Busy in the Treehouse!

Thank you all for your support in this beautiful new Chris Riddell print.

I have orders in from all around the world, (Italy! Ireland! India! Iceland!) the pre-sale went very well.

Am sitting surrounded by tubes and printing out labels from morning to night, my usual elves are out on tour and i will get some help in once the prints arrive, they are being born this week in Hollywood. The 4th of July holiday is going to add a little sparkling firecracker delay, but I'll be ready to ship upon arrival.

I am very hopeful the prints will be here in time to take with to ComicCon where I will be selling other Neverwear items at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund party-- including my comic book magnets!

Come and see me and those lovely people of Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab-- I will have lots of Neil-based giveaways as well. (a new line of postcards, you say?)

The CBLDF Welcome Party is the night of July 9th (next Thursday) 8 pm here: The Westgate Hotel 1055 Second Ave, San Diego, California 92101

come by, renew your CBLDF membership, say hi & have a little bite/drink with us.

for more info, look here.

At any rate, I just wanted to put this post up, so I can attempt to not fry out from shipping stress-

Please be aware that Neverwear is not Amazon and I am working around the clock to prep the tubes for shipping, putting love into each and every order with the help of the space battle cats and miss Mittens Selina Kyle- thank you for your kind patience and support.

@CBLDF and The Gaiman Foundation also very grateful for the wild response!

any questions, fire at will: neverwear@gaiman.net gratefully yours, Kitty (@neverwear on twitter)

in the name of HOPE...

I almost forgot how to blog...been out on the road too long.

Today is a glorious day in the name of hope and love, #SCOTUS did a good good thing. Amazing, really. I am such a huge rambling fan of love in all its forms, I can't imagine being denied the luxury of shouting it to the world.

Plus it is miss Holly Gaiman's birthday and my own sweet Husband's as well!

A few weeks back, while I was in Europe on tour with the Black Keys, Neilhimself sent me a drawing that that clever linesman Chris Riddell came up with. I sat down to take it in fully and felt a little diamond tear form.

"A world in which there are monsters, and ghosts, and things that want to steal your heart is a world in which there are angels, and dreams, and a world in which there is hope." -Neil Gaiman

Chris generously agreed to come up with a version painted in jewel tones, finishing the hope in pure gold. I couldn't be happier with the finished product.

Have you seen his work on the UK versions of Neil's GRAVEYARD BOOK & FORTUNATELY, THE MILK? He's a magician with a keen eye for the curvy humor of life. Plus he was just this June appointed the UK Children's Laureate..!

We are so honored, grateful and lucky to be collaborating with Chris.

I have sent the files to my printer here in Hollywood, who promises to do a brilliant job.

The prints will be 11" x 17" on a buttery creamy velvet stock and I am offering it at $25 for this June weekend. My printer says we should have them in about 8-10 business days, so please be aware this is a pre-sale. I will get them out as quickly as possible.

These prints will be sold unsigned. A limited edition run of 1500.

you can order it by CLICKING HERE.

I will put the price up to $38.00 on Monday morning.

They will come to you in a super-sturdy tube made of recycled cardboard, which you can spray-paint silver and use as a robot arm.

for more magic from Mr. Riddell, please visit: http://www.chrisriddell.co.uk or click HERE.

A portion of the proceeds will benefit The Gaiman Foundation and The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Thank you for your support, loves, as always.

RIP Sir Terry, you smart/tart sweetheart....

I was traveling in Florida doing research for an alligator script, when I saw the news that Mr. Prachett had passed on.

My first thoughts were for my boss, Neil- I knew he would have his spirit punctured by this.

My inbox filled instantly with requests from world wide news agents, to get Neil on this or that program, and we politely declined them all. He was not in any way ready to go public with his sorrow.

I send love and support to the family of this amazing man who was inspired so by THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS, a personal favorite of mine as well.

My plan is to go back and re-read GOOD OMENS in celebration of his life.

illustration by John Cuneo.

St. Patrick was a fine soul...a non-typical PRINT SALE.

In honor of my Irish forebears, and the wearin' o' the green, we bring you a little sale. (St. Patrick heard voices in his head, as we all do from time to time) 

for the next three days (until Wed 12:00 noon PST) two of our prints will be on a deep discount. Both will benefit Neil's GAIMAN FOUNDATION which deeply supports the artistic community, as well as helps preserve freedom of speech with organizations such as the mighty @CBLDF. 

one: the P. Craig Russell magic of HEARTBREAK HOTEL, a beauty. 

