Oh No! Off Track Again!

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The Chairman's letterhead complete with his photo and pawprint.

That's right. You heard me.

First, I want you to cleanse your mental palate before proceeding. Just stare at the photo below for a moment.

A very beautiful zen-like photo of rocks balanced in a Japanese Koi pond. Very serene.

The building of my community has come to a screeching halt due to the Kreatrix’ incessant need to design packaging for, among many things, dog products.

Awhile back she created the brand identity (fancy phrase for “made up the logo/general appearance”) for SOHO Dogs. All kinds of shampoo, toys, grooming products and, yes, poop bags  in which your collect your dog’s doody.

You can’t see me but I’m rolling my eyes. And may I remind you of this event.

It gets better.

See this design below?

Package design featuring a black and white photo of New York City. A subway sign displays Flashlight waste bag dispenser along with a cool photo of a bull dog.
Nice as it may look, a flashlight gets strapped to the center of the packaging with two rolls of poop bags on each side.

Why, Kreatrix, why?

Then I found out the flashlight comes unscrewed and there’s a roll of poop bags inside the flashlight.

We got into a debate. I say the flashlight is so you can see the poop and pick it up. Kreatrix says it’s to illuminate your path if you’re walking your dog after dark.

My reply?

If it’s dark, how do you find the poop? FEEL around for it? HELLOOOOO.

Yipee. I won. And since I find all this poop talk so repulsive, I will sign off with with a few nice smelling designs she recently created for humans (who, thankfully, don’t prance around the hood depositing presents in their neighbors yards whilst someone stands by and watches).

Pretty hand soap label featuring flowers and a line drawing of an elegant woman. Elegant line drawing of a woman surrounded by flowers.  Another soap label. Very line drawing of a woman surrounded by flowers.

Ahhhhh. Much better.

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Ginger has her own letterhead now! She is an adorable soft sculptured cat doll. Her letterhead features beautiful handwriting and a beauty shot of Ginger.

The Chairman is Very, Very Needy Right Now

Well, friends, times are tough here at Catberry Tails headquarters. The Kreatrix is very hard at work making everybody but Catberry Tails look good (hellloooo dastardly clients!).

My dear sweet Chairman has gone a bit off the deep end. Apparently, it started when he woke the Kreatrix up one morning after a late night of work. He peeled open her eye lid and asked:

"s'up? I need to get a jump on my tasks for the day!"

And she mumbles:

"..m'kay. Find out if birds fart and do we need to whiten our cats teeth."

Now. You and I can clearly see she was not yet fully awake. HOWEVER. Chairman took it to heart and started googling the whole bird poot thing. Oy vey.

I'd post a few youtube things he found but I'd rather just instruct you to go to Youtube and search  "do birds fart". Humanity is doomed.

Chairman needed to decompress and so he sought out the services of Dr. Rascal, shrink extraordinaire.

Very cute soft sculpture cat doll named Rascal sits in a chair with a pad and pen just like a shrink would do when treating a patient.

Rascal is a very good listener BUT Chairman had a TREMENDOUS amount on his little mind.

The Chairman, a soft sculpture cat doll, lays on a sofa with his hand over his forhead. He is not smiling.
The Chairman tells of his woes...

He told of Kreatrix' strange requests and how he still doesn't have his driver's license and now the lines are sooooo long at the DMV because a lot of new people are getting drivers' licenses and he can't find anyone to pay to stand in line for him. He went into great detail about MY (Ginger) "demands" and how he didn't understand them (MEN!) and did we mention his driver's license?

Dr. Rascal, good as he is, apparently couldn't keep up and ...well, the Chairman noticed it was very quiet...so he sat up.

The Chairman sits up and looks at Dr. Rascal.

And saw this:

Dr. Rascal is sound asleep, sprawled across his chair with his notepad on his lap.

That's right. Dr. Rascal fell asleep!

At first, the Chairman was most upset and had to feed the curse jar. He went a bit off the deep end and sort of, kind of, maniacally started putting stuff on Dr. Rascal's head:

Several colorful spools of decorative tape on balanced on the sleeping Dr. Rascal's head.

We ALLLLL heard the evil laughter and came to see what was happening.

Of course, we HAD to help.

More stuff is piled on Dr. Rascal's head.

Kreatrix came to see what the commotion was about and she, also, had to help.

Cat toys are also piled on Dr. Rascal's head.

