Moleskine blogging: flat cats

There are plenty of Moleskine notebook users who are artistic types. I'm not one of those people, but I don't let it stop me.

Here's a fine example: today, I installed a flat cat onto the back pocket of one of my notebooks. What is a flat cat, you ask? It is a paper cat, with grommets (or eyelets, as they say in scrapbooking circles) for joints. Right. Why would I do this? It is a long story. All you need to know is, that it was done, and it is an example of weird things you can do with your Moleskine.

I don't generally recommend that you run out and install your own flat cat, thus, I am sidestepping specific instructions here in this post. Why do I not recommend it? Because anything involving grommets requires a special set of grommet tools, which I happen to have, being an art-supply junkie (if only you could buy talent), but that I am betting you don't have lying around the house. My only goal here is to make the general point that you can install something weird in your Moleskine; for example, a paper cat with movable joints.

Here are all the pictures. Let them serve as an inspiration for all Moleskine bloggers of questionable talent who seek to install movable art objects into their notebooks.

Postscript

OK, it doesn't seem right to just saunter off with my flat cat without providing some guidance on how to replicate one. So here are the instructions:

Supplies:

* Two sheets of card stock paper
* Glue, scissors
* Stuff to decorate your cat (stamps, pens, paint, etc.)
* Eyelet-setting tools and eyelets (borrow them from scrapbooking relative). I hear there are newfangled, cooler eyelet setters these days you might want to try to track down.
* Oh yeah: your Moleskine. Make sure it is not smaller than your cat!

Instructions:

1) Draw a pattern for a flat cat (or flat - whatever) onto sturdy card stock paper. Each moveable part should be a separate peice. In my example, I created one leg, one arm, and one torso/head (you can flip the arm and leg to trace for the second of a pair).

2) Cut out your pattern.

3) Using the pattern, trace the body, two legs, and two arms onto another peice of cardstock. Decorate the traced parts and cut out.

4) Attach the limbs to the body using eyelets. This tutorial from Impress will show you how.

Important notes: Tap the hammer very lightly when you set the eyelet. One tap will usually suffice if you are hammering on a hard surface. You need to leave some room for the limb to rotate under the eyelet. Also, make sure you are hammering the arms and legs on in the correctly-facing direction. I screwed up and hammered my cat's arms facing inward. Lame!

5) Voila: flat cat. But you're not done. Cut out a strip of paper of a decent width and length to make a loop to glue to the middle of your cat's back. Once the loop is glued to your cat, glue the other side to the outside of the back pocket of your Moleskine. This will give your cat a little room to "pop" off the page, so his limbs can move around.

6) Enjoy the glory that is flat cat every time you use your Moleskine.

P.S.: Flat cats got a mention on Moleskinerie.com. Awesome.