Neil and Amanda held a show in Tampa, Florida on Valentine's Day this year, 2015.

They asked me to help them with the show print.

We approached the mighty king of the drawn line, P. Craig Russell, to illustrate these mad modern lovers. It's a beautiful piece of heartache history, only available at the Tampa show and here.

They are sold unsigned at $40... for the next few days they will be $20 each.

(i did put up a $5 off code over on the Neverwear page-& on the blog-- do a little digging, if you want to save another fiver)

they measure a glorious 10" x 25" and are printed on a luscious recycled matte stock, my photo does it no justice, I actually inhaled when i first saw.

Our version is the stamped-with-the-Neverwear seal, a run of 200.

 

order them HERE.

also the beautiful IN RELIG ORAN print will be reduced for the next few days, the unsigned version will be $15.00

From the brilliant imagination of Michael Zulli, a full-color rendering of Neil's poem IN RELIG ORAN.

Mr. Zulli is the remarkable artist behind The Wake, Sandman's final chapter.

 This is a hand-numbered limited edition run of 750 prints. Print size 11" x 17". will have the official Neil Gaiman embossed stamp on the lower lefthand side.

Before he read the at-the-time unpublished poem in Chicago at C2E2, Neil told us a little story.

Inspired by a book of myths and legends of Scotland by Otta F. Swire, Neil wrote the poem about a doomed saint, IN RELIG ORAN.

After reading some of the stories in the Swire book, he took his dog, Cabal for a walk. 

"Sometimes, when you walk, " he said, "your mind goes into rhythms.....I found myself walking to along to the beat of the line: When St. Columba landed at the island of Iona..." 

 It is a thought-provoking piece and one of Neil's most beautiful word paintings.

order them HERE.

as always thank you for your support.

Am here for any questions: neverwear@gaiman.net

Kitty now off the road from Black Keys, new Neil Gaiman print.

These are words to live by...

Neil Gaiman's spectacular New Year's wish illustrated by water-color master David Mack!

A 11" x 17" image printed right here in Hollywood, USA.

As all of the Neverwear limited edition runs, we will emboss with the official stamp and hand-number them.

A limited edition of 2000.

These were sold unsigned and for the first 3 days, we sold them them at $25.00. **WE ADDED TUESDAY because we are nice.

On Dec 2, 2014, midnight EST, they priced back up to $38.00, which is what we will continue to do with each print run in future. We like to reward the early-orderers with that 25%+ discount.

A portion of all monies collected will go to THE GAIMAN FOUNDATION, Neil & Holly's support of the art community--

The prints will be arriving to the Treehouse in LA on Tuesday or Wednesday, and will ship out immediately. Here is Drew getting the tubes labelled and prepped while I am out east.

They will ship by Dec 11-12, plenty of time for holiday arrival. if you are really concerned about time, please email me: neverwear@gaiman.net We will work out a plan.

I just finished my last show with the Black Keys, and while I will miss the touring terribly, it's time to tend the home gardens. Neil is beyond busy and I need to be off that tour bus to help him.

So! to thank you for all the support and to answer the people who were sad that they missed the pre-sale, here is a five-dollar-off code that you can enter upon check out: THANKY

It's a one-time use per person code, and can be used on anything on the site. Expires Jan. 1, 2015

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE NEVERWEAR SITE.

I'll leave you with Neil's wonderful New Year words:

May your coming year

be filled with magic

and dreams

and good madness.

I hope you read

some fine books

and kiss someone who

thinks you are wonderful.

and don't forget

to make some art-

write or draw

or build or sing

or live

as only you can.

And I hope,

somewhere,

in the next year,

you surprise yourself.

- Neil Gaiman

a Q&A w/The Missing Letters

Been awhile since I have posted here, have been helping Boss move house on the east coast.

Recently, I was at SXSW with the almighty Soundgarden, doing a few shows. Incredible shows, I should say. They did the entire Superunknown album front to back on a rooftop overlooking Austin!

Two of my (most excellent) runners on those shows were members of the up & coming Minneapolis-based band: The Missing Letters.

here they are on their way to SXSW.

