long island champagnes' (i think a slice of lemon is the only nonalchoholic part of this drink. oh, and the ice) were halfway downed, the place started to empty.

The dj was playing slow french music but we were still dancing. We were almost the only people there other than the staff, but then as we were starting to think it was time to go, Mike, the bartender, says five words: "do-you-want-some-shots?" And that is where our night really started.



















Here on the right, meet our two favorite bartenders: Jad and Mike. Last time I was here Jad made the most incredible mojitos ever. Please note the lovely arrangement of mint on display. This is a shot of the second flaming shot my brother had to down: a flaming lamborghini. eck. The first one was spectacular. I think its name was 'you're screwed' and the flames were more of a fireworks extravaganza. My brother had tears in his eyes when he was done. So touching.

After 2/3 rounds of shots for everyone, and all the spectular flaming shots for my brother, the last 20 minutes were spent pleading with the bartenders to convince the bouncer to let us back in again.

knitting en route to beirut.

I'm a travel knitter because that's when I get most of my knitting done. Two weekends ago, on a roadtrip to soutwestern virginia on 81 (6 hours down, 6 hours back), I decided that I would name my knit work after the roads/connections they were made on. My next big knitting spurt was later last week on a plane trip to Beirut. With almost 8 hours on one flight, 5 on the next, and rare quiet moments here, I have had plenty of time to pull out my needles and work. But now that we're in Beirut, no road trip knitting for me since I do all the driving!

So, in these past two trips I've made out with one umbilical cord hat (started on 81, finished in Paris), two bulky hats (first one made on 81 south, second on the flight to Paris), half of a man hat (still in progress), and the beginnings of another man hat. Yes, lots of hats...I'm a travelling haberdashery.

Between the knitting, I had time to think about how similar the highways of VA and Charles De Gaulle airport are. The chaos on either makes absolutely no sense to me. They must have been designed by the same person.

I left my gocco in dc, but brought plenty of sketchbooks and am working on some ideas for when I get back. The first few days here were a lot of fun. I even got to check out an art gallery (oops...link fixed!) in downtown Beirut.

Here is a view from my apartment in Beirut:


















Here is a view from my house in the mountains:


















And here is a photo inside Beiteddine:


















The whole country shut down Monday morning when another pro-lebanese journalist was killed by a car bomb. So sad.

One day we'll all be gocco, too.

Meet (clockwise from top left): Sample Sale Maude, PJ File 1, Stanley, Kate, Sample Sale Chloe, Tag Sale Susie, Jackie File 2, and Tag Sale Rick.

They are all mixed media including ink, watercolor, colored pencil and wood....and all on office supplies. The sizes shown range from 1.75"x2.75" (Kate) to 3.5"x4.75" (Tag Sale Susie).

The cats below have dreams that one day (with some help from the little gocco) they will get to play tag on wrapping paper: