March Came in Like a Lion

Greetings, Effurrybuddies!

The Mighty Shimshon (Shimshi for short) speaking - The Little Purrince, Furrst of My Name, aka The Baby Mancat, Master of the Queen's Mischiefs, and Captain of the Guard. I 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 Snoozies Selfies blog hop, hosted by the Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

Here is My Selfie:

The Original Plan was to have an Ussie, in which all three of Us would be showing off Our Purr-im costumes, as that festival falls the day after tomorrow - Tuesday - or, for those living in Jerusalem, on Wednesday. But Mummy didn't have time to pre-purr anything, as She spent most of yesterday, as well as today, running downstairs to the Bomb Shelter and back, to avoid the rockets being shot at Us by the Evil Ayatollahs in Iran (which used to be known as Purrsia). She tries to play it cool, so as not to alarm Us, but We know that's just an act. She's terribly worried that even the Bomb Shelter mightn't be safe enough. She's just heard that earlier today, an apartment building in Beit Shemesh took a direct hit to the shelter - 9 people were killed and 33 more injured, including children. 

If there are any Purrsian kitties reading this, We want you to know that We love you dearly, and if there is anything you can do to purr-suade your pawrents to take to the streets and protest against their Evil Government (which We know they want to do, but might be afraid to do, because the Wicked Ayatollahs and their servants murdered thousands of protesters less than two months ago), then try to do so - because that is the Best Way to end this war. And then, the Iranian/Purrsian people will be free at last. And so will their kitties.

Under normal circumstances, We would be inviting you all to a huge Purr-im Pawty up in the Enchanted Forest. Because of the War, however (which has been officially named here "The Lion's Roar Campaign"), We have decided to transfer the festivities to Our Secret Underground Bunker, deep in the depths of the earth. The encoded co-ordinates will be sent directly to your teleportation devices immediately prior to take-off, and automatically wiped upon arrival at the Pawty. This will actually be a double celebration, honouring both Purr-im and My Big  Brofur Caspurr, whose 13th purr-thday falls on Shabbat, March 7th. It is his Bar-Mitzvah! So, save the date - Tuesday, March 3rd at 17:30 (5:30 pm), Israel time! And don't fur-get - it's a Fancy Dress Pawty, so remember to come in costume!

Now, here are three artifications of My Selfie, with effects by BeFunky. The frames, as usual, are from LunaPic.

Furrst of all, a mewtiful effect using Graphic Novel (which has become one of Our new favourites), set at 50%:

   

Next, an artsy-fartsy version using the Impressionist 2 effect, at 65%:

And finally, Vector Painting GFX:

In the background, you can see one of My Pawsselain Dolly Sisters, Miss Laura. I was purrtecting her from the boomies.

Which picture do you like best?  Let Us know in the Comments Section below.

Before We Mummy furgets, here are the blog hop badges:

        

We are not sure how many of you We will manage to visit today. Mummy wants to turn off the computer and try to get a couple of hours sleep, as We expect more rocket barrages later on, especially in the middle of the night. At all events, We hope to see you at the Pawty on Tuesday. 

And - COD-willing - We will be back again next week, same Cat Time, same Cat Channel. Till then, be safe. Be well. We love you all.

Caspurr Has a Sun-puddle of His Own: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Greetings, Effurryone!

After seeing how Shimshi's Purrfect Sun-puddle was so admired the Week before last, I decided that I, Sir Caspurr, the Courageous, the Caspicatious, Furrst of My Name, the Snuggle-Bug, Commander-in-Chief of the Impurrial Forces and King of the Tigger-Tabbies, must have one of My Furry Own, 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 (for the 600th time!!!) by the Delightfully and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

So I enlisted Mummy's help and together, We came up with this:

I love the way the sunshine seems to be shining through the delicate membranes of My Ear!

Next, We made three mewtiful artifications with BeFunky, and framed all four pictures with the help of LunaPic.

Here is the furrst artification which is the closest to the Original, and which uses the Underpainting1 filter. It emphasis my sunny ears even more, I think!

Artification no. #2 uses the Pastel GFX filter at approximately 55%:

Last, but by no means least, a wild and wacky version using the Graphic Novel filter:

This last one really makes My Eyes stand out, doesn't it?

Which one do you like best? Let Us know in the comments section below!

And here are the blog hop badges:

        

We're not sure how many of you We'll have time to visit today. We started late because Mummy had to go out in the morning furrst thing, for her annual Meowmeogram. She got the results on the spot and effurrything is okay. Howeffur, it meant We couldn't start blogging till lunchtime! But neffur fear - if We don't get to you today, We'll carry on tomorrow.

