February's Feline Fab

February had two highlights in store for me:

On the 14th (Saturday), I visited an exhibition where loads and loads of precious and semi-precious stones and jewellery could be admired and bought. I spent hours there walking around, looking, enjoying myself tremendously, but buying very little, like some small agate slices. I had to have two cups of coffee to keep me going. Must have been semi-precious coffee, to judge by the price.

Only four days later, on the 18th (Wednesday), I made a day excursion with my best friend and her husband to another town to visit a zoo where a litter of six cheetah cubs is being hand-raised, because their mother, in another zoo, can't or won't bring her children up herself. You cannot imagine how thrilled I was! Now, cheetah is my first and foremost, absolute favourite animal of all. They are so proud, elegant, beautiful ...

Some time ago, I happened to talk to my friend about how much I love cheetah. She must have listened very attentively, because at our next meeting she asked me whether I was free on that and that day. I was. Well, she would like to go somewhere with me. Alright, but where? The only reply I got was a secretive smile. Would it be alright if her husband came along, too? Of course. That meant we would be going some place that he was also interested in. This clue, however, did not get me any nearer the solution of the secret. I decided to leave it at that and ask no more, trusting that we were going to do something nice on the set day.

We met at the station in the morning, went to the next town by train, changed into a bus. The destination announced on the bus front did ring a bell, but what bell?? When we got off another fortyfive minutes later, it became clear that we had arrived at a zoo, not too big, but very well known in the area. I had never been there before, and therefore was highly pleased to get to know it at last. Still I had no inkling what the sensation of the day would be, what's more, I didn't expect any more suprises.

The zoo was not open yet, so we went for a nice, leisurely lunch. When my friends bought the entrance tickets on our return, the friendly lady cashier said: "The little cheetahs' feeding time is at two-thirty." The secret was out, though just a little earlier than my friends had intended! I cannot describe to you how happy I was - it had been a very long time since I had seen live cheetah, and that had been in their very own environment in Africa. Somehow I had not thought of bringing my camera, but taking photos would have been difficult anyway, because the little cheetah can so far only be watched behind a glass window. We were the first to stand in front of that window even before feeding time. The six of them, five male and one female, were still asleep on the straw-covered floor when we arrived. One after the other, they lazily stretched and cautiously opened their eyes, but when they heard their caretaker arriving and unlocking the door, each one of them was wide awake and very excited. Here came some juicy meat, and after the last morsel had been devoured, playtime began. It was not a sunny day, our feet went ice-cold from standing still on the cold, damp ground, but we did not feel it. We stood there spell-bound for more than an hour. What a lovely day! What thoughtful friends!

So you can clearly see: The themes for my February BJP Journal Darling Doll were obvious. FAB had to tell of cats and stones. Here she is now:

The lady is in good company - she met Mr and Mrs Cheetah.


Fab is happy to get to know you and says:

I am FAB. Wish to remind you
that winter is almost behind you.
(Elsewhere on the globe, I know,
the climate has no ice, no snow.)
You see me wear a furry dress.
However, I would like to stress:
It is synthetik, faked with skill.
For real fur you'd have to kill.

While I speak to you of fur,
I hear a loud, contented purr
coming from Sabine's cat
'cause it received a loving pat.

Did you notice the clever design of Fab's legs? How left and right leg together make up a lion's head? Well, take a closer look: Front ...

... and back ...
Truthfully, I have to admit that this is not quite as clever as it looks. I only noticed the possibilities while cutting the fabric for her legs, and then, of course, I tried to make the most of it.

I chose the face for its colouring, plus it was the "cattiest" face I had got. For Fab's bi-coloured hairdo, I cut up two nylon stockings that had recently lost their respective twins to wear and tear:

This is a close-up of her rear, including the back of her hairdo:


Now, would you believe it, I caught the curious thing trying to peep into my livingroom window!


The theme of her dress front is called "The happy wild cat in its magic garden". Flowers, grass and sky are represented by semi-precious stones and assorted glass beads. The wild cat was a brooch once upon a time and was added to my stash during a flea-market spree.


You have noticed already, of course, that I could not stop taking photographs of Fab once I had got going, so there are two more pictures here showing the doll in different surroundings and with Egyptian accessories. Cats have played an important part in the world at all times.

The picture Fab holds up I made of two images from the zoo leaflet. The front shows a cheetah portrait, the back a lion head, but the lion is mostly covered by her arm.


And finally, here is Fab, the February JDD, standing on my desk supervising while I write this post.


All the best, and have a nice time.

Sabine

Introduction of January 2009 JDD

Here is JANNY, January's Journal Darling Doll, happy to show herself for the first time. I intended her to be rather on the cold side, representing winter and crystal-clear thinking. As far as the material for her body is concerned, I succeeded. It is a very pale and uninteresting yellow, and I only bought it because it has a fruit print in intervals. But as soon as I started selecting the beads, it was clear that her character would take quite another turn. The design of her front developed into one big heart.

Janny's corkscrew locks (I think there is another word for these curls, but if so, I cannot remember it) are made of wire coils that were part of a necklace I bought at a charity shop, with gold-coloured bicones added at the ends. The rest of the hairdo consists of lace.

Somehow, a tiny smudge had settled on the centre of Janny's forehead. It refused to be removed, so I decided to mark Janny's Third Eye. This turned out not to be just a makeshift, but very appropriate.

Now let's have a look at her rear:

I couldn't decide which rearview to post, so here is a second one:

The jumper sleeves and leggings are crocheted. I had planned on knitting them, but then made a decision in favour of crochet as it is quicker and gives more body.

At last, we will let Janny have her say:

Hello to you, Year Zero-Nine!
I'm JANNY, and the fifth in line.
As you can see, it's crystal-clear:
My front is flashy, and my rear.

Right ain't left, and left ain't right ...
Sabine, working late at night,
forgot this basic rule
that she had learnt in school.
To see what happened, watch my feet
when I walk along the street ...
But of course, I don't complain -
I wear my boots in snow and rain.


Stupid things happen! I only realized that there was something wrong with the boots when I put on the second one. Considering the time I had spent making them, I decided to blow perfectionism to the wind and leave everything the way it was.


A close-up of the doll's name and rear design.


During the photo session the glass bird took Janny's fancy, and I let her ride on it. Well, grant a favour to one, and you have to grant it to all of them ...


Keep well, and happy days.

Sabine