Another Beautiful Bird..

Hi everyone, I am popping in quickly today to show you another new bird in my "Beautiful Bird" series...I think this guys pretty cute and fun.

It's been kinda crazy around here with all the human and bunny ailments so I didn't get to update my Etsy shop with new prints as soon as I would have liked but a shop update is coming within the next few days, fingers crossed!

Have a great weekend everyone...I think we'll be indulging in more televised Olympics, we've really been enjoying it and it's the first year we really got into it...though I admittedly don't always necessarily cheer for the Canadians (but mostly!), it's made for some cozy hours of being home together, cheering with good snacks and with bunny feet puttering around us....in other words: happiness:D Happiness to you all....XO Mandy.

New Picture

I finished this cutie pie in coloured pencil last week and I really enjoyed stepping away from 'my style' for a few hours and working on something more realistic from one of my old photographs. This was a little chipmunk that frequented our yard for a couple years and he was blind in one eye, he was so sweet...but I guess all chipmunks are! The original is already sold but a print will be available shortly in my shop and in card format at Art On Main in the next couple of weeks. ..as you can see it was created in sunlight and bliss one sunny bunny filled Saturday afternoon...

...here's a shot not quite at the half way point....

That's about all I have to share for today....Have a great day everyone.

Ella Luna Is Doing Great....

I just wanted to give an update on our Ella Bella and share abit of whats been going on. Ella went in for her surgery Thursday at about 9:30am and was home by 3:30 the same day (that was a long few hours to wait though let me tell you! whew!), the surgery went well and the doctor is hoping it's not malignant cancer but a savacious cyst, but we are not anxious in anyway to get the biopsy back! But anyhow thankfully she started eating right away when she got home (which can be a problem with rabbits who have gone through surgery, sometimes they just don't want to eat afterwards). She has a 5 inch cut stretching from her right side down to her belly and a 1 inch cut on her left shoulder...she is suppose to go back to the vets in about 10 days to get the stitches out but a few hours after being home she managed to pull quite of few of them out herself...to our horror and despite us constantly watching her! I had a massive migraine to deal with that day and I just couldn't stay awake so thankfully Jonathan was a trooper and stayed up through the first night to watch her. The cuts are healing up nicely despite the pulled stitches and she doesn't seem to be in pain at all though she does not at all like getting her antibiotics twice daily!.... Jon and I are joking that we feel like gophers....now that the cuts are healing up well, we don't have to watch her 24 hours type of thing but we still find ourselves popping up from whatever we're doing, even mid sleep! every 30 minutes to check on her.....our Ella Luna...our Ella Bella:D....our little trooper...Oh My Goodness, it felt soooo good to get her from the doctors and bring her back home again, phew!

It has indeed been a difficult month....it started with that nasty head/chest cold I got which took almost 2 weeks to go away. THAN, Ella Luna got g.i. stasis...which was scary but thankfully we caught it right away and she got better after 2 or 3 days. Jon and I have composed a special blog post together about our experience with g.i.stasus and what we find works best etc...but it's really a serious ailment that plagues rabbits for no obvious reason and it can kill a bunny quite quickly. A fellow blogger recently lost one of her sweet hearts to g.i. stasis and that's why I'll share our info with you all asap. THAN I got pretty severe anemia, which I had never had before and lets just say the first 2 days it hit were horrible and scary and no fun at all...it took me about 2 weeks to get well again and it's not something I ever want to have again...THAN this thing with Ella's bumps....so it's felt like a rough start to 2010 in a way and we're tired but we're happy everyone and everything is looking good again (knock on wood!)....

Thanks everyone for sending well wishes and good energy, that meant alot and I passed along every message and hug to Ella:D

A New Beautiful Bird

I am not taking much time to be on my computer, etc lately so I sure am glad I decided to pre-post the last few blog posts for theres been alot going on here in the cozy warren of the Saile-Petersons...Our Ella Luna goes in for surgery tomorrow and I don't think I'll be able to breathe properly, or really function quite right until she's back home safe and sound and eating and on the mend...But I don't want to leave you high and dry for the week with no new imagery...so here's a new Beautiful Bird.

Send our precious Ella Luna some extra good strong vibes tomorrow and the next couple of days please...I'll be incommunicado until next week most likely...please be back than and I'll update you on everything that's been going on and of course I do have some new work to show you.