NEXT week, howeffur, it is pawssible that We won't have time to blog at all. Mummy has a furry, furry busy week ahead, what with appearing with her Caterwauling Club in a concert on Sunday, followed by a week full of engagements - a wedding, an opurra and two lecture-concerts. Most of these are out-of-town.

Quite a social whirl, wouldn't you agree?

At all events, till whenever it is that We can next post, be safe. Be well. We love you all.

Maybe Spring Is On The Way - Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Greetings, Effurrybody!

Queen Trixie here - Furrst of My Name, Empurress of Jerusalem, Israel and the Entire Middle East, Queen of Hearts, the Panfurr Princess, Purrtector of the Library, Guardian of the Boudoir and Alpha Kitty Extraordinaire!

It's a lovely, sunny day here in Jerusalem, with tempurratures expected to reach 23 degrees C. In fact, We are looking forward to warm, sunny days all week - which will make Mummy happy because She has one of her nature hikes tomorrow. We don't like being left on Our Own all day, because that means We won't get any lunch (and no, a bigger breakfast and supper is not the same), but We intend to sleep most of the day anyway, so if she really must go traipsing over hills and through  valleys, We prefurr that She not risk life and limb scrambling along muddy banks alongside overflowing streams!!!

As you will no doubt have surmised, it is My Turn to repurresent 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.

So, let Us waste no more time. Here is My Selfie:

As We usually do, We made three different artifications of this - all of them with the help of LunaPic, where We also got the frames.

Furrst up, we used a filter which We have neffur tried before, Monochrome at 34%, with a light overlay of Scribble at 16%:

Next, an artsy-fartsy combination of K2 at 64% and Surreal at 33%:

Our third and final artification this week used a furry daring blend of complete opposites - Dark and Gauguin at 75% and 74% respectively:

 

Which is your favourite? Let Us know in the comment section below.

Next, here are the blog hop badges.

        

We will try to visit as many of you as pawssible now, before Mummy turns off the computer and goes to have a Siesta (that's a fancy word for a Nap, MOL) before Caterwauling Purractice (they have a concert the week after next). COD-willing, We will be back here next week, same Cat Time, same Cat Channel. Till then, be safe. Be well. We love you all.

Shimshi's Purrfect Sunpuddle - Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Greetings, Effurrybody!

Guess whose turn it is this week, to lead the J-Cats on 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? 

That's right! It's ME - 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!

This week, We are sharing just one, purrfect picture of My Meowjestic Self in the middle of a Simply Glorious Sunpuddle. Neither Mummy nor I can get over how absolutely purrfectly it came out. Mummy says it was almost a shame to start messing around with it for artification purr-poses and I tend to agree, except for the fact that I would neffur fur-give myself for using anything less than the best for Our Caturday Art this week.

So for starters, here is the Glorious Original, in a frame created by LunaPic:

It wasn't until after We went over to BeFunky and started artifying it that Mummy noticed my reflection in the floorboards!

Artification no.1 uses the BeFunky AI Enhancer and the Underpainting effect, with one of LunaPic's simple, elegant frames:

Next, We achieved a completely different effect with Pen Art 1 at about 85%:

And finally, We allowed Ourselves to be a bit more artsy-fartsy with Crayon GFX.

All the frames are from LunaPic.

Which do you like best? Let Us know in the comments section below.

Next, here are the blog hop badges:

        

In other news, Mummy wants you to know that earlier today, She posted her own bloggie which, apart from some video clips of recent concerts by her Caterwauling Club and lots of pictures of the nature hike She went on the week before last, contains some useful information of a techie nature, about a new app created by Our Clever Uncle D.

And now, it is time for Us to start hopping. We will be back again next week, COD-willing - same Cat Time, same Cat Channel. Meanwhile, be safe. Be well. We love you all.

Visions of Caspurr: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Greetings, Effurryone!

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, am proud to repurresent 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 Delightfully and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet. 

We have three different pawtraits of Me this week, all of them artified and framed  with the help of LunaPic.

Furrst up, Mummy insisted on this one, because you can just about see the tiniest hint of a blep - but only in the Original. 

In the artification, which uses the Landscape effect at 86%, with the merest hint of a Graffiti overlay at 17%, it all but disappears.

In this next one, Mummy was focussed on My outstretched Paw, but I myself was concentrating on My Tail, which, at times, seems to have a mind of its own:

We made an artsy-fartsy version of this one, using Pen at 79% and Floating, at 41%:

Finally - and still on the subject of Tails - there was this one:

We artified it with Escher, also at 79% and Watercolour at 67%:

Now We are trying to decide which one We like best. Can you help Us?

