Masks.

Not only is Matt Cipov incredibly nice and talented, but he's a Milwaukee local, as well. I've seen his art far and wide and am always excited to see what he comes out with next. My favorite is this gorgeous Sphynx, drawn in detail to the last little wrinkle.

A print from Matt is always a treat since he creatively decorates his portraits of intricately masked figures with his collection of vintage library, classroom, and archival stamps. He also has an excellent series of zombie portraits and a great rendition of a squirrel with a keytar. His extensive collections are available via his Etsy outpost, and be sure to check out his website for even more.

"El Gato Elegante"

I made a special trip to Ikea just to find the most fabulous gilded rococco frame to in which to put El General here. El Gato Elegante ("The Elegant Cat") is by Mexico City based rosiemusic, who specializes in gorgeous paintings of historical cats (check out his sister, Lady Kitty!) record-loving modern girls, and fairy-like dreamscapes. Her prints are utterly gorgeous in person. Check out her Etsy shop here- it never fails to amaze.

p.s. El Gato is modeled on rosiemusic's friend the history major's cat, and the original was gifted to her!

Siamese in Pearls

I had the pleasure of finally meeting one of my longtime favorite illustrators, Ryan Berkley of Portland's Ryan Berkley Illustration, at this year's Seattle Urban Craft Uprising. Ryan sells prints of his amazingly intricate and charming anthropomorphic portraits. He told me that this was one of the first he painted. Here's this little lady's bio from his Etsy shop:

This lovely lady put on her best pearls just for you! Meet Victoria Swann, Crafty Cat. She enjoys knitting (she knitted this nice yellow sweater) and she also makes furniture out of salvaged materials. At the end of the day she likes to curl up with a good book and a cup of tea.

She sounds like my kind of girl!

The Laser Kitten Tee at The Uniform Project

Have you heard of The Uniform Project? It's a year-long endeavor, started this past spring, in which one New York woman is wearing one dress for 365 days straight to raise money to send 175 children in India to school. She accents her single daily dress with donated and second-hand clothing to produce some simply amazing outfits.

I follow her posts daily, and imagine my surprise to see that awesome, awesome cat shooting lasers out of its eyes! She made it in the Etsy Labs out of an old cat t-shirt!

If you donate to the project now, eBay will match your donation dollar for dollar up to $15,000. It's well worth it to contribute to this great cause!

Not Another Plate of Greasy Latkes!

This is my all-time favorite greeting card, and it will never be topped. He can't eat any more latkes! I think what just gets me is the dinner napkin tied lovingly around his neck and the concerned look on his face.

I'll be continuing my family tradition of Chinese food and a movie this Christmas. Happy holidays!!