Eve wanted to get a selfie since she is practicing extending her arm and getting the sweet spot:

Selfies_DrRascal4

And so, we have discovered that not only is Rascal a good listener but he is a very sound sleeper.

Chairman laughed so much he became happy and I told him he had an endorphin high. Currently, he's searching our house for the dolphin because he wants to swim with one. Dorphin. Dolphin. We're just happy he's got something to do while the Kreatrix is busy with other boring stuff.

Toodles! Mwah! More later!

Love Ginger,

Feline Reporter Extraordinaire!

 

The Chairman's letterhead complete with his photo and pawprint.

Interesting times around here, folks-

Today, January 7th, the Kreatrix woke up and announced she was now ready for Christmas.

M'kay. Well, Kreatrix:

Stick a fork in it cause it is DONE. Fried. Come n' gone in a heated rush. Like a low flying bug on a car windshield, like yesterday's bubblegum on the bottom of your shoe, like-

Somebody stop me!

And don't tell anyone...shhhhh...

but the Christmas trees are still up...shhhhh...

Poor Kreatrix. One of those dreaded beasts we hear her call "clients" had a "semi-urgent" job that partway through turned into

oh my sweet patooty, slimy, lizard skin coated butt shenanigans YOU (the Kreatrix) have to get this job done even earlier!!!

Wanna know why Kreatrix had to work all through the holidays?

Because China is taking a 3 week break coming up in February for their New Years!

How nice for them.

Three weeks.

Three. Not days. Weeks. And stuff has to get printed and loaded onto the ships bound for Long Beach, CA so they can take a vay - cay - shun.

All designs were finished uploading to China on Tuesday the 5th. Here's a little peak at some of the evil pretty artwork that made her client so happy he called her a miracle worker.

Ok. So that was nice to hear but it kinda wasn't a miracle from what we witnessed because she never left the computer...she worked really, very, very hard...every day...Saturdays and Sundays and everything in between.

Behold, pretty storage boxes shaped like books:

Small_BookBox

Medium_BookBox

Large_BookBox

Giant big storage boxes (showing lid and flap only):

Large_Flip_Box

Medium_Flip_Box

Small_Flip_Box

But wait! There's more!

Liquid soap labels using the same elements from the large projects:

25floz_LargerLabel

25floz_SmallerLabels

13.5oz_LiquidSoapLabels

There's more!!!! Three pack soap boxes, pyramid shaped boxes, two pack soap boxes, single bar soap boxes. Whew!

So...

BELATED HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of our Catberry Tails fans!! You mean the world to us!!

By the way...2015 is the Year of The Ram. Hmmmm. I'm afraid to hear what the Kreatrix has to say 'bout that.

 

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Ginger has her own letterhead now! She is an adorable soft sculptured cat doll. Her letterhead features beautiful handwriting and a beauty shot of Ginger.

And going fast...

by Ginger, feline reporter extraordinaire

Hello fellow cat people! Kreatrix is hard at work on a new assignment for a client (boo hiss), so our World Domination Community expansion has come to a screeching halt! Chairman is NOT happy. She has a habit to support. A habit of building cat dolls.

The Kreatrix was doing some trend shopping and spied a few pieces of work she'd done for a client. She bought some samples home. They'd already sold most of the stock, so it was slim pickings!

A large, beautifully decorated cosmetic style box with flowers and the eiffel tower.

I can actually fit inside this box! I'm thinking of making it into a fancy bed.

Another beautifully decorated floral, large cosmetic box

The inside of the large cosmetic box, complete with vintage paper lining the interior.

YUM! Birds!!

Two single bar soap boxes brightly decorated with colorful birds and geometric prints.

A bar soap box with a beautiful bird and a matching glass bottle of liquid hand soap.

Two beautiful single soap boxes. One is a damask design. The other is abstract floral.

AND some of her Holiday/Christmas designs have hit the stores. More to come!

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I'm There Again

Gif of stressed out Disney character from the animated movie Brave.

My computer has been taken over by the Chinese.

Well.

Not exactly. I'm in

FILE UPLOAD INSANITY

With this stuff

Images of all the artwork being uploaded to China for packing of products at Christmas time.

Oh, my...those colors up there look very tart. Hurts my eyes. They don't look like that in the "for reals" world. Have you heard that phrase lately? It usually occurs alongside "adorbs". Hmmmm.

More winter holiday images for the Christmas market.

There's more but it all looks like a jumble to me...so it's probably a snoozer to you. Definitely NOT "adorbs".

