**Love To Colour?** Colouring with Cats #138 ~ Getting Your OM’s on with Mandalas on Mondays ~ Crystal of the Week PLUS **Your Crystal Questions Answered** What Is Lapis Lazuli Good For?

Supurr Monday greetings beautiful furiends

Welcome to another Colouring with Cats and a brand new week to be supurr and extra fluffy with all your zen harmonies happening! MOL

We're continuing our crystal journey today, and this week, we've got a lovely gemstone to share today.

Crystal of The Week

&

What is Lapis Lazuli  good for?

Lapis Lazuli is a stunningly rich, deep blue stone and can be flecked with gold and/or white and black. It can have a veined appearance or slightly mottled effect depending on each individual stone.

At BBHQ, we have several pieces of lapis, and here is our newest acquisition, which was acquired a few weeks ago when the P.A. visited a gem show nearby. The P.A. really liked this stone as it reminded her of a sandy beach and deep blue ocean.

Here's a little about the gem lore for lapis lazuli; being a blue stone, it is ideal for the throat chakra, although it is reputed to be excellent for opening the third eye chakra, which is located mid-eyebrows and up a tad. It is said to facilitate psychic abilities, enhance dream work and assists in stimulating spiritual power.

Apparently, it is renowned for its protective properties and can assist against psychic attacks, and no the P.A. didn't have many crystals back in the day when she experienced a ghostly encounter.  

It is also said to harmonise and balance the spiritual, emotional and physical planes to create uplifted feelings. It can facilitate freer expression of words and thought if used on the throat chakra and helps with creativity. So, if mew're struggling with any blocks in those areas, this may be a crystal to try.

Lapis is a supurr crystal, and there is loads more info online to discover regarding the various healing and beneficial properties. And there are lots of different jewellery designs available such as rings, pendants, bracelets and earrings etc.

 If mew have any crystal questions; email us, DM us or ask us in the comments below.

To check out last time's Crystal of the Week, click the link: Black Tourmaline.

(disclaimer; we are not health or medical practitioners; all crystal info is purely for entertainment purposes only.) 

Anyhoo, we do hope mew've all had a totally pawesome weekend, and that mew're ready for the week ahead, so let's jump right in and start as always with our little breathing exercise, which we're sure mew all have down paw by now... but if mew've forgotten, stop what mew're doing for a moment and take deep fulfilling breaths- counting to five on the inhale and five on the exhale:

Breathe in

Breathe out

Breathe in

Breathe out

Breathe in

Breathe out

Smooch is here again to offer mew assistance in getting your OM's on and Zen Harmonies happening, so just press play, close your eyes and follow his instructions.



Don't mew feel better already?  I know we do!

All the mandalas featured are created & designed by us, aka The B Team.

Here's this week's mandala.

Right-click the image to save and/or print the mandala.

And here's our finished version; this time, we used a delightful green and magenta palette.

Coloured on the iPad and then transformed in Prisma, this time, we chose the effect - Bubblegum.

Don't forget mew can download** our free Colouring with Cats here:- Books One, Two, Three and Four.

Colouring with Cats Book One

Colouring With Cats Book Two ~ Easy Mandala's 

Colouring With Cats Book III

Colouring With Cats Book IV

[**see our download policy here]

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So, on that note, we'll say bye for now and hope to see mew on Wednesday with more Midweek News, and mew won't want to miss that, though we can't say any more right now! MOL

Until then

Keep Calm and Colour OM!

And don't forget to...

Wing Commander Basil & The B Team 

Don't furget to subscribe and never miss another mandala! 

Graphics created with paid licence www.canva.com 

Melvyn's Evil Pumpkin Selfie on The Sunday Selfies and Caturday Art Blog Hops

 

Pawesome Sunday greetings furiends

Welcome to another BBHQ spooky selfie selection.

 This week, Melvyn wanted to be on the Halloween centre stage with the evil pumpkin he grew in the P.A.'s veg garden. 

