Orange Tabby Ginger Marmalade Tangerine Cat with Blue Morning Glory Collar Necklace

I just finished a new necklace featuring a light tangerine orange cat in a garden of blue Morning Glory flowers, leaves, buds and vines with ladybugs dancing on the leaves. As I was writing the listing and trying to figure out what color/breed to call the cat I started reading up on orange cats and the various names given to them. Who knew there were so many kinds and so many names for these gorgeous cats?

From what I've been able to figure out, it seems that the Orange Tabby cat can be any breed and has a coat that is considered reddish, yellowish or orangish. It's the tabby coat PATTERN of darker spots, blotches or stripes again light yellowish or orangish coat that causes them to be called Orange Tabby cats. They are most likely to be male, as there is average ratio of 80 males to 20 females. They are also known as Ginger cats or Marmalade cats, like the cat made famous in the Broadway show,  "Cats". Then there are also the sub-headings for the various specific patterns........but let's not go into that!

So, my cat isn't an Orange Tabby, Marmalade, OR a Ginger cat after all. Guess I'll just have to call her a rare Tangerine cat!

Edited: Sorry, she's currently sold out, but has lots of other friends available at MelodyODesigns at Etsy

The designing of the Pink Rose Cat jewelry, a tribute to Mother's Day and my Moms

Rose Cat Brooch

Whenever I see pink roses I think of three important women in my life whom I consider my "moms", my grandmother (mémère), my mother and my mother in law. They all loved flowers and pink roses were a particular favorite. They all loved cats, too, so I designed these Rose Cat pieces as a tribute to all three in an early celebration of Mother's Day.

I couldn't find a mold of a rose small enough to use on the "collar tag', so I borrowed  a tiny carved rose pierced earring from my jewelry box and made a mold of it using Sculpey Bake and Bend. It's a pity that the Bake and Bend is no longer available in open stock and seems to only be available in sets. Luckily I still have a lot in stock and it's great for making inexpensive molds that hold up to using with a firm clay. Earrings are wonderful to use for making tiny molds and I always check out the earring displays when I shop at thrift stores and garage sales. For the rose on the collar tag I used pink clay and then accented it with a mix of TLS (Translucent Liquid Sculpey) and raspberry mica powder applied sparingly with my fingertip.

Behind the Scenes studio photo

Tiny Kemper mini cutters (actually called "pattern cutter") get used a lot in my studio and I used round and 5 petals cutters for this project. I use a a piece of Saran Wrap on top of the clay when I use a cutter so that the cut image comes out plump with nice tapered edges.

Beaded chain Rose Cat necklace

Rose Angel Cat Hanging Ornament

The Rose Cats are available for sale at MelodyODesigns at Etsy