Back Friday with hopefully something more interesting. OH WAIT! That's a holiday!

Will Kreatrix take that day off? Kreatrix doesn't know what "day off" means.

In the meantime, back to uploading my files to China so they can print them up for my client. And yes, I wish the printing and manufacturing of the products could stay stateside. That's another whole discussion.

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Ginger has her own letterhead now! She is an adorable soft sculptured cat doll. Her letterhead features beautiful handwriting and a beauty shot of Ginger.

Sweet Peas! It's me, Ginger, feline reporter extraordinaire with

Breaking News banner from TV.

The Chairman has not been at all happy lately - what with the Kreatrix' work schedule.

The Chairman sits with his arms crossed and a frown on his face.

Soooo...he decided to run away from home!!

I helped him pack his bag….

The Chairman and Ginger pack his bag with sweaters, sunglasses, his curse jar, camera and his cat.

It’s a pretty bag, too! Kreatrix designed it a few years back.

A decorative carboard and faux leather box sold in TJMaxx and Marshalls.

I thought it looked a little, um, girlie BUT he likes it.

Kreatrix says he won’t get far because it took him the whole day to drag the suitcase to the sidewalk. He’s also called twice “just to chat.”

Now he’s sitting out there waiting for people to drop money in his cup. Hmmmm.

Chairman sits on his suitcase at the sidewalk. A coffee cup with coins in it sits in front of him.

Not much foot traffic on our street. No traffic for that matter. No buses. No trains. Nothin.

Photo of a tumbleweed blowing on a very desolate road.

Ok, ok. So that's not our street. I'm a reporter. You know DRAMATIC LICENSE????

Hey, did I mention he penned a letter to Kreatrix’ client?

Wowy. The Chairman knows words I’ve never heard of. He got in trouble for writing it even though he didn’t send it.

It started out with a very nice compliment:

Dear Mister Know-it-all,

See? Nice.

Who do you think you are?

Well, here’s where I got confused because didn’t we already state he’s Mister Know-it-all? Anyway, then he continues:

Just what in poopy-pooh-baby wee wee (my words – not The Chairman’s – those are “off limits”) were you thinking giving this amount of work in so short a frankfurter (again, my word) amount of time?

I agree with him there. Too much work but Kreatrix seemed to understand the situation.

And if that wasn’t frankfurter enough, you say she doesn’t need to complete the first fist-pump-fanny-slap-give-yourself-a-whack until you get back from the other side of Planet Earth so she can complete the new go-sit-on-a-charred-frankfurter assignment.

Whew.

AND THEN, you send an inflated-gaseous-flame-throwing email the next day asking her to upload ASAP the aforementioned delayed designs!!! Ya know….designs she didn’t frankfurter have to complete for another run-over-you-with-a-spiked-steam-roller week. YEAH, THOSE DESIGNS.

Hang on a sec, Sweet Peas! My cell phone is ringing.

It’s the Chairman…he wants to chat again. Gotta go, lovies!

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The 7 days a week variety...week after week

Gif of stressed out Disney character from the animated movie Brave.

Whilst I sit waiting for my client to call after his big pow-wow with his client (it's the phone call that will impose my next unrealistic deadline BY SATURDAY May 10th) I decided to Google "deadline".

dead·line

noun \-ˌlīn\

: a date or time when something must be finished : the last day, hour, or minute that something will be accepted.

BORING!!!!! How can such a calm little sentence impart the sheer insanity of deadlines?

An animated gif of Betty Boop getting upset and tearing her hair out.

NOT TO WORRY. Here's where it gets interesting:

Full Definition of DEADLINE

1 a line drawn within or around a prison that a prisoner passes at the risk of being shot.

Well butter my buns and call me a biscuit, that would be the line outside my front door. I’m sure clients hire marksmen to position themselves around my house.

I swear the other day I went out to get the mail and there was a red dot on my chest the whole time.

An animated gif of one of the nerds from Big Bang Theory breathing into a paper bag.

GET BACK IN THE HOUSE WOMAN AND GET TO WORK!

Here is a helpful little chart to show the love affair we're developing with deadlines.

Chart that shows a dramatic rise in the use of the word "deadline" around 2010. Chart starts in 1800's.

I'm not sure why anyone would want to know what rhymes with deadline but these internet sites are just so darn helpful. Let us examine a few they offer.