I wanted to find out more about what they were up, so i did my patented Kitty interview:

11 QUESTIONS WITH THE MISSING LETTERS 1. What is your favorite letter? Which letter would we be most screwed if it went missing?

JAKE: X, the Xylophone community would be up in arms.

SHANNON: K….It has smething to do with Japanese Hippos... and unless you are my sister it might be hard to comprehend… But trust me it is so very important!

COLE: T. the most common non-vowel in Wheel of Fortune. Would really change up the metagame if it left us.

2. How/when did you form your band?

JAKE: October of 2012. Shannon threw a post up on a local rock Facebook group looking for musicians and I hit him up. After a few months we started adding more people to the band.

SHANNON: It's not all that interesting of a story...but I can tell you that Mark Zuckerberg played a role in the whole sordid tale.

COLE: I was late to the party so to speak.

3. Living in Minneapolis, so rich in music history, do you feel the pull to either coast? what would make you leave the Midwest?

JAKE: I love the authenticity of the Seattle scene, so that's something I would love to explore further someday. On the other end, New York ALWAYS has something cool kicking, and it's fun to watch what jumps from their melting pot of a music scene. I don't think there's anything specific that would cause me to ditch the Midwest though. When I feel it's time to move along, I'll move along. The Midwest sound will always be my focus.

SHANNON: More toward the West Coast, primarily because of our influences.

COLE: Do you feel the pull to the Minneapolis? Cuz it's there.

(interviewer's note: Oh yes, Prince & Low pull me there)

4. If you could have written one song that exists today in the world, what would it be and why?

JAKE: Your Time is Gonna Come - Led Zepp. Such a simple tune, but so much power. It's awesome.

SHANNON: Positively 4th Street by Bob Dylan, I lived through a similar situation that is described in those lyrics.

COLE: What is Love? Baby, Don't Hurt me.

5. What sound do you wish to achieve?

JAKE: My goal when writing and playing has always been about honesty in the music. I want each song to sound like I mean what I'm playing and that my hearts in it, and I want it to sound like four people sitting in a room playing instruments.

For me, some of the most authentic music was the alternative scene in the nineties. All the way from Meat Puppets and Stone Temple Pilots to Third Eye Blind and Eve 6 and so on, there was just such a cool vibe in music rom that time. I tend to try and package that vibe up with a kick of Minneapolis soul and let it ride.

I usually don't write for a specific style generally, but that's the feel I strive for with every song.

SHANNON: Pure rock and roll. Finding the essence that made Led Zeppelin, the Foo Fighters and MC 5 different from the others

COLE: The kind that goes BRRRRNNNNGHH. If that makes any sense.

6. Your favorite thing about touring is...?

JAKE: The openness of the ride, and the feeling of freedom that comes with knowing you're out grinding with the band to do what you love.

SHANNON: Being in a smelly van with your brothers and embracing everything from everyone

COLE: Van smell.

7. What's the weirdest thing that ever happened to you with a fan?

JAKE: No Answer

SHANNON: No weirdness… I really enjoy meeting people. Especially people that like our music. People thought I was weird my whole life…I suppose that's perspective.

All sorts of people come to our shows, and I think that's one of the cool things about what we do… I like to think of a show with The Missing Letters as a coming together place… Where it doesnt matter what your scene is. We (meaning us and our fans) make up our own scene. So if someone wants to come to one of our shows dressed in a green guerilla outfit, thats cool. Not weird. Ya know?

COLE: I had a really cute girl come up to me once. I got nervous and walked away.

8. Your band is strongly involved in important social issues esp. missing kids, how would you like your fan base to help?

JAKE: In any case or situation, just look for your own way to help. With missing children or anything else really, there's always awareness to be raised, and a number to call. Just do what you can personally to be a solution.

SHANNON: No one tends to think about touchy subjects because they're uncomfortable. We dont think that each of us is a possible victim until it happens to us. That goes for crime, natural disaster or anything really.

The reality is we all need to be more aware about what is happening in our communities, our country, and our world. The more in touch we are, the closer we are to a solution. Its not hard. Just be aware. Open your eyes and your mind. When I was young I had a classmate of mine named Alexis Patterson go missing. As far as I know, she was never found. It really affected me, as she was there, and my friend one day playing with us at recess, and then the next day... gone. There was lots of TV crews at the school the first few days when everything first happened. Then everyone went away, the reporters were gone, and it was like nothing ever happened… but Alexis never came back.

