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Health & Fitness

Feline-themed Garden Flags With My Artwork!

Garden flags with feline art in either distinctive styles available in my Etsy shop.

In addition to writing about animal health and welfare and helping to promote cats for adoption, I'm also a fine artist and photographer, and actually have made my living as a freelance commercial artist in graphic and web design in a studio in my home in Carnegie for the past 12 years.

I sell my original art and prints of it, and also make products by hand using the images, or I design imprinted materials such as greeting cards—and garden flags. I don't have a shop of any sort but do have a few things at others' shops in the area, and when I can take time from my daily work as a freelancer I participate in local festivals and exhibits. I will occasionally post about my newest items, and feel free to sign up for my monthly preview e-newsletter.

But back to those garden flags!

Eight two-sided garden flags are now available in my Etsy shop, each one a completely different style and theme to suit any garden—fine art, Impressionist, Warhol-esque and "after van Gogh", black cats, pink cats, tabby cats and calico cats, and of course, those tortie girls!

These first eight flags actually feature twelve images. All are two-sided, most have two different designs so you can turn them around and show something different, or you can put them along a walk and see both sides as you move in each direction. I began with the most popular and requested images, and from those chose and ones that fit well on the shape of the flag while the image was still easily recognizable from a distance. Colors can be a little unpredictable with digital printing, and this digital fabric is a new product, but the colors and detail are astonishing.

These are digitally printed on a product called digital satin, a woven product intended for outdoor as well as indoor use, and I work with a local printer to produce these. The fabric is heavier than the nylon most other flags are made of, but if I'm judging by the one I've had hanging out in my back yard since winter this is tough and durable material, no fading, scratches in the finish, fraying or wrinkling of the flag in any way. I'm sure, like any other product, if the flag is in direct sun for more than four hours per day it will eventually fade, but the testing worked better than I'd thought. You can read about the development of these flags as well as backyard testing and a photo shoot with Mimi and me in Backyard Product Development and Testing With My Assistant, Mimi.

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My friend Bonita at Distinctively Different Decor and More in Carnegie actually sews the pockets for me and also sells them at her shop. Aside from sharing her life with five cats Bonita is a professional interior designer and upholsterer and she expressed an interest in selling these as well as assisting with the finishing. I have other art and merchandise at Bonita's boutique, these will be on display and available through her at 103 Chestnut St. Carnegie, PA 15106.

I also have merchandise at the Outlet Barn at 4577 Campbell's Run Road, Carnegie 15106, and hope to get these down to Kathy soon!

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Flags are 11” wide x 15” tall and fit the most common garden flag brackets available, seen here and sold in most hardware and home renovation stores with a garden area. I ship the garden flags rolled in a tube unless you also order other merchandise and I can fit them into the box. You can order a bracket through me as well, and I sell them for pretty much their original cost.

Current designs

The eight designs listed below are currently available in my Etsy shop—click the image to go to the product on Etsy or click the link above to see them all at once. Scroll down for links to the see and read about the original sketches and paintings on The Creative Cat.

Kitty in Pink/Kitty in Pink

In Afternoon Sun/In Afternoon Sun

If you are in the Pittsburgh area and would like to order one of the garden flags—or anything else—from my Etsy shop, you don't need to pay for shipping. Use the coupon code FREESHIPPING to pay only the price of the product.

When I'm not at a show all my merchandise is pretty much packed away, but if you'd like to see something or purchase it directly you can always send a private message through Etsy while you are browsing, or you can send me an e-mail and we'll figure the best way to meet.
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Subscribe to The Creative Cat e-newsletter for specials on exclusively feline-themed art and merchandise, published every month or two.

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A note to readers: My professional blog, The Creative Cat, where all my cat, pet and animal posts here on Chartiers Valley Patch originate, is up for an international pet blogging award for "Best Cat Blog" during the month of July 2013. I'm so honored! If I win, an animal charity of my choice gets a $1,000 donation. Several of my blogging friends around the internet are also up for awards in other categories. Read more about the Petties in this post and meet other bloggers you may enjoy reading. 

All images used in this post are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in using one in a print or internet publication. 

© 2013 | www.TheCreativeCat.net
Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski

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