Rhymes with DEADLINE

assign, beeline, benign, bloodline, blush wine , feline, waistline, white wine, shoreline, tumpline,

Oh, I get it:

  1. Assign: as in you are getting assigned another deadline. I'M A FREAKIN' POET!
  2. Beeline and bloodline: as in my blood/line is making a rapid beeline through my heart valves and driving my blood pressure up.
  3. Benign: as in there is nothing benign about a deadline. sigh. Pure poetry.
  4. Blush wine: as in enough of this softens the blow of crossing the deadline outside my front door.
  5. Feline: as in you thought I'd forgotten this blog was also about cats!
  6. Waistline: as in the thing that expands when you sit too much due to deadlines.
  7. White wine: as in the thing that gets consumed too much due to too many deadlines.
  8. Shoreline: as in the thing I haven't seen in months even though I live a few minutes from it.
  9. Tumpline: as in the definition of this makes my head hurt just like deadlines do.

tump•line

a sling formed by a strap slung over the forehead or chest and used for carrying or helping to support a pack on the back or in hauling goods.

WHAT? Oh come on...you know I'm gonna Google images for this.

Old drawing of a man bent over, struggling to carry a large load using the tumpline method.

THIS IS WHAT DEADLINES FEEL LIKE!!

A photo of a man carrying an ax and a large basket using a tumpline. His posture is thrown way off.

Here's a tip buddy:

USE THE DARN AX AND CUT YOURSELF FREE!

Photo of a man carrying many, many wooden crates of coca cola using a tumpline.

Why is this man smiling?

Photo of a little boy carrying large boxes using a tumpline. He is also carrying a broom.

This one just makes me sad. Someone needs to show him Harry Potter so he can flee his captors on that broom.

An old photo of a man being carried by another man using the tumpline method.

If I don't get out and cross that deadline outside my front door, my legs will cease working and I will have to be carried around with a tumpline.

 

 

 

 

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But with good reason…

The head tom cat of the household, The Prof, is a director, writer, professor and all-around fabo person. And maybe…just maybe…the Kreatrix met him when she was cast in a show he was directing. Maybe.

He has been directing this musical

Large lobby poster for the musical of Spring Awakening.

at a Civic Arts Plaza just outside of Los Angeles. ARGH! Fuzzy photo I had to grab in lobby before audience crowds descended.

I choose seeing his show…maybe more than once but less than four times…in the past couple weeks and missed a post Friday…deadlines, shows, blogs oh my!

Cast of Spring Awakening onstage.

Spring Awakening won Tony awards on Broadway a few years back and The Prof directed an awesome version here in California.

A scene from the musical Spring Awakening.

The musical is about young people coming of age and the harm that can come to them without adequate guidance. The music is breathtaking.

The cast of Spring Awakening onstage.

I’ve seen many of The Prof’s shows and I gotta say…this cast (so young they are) has some Broadway level talent in it. I call it the American Idol and The Voice effect. Kids are exposed to singing in their living rooms at such a young age.

Lead actors in scene, embracing.

So many dreams on that stage. Wish I could follow them and hold their hands through all the ups and downs.

My Prof rocks! So talented…

Thanks for letting me bust my buttons on this post.

NOW BACK TO DEADLINES (and hopefully my gang of crazy cats)!

 

 

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What does this:

A breath-takingly beautiful photo of the turquoise waters of Krabi Thailand.

And this:

An idyllic hammock on a white sand beach of Krabi Thailand.

Have to do with this:

The Chairman cat doll sitting with coins, dollar bills and his curse jar.

I shall explain.

Whilst I, the Kreatrix, was slaving away on 30 product designs and getting thoroughly stressed, exhausted and ugly – the Chairman heard me talking about my client and where this client was  while I was working on said product designs.

Yup. Client was here.

Awesome beach sunset in Krabi Thailand.

Does said client have the right to go to paradise? AB. SO. TOOTLY. Can I be ENVIOUS? Red-eyed weepy dripping-nose ugly kind of exhausted envy? Sure. Why not.

The Chairman witnessed my exhaustion.

Sooooo

I heard a tremendous amount of cursing coming from the other room yesterday. I go to check it out and see the Chairman in the photo I took above.

He would explode with ------!!!! and drop a quarter in the curse jar. Explode with an entire phrase and stuff a dollar in the curse jar.

I calmly say

“That is some scary language, young tom. What are you doing?”

The Chairman:

“Raising money so you can go to an enchanted Island and get your head together.”

Methinks I’ll spend that money on his car. He earned it.