Yom Kippurr with the J-Cats

Greetings, Effurrybody!

We hope you (and your pawrents/staff) are all well. 

Since, later this week, We will be celebrating the Holiest Day in the Mewish Calendar, the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippurr (which starts at sunset on Wednesday October 1st and ends the following evening), and since We will be away for the next two weeks, because Mummy is going on vacation, We have chosen an Ussie featuring all three of Us for 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.

It's a bit hard to see Shimshi in this one, as he is curled up on the coffee table (top centre) furthest away from the camera, so We suggest you biggify the picture.

Next, We used BeFunky's Pixel Art GFX filter to artify the picture and then returned to LunaPic, to frame both pictures and create a Yom Kippurr greeting card to wish you גמר חתימה טובה (G'mar Chatima Tova), which literally means "A good final sealing". This refers to the belief that one's fate for the coming year is written down on Rosh Hashana, the Mewish New Year, and then sealed on Yom Kippur, thus giving a few more days to repent from one's sins before The Book is sealed.

And finally, here are the blog hop badges:

        

Before We go, We want to remind you not to worry when you don't see Us for the next two weeks. As We said, Mummy is going on vacation and We can't post without her help. While She is off gallivanting in Foreign Parts,  her Cleaning Lady, Ms. M. (the one who always brings Us lovely boxes to climb into and play with) will be taking care of Us. Of course, that is no Substitute for Mummy - who had better bring Us Lots and Lots of Treats as Atonement for Tempurrarily Abandoning Us - but We reckon at least We can easily purrsuade Ms. M. to be extra generous with said Treats (mol).

So, till Our Next Post, be well. Be safe. We love you all.

G'mar Chatima Tova!

I Fits? I Sits - Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies with Shimshi

It is a Truth universally acknowledged that an Empty Box in Possession of a Good Location must be in want of a Cat.

I, the Mighty Shimshon, (Shimshi for short), the Little Purrince, Furrst of My Name, aka the Baby Mancat, Master of the Queen's Mischiefs and Captain of the Guard, will be demonstrating this Incontrovertible Truth as I 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 Delightfully and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

As you no doubt know, the Kitties Blue lost a Beloved Member of the Furmily last Fursday, with the departure of sweet Astrid for the Rainbow Bridge. We are absolutely gutted over that, as must be effurryone who knew her. It is yet one more blow in what has been a Furry Bad Year. Let Us hope that the New Year (Rosh Hashanah - according to the Mewish Calendar) which starts tomorrow evening, will bring no more Sadness, but only Joy.

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In this last blog of the year 5785, I, Shimshi, will be showcasing My Box-Sitting Skills in a series of three Selfies, all of which were framed and then artified with LunaPic.

Furrst of all, in view of the Impawtance of this last blog of the Mewish Year, and the Honour it is to repurresent the J-Cats on this Occasion, here I am, gazing Steadfastly and Unblinkingly at My Staff (aka Mummy):

We made a really colourful, artsy-fartsy version of this, with a combination of the Psychedelic and Floating filters, at 50% and 42% respectively.

In this next one, Mummy says I have a Yearning Look.

I really don't know where She gets these ideas. I was actually wondering when She was going to finish with the Photography session and give Me some Treats! At any rate, here is the artified edition, for which We used Watercolour at 68%, followed by Gauguin - this, too, at 42%:

In this third and final shot, you can see how even My Beautiful Tail curls neatly into place:

And here is yet one more pawsome artification, using Woodsey at 52%, overlaid with Picasso4 at 20%.

We have one more Picture for you, however. In honour of the Mew Year, here is a Rosh Hashanah greeting card from Us all:

And now, here are the blog hop badges:

        

Well, that's all for now. We will see you next week Year, COD willing. Till then - be well. Be safe. We love you all.

לשנה טובה תכתבו ותחתמו  Leshana Tova Tichatevu ve'tichatemu

May you be inscribed and sealed for a Good Year.

  

It's All About Caspurr: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Hallo again, Effurryone!

Sir Caspurr here, Cat of Many Titles - the most impawtant of which (according to Mummy) is The Snuggle-Bug.

Today, I will be repurresenting 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.

This week, as We so often do, We have picked out no less than three of My Best Selfies, all of which have been framed and artified with LunaPic.

Furrst of all, here I am demonstrating what Mummy calls My "Come Hither" look. I am sure I have no idea what she means, but She says any LadyCat (or Cat Lady, for that matter) will understand (mol).

Here is the artsy-fartsy version of the same picture, using the Frida effect at 87%, lightly washed with the Floating filter at 12%:

Next, one of those photos Humans love so much, for some purr-verted reason - a Kitty (namely, Me) taking a bath - with a glimpse of My Raspy Little Pink Tongue thrown in for Good Measure:

The artification in this one uses Cassatt at 79%, with a light overlay of Scribble at 14%:

And finally, here I am again, engaged in one of My Favourite Activities - Snoozing:

Here is the artified version, a combination of Seurat and Watercolour, at 47% and 22% respectively:

I mustn't fur-get the blog hop badges:

     



That's all for now then. We will be back again next week, COD willing - same Cat Time, same Cat Channel.

Till then, be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Trixie the Huntress: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies with Trixie

Greetings, Effurrybody!

We were Mummy was in a bit of a hurry yesterday, which is why We are posting a day late. What is more, this is going to be a furry short post, in which I, Queen Trixie, Furrst of My Name, etc. etc. etc. will be leading 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.

So - here is My Selfie.

As you can see from the photo, I was intent on my prey, which was poised above Me on the ceiling. You can't see it, but it was a lizard - a Common House Gecko, Mummy thinks. She says they are supposed to bring good luck to the houses where they live. I don't know about that. I only know it was in My Territory and that it was My Right and Privilege to hunt it! But it was on the ceiling, so I couldn't get to it - and when Mummy turned off the lights and went to bed, it used the oppurrtunity to make good its Escape, and so I was deprived of my Sport!

At all events, Mummy helped Me to turn the picture into some Fine Art, with no less than FOUR different artifications from BeFunky. The frames are all from LunaPic.

Furrst of all, We tried the Crayon GFX effect at 80%:

Next, We used the Graphic Novel filter, at 60%:

Our third artification used the Impressionist2 effect at 50%:

And finally, Vector Painting:

We couldn't decide which of all these We liked best, so We are letting YOU decide, and, to make it easier for you, We are hanging ALL of them, plus the Original Pawtrait, side by side in the Kitty Kat Gallery of Contemporary Art (KKGOCA):

And now, before We fur-get, here are the blog hop badges:

        

Next week, We hope to be back at Our Usual Time. Till then, be well. Be safe. We love you all.

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.

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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.