A Magical Monster Adventure (With Cats)

Hello there everyone! I have a commission story to share with you all today… Yes, I’m still catching up with all those custom orders from last year!

So, this time our tale begins at the Dublin Cat Fair, in 2019. My customer adopted this Beastie, in a rather fetching feline-themed blue sweater…

Beasties at the Dublin Cat Fair - CrawCrafts Beasties

However, she had been hoping to pick up one of my Cat Owner Beasties, like this one:

Cat Owner Beastie by CrawCrafts Beasties

These take a lot longer to make, and I tend to bring fewer of them along to markets… So by the time she and her partner reached my stall that day, they were all gone.

But fast forward a year and a bit, and there was a birthday on the horizon! My customer wanted to celebrate in the Beastiest way possible, and asked me to combine two of her boyfriend’s great loves – cats and unicorns!

First, she selected a Unicorn Beastie who was already available in my online store

Unicorn Beastie, by CrawCrafts Beasties

… And then I added a feline twist!

Unicorn Beastie with Calico Cat - Commissions by CrawCrafts Beasties

And so that their original Beastie friend didn’t feel left out… They got a kitty too!

Calico Cat - Needlefelted miniatures by CrawCrafts Beasties

By the way, calico cats (with ginger, black and white patches) are the intended recipient’s favourite, so I made two… Each with slightly different markings.

Here you go, Unicorn Beastie. You’re in charge of making sure both cats arrive safely in their new home!

Unicorn Beastie and Cats - CrawCrafts Beasties

Purrrrr-fect!

Unicorn Beastie with Needle-felted miniature cats, by CrawCrafts Beasties

But the story doesn’t end there.

When birthday time rolled around again, another email popped into my inbox. As it turns out, since we’d last spoken, some full-size, non-Beastie cats had joined this family – two calico cats, just like the ones I’d made, and one little fuzzy black kitty.

So, my mission was… Could I bring the Beastie family up to date with a miniature black cat? Sure I could!

Black Miniature Needle-Felted Cat by CrawCrafts Beasties

This teeny felted feline was super friendly, and loved prowling over my hand and getting chin scratchies!

Miniature Black Cat by CrawCrafts Beasties

And this little critter is all the more important today, because it’s National Black Cat Appreciation Day! Black cats get kind of a rough deal – the old superstition that they bring bad luck is hard to shake off, and it’s been reported that they’re less likely to be adopted from shelters than cats of any other colour. So, if you see a black cat today, or if you happen to be heading out to adopt a feline friend of your own, be sure to show them some love!

That’s all from us for this week – see you next time, when we’ll be catching up with Paddy and Plunkett!

A Special Visit

Hello there, Beastie friends! And ooops, my new blogging schedule went completely out the window last week… Covid finally found its way to Beastie Towers, and forced me to spend a week knitting on the couch and watching bad scripted reality shows on Netflix. Life is tough, eh?

Fortunately, my encounter with the dread virus isn’t the special visit I mentioned in the title. The actual visit we’re talking about today was a lot more fun! And it all began with the arrival of a mysterious letter…

Handwritten letter with Beastie drawing! CrawCrafts Beasties

My correspondent’s mum had actually reached out to me a week or two earlier to see if I had any Cosy Scarf Beasties in need of a new home, and at the time I didn’t… But I’d said that I’d be happy to make one in Aisling’s favourite colours if she’d let me know what those were. I looked out for an email or text… But I was delighted to get my answer by post instead, complete with drawing!

So, I set to work. And soon…

Grey and Blue Cosy Scarf Beastie, by CrawCrafts Beasties

… A Beastie appeared!

And once the Beastie had approved their passport photo, they were ready to ship out.

Beastie with passport - CrawCrafts Beasties

However, this journey wasn’t going to involve the usual trip to the Post Office! This Beastie had the honour of being picked up in person from my workshop, and hey, I thought we could have a bit of extra fun.

First of all, a quick comparison between the original sketch and the Beastie to make sure I’d done my job properly…

Checking the Beastie design - CrawCrafts Beasties

…Followed by a photoshoot in the Beastie-Sized Photo Studio with the big fancy camera!

Beastie photoshoot - picture by my special visitor! CrawCrafts Beasties

I liked this picture the best – it looks like the Beastie’s scarf is fluttering in the breeze!

Then we did a quick tour of the rest of the studio building, and had a chat with a few of the other artists who work here.

Inside La Catedral Studios - CrawCrafts Beasties

Since my Beastie’s new human friend is a keen artist herself (rumour has it that there is a Beastie comic book in the works as we speak) I really hope she enjoyed seeing around our studio home.

And if you’d like to adopt a little woolly friend of your own, take a peek in our freshly-updated online store! I’ll be adding more Beasties over the coming weeks too, so stay tuned!