Meanwhile, We will add the blog hop badges:

        

Later this week, Mummy hopes to post something on her Own Bloggie about the concerts She has been in/to this past month, her nature hike last week and Various Other Stuff. No promises as to when it will go live, but hopefully, some time this week, so keep an Eye open.

We, ourselves, will - COD-willing - be back here next week, same Cat Time, same Cat Channel. Till then, take good care of yourselves and your Humans. We have heard that in the United States and Canada, where so many of you live, there is a HUGE storm and Cold Front about to hit. So it is with special meaning that We say - be safe. Be well. We love you all.

Trixie the Library Cat: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Greetings, Effurrybody!

Once again, it falls to Me, 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 (and now, also, Protector of the Library) to repurresent 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 Deliciously and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet. 

Let's get right down to it. Here is My Selfie - from which you will immediately understand My New Title, Protector of the Library.  Although, to be honest, I might require the Assistance of My Brofurs. Mummy has hundreds of books in almost effurry room, and a kitty girl can't do effurrything alone, now can she?

I suppose I should add a few words of explanation about the frame, which was created with the help of LunaPic (as were all the frames this week). 

The Israeli flag should, by now, be self-explanatory. The other embellishments are all elements of My Impurrial Coat of Arms. The Crown stands for Royalty, the Black Panfurs Rampant symbolise My Title as Panfur Princess and the Mirrors proclaim My Guardianship of the Boudoir. I suppose I should also add Hearts and Books now, shouldn't I? I will speak to My Human about that.

We artified the basic selfie with three different filters from BeFunky, and used LunaPic frames for them all, as mentioned above. 

Furrst up, in recognition of My New Pawsition as Protector of the Library, We used the Graphic Novel GFX effect:

Next, We went kind of Minimalist, with the Realist GFX effect:

Finally, We did something we rarely do and went for a black and white option with the Charcoal GFX effect:

We are purrticularly satisfied with this last one, even though We think it makes Me look just the tiniest bit grumpy. 

What do you think?

Let Us now add the blog hop badges before We fur-get:

        

Since Mummy has a lot to do before having her pre-Caterwauling Club nap, and We want to have time to hop over to all Our Furriends before She turns off the computer, We will sign off now - not before reminding you that, COD-willing, We will be back here again next Sunday - same Cat Time, same Cat Channel. Till then - be safe. Be well. We love you all.

Shimshi Has Been Busy - Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Greetings, Effurrybuddies!

Yes, it's Me, 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! I am here to repurresent the J-Cats in this weekend's blog hops -  the Caturday Art blog hop, hosted, as always, by the Wise and Beautiful Athena and her HuMum, Marie, and the Sunday Selfies blog hop, hosted by the Indefatigable and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

We got really busy this weekend, almost going overboard with all the artiness involved in prepurring Our Pictures, as you will see. We made use of all three of Our Favourite Photo Editing sites. Maybe it was a bit Over-the-Top, but We had fun.

So, without further ado, let Me show you what We came up with.

Furrst of all, here is the Original ME, in a pawtriotic Blue and White frame We made with the help of LunaPic.

You know, We didn't even think of it at the time, but the frame, with the tiny Stars of David in the corners, purrfectly complements the blue and white bed-linen.

We made three different artifications of this picture, all with BeFunky, and then framed each one with settings from PhotoFunia.  Tell Us which is your favourite - if you can decide. WE certainly couldn't!

Furrst of all, for those of My Female Admirers (Feline and Human) who are looking for a Pin-Up, you might like this Calendar, which uses the Realist GFX effect:

Our next design uses the Impressionist GFX effect, with the Interior Picture setting:

Mummy likes this because, as well as Me, it contains a cup of Her Favourite Beverage (mol). You can guess what that is, can't you?

Anyway, that being the case, We decided for Our Third Shot to go all out, and We used the Vector Pop GFX effect and the Morning Mug setting to create a Coffee Cup embellished with My Handsome Features:

Coffee, a croissant and ME - what more could Mummy want for the best pawssible start to the day?

Next, here are the blog hop badges:

        

Now, all that is left for Us to do, before setting out to visit as many of you as pawssible  before Mummy turns off the computer and goes for her afternoon Pre-Caterwauling siesta, is to tell you to watch out tomorrow for a new post on Mummy's Own Blog about the 5th day of her Vacation in Greece. She has nearly finished it and just has one more photo to add and although She doesn't want to make any Purromises, it is 99% certain it will go live tomorrow. 

As for Us - We will, COD-willing, be back here again next week, same Cat Time, same Cat Channel. Till then, be safe. Be well. We love you all!