Spring Seems To Be In The Air: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies With Shimshi

Hallo again, Effurrybuddies!

Well, I don't want to jinx things by saying Spring is here but - it is a mewtiful, sunny day (with just a few puffy little white clouds) and tomorrow, the weather prophets say, it will be warmer than average for this time of year. Which, if you come to think of it, is a Good Thing, because Mummy has another one of her Archaeology Field Trips tomorrow.  She wrote about her last trip in her own bloggie a few days ago and will pawsibly write about tomorrow's trip (to Masada) later this week. Or purr-haps She will write, instead, about her Caterwauling Club's concert last Tuesday - which was a Great Success, even though Mummy didn't have a So-Low this time.

Meanwhile, I, the Mighty Shimshon (Shimshi for short) aka The Little Purrince, sometimes known as The Baby Mancat, Master of the Queen's Mischiefs and Captain of the Guard, am here to lead My Fellow J-Cats on this weekend's blog hops - the Caturday Art blog hop, hosted by the Wise and Beautiful Athena and her HuMum, Marie, and the Sunday Selfies blog hop, hosted by the Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

We have three different selfies for you to choose from this week, each of them artified with the help of LunaPic.

Furrst of all, here is one I really wish Mummy had deleted. It's so embarrassing!

I don't know why Humans have this - this - Thing about snapping Us while We are bathing!  I think She must be some kind of a Purr-vert!  She didn't even have the decency to place an X in a strategic pawsition! (No, I don't mean My sweet, little, pink tongue.) I suppose She thinks She can sell this shot to COSMEOWPAWLITAN magazine!

Well, at least the artified version, using Ceremony at 60%, overlaid with Beauty at 45%, is marginally better...

Next up is a beautifully placed shot, capturing the effect of sun and shade, as I took advantage of the late afternoon sunlight falling on the living-room sofa.

We thought the chiaroscuro effect would be best enhanced by the Smoke filter, which We set to 60%:

Finally - a dignified shot which pays Due Respect to My Status as a Purrince, as well as showing My Alertness, as befitting the Captain-of-the-Guard:

For the artification, We used the Grey filter, at 70%:

Which do you like best?

I should just mention that all three will be going on display at the Israel Museum later this week:

Now, here are the blog hop badges:

        

And now, it's time for Us to start blog hopping.

Till next week then.

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Come Rain, Come Shine: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies With Caspurr

Hallo there, Effurryone!

How are you all? It's been a furry eventful week here, in My Domain, both with regard to the highly changeable weather, and with regard to the War - but Mummy will no doubt write about that in her own bloggie, either tomorrow or on Wednesday (on Tuesday, She will be too busy, as She and her caterwauling friends have a concert). 

At any rate, here on OUR bloggie, it is My Turn to lead My Fellow J-Cats on this weekend's blog hops - the Caturday Art blog hop, hosted by the Wise and Beautiful Athena and her HuMum, Marie, and the Sunday Selfies blog hop, hosted by the Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

Before I, Sir Caspurr the Courageous, the Caspicatious, Furrst of My Name, the Snuggle Bug, Commander-in-Chief of the Impurrial Forces, King of the Tigger-Tabbies, share my selfie(s) with you, We want to slip in this guest selfie, which Mummy took on her archaeology field trip to Caesarea last week. As you can see, Mummy is a magnet for homeless kitties, wherever they may be:

Now, this kitty may be officially homeless, but with all the fish restaurants around the ancient harbour, he or she is certainly not hungry, or lonely. S/he even let Mummy pet him/her - a favour s/he did not grant to others whom Mummy saw making the attempt.

And now for My Own Selfies. They are furry similar, I know, but each one was framed and artified differently. Tell Us which you prefurr:

Here is the artsy-fartsy version, using Lunapic's Tattoo effect, at 80%:

And now for no. #2:

We artified this one with the Fairy effect, at 55%:

Finally, We made an artified version of the Homeless Kitty from Caesarea's Guest Selfie, using the Floating effect at 35%:

How's that?

Now, as We said, Mummy's Caterwauling Club has a concert on Tuesday (and no, alas, She did not get the So-Low she was after), so We will cut this short and allow her to get a good rest before this evening's rehearsal (which is likely to go on for longer than usual as it is, basically, the Dress Rehearsal - although they don't dress up for it).

Here are the Blog Hop badges:

        

Till next week then.

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Sunny Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies With Queen Trixie

Greetings, Effurrybody!