Melvyn's Evil Pumpkin Selfie

Grow a pumpkin; it'll be fun, they said. Not just any pumpkin, though. Grow a giant pumpkin.

They didn't tell me it was going to be fluffing evil and go on midnight rampages throughout the village!

I deffo won't be buying seeds from random, highly suspicious seed peddlers on Main Street after this. 

Pumpkin pie anypawdy??? MOL

We're also joining in Athena's Fabulous Art Hop, so do stop by and show off your pawesome arty-farty skills.

The effect was created with Befunky - AI Enhancer, Realist GFX, vibrancy enhancer + vignette.

We also turned this fab arty-farty picture into a puzzle, so do stop by the puzzle page and take the Puzzle Challenge, see if mew can beat our time of 12 mins 55 secs. 

It's raining today, so not much is going on at BBHQ, and we decided that a fire is in order with some catnip snacks and a good movie after Smooch has finished in the kitchen.

Now there's an idea, catnip and pumpkin pie with mice cream... deeeelicious!!! MOL

Do join us again tomorrow for more Colouring with Cats, and if mew missed any of our Halloween Crafting Posts, click here to catch up.

We do hope mew have a totally terrific day, and remember to always...

Wing Commander Basil & The B Team

Don't forget to join in the pawesome Sunday Selfies Blog Hop with

 Angel Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Angel Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth, Calista Jo, Cooper Murphy and Sawyer ~ visit them at their pawesome blog:

www.thecatonmyhead.com

Don't forget to subscribe to our blog and never miss another post. 

Graphics created with paid licence @www.canva.com & ios Prisma App or www.befunky.com   

**Spooky Crafting With Cats** **RERUN ~ PART SIX** How We Made the Epic **TWO-IN-ONE CAT SCRATCHER**

Supurr Spooky Greetings Pawesome Pals

Thanks for joining us for Part Six of our Halloween Crafting with Cats Rerun. Mew know we have so much fun making all this stuff and we hope mew enjoy seeing it!

If mew missed any of our previous CWC posts, stop by the Crafting with Cats Page and see all our previous projects, and mew don't have to be an expert in anything to make any of them.  Plus, we offer workarounds and no-sew projects for those who don't like to sew.

Previous Halloween Crafting Posts

Part One ~ Bertie the Bat, Yummy Plumpkin Tartes and the Purple Peril Kicker

Part Two ~ Spooky Haunted House + Catnip Pumpkin Toys

Part Three ~ Pumpkin Pouffe and Some Other Really Fun Pumpkin-Inspired Stuff 

Part Four ~ Gordon the Ghost Spooktacular Meowoleen Snuggle Mat

Part Five ~ The Trick or Treat Halloween Monster Truck aka MOG1

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**A quick note before we begin**

All Crafting with Cats ideas and creations are of our own design, and we share them for purrsonal/home use only.

  So purrlease do not copy for commercial/resale purrposes.

Copyright ©BionicBasil®

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The Two-In-One Cat Scratcher

Isn't it epic?

What We Used:

5 x pre-made cardboard cat scratchers (£17.99)

1 x  large cardboard box

Non Toxic glue + Glue gun

Black spray paint (+ face mask)

Black non-toxic paint

1 x cardboard tube

Mini Ghosts

White + black felt fabric

4 x pom poms

catnip 

stuffing

**See Gordon the Ghost link below, and just reduce the pattern size**

Let's Get Started

CHAOS IN THE CRAFT ROOM

1. & 2. We had bought these five cardboard scratchers from Amazon with the intent of making something totally different, however they were much smaller than we thought, so idea one, was literally tossed out of the window. And a few minutes later, we had another idea, and that needed one large Amazon box, too.

(Note: mew could make your own scratchers - see our tutorial here)

3. Making it up as we went along, this is what we decided. First, we cut all the flaps off. And cut the side of the box out. 

4. This is what it looked like.

5. 6.  We repeated on the other side, and this is how it looked.

 7. & 8. Next, it was spray painted - always use a mask - and #8 was after a couple of coats   

(we didn't have time to apply more paint). 

