Chibi Cats (Continued)

After a long hiatus, I'm finally back from my travels! It's been an amazing experience going around east Africa for 4 months, and then thereafter to Japan for two weeks to refresh myself and catch up with an old friend. And now I'm back for good (or rather, for the time being) and I've decided to start selling these chibi cats on my etsyshop. 

I first began selling these chibi cat keyrings in the cat cafe where I worked part-time for a few months, and in the time that I was gone, my mum took over for me. 9 months on I must say I'm glad to see that sales has done so well, and I thought I would try selling them online as well.

For those who have visited the Cat Cafe Neko no Niwa before (and those who haven't really should!), this series of chibi cats are actually inspired by the cafe cats themselves, and so I've given them the names of the cafe cats. I've tried my best to make them into the likenesses of the cafe cats, and I must admit that some are more successful than the others. Still! All of them are cute, no? (=^・ェ・^=)ノ

For those who've read my previous post and seen the initial photos of my chibi cats, you'll realise that these ones look slightly different. For one they've been "simplified" to make them more uniform, and cuter imo. This newer version of chibi cat has a triangular button nose and no mouth, and there is now a wider color range for bow ties and eye colors!

We decided to give cotton candy-coloured chibi cats a try and surprisingly there's been a pretty good response! Initially I had doubts as to whether they would sell, seeing as they do not look like "real" cats. But the pastel colours make the chibi cats look like really sweet creatures and I guess it appeals to certain people (: 

These are all available now in my shop on etsy, so do check them out if you're interested! (=^・ェ・^=)ノ

Chibi Cats

For sale at a special price at Cat Cafe Neko no Niwa :3

I've been working part-time at the newly-opened cat cafe in town, Cat Cafe Neko no Niwa, earning some extra cash while waiting impatiently for my gap year travels to begin. It's so fun working in cat heaven, what with all the cute antics the cats get up to and getting to really know the cats' personalities. So I got inspired and decided to crochet chibi versions of the cats in the cafe and it's been very well-received, far exceeding my expectations. (Note: the dream catchers are not by me but by a talented colleague)

Initial versions of the cats

A comparison - looks quite a bit like Monkey doesn't it? (^_^) Monkey is one of the 13 adorable cats at the Cat Cafe Neko no Niwa

A lovely law school senior contacted me on Instagram and ordered two chibi cat keychains, in white and brown. This was a shot taken by her after she received it :3

Maneki neko (招き猫) is literally translated as beckoning cat (or 招财猫 in Chinese) and is a symbol of wealth and good fortune. You'll tend to spot one sitting at the cashier counter of shops and restaurants, in Singapore at least.

Also made some maneki neko keychains for sale during during the Lunar New Year. I must say that I got my inspiration from the free amigurumi pattern by Nimoe, Onni the Beckoning Cat. However I decided to create my own, 'cause I wanted it to be chibi (with a bigger head) like my chibi cats series, so this was how it turned out.

Maneki neko v2 - baby fortune cat

A childhood friend I hadn't spoken to in years contacted me on Instagram to order a maneki neko keychain, and after some chatting she said that she liked the shape of the chibi cat, but wanted a fortune cat. So I told her I could combine the two and make a chibi fortune cat. And this was how it turned out. I liked it so much I made another one for myself~

Wishing everyone a good year ahead~

Cardboard Cat House

Haven't been updating in a while, but I've been making lots of things and crafting my time away since bar exams ended, so I'll be posting quite a bit on the different craft projects.

So one day I decided to search for "cardboard cat house" on Pinterest, and oh.my.god. so many amazing houses came out and I spent an entire afternoon marveling over them and deciding how my cat's house would look like.

The final product:

A double-storey floral cardboard house complete with a fake picket fence

So Dad came home with a couple of new cardboard boxes one day because he knew I wanted them :') Mum and I got to work designing the cat house, from figuring out which boxes to use, to how to make it two-storey, to reinforcing the floorboard for the upper level, and where to place the door and windows etc. For those who are interested, Martha Stewart actually has instructions and templates for the door and windows, which I printed, but they were too small for my liking (and my cat) so I ended up drawing my own freehand.

In the meantime, Miki hides in one of the other boxes. It's like cats have this obsessive-compulsive need to sit in every single box they see.

Miki on paw to survey the construction of her house

Ended up drawing and cutting the doorway freehand because the Martha Stewart templates were too small

Before wallpapering it and adding the roof and chimney

Side view - I decided on small windows 'cause my cat likes it dark and she loves sticking her paw out

We dressed it up for Christmas because it's Miki's Christmas present

She takes naps in there (yes, on bubblewrap)

Or just sits in there and watches us

Some of the DIY cat houses are really elaborate but these are the houses that really inspired me (they are simple and sooo pretty!):

From fancyseeingyouhere.com - really love the colorful scalloped roof

From theincoherentellipsis - similar in that I also used wallpaper to cover up the cardboard and make it look fancier

Milk carton cat house - love how it's so simple 

Cardboard pyramid - love the shapes and pattern