Here are some fun facts:

• Mimi is based on my teddy bear Ginger. My Grammy gave me Ginger for Christmas when I was ten years old. (She’s obviously been loved! :))

• Tro is part of the Drom. The word drom means dream in Swedish.

• I designed the book cover

• Lucky the Cat was inspired by MacGyver.

• Eclipse was inspired by a black that hangs around my husband’s place of employment

• I first thought about the black cat fighting squad while volunteering at the SPCA. Some years ago, there was a bunch of black cats hanging around and climbing on things. They reminded me of ninjas.

If you end up reading the book, don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any questions are are curious about anything!

The DJ black and white cat in Cat Rave Dance Party Paws Up is based on my cat Oreo. She is definitely the most nocturnal of my two cats.

Our cats are not allowed in the bedroom. The idea for this design came about because Oreo lately has gotten into the habit of meowing outside our bedroom door at about five o’clock in the morning. When she does this, either my husband or I will say, “Shushi, Oreo.” Or “Oreo too early. Go sleepy.” Being the good cat that she is, she usually obeys.

When we get up a little while later, the black and white cat will be all tuckered out and fast asleep in one of her favorite sleeping spots, while her sister, a tabby, is up and running around the house.

In reality, my cats are strictly indoor cats. I am too much of a worrier for them to be out door cats. Though, that didn’t stop me from joking with my husband that Oreo had a secret life as a club DJ or something and she was just letting us know when she was home. And thus, Cat Rave Dance Party Paws Up was born!

Did you know:

• The gray and white cat paws are based on Oreo’s sister, Olivia.

• Oreo is also the basis for Cookie the Cat in the Cookie and Olivia book series.

• Cookie and Olivia have their own store on Zazzle

• This is the second design I’ve made where an animal is DJing. The other one is DJ Piggy Pig.

• Oreo is also in a few of my other designs. These include Sleeping Black and White Cat, Here’s Looking at You Cat, and Cat Eyes (Black and White), to name just a few.

Cat Rave Dance Party Paws Up is available for sale on:

• Zazzle

• Red Bubble

• Imagekind

• Skreened

Do you have a pet? Do they have any interesting habits? Has your pet inspired you in any way? Let us know in the comments!

For those of you that don’t know, you can use water color pencils just like colored pencils or dip them in water.  When they’re dipped in water, the material acts like water color paint. Since, I was eager to try them out and wanted to see how they performed in pencil form and watercolor form, I made the following picture:

Since I liked how the picture came out, I thought it would be fun to make a digital version! Here’s how it turned out:

Fun Facts

• The original has black flowers, the digital version does not.
• The flowers in the original version, have different color centers. In the digital version, they all have yellow centers.
• The original was done in a 5X7 sketch pad which my husband also bought me for my birthday.
• Colorful Flowers Red Blue Green Orange is available on a variety of products on Zazzle, RedBubble, Imagekind, Society6 and Skreened

Have you used water colors before?  Any tips?