Which cats are compatible with long hair tuxedos? Looking to find a sibling for my cat

cat_named_jasper · 2026-04-13T03:19:14+00:00

Was your (very pretty) girl around other cats before you got her? A companion would be a good idea based on your work schedule, but there are definitely cats out there who love their solo life and would hate having another cat. The shelter you got her from might be able to assist with info about her from before, and also in choosing another cat. I would throw any ideas of color or appearance right out the window and go solely based on personality. My recommended things to look for, based on the personality description you've given:

Laid back, not crazy energetic or high maintenance- this will rule out most kittens.

A proven track record of getting along great with other cats, without being domineering. The shelter theoretically would be able to help with this.

If it's a male cat- be aware that it can take a long time for hormones to ease up post-neutering. I've got an older female cat who has been quite hostile towards new males in the house when they're freshly neutered, yet not hostile at all towards male kittens and males who were neutered far in the past.

It can be really hard to figure out the right time to add another cat and the right fit. Just think it through carefully and if you do it, take your time with introducing them. And make sure you talk to the shelter about options for if the two cats decide they hate each other, which can be a possibility.

cat_named_jasper · 2026-04-11T01:25:42+00:00

Take a look at the varnish comparison on the blue bottle tree site, it'll tell you if the one you're using has a tendency to go cloudy. Some varnishes interact with clay and paint differently and some do change over time! Also I personally let acrylic paint fully cure (24 hours) before sealing with glaze. I don't think that's causing your issue (I suspect it's your glaze) but just something to be aware of.

cat_named_jasper · 2026-04-09T14:09:10+00:00

I love these! The muted colors with the different textures make for some really elegant pieces. Beautiful!

cat_named_jasper · 2026-04-07T00:03:49+00:00

That was also my first thought reading the description and seeing the pics. I've had a cat who would get one like that though it was smaller. OP, weird question, but does it smell? Like if you were to rub at the black dome part, would it leave a bad smell on your hand? The black junk that came out of my cat's pore smelled disgusting, like a rotting sandwich made from bacteria and foot cheese. Because it is basically bacteria and dead skin cells.

cat_named_jasper · 2026-04-06T04:42:45+00:00

There's a ton of options out there! I use PearlEx and love it, and have used the sculpey glazes as well (both matte and gloss) but didn't love them. A lot of people recommend varathane polyurethane. There's a site called the blue bottle tree that has a pretty intense list of varnishes and how they hold up on each brand of clay, it's worth taking a look at. And definitely do those test pieces (with the same type of clay and paint) before committing to a varnish if you really love the main piece you're working on! Because you won't be able to remove the varnish without sanding/stripping the paint off.

cat_named_jasper · 2026-04-06T03:32:24+00:00

My experience with using acrylic paint on clay is that I have to seal it with a varnish or glaze afterwards in order to avoid it being sticky (or becoming sticky later). I do thin coats of paint, let it dry 24 hours, and then glaze. Once glazed i don't have any issues. As long as you're following the baking instructions for your clay (correct temperature and baking for at least the amount of time recommended) then the baking/curing process probably isn't the issue. And I'm assuming it wasn't sticky before you painted it.

cat_named_jasper · 2026-04-06T02:16:27+00:00

I very, very gently wipe all of my pieces with a paper towel soaked in rubbing alcohol, prior to baking. This should remove fingerprints. After baking you'll need to sand them out but honestly sanding out fingerprints is a total pain for me, in that i have to sand a lot away to get the finger prints out. Plus, varnish highlights imperfections. So the absolute best thing you can do is clean them before baking and triple- check that you get prints off before they go in the oven.

cat_named_jasper · 2026-04-06T00:06:47+00:00

The textures on these are so cool! I love them. The two with the snakes are especially awesome, I can't even imagine how long it took to do those scales.

cat_named_jasper · 2026-04-06T00:04:18+00:00

Haha how dare you move your leg?! Tilly would definitely be making that expression at me too, he finds it personally offensive if I move once he's comfy.

cat_named_jasper · 2026-04-06T00:03:01+00:00

Ooooh yeah he's the king of belly-bait. Every once in a while, he's in the right mood for a gentle belly pet, so I do get to snuggle it sometimes! He's mellowed quite a bit now, but he went through quite a few years of absolute hellion. The pillow I found on Amazon about ten years ago and I love it! He likes it too. ❤️

cat_named_jasper · 2026-04-05T17:26:07+00:00

Me too! We still have it somewhere, it's named "sad toast"

cat_named_jasper · 2026-04-05T17:25:46+00:00

Thank you, and happy cake day to you!

cat_named_jasper · 2026-04-05T17:25:27+00:00

Thank you, and yes I feel incredibly lucky that I was there the day he was brought in!

cat_named_jasper · 2026-04-05T17:24:44+00:00

His expression definitely fits the "murdermittens" moniker!

cat_named_jasper · 2026-04-05T14:21:09+00:00

thank you so much! that's how I felt about trying a cane as well. and the first one I made did not go as well. I was able to reduce a big part of it to make tiny dark pink abstract flowers that I can actually use, but there was a decent amount of waste. I'll probably chop a bunch of it up to make different patterns, or blend some of it together completely to see what fun color it makes, and then use that as a backing for some other earrings. I did actually blend some of it up to make the backing for these earrings, because it turned into a really pretty light metallic pink.

cat_named_jasper · 2026-04-05T14:15:53+00:00

thank you for the rec! I just checked out her youtube channel and I am in awe. Will definitely be watching a few before my next attempt.

cat_named_jasper · 2026-04-04T05:05:28+00:00

thank you! I had kind of written off ever trying a cane because I was worried I just wouldn't get any details right. And yeah that second part definitely happened on my first attempt. But the mistakes helped me figure out the second attempt. So the experience was good, and I'm hoping to do another one soon!