9. & 10. Next we glued four of the scratchers in place to the back.

11.  Then, we glued the last one to the bottom.

12.  Using one of the flaps, we measured to make an infill piece.

13. 14. & 15.  This is what the infill looked like, we scored the sides along the line and bent them into postion, before gluing in place..

16.   We repeated the previous steps to make infills for the other side and front.

17. 18. & 19.  Taking a long wrapping paper cardboard tube, we cut it in half and glued along the sides of the other scratchers. So it filled in the tiny gap, and this is what it looked like.

20. Next, we scored and folded the top flap in half.

21. We glued it together.

22. Then, we glued the flap down, securing it to the edges of the box. And we painted the rest of the cardboard black.

23. If mew look at the top corner, mew can see we added a corner piece, as when we initially cut the flaps off in step 2, we were a bit slap dash and didn't cut it level so were left with a small gap, and this piece just covered our butchery! MOL

24. And this is what your Two-in-One Cat Scratcher should look like now. 

And there mew have it, only 24 easy peasy, supurr simple steps to making your very own Two-in-One Cat Scratcher! MOL 

It took just over a couple of hours to make, so not that long, and that's us making something that we've never made before so, it should take mew much less time.

Plus, we made the two small catnip ghosts and added the catnip pumpkins from the Haunted House project. See links below for instructions and other Halloween crafting projects.

And we know mew're wondering why it's a two-in-one cat scratcher, well it was initially designed to go up a wall, thereby offering a nice tall scratching scenario, but then we realised that it could also be used flat, and it makes a wunderpurr bed and scratcher, so the choice is yours on what your purrsonal preference is, vertical or horizontal! MOL

Smooch and Fudge are demonstrating the horizontal position, and there's more than enough room for two cats, two ghosts and three pumpkins!

And Fudge demonstrates the vertical position.

Fudge has pretty much claimed ownership of it, and is currently reclining (Sunday Morning - we only finished it late on Caturday) in the horizontal position in the sitting room! MOL

And for those who'd just like to watch us make it, here is the video - it's only 28 seconds long for those short on time! 

Direct link to watch on YouTube

LET'S GET SCRATCHING!

What do mew think of The Two-in-One Cat Scratcher?

We think it turned out pretty well, given that we had no clue what we were making and that we were really short on time.

See our previous Halloween Crafting Posts Below:

Check out the epically epic Spooky House and Catnip Pumpkins 

Click here

and

The Halloween Crafting Special from 2019

Featuring oodles of fun projects including this giant furry pumpkin bed with catnip leaves and a catnip kicker stalk.

Click Here

Gordon the Ghost Spooktacular Meowoleen Snuggle Mat 2020

Click Here

The Trick or Treat Monster Truck aka MOG 1

Isn't it epic?

Here's how we made it ~ Click here! 

Check out our YouTube Channel for more fun DIY Cat Stuff videos.

And that furiends furry sadly brings us to the end of our sixth Halloween Crafting with Cats Rerun; we do hope mew liked it, and feel free to post your pawesome crafty pics or ideas on our Facebook page at:

Bionic Basil & The 'B' Team @Facebook 

We'll be back tomorrow with another spooky selfie, and if mew missed Fudge's selfie last week, click here.

Spooky purrs

MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA

Wing Commander Basil & The B Team 

Don't furget to subscribe and never miss another post!

Disclaimer:

We at BionicBasil HQ are not responsible or liable for any injuries to person/s and/or cat/s, crafting addictions, glue on cats, paper cuts, misplaced pins and needles, cats stealing your supplies, broken scissors, cat fur stuck on your projects, or your project not turning out as planned.  By using this information you hereby agree to indemnify and hold harmless BionicBasil and staff from and against any and all claims for personal injuries or damages of any kind arising from the use of any Crafting With Cats posts we may share.

Graphics created with paid licence www.canva.com 

Music used under license from SoundStripe. Track:Rave Kids Artist: PALA