Tuesday, March 19, 2024
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Marketplace: Star of Wonder Ornaments, and More

Star of Wonder ornament.
Star of Wonder ornament.

Finally got this year’s ornaments done and Star of Wonder is one of them! I’ve always loved this design and it’s been quite popular since I brought it out in 2011. This design is adapted from a holiday card, and of course inspired by and features my fine felines—I’ve included the story below. I also offer this design on a votive, a garden flag, and a gift bag. All items are available are linked below.

I did get a late start this year because of my hip replacement in October, both for my physical ability and income, so I’m catching up now that I can get things done and I can afford materials again. Some kitties are pretty happy I’m back to work! Mimi inspects my work in the studio. She wants to be sure each ornament is evenly sprinkled with her signature black cat hairs.

Mimi inspects my work.
Mimi inspects my work.

“Star of Wonder” is entirely handpainted onto a 3″ wood disk, the star in silver, the background and cat in two shades of matte blue, with a silver edge. The back is painted the background blue, and each comes with a hanger.

Star of Wonder ornament side view.
Star of Wonder ornament side view.

Mr. Sunshine also purrsonally inspected my work. Mr. Sunshine is, of course, the “star” of this design, but I’m never quite sure what he thinks.

Mr. Sunshine is the "star" of this design!
Mr. Sunshine is the “star” of this design!

Last year I had made 4″ discs of polymer clay and I really love that size, but when I looked at most actual ornaments I realized that’s a bit big. Also, the technique was cumbersome and time-consuming, but through that first iteration I refined the techniques and designs and they are much the better for that. I tried 3″ discs, which I could purchase in thin wood, and they are just about the perfect size. Here are all four of this year’s ornaments, and you can find more about them all here.

This year's selection of ornaments.
This year’s selection of ornaments.

Purchase Star of Wonder Ornaments

A single ornament is $10.00, $5.00 for the ornament and $5.00 to cover shipping. Additional ornaments are only $5.00 each. You’ll see that information in the product post.

Star of Wonder Votive

Star of Wonder feline votive.
Star of Wonder feline votive.

I introduced my votives last year just before the holidays, and I knew this design had to be one of them. I etch the inside of the votive to better diffuse the light from the candle, then print the design on a purchased clear vinyl label and burnish it onto the votive. Usually I use glass jars that can’t be recycled, but I wanted the size and shape of this one to be more uniform because of the positioning of the cat and the star. It’s made from a purchased cube-shaped glass vase 3.25″ in each dimension and comes with an LED tea light.

When I introduced them last year at the holidays people bought them equally as holiday decorations and as memorial items for themselves or friends or family who had lost a kitty. I hadn’t thought of it as a memorial, but when I first offered the holiday card people began to use it as a sympathy card as well. It all made me cry, but that’s no surprise, is it?

Purchase a Star of Wonder Votive.

 

Star of Wonder Gift Bag

Mimi and Giuseppe model the gift bags.

From the first time I received a gift bag with feline artwork on it, I could picture my art on a gift bag. I’ve tried a few different methods and finally found one that works well: printing my art to size on a commercial-grade label and buffing it permanently onto the bag. The art can only be on the front because of the way the bag folds, but so many bag colors and styles exist and that keeps them lively.

These bags are medium-sized shopping bags, usually around 8″ x 10″ x 3″, but they vary slightly in size, color and finish, even in the same lot, and sometimes they even have colored handles. If you purchase more than one in the same design and color I will make sure they match. The first bag is $5.00, two or more are $3.00 each.

Purchase Star of Wonder Gift and Star of Kittens Bags

Star of Wonder Holiday Card

Giuseppe sincerely wants you to have peace and hope this holiday season.
Giuseppe sincerely wants you to have peace and hope this holiday season.

This 5″ x 7” card is printed on 12 pt. gloss card stock and includes a matching envelope, packed in a clear-top white cardboard greeting card box. Right now, you can order a dozen for $10.00 plus shipping, half price from the usual! Use the coupon code $10DOZENGREETINGCARDS in your shopping cart.

Purchase Star of Wonder holiday cards.

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Star of Wonder holiday card.
Star of Wonder holiday card.

We don’t really celebrate any one tradition for the winter holidays, but we enjoy sharing traditions of all our friends. I had created the six-pointed star as part of an invitation I designed for a non-denominational holiday musical celebration a few years ago. It could have been that, while I worked on that design on my computer, one or more young black cats found it intensely interesting against the black background of the design and an idea was born, a universal message for the season, with cats. It wasn’t the one above at first, but another one, below, adapted from remembering the Four when they were kittens looking out the big window at the birds and the snow, then it was night and there was a star…

Star of Kittens holiday card.
Star of Kittens holiday card.

I really like this design, and it was just what I’d envisioned. But there was another, more serious design developing in there. Soon I was looking for the purr-fect silhouette. You’ve seen me use daily sketches for new designs for merchandise, but I’ve also used daily photos. I remembered a feline silhouette from a photo of Mr. Sunshine looking up at a moth in the pendant lamp that I used for my annual Independence Day post Oooh! Aaah! I wanted to be certain to capture every single hair and whisker of that silhouette—it was very fun and worth every minute to isolate all those furs and whiskers to that his silhouette would look authentic.

Star of Wonder holiday card.
Star of Wonder holiday card.

 

Marketplace

It's often difficult to tell what Mr. Sunshine is thinking.

It’s often difficult to tell what Mr. Sunshine is thinking.

Take a look at other new merchandise and featured artwork.

Once a week on Thursday I feature something new in my “shop”, whether that’s here on The Creative Cat, on my main website or even at one of the bricks and mortar shops that carry my work.

Read about creating custom items

Find out more about creating custom items for your own home using the images you see here. Visit the “Ordering Custom Art” page to see samples and read bout how to order.

Find out about events and festivals where you can find me and my work.

Sign up for my e-newsletter (below), check the widget on the sidebar on my home page, or sign up to receive posts on Portraits of Animals Marketplace.

It’s all done under the close and careful supervision of my studio cats!


Copyright

All images and text used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission, although links to your site are more than welcome and are shared. Please ask if you are interested in using and image or story in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of an image or a product including it, check my animal and nature website Portraits of Animals to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.


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© 2022 | www.TheCreativeCat.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski

Weekly schedule of features:

Sunday: Essays, Pet Loss, Poetry, The Artist’s Life

Monday: Adoptable Cats, TNR & Shelters

Tuesday: Rescue Stories

Wednesday: Commissioned Portrait or Featured Artwork

Thursday: New Merchandise

Friday: Book Review, Health and Welfare, Advocacy

Saturday: Your Backyard Wildlife Habitat, Living Green With Pets, Creating With Cats

And sometimes, I just throw my hands in the air and have fun!

 
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Bernadette

From health and welfare to rescue and adoption stories, advocacy and art, factual articles and fictional stories, "The Creative Cat" offers both visual and verbal education and entertainment about cats for people who love cats, pets and animals of all species.

2 thoughts on “Marketplace: Star of Wonder Ornaments, and More

  • A plethora of wonderful holiday items!
    I love the dark blue-on-blue images.

    Reply
    • Yes, better late than never! I’m so glad I can finally get these things done, and I didn’t want to offer them until they were actually done.

      I’ve always loved monochromatic compositions, which probably goes back to my pencil drawing days and also to my design days when we were limited to one or two colors for printing. There’s a lot to explore there.

      Reply

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