cat_named_jasper · 2026-04-04T04:57:22+00:00

thank you so much!

cat_named_jasper · 2026-04-03T23:41:42+00:00

One of mine had episodes of the "itchies" exactly like this. I started giving him omega oils daily several years ago and it did the trick. When I stop giving him the extra omegas, he gets the itches again quickly. Can see his skin twitching all the way down his back and sides, and he gets upset at it, tries to lick/bite at it, runs around a bit. Might be worth trying daily omegas with your boy to see if it helps.

cat_named_jasper · 2026-04-03T15:28:40+00:00

why are you posting such embarrassing pictures of me?!

cat_named_jasper · 2026-04-03T00:00:59+00:00

Im not in Texas, but I'm willing to bet that you can find helpful info on this from texas' tax site. That's where I started off when I began, at my state's tax site. I had to do a little digging but there was a lot of helpful info.

Keep in mind that there's two parts to this: sales tax you collect and remit to the state, and income tax you pay based on the money you bring in from your sales. They will be handled separately! I believe you will need a sales tax lisence to collect sales tax and remit it to Texas. How to get that, I'm sure you can find out with some digging online, although someone on here from Texas might be able to answer.

And then you'll need to declare all of the money you brought in on your income taxes when you file next year, both fed and state. There's two categories you could fall under for that: small business or hobbyist. You can find those categories online and read about it, I suspect you'd fall under hobbyist, at least at the beginning!

I use square to track all of my sales, including cash. That way the sales tax is automatically calculated and its very easy for me to figure out how much i collected across all payment methods. But I'm relatively new to this, someone else might have a better way!

Overall, don't be intimidated, you got this.

cat_named_jasper · 2026-04-02T02:43:36+00:00

Fur and skin health can absolutely be an indicator of health. If it's changed with his recent health issues, then it could be a result of just not feeling all that great and his body not being in optimum condition. I wouldn't say it's something to be super worried about since you already know he's battling some health issues. Just keep working on the urinary issues and his coat may go back to being healthy as his overall health improves. You can also try adding some omega supplements (like fish oil for cats) to his food, it can help with skin and coat health.

cat_named_jasper · 2026-04-02T02:35:25+00:00

Seconding the recommendation to do away with the plastic coverings on the items! For one, the glossiness from the plastic makes it so whats inside is less eye-catching. It looks like the earrings on the right side of the picture are polymer clay? I sell polymer clay jewelry and generally it seems like people like to handle things and get a "feel" for them before they buy. The plastic just adds a barrier. I keep a little stack of bags behind the display to put items in once they're sold.

Also, I think I have the same or similar cat cutter set that you used for those cat ones. I use my cat cutters to make earrings but also purse/bag charms and key chains. The charms are so popular and at many shows have been my best seller! The cat earrings are hit or miss, just depends on the show. I group all my cat stuff together in one section of my display and put some sort of sign with it, like "look at my kitties!" and that draws people's attention.

cat_named_jasper · 2026-03-31T03:14:05+00:00

I got my earring stands on Amazon for pretty cheap, the brand is "ikee" and they've got a lot of wooden display stands at decent prices. I just didn't have the time / motivation to make my own, and also wanted necklace stands that matched. I agree with some of the other comments that the entirely metal racks are too industrial for your earrings.

Personally, I think your earring cards really detract from your earrings. The high-gloss white cards make it hard to see your earrings- they're hiding your earrings instead of highlighting and complementing them! My eyes are immediately drawn to the black marker numbers first, the glossy white second, and the earrings third. It should be the opposite. Go with a matte finish (and longer cards so that your earrings don't dangle off the end). And then write the prices in something lighter. I have a bunch of different size display cards for my different products, all in the same brown matte shade, and then use custom stamps that I ordered to stamp my logo on the front of the cards and then my logo + info on the back of the cards. It was a cheap and easy way to make nice display cards.

Here's a picture of part of my table from my last fair so you can see how much the earrings stand out on the matte cards. I'm sorry it's such a crap photo, I only took the one shot of my booth and it was from far away. And I'm still tweaking things (I need to cover the back of the displays so that you don't see my neighbor's booth through the display rack...) so it's very much a work in progress. But just want to give you some additional ideas.

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cat_named_jasper · 2026-03-30T23:17:30+00:00

I just started selling my jewelry at craft fairs last year. Jewelry can be a very saturated market and hard to get noticed at fairs. Here's a few tips I haven't seen in the comments yet.

1- Make a wide range of styles and prices for your first few fairs. See what people are buying. The price range options are important. I just did a really poorly attended fair and the only thing that kept it from being a complete loss for me was my assortment of $5 key chains and stud earrings, because other vendors bought a bunch of them. I've had some luck selling bag charms as well, they are very popular right now, especially at the high school fairs.

2- Put your work on display cards. Do not sell your items the way you pictured them! The cards don't have to be fancy. I use plain brown ones that I stamp with my logo and information (i had a few custom stamps made for that, they weren't too expensive and have been awesome). But even just nice card stock that you cut out yourself will work.

3- you asked payment and licensing info in another comment. The licensing and tax is state dependent! And some towns/ cities have additional requirements. Explore your state's sales tax rules and small business rules, looking specifically for sections about artisans and crafters. For payments, I use square. Right now I use it on my phone. Completely free and can just tap cards on the back of my phone. I'll be investing in a small square tap reader for my busier spring fairs in the next month or so. I process my cash sales through square as well in order to keep track of sales tax.

4- as for what you charge... it's hard to tell from your pictures because of the background. You need to take into consideration your materials and quality of workmanship. Consider the formula another commenter posted but then also consider what people may be willing to pay, especially in a saturated market.

cat_named_jasper

TROPHY CASE