Shimshi's On A Roll: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Hallo again, Effurrybuddies!

In case you hadn't guessed, this week, it is MY Turn (ME being the Mighty Shimshon, or Shimshi for short) 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 Deliciously and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

This week, We picked a single pawtrait, which pawsitively jumped out at Us when We were trying to decide which to choose - and just begged to be The One. As you can see, I was trying to examine one of Mummy's CD towers when She called Me to turn round and then just snapped away.

We thought that by using a single picture, with different effects, it would be easier to see which filters worked best. So here are three different artifications, all from LunaPic, which also provided the frames.

In the furrst artification, We used a filter We don't recall having seen before, Races at 54%, overlaid with Dark (which We use often), this time set to 23%:

 

Next came a combination of PSketch and Tuscany, both at 45%:

Finally, Landscape at 65%, with a light wash of Storytime, at 24%:

What do you think? Do you have a prefurrance?

Before We fur-get, here are the blog hop badges:

        

This week's post is going to be a short one, so that Mummy, whose Caterwauling Club is starting up again this evening, can go and have a Snooze Siesta before the rehearsal. Not that She really took a break from Caterwauling even during the last six weeks, because She is taking part in a fully-staged and costumed production of the o-purr-etta Die Fledermaus in November and that requires a lot of rehearsals. We think that sounds like a lot of Hard Work, but also quite a lot of Fun. We didn't know there was a whole o-purr-etta about a Flying Mousie! We would like to see one of those (a Flying Mousie, that is).

So We will wrap this up now. See you all next week, same Cat Time, same Cat Channel. Till then - be well. Be safe.  We love you all.

The Many Facets of Caspurr: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Greetings, Effurrybody!

Well, after a spell of more or less normal weather, We are in for another heatwave they say, with Heavy Heat Stress.  This kind of roller-coaster is  "normal" here for late summer and early autumn.

Mummy bought one of those Air Coolers that have become furry trendy of late, with all sorts of claims about who invented them. Whateffur you may have heard, they are an Israeli invention and they were using something furry similar - although much larger and bulkier - in Eilat in the 1970's already. They used to call them Desert Coolers.

Now, as you will have guessed from the title of today's Post, I, Sir Caspurr the Courageous, the Caspicatious, Furrst of My Name etc. etc. etc. will be repurresenting the 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.

The three selfies We selected this week were all artified using BeFunky, and framed with the help of LunaPic.

Furrst up, here is one of Me demonstrating My Birdwatching skills:

This one came out a bit dark (We had the shutters half down because of the heat), but Mummy played around with the light levels and after adding the Gouache4 filter, it turned out really purrty, We think:

Next, here is one of Me doing what I do best - being a Snuggle Bug. I was waiting patiently for Mummy to put the camera down and give me Tummy Smooches:

And here is the slightly cropped, artified version, using the Pixel Art GFX filter at 70%:

And finally, a Formal Pawtrait of Me, Up Close and Purrsonal. Note My raspy, little pink tongue:

For this one, We made a wild and wackily-coloured artsy-fartsy version, using the Vector Pop GFX filter at 60%:

Which one do you like best? Tell Us in the Comments section below.

Next up, here are the blog hop badges:

        

That's all for now. The heat is making Us furry sleepy so We are off to have a Snooze Siesta (and so is Mummy). See you all, COD willing, next week - same Cat Time, same Cat Channel. Till then, be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Appreciating Black Cats: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies with Trixie

Greetings, Effurrybody! Isn't this cool? It just happens to be MY Turn to lead the 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 - and it falls pat on Black Cat Appreciation Day!

Furrst of all, however, I want to thank effurrybody for their birthday greetings last week. We had a lovely picnic and barbecue up in the Enchanted Forest - and this afternoon, in honour of this Special Day, We shall be having another one, at 6pm, Israel time.