As you can see, I - Queen Trixie, Furrst of My Name, Empurress of Jerusalem, Israel and the Entire Middle East, Queen of Hearts, the Panfur Princess, Guardian of the Boudoir and Alpha Kitty Extraordinaire - will be leading My Fellow J-Cats on this weekend's blog hops. Specifically - the Caturday Art blog hop, hosted by the Wise and Beautiful Athena and her HuMum, Marie, and the Sunday Selfies blog hop, hosted by the Delightful, Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

We did have some pretty cold, rainy weather last week, but the weekend was nice and sunny and more than usually warm for this time of year. What is more, tomorrow is set to be warmer still, before the cold and rain return later in the week. This is furry fortunate for Mummy, who has one of her archaeological field trips tomorrow, about which She will no doubt meow write, later in the week, in her own bloggie. She will probably also write something about the War, so We will refrain from doing so, because it is furry depressing and Our Job is to cheer Mummy up!

Mummy also has to go early to Caterwauling Purractice this evening, as She is hoping to get a So-Low in next week's Concert, so We will make this Short and Sweet.

We have chosen three pictures of Me, each one with a different Lunapic filter (or filters) for the artification. 

Furrst of all, here I am, warming myself by the heater, because even in the warmer weather, it can be quite chilly at night in Jerusalem:

The artsy-fartsy version of this uses the Night art effect at 25%, with an overlay of Stained Glass at 20%:

Next up, one of Me enjoying a lovely, warm sunpuddle:

This was artified, counter-intuitively, with the Dark filter at 45%, and then warmed up with an overlay of Sunshine, at 20%:

The final selfie shows me admiring a single, purrfect sunbeam:

Now, Mummy is a bit confused about the artification She used for this one. She scribbled down Smoke 40% with an overlay of Candy at 45%, but when She downloaded the finished Creation, She filed it simply as Candy 45%. So now, We aren't sure whether She used just one filter, or a combination of two. At all events, We don't think any of the filters did complete justice to this picture...

Time to add the blog hop badges, before We fur-get:

        

Till next week then.

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Shimshi's Calm and Contemplative Cold Days Caturday Art and Sunday Selfie

Greetings, Effurrybuddies!

Well, for once, the Weather Prophets were right. We have had more Skywater - lots and lots of it! And the Cold - Oh! Don't let Me get started on that! It's been so cold, even the Central Heating wasn't sufficient, and Mummy had to bring out one of the portable heaters for Us to curl up next to. And Mummy herself sat on the sofa, wrapped in a Snuggle Blanket. Trixie curled up next to her, under the Blankie, and I think Caspurr snuck in under the duvet in the bedroom. As for Me - I found myself a cosy spot on the Rug, next to the Radiator:

Mummy says We should remember it's much worse for Our Soldiers, stuck in the cold and rain in Gaza and in the North (where there is even Snow)!

Of course, there were some sunny periods between the showers and thunderstorms, though it was still colder than usual for this time of year. 

Those were the times when I, Shimshi, in My Role as Master of the Queen's Mischiefs, took it upon Myself to a-mewse Mummy and My Fursibs.

Of course, all three of Us Kitties have to keep Mummy happy when the News is not always good, We are still at War, many people are still being held hostage by the Enemy and the Whole World seems to be against Us - well, large and extremely vocal parts of the World, anyway.

At such times, I have found that it helps to be Calm and Contemplative. This seems to have a Soothing Effect on Mummy. Although sometimes, the reverse is true and We are able to jolt her out of the Doldrums by being Extremely Naughty and making her fur-get effurrything else.  It's not always easy to know which is the best approach.

Here is a picture of Me being Calm and Contemplative:

Note the frame, in Israel's colours, blue and white, with a Shield of David design in the corners.

I think either of these pictures would be good choices to repurresent the J-Cats in the weekend blog hops - the Caturday Art blog hop, hosted by the Wise and beautiful Athena and her HuMum, Marie, and the Sunday Selfies blog hop, hosted by the Delightfully and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

We artified each of these pictures, with the help of LunaPic. Tell Us in the Comments section which you prefurr - and why?

Furrst up, here is the one of Me, warming myself by the portable radiator. We used the Dark filter (one of Our Favourites) at 60%, with an overlay of a new effect that We found, Vangogh5, at 50%:

As you have no doubt realised, We enjoy mixing and matching different effects.

For My calm and contemplative pawtrait, however, We stuck with just one filter - the original Van Gogh effect at 70%:

We are furry pleased with both of these.

Now, here are the blog hop badges:

        

Time for Us to start blog-hopping now. See you next week. Till then - be well. Be safe. We love you all.