Sunday, September 11, 2011

So there is a use for cat hair

For years I have honestly wondered if there was a use for all the cat hair I seem to accumulate and pick up in my house.  With 4 cats (3 with hair), I was constantly brushing it off my clothes, gathering fur balls and sneezing.

For the Mystic Path room box I have been working on, the plan has always been for there to be a cat in the fortune tellers room watching the mysterious happenings going on.  You know how cats are, always wanting to put their noses in where they don't belong.

When I was in Chicago for the Bishop International Show, I picked up a small plastic cat that has the perfect pose.  He looked curious, but hesitant. One paw in the air as he pondered what to do next.  The problem was, he was a black and white cat and the colors just didn't seem to suit the room I was working on.  I bought some flocking and went to work.

Here is what he looked like before I got started.  Bad picture, but you get the idea.  As cute as this little fella was, he just wasn't right and needed a makeover.



First thing I did was paint him the way I wanted him.  I wanted an almost entirely black cat with just a small white diamond on his forehead.  So after a few minutes, I had a beautiful black painted plastic cat.  Now he needed some fur.  Even in dim light, you can tell if something is molded plastic or fuzzy.  My kitty had to have hair.

Out came the flocking.  Knowing that he was going to be black and white that is all I bought.  Lady Bug at the show told me that instead of using glue to attach the flock, it was better to use paint. WOW! I never would have thought of that and she was totally correct. Working in stages, starting at the tail, I slowly painted sections of the cat and applied the flocking using a small paint brush.  After a couple hours I had a new kitty and he sure seems happy with his new look.  On top of everything I have a small dusting of black flocking around my kitchen now.

Now sure what is worse to pick up....cat hair or flocking.

Oh, and the use for the cat hair?  Well take a close look and you'll see that our little friend has a new set of whiskers!  Yep, gathered a few hairs, cut them into pieces and applied them one at a time onto his little face with some glue.

 

Till later!

6 comments:

  1. Your kitty is beautiful Dale. Thank you for the flocking tips, I am going to attempt to reflock my black cats.

    Hugs,
    Victoria

    ReplyDelete
  2. The cat with the hair is fantastic.
    Bye Faby

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great work! I have several pets in painted plastic and would be much better if they had hair. Would you like to do a tutorial showing how to do? (Just a suggestion)
    Hugs

    ReplyDelete
  4. He's Purrrrrrrrrfect! lol! Glad to see you again Dale,
    Hugs

    ReplyDelete
  5. He's perfect now for your scene, his whole appearance and character changed! Thanks for the well done explanation.

    Greetings
    Birgit

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks everyone! It really does my soul good to read these comments. Now I have to figure out what I'm going to do next so I can show more. :-)

    ReplyDelete