But before We do any of that, We want to take a few minutes to remember a Sweet Ginger Kitty, who, sadly, was called to the Rainbow Bridge on Friday - Opie, from It's A Wonderpurr Life, whom We knew mostly from Fursbook. Many of you will have known him and his fursibs, Dori, Rabbit and the others, as well as  his pawrents, Kimberley and Ray. Opie had what Mummy's Grandma used to call "a Good Innings". He was 18 when he received his Angel Wings, but it is neffur, effur long enough for those of Us who are left grieving on this earth, is it?

We know Opie and his Earthly Family will meet again, some day - just as We will all be re-united, in the fullness of days, with those We have loved and who have loved Us - but that doesn't take away the pain We feel right now. All We can do is hug Our Loved Ones, hold them close and enjoy the Precious Moments that are given to Us, before it is too late.

********

And now that Mummy has pulled herself together again and wiped her Leaky Eyes and can see propurrly, We can get on with the blog hops - because that is an impawtant part of enjoying those Precious Moments We spoke about, especially when Oceans lie between Us.

So, as I said, today is Black Cat Appreciation Day - and I, as you know, am a Panfur Princess, as well as being Queen-Empurress of the Entire Middle East and all that. Black kitties are often discriminated against, because of some Silly Superstitions some humans have about Us bringing Bad Luck. That is, of course, Utter Nonsense.  In many Asian countries, such as Japan and China, black cats are considered to bring Good Luck and Prosperity! Besides which - We are BEAUTIFUL!

So, here are three of My Best Selfies from the past week, all of which were framed and artified with LunaPic.

In this furrst one, I was still pretty much zonked-out from the heat. I am happy to say that as of yesterday, tempurratures are more or less back to normal - 30 degrees Celsius, which is about right for August, and a considerable improvement from last week's 41 degrees!

And here is the same picture, artified with the Dark effect, at 73%.

The next selfie shows Me in My Tunnel. This one suffered from all the difficulties inherent in photographing a Black Cat against a dark background, but at least you can see My Eyes clearly. Mummy says they are one of My Most Beautiful Features (of many)!

And here is the artified version, using a combination of Beauty, at 55% and Sketch2 at 17%.

Finally, here I am on the coffee table. In this one, you get to see two of Me, as I am reflected in the glass.

We kept the artification quite simple here, with the Skeletor filter at a mere 21%.

Next, here are the blog hop badges:

        

Before We go, We would just like to note that Mummy posted a new article on her own blog last Thursday, for those who are interested.

Oh - and We just had another Missile Alert!

15 minutes later: All Clear!

Now, it is time to start hopping. We hope to see you all again next week, COD willing - same Cat Time, same Cat Channel. Till then, be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Too Hot To Be Legal: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies with Shimshi

Hallo again, Effurrybuddies!

It is Me again, the Mighty Shimshi, Master of the Queen's Mischiefs (and all the other Titles, which I am too tired to repeat). I haven't actually been getting up to many Mischiefs these past few days, because the Extreme Heat is making Us all so furry sleepy, I have no Energy for Mischiefs or anything else!

Yes, We are facing another Extreme Heatwave. At the moment, it's 36 degrees Celsius in Jerusalem, with a Real Feel of 38. And We are only at the beginning of what is going to be a whole week of Extreme Tempurratures, going up to 41 degrees on Wednesday. That's only in Jerusalem. We heard that in Eilat, where one of Mummy's nieces lives, it is currently 44 or 45 degrees and that they are looking at tempurratures approaching 50 degrees Celsius (!!!) later in the week.

Can you believe it? We think there ought to be a Law against that kind of Heat! It should NOT be allowed!
And that's not just here in Israel, by the way. In London, where Uncle D. lives,  they are also expecting a week of really hot weather - well, hot for England, anyway, although the 32 degrees Celsius they are expecting would be a Welcome Relief from what We've got here!

