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Making (Furry) Headlines: Our Feature in Australian Cat Lover Magazine

/ Asta Lamminen / Leave a comment

Hello everyone!

I hope your week has been going well and that you’re ready for some cozy weekend fun. It’s been soooo hot here in Finland lately – I’m definitely looking forward to cooler weather.

Here in Finland, most homes and apartments don’t have air conditioning (unless you’re lucky enough to own a house and install it, which is still pretty uncommon). So when temps climb up to 30°C (86°F) and your apartment faces south… Let’s just say it’s great for natural light in winter, but pretty rough during a heatwave!

Last summer, people were even advised to go cool down at shopping centers because they were the only places with AC. Wild, right?

Anyway – this post isn’t about the weather (though I hope it’s pleasant wherever you are!). Today, I have something very special to share.

My Shop Was Featured in Australian Cat Lover Magazine!

You know where it’s definitely cooler right now? Beautiful Australia! And I’m so excited to say that my shop, PurringPyjamas, was featured in the newly launched Australian Cat Lover Magazine.

I was contacted by the lovely Agnes, who invited me to be part of their very first Lifestyle feature. Naturally, I said yes right away! I submitted some photos of one of my sweaters, wrote a little description, and voilà – it was published alongside 9 other beautiful finds for feline friends.

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When it came time to choose which design to feature, I knew immediately that I wanted to highlight the “Buttons Up!” sweater. It was the very first design I added to my shop back in February 2015, and honestly? I still love it just as much as I did on day one.

For the article, I did a little photoshoot with one of my friend’s beautiful kitties, Bacha – she always makes the most wonderful model. 💛

Bacha

Bacha

I’m so happy with how both the photos and the feature turned out! You can check out the original piece here:

10 winter warmers for your cats in 2019

Have a great weekend, and talk to you soon!

Follow PurringPyjamas on social media to keep up with the newest releases, discounts, and never-ending Sphynx cuteness!
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Facebook: facebook.com/purringpyjamas
Shop: purringpyjamas.etsy.com

 

Review: Flying Tiger Pet Food Catapult – Does It Work?

/ Asta Lamminen / Leave a comment

Hi, everyone! I hope you’re doing great! This blog post was written a little bit impromptu, because I was planning to write on a different topic, but yesterday I was doing a little bit of shopping, and decided to visit Flying Tiger. While over there, I noticed something I thought was quite hilarious – pet food catapult! On the package they show a dog as an example, but I was wondering if it would work for cats as well. It’s called “Pet food catapult” after all! I just HAD to try it out. Let’s see how it went!

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Price. It was cheap, just like most things in Flying Tiger – I paid €4 for the pet food catapult.

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Looks & how it works. It’s made of plastic, and the front part (the little see-through part) comes off easily with a little twist, so it’s easy to clean and/or load the catapult with pet food. Then you simply push down the black button (see the picture) and press the black button next to it to “shoot” the food in the air.

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How my cats reacted to it. Well, the thing is that they didn’t. But no, really! They could not care less about the food flying out of that catapult. They were sitting in front of me with those huge eyes asking for treats, but they just couldn’t understand that the food was flying out of the catapult and they need to go pick it up. I loaded it with quite big cat treats (Dreamies to be precise), but I think the main issue was that the food would fly out at a very high speed, and the cats simply wouldn’t notice it. If the treats landed on the floor, they’d react to the noise it made, but that’s all.

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Some final thoughts and is it worth it. It’s hard to say whether it’s worth it or not. All of my cats didn’t understand it, but maybe they’re just not very smart, haha! 😀 It was only €4, so I don’t feel robbed, and, well, cats are beings that are very picky in general. It did not work for my cats at all, but it MAY work for your cat. Or maybe it works only for dogs. Or maybe it works for some pets only, while it also may not work at all. If you feel like trying it out – give it a go, but I personally won’t be using it.