COLE: The success of a campaign like Amber alert requires a broad awareness from the public. All I can ask of anybody is to take a few minutes and look over some pictures from their local area It's very much a hivemind effort.

9. You have one superhero power, name it.

JAKE: Burritos out of thin air.

SHANNON: To be like the human torch, because who wouldn't want to be able to snap their fingers and make a flame?!?

COLE: The power... to move you.

(*interviewer note: did you just quote Tenacious D to me??!)

10. How do you see yourselves in five years? Where would you like to be?

JAKE: Part of the fun of music is that I really have no idea where it could take me in any period of time, but I dig that. The unknown is my greatest motivation.

SHANNON: I want to be successful and happy doing the thing I love the most, and that's playing rock and roll.

COLE: Shooting off flares and sexing up the ladies; you know? Like men do.

11. The question we really wished you had asked us is:_____

JAKE: Whats for dinner?

SHANNON: What was your first interaction with rock n roll?

COLE: Nah, You did fine.

watch The Missing Letters in action here:

I have also posted thirty (count 'em 30!)free things, in my continued Swallowing Diamonds project-- go get 'em, tigers! Click HERE.

items #42 and 43: "concrete shoes, cyanide, TNT!" FREE TICKETS!

playing catch up on hearts day.

this "swallowing diamonds" project has been so much fun and it's putting me in touch with humans I may never have had contact with.

this package, bursting with sticker-love, came to me from a previous winner on the blog- the lovely three-names Anthony.

even his choice of postage stamps: spot on!

a geniune moment that made me stop and hold my little red velvet heart in my hand... or as my British production manager used to say:

I got a tear in my glass eye.

So, I was remiss in posting yesterday, I was still in German guitar god heaven.

I got to spend a day on the Michael Schenker tour, he and his band of merry pirates played at House of Blues on Sunset. Epic evening. UFO has the ability to put me right back into my eighth grade room. Lights out in London!

Today's diamonds will be a pair of FREE tickets to see Back in Black, an AC/DC cover act, on Friday, Feb 28th.

AC/DC, I am such a Bon Scott girl. I do find myself humming "dirty deeds done dirt cheap.." far too often. (neckties...contracts...high voltage)

While in Australia, last year about this time, we went to the big AC/DC owned Cherry Bar, meow!

please only take these if you can use them. to win, tell me your favorite AC/DC song!

Reminder: ONLY TWO DAYS LEFT IN MY GIANT TOUR SWAG AUCTION. guitar picks, backstage passes, tshirts...

meanwhile, tonight, Husband is taking me to the very romantic oceanfront spot MOONSHADOWS in Malibu. (yes, the place where Mel Gibson had his meltdown...) May your hearts all be chocolate!

item #41: big LOT of tour swag/picks/passes

i have been a roadie for over a decade. this is item #41 in my "swallowing diamonds" clean-out-treehouse project.

a collection of tour swag from several of my tours.

8 never-stuck-on-human backstage/working passes from:

8 guitar picks from Zombie, Cheap Trick, Megadeth, Godsmack. I especially LOVE the Universal monster one.

xox John 5 and Piggy D!

plus a bonus mystery yellow pick-- WORLD TOUR on front, *secret on back.

3 tshirts:

one from Zombie/Megadeth (this is surely a bootleg--as a merchandiser i hate bootleggers, not condoning in any way) 100% cotton XXL size.

one from TOOL 2007 from the great UPSTAGING trucking company this sadly doesn't fit my sad self. 100 % cotton in size small.

one from EAGLES tour 2005 a "girly" style tee, in size XL.

one concert ticket from one of my favorite tours EVER: Zombie/Slayer.

i love souvenirs. please give these good homes...

CLICK HERE FOR EBAY LINK.

If any artist I work with protests me selling this, i will remove. lord knows, i love & respect these people.

these are just things I have collected over the years, that I would like to sell to give money to my favorite tiger refuge, Valley of the Kings.

It's winter and they really need funds to keep the big cats warm and fed.

auction only offered in US of A-- sorry, too much $$ to ship overseas.