Anyway, the Enervating Heat is the reason that despite her (sort-of) Promise, Mummy just didn't feel up to writing her own bloggie last week. She started - but She just couldn't finish. The Heat made her head all Fuzzy - that is to say, even fuzzier than usual (mol) - and She really couldn't think straight. It's always so much harder to summon up the Energy to write about Horrible Things that make her Angry, than it is to write about Happy Things - such as Trixie's 13th Birthday which falls this coming Tuesday, August 12th. We are going to have a Picnic to celebrate, of course, up in the Enchanted Forest, where the weather conditions are always ideal (that's part of the Enchantment). It will be at 6pm Israel time and, as always, you are all invited. You already have the Coordinates in your Teleporting Devices, don't you? But if you are new here, just let Us know and We will send them directly to the Control Panels of your Tunnels, Flying Carpets, Egg Whisks or Whatever.

Now it's time for Us to join 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 Deliciously and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

As is Our Time-Honoured Custom, We have chosen three Selfies. All of these were framed and artified with the help of LunaPic.

Furrst of all, here I am in the company of one of My pawsselain dolly sisters, Miss Dorothea:

You can see her in the background, can't you? I had just been telling her some of My Ideas for Trixie's Birthday Pawty when Mummy came and reminded Me it was time to take some Selfies.

We artified this with the Courtisane filter at 67%:

Next up - a picture of Me all relaxed and - dare I say it? - looking quite Princely.

For the artification here, We used Dawn at 85%:

In my third and final picture of the day, you can see the effect the Heat is having. I was completely Zonked Out!

For the artsy-fartsy version, We used the Beauty filter, set to 42%:

Well, what do you think? Which is Your Favourite? Let Us know in the Comments Section below?


Next, We shall put up the blog hop badges:

        

And that's it for now, dear Furriends, but We shall see you again next week, COD  willing - same Cat Time, same Cat Channel. Till then, be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Roll Out Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies with Caspurr

Greetings, Effurryone!

Caspurr the Snuggle-Bug here. You all know My Titles by now, so I won't weary you with the whole list of them (mol).

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

As We so often do, We have picked out three of the best of My Recent Selfies and artified them with frames and filters from LunaPics. Here is the furrst. Don't ask Me if I was roaring or yawning. I can't pawssibly remember!

We created a nice, artsy-fartsy version by combining Edtaonisi at 32% with Tattoo, at 28%:

Coming up next, here I am relaxing on the lovely cool floor. Just see how beautifully My Tail curls in the air!

We artified this one with a single filter - Frida, at 54%.

I like the way it makes Me look as if I am basking in a halo of Light, don't you?

Finally, here I am enjoying a Sunpuddle in the Guest Kitty Room. Mummy and I really like the way the velvet cushions, one silver and one gold, show up not only My Furs, but also, the colours of the sofa.

And here it is after We finished artifying it, with Dawn at 46%, and a light overlay of Pen at 10%.

And here are the blog hop badges:

        

In other news, Mummy is fasting today because it is Tisha b'Av - the 9th of Av, when We commemorate the Destruction of both the Furrst and Second Temples and the start of the long Exile of the Mewish People. She hasn't always fasted on Tisha b'Av, but She is doing so now, especially in light of the knowledge that the Israeli hostages in Gaza are being deliberately starved by the Evil Hamas Terrorists, while at the same time, tons of "humanitarian aid" is being delivered there by Israel and other countries, but is being stolen by the Evil Hamas Terrorists, and everyone is telling lies about Israel and claiming that Israel is starving the people of Gaza. Mummy says that is a Blood Libel. You can see the Gazans aren't starving because in the Fake Pictures of supposedly starving children (who turn out to have genetic muscle-wasting diseases), their parents and siblings seem purr-fectly well-fed. No doubt Mummy will write more about this in her own blog in the coming days, with links to the relevant sources and pictures, so you can judge for yourselves.

In case you were wondering - kitties don't have to fast. In fact, We are just about to remind Mummy that it's time for Our Lunch.

And that, Dear Anipals, means it is time for Us to go. We will see you again, COD willing, next week - same Cat Time, same Cat Channel. Till then, be well. Be safe. We love you all.