Follow PurringPyjamas on social media to keep up with the newest releases, discounts, never ending Sphynx cuteness and more!
Instagram: instagram.com/purringpyjamas
Facebook: facebook.com/purringpyjamas
Shop: purringpyjamas.etsy.com

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DIY Cat Treats: Easy, Quick & Yummy

/ Asta Lamminen / Leave a comment

As a crazy cat lady, I always looks for something new for my cats. New toys, new scratching posts, new blankets, new beds… You name it, I got it. 😀 I also have quite a few books about cats, and I finally decided to get it together and make some use out of them. I flipped through one of the books I bought back in December of 2016 – it’s called “Treats for your cat”. Basically, there you can find a lot of DIY toys, pet carriers, etc. There’s also quite a few recipes with different meals you can prepare for your cats, and one of them caught my eye – it’s simple, quick and doesn’t require 15 weird and fancy products. It’s called “Christmas Cookies”, but believe me – your cat(s) will love these treats all year ’round.

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These cat treats have fish in them, and I know that there has been a little bit of a fuss about giving fish to your cat. Generally, moderate amounts of fish will provide your cat nutrients, however, it’s best to serve it cooked as raw fish contains thiaminase. It’s OK to give it to your cat as a treat sometimes, but it shouldn’t be a big part of your cat’s daily diet. With that little bit out of the way, let’s get into the recipe!

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So, I tweaked the recipe a bit to suit my cats’ wishes, so I am sure that there will be no harm if you use something different too. The basic recipe for these treats is:
-225 g/8 oz plain wholemeal flour
-1 x 200 g/7 oz can pressed cods roe (I used tuna fish instead)
-90 g/2 oz vegetable fat
-1 egg

I think that unless you have 10+ cats, you should split all the amounts in half – I have 3 cats, made half of the amount written and there will easily be enough treats for quite a few days. These treats are yummy and cats love them, but they’re also very filling and your cat probably won’t be able to eat more than 2-3 treats at once (all depends on the size of treats of course).

So, you have the recipe, what do you do next? Well, firstly, preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius/350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line the baking tray with a parchment paper (baking sheet). While the oven is heating, make the treats: mix together flour, your fish of choice, vegetable fat and egg. You can add a little bit of water if the mixture is too stiff. And here comes in the creative part of this process: you can choose what shape treats you want to make. I simply took little balls, pressed them a bit and made little button like treats, but you can do something more creative! In the book, it suggests to roll out the dough and cut out the treats with a cookie cutter. Put the treats on the baking sheet, and once the treats are all made and the oven is heated, put them to bake until golden and crisp. I baked them for about 15-20 minutes.

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Once the treats are done, take them out of the oven and leave to cool down. Then give them to your cats and see if they like it! I am sure they will, because my Sphynxes generally don’t eat fish, but this time they made an exception!

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I store the treats in these little glass jars.

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If you have any questions regarding the recipe, please leave them down in the comments and I will get back to you! I hope you all have a wonderful day. 🙂

Follow PurringPyjamas on social media to keep up with the newest releases, discounts, never ending Sphynx cuteness and more!
Instagram: instagram.com/purringpyjamas
Facebook: facebook.com/purringpyjamas
Shop: purringpyjamas.etsy.com

asta

Custom Order: Mommy & Kitty Matching Sweaters to Spice Up the Autumn

/ Asta Lamminen / Leave a comment

Back in the autumn of 2015, I was contacted by a kind lady who had the sweetest request: she wanted matching sweaters for herself and her cat, Gwennie.

At first, I’ll admit I was a little cautious. I hadn’t made clothing for humans in a long time – and my shop has always been focused on feline fashion. I explained that to her honestly, but she still encouraged me to give it a try.

She wasn’t in a rush, and we agreed to reconnect once I was feeling better (I was recovering from a cold at the time) and had more time to plan.

Designing the Sweater Duo

Fast forward to spring of 2016 – we began brainstorming!

She browsed my sweater designs and chose one as inspiration:

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For the color, she loved the mustard yellow yarn available in my shop – a warm, cozy shade that’s perfect for autumn.

Once we finalized the design and color, she sent over her measurements, along with some preferences on sleeve length, fit, and overall shape.

From Sweater to Sweater-Dress

Originally, the idea was to create a sweater – but she later decided she’d love a sweater-dress instead. Something soft, comfy, and easy to wear with leggings. That meant adjusting the shape and structure to suit her vision – and that’s when my knitting needles really got to work!

It took a bit of trial and error, but eventually, I finished the piece and sent her photos of the final product.

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Waiting Game… and a Happy Ending

Even though she said she was happy with the photos, I couldn’t fully relax until she had the sweater in hand. I kept wondering:

  • What if it doesn’t fit perfectly?

  • What if the real-life version disappoints her?

Luckily, a few weeks later, the package arrived – and I received these reviews:

lou ann

Cue my huge sigh of relief! I was thrilled that she was happy – both with her sweater-dress and the matching look for her kitty.

Lessons Learned (and Loved!)

Honestly, I thought creating a human sweater-dress would be much more difficult than it turned out to be. Cat clothing and human clothing are totally different in structure and construction – but in the end, I learned so much from the process. And that’s the part I love most.

There’s a saying in my country:
“You won’t carry the weight of knowledge on your shoulders.”
Meaning – whatever you learn will never be a burden. And in this case, it brought me more confidence and a happy customer.

Wishing you all a beautiful day, and a cozy, creative week ahead!
Thanks for reading my little throwback to one of my favorite custom projects. 💛

Follow PurringPyjamas on social media to keep up with the newest releases, discounts, never-ending Sphynx cuteness, and more!
Instagram: instagram.com/purringpyjamas
Facebook: facebook.com/purringpyjamas
Shop: purringpyjamas.etsy.com

Purring wishes, Asta signature

Review: Zooplus Advent Calendar For Cats

/ Asta Lamminen / Leave a comment

Even though I don’t have an Advent calendar for myself, as soon as I saw this on Zooplus website while buying cat food, I knew I needed it in my life. You know how they say that many toys for kids are actually made for their parents to attract them? I’m telling you: that’s the case with me. Just my kids are my cats.

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Yes, I know I’m a bit late here, but I just received it yesterday! Finnish post offices were on strike for a week, so yeah… Everything got kind of stuck somewhere. But regardless of the fact that it’s already December, let’s see what this calendar has to offer!

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The calendar has 24 days in total (needed to clear that out, because apparently there exist calendars with fewer days). And can we just appreciate all this beautiful-crazy-cat-lady-like art on the cover? I mean, come on, even the snowman is actually a snowcat! It’s just so adorable.

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The back side of Advent Calendar.

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Beautiful little text.

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Types of snacks and ingredients.

Calendar has 4 different types of snacks: chicken, beef, duck and tuna. Everything is freezer dried and super healthy for your pet – I mean, what could be healthier than 100% meat treats with no additives? Each day you get different treats. For example, on December 1st we got a pack of 2 beef treats, while today (December 2nd) there were 4 small pieces of tuna treats. I wonder what tomorrow holds. 🙂

You might ask: OK, you like it, but what about your cats? Well, firstly, let me tell you, that Beliza doesn’t eat meat, so I knew immediately she won’t like this calendar. And yes, she doesn’t. Bacha eats meat sometimes, especially if it’s treats. Meanwhile Coco absolutely loves everything meat related. So yesterday she was the one to finish up both beef treats and then she thanked me by rubbing against me and purring as loud as she could. She is just so sweet ❤ Anyway, today there were tuna treats, so both Bacha and Coco enjoyed them. Overall, I think it’s a great thing to have – this calendar is fun and if your cat loves healthy meat treats, he/she will be beyond happy to get something like this. The price of the calendar won’t empty your pocket either – I paid for it around €5-€6.

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Sleepy Beliza.

If you’d like to get an Advent calendar like this one, simply go to Google and type in “Zooplus”. I advice to do it that way, because Zooplus has different websites for specific countries, so there would be no use if I gave you the Finnish version of it. But if you’d like to take a look at it and read more, here is link to the English website: Advent Calendar For Cats.

Let’s share the beauty of December with our purring friends too. 😉

P.S. Christmas giveaway is still up on Facebook! You can participate right over here: Christmas giveaway.

Follow PurringPyjamas on social media to keep up with the newest releases, discounts, never ending Sphynx cuteness and more!
Instagram: instagram.com/purringpyjamas
Facebook: facebook.com/purringpyjamas
Shop: purringpyjamas.etsy.com

asta