My mind and heart are being pulled elsewhere...so to that certain little black furry I now go...

A New Necklace...

We've been having some rough weeks here in our little rabbit warren...but more on that another day for today I am trying to be positive and as cheery as possible....So, onto another topic....Most of you following me on this blog know I am pretty bonkers over rabbit related things. Now I am not a gal who spends alot on clothes, haircuts, make up or shoes etc...but I do indulge myself with certain things like cute socks, cute dishes, yummy delectables (I have a weakness for spicy chocolate), books and naturally of course, rabbity jewelery:D...so today I just had to show you the latest addition to my collection...this beautiful Russian hand-painted pendant from Etsy seller Lavender Rabbit. I had to take a shot before I unwrapped everything...it was defiantly a lovely package to receive...

This is the necklace, I love it...it has a lovely old world charm about it and came with matching earrings...

...AND Lavender Rabbit (a fellow rabbit lover) completely surprised and delighted me by sending me this great pair of earrings, they were totally unexpected and I love them, thanks Lavender Rabbit...I am so glad we like each others shops:D

I am proud to support handmade, fellow artists and great ecommerce sites like Etsy...speaking of which, I plan a big shop update soon, I am going to try doing batch updates instead of singular...but theres still lots of good stuff in there right now so check it out.

Have a great day, thanks again Lavender Rabbit:D p.s. She has a blog here, check it out.

p.p.s. Today I just can't get enough of this awesome Gomez song.....check it out, maybe you'll end up blasting it over and over again too:D

Happy Valentines Day....

Happy Valentines Day

to my amazing Jonathan, whom I've been graced with for 16 Valentines now...

(Mandy & Jonathan 8 years ago)

Today I dedicate This Song to you...

And This One too...

LOVE YOU

XOXOXOXOX

Your Bella Bijou...

A New 'Beautiful Bird'...

I have a new "Beautiful Bird" to show you all today. It's the 11th in the series and so far I think I have 20 drawn up and ready to be coloured in. I am really happy with how they're turning out and I really hope it's a series that sells well for me, we'll see. How is this one working for ya all:D?

I think I am going to try a bunny series like this...perhaps try to do all the different bunny breeds, that might be neat.

Again, prints of this lovely are coming soon and I'll let you know when and where as soon as I get everything together!

p.s. I wanted to mention this great blog called Disapproving Rabbits, my fellow rabbit lovers will enjoy it. I seem to be visiting every morning before my coffee, for it usually makes me burst out laughing and it's just full of really adorable rabbits that will make your heart happy...a good way to start the day:D

We Were Graced...

I've been so anxious to share these photos with you...We were graced with the beautiful presence of this remarkable creature not long ago...he ended up about a metre and a half away from me and was breathtaking. I had never been that close to a deer before and I was so entranced I think I forgot to breathe for a couple minutes. Luckily I had my trusty camera with me and he didn't seem to mind me snapping away at least 50 or 60 photos....I picked just a few of my favourite shots to show you...when I open my photography shop I think these will defiantly be some of the first ones listed...

...Oh just so amazingly beautiful...I've no ideal how people can hunt these serenely innocent animals...BUT...my soul was made lighter and brighter for seeing and being near this creature, thats for sure.

Beautiful Bird 10...

As promised, this week I am getting back to showing you some new work...here is one of my newest creations in my "Beautiful Bird" series...I am still having so much fun with them. What do you think of this one?

It'll be available as a print in my Etsy Shop very very soon and as a mounted print at the Art On Main gallery/store very soon as well...mounted prints will hopefully follow into the Etsy shop as well but I only have so much wood cut and won't be able to get into the garage till spring so I don't think I have enough to supply mounted versions in both places.

Join me on Wednesday if you've time, I've been so anxious to share some beautiful photos with you and I've deemed this Wednesday to be that day.

Spring?...And Not Feeling Well, Again!

The snow seems to be dripping and melting, on sunny days at least, is spring really on it's way already? My body is already yearning for warm hazy days of bunnies romping around the yard, munching on grass and me working on some coloured pencils in the gazebos...ahhhh.... Ella Luna and the other bunnies sure do hope winter is at its end. I smile when I look at these photos of Ella out in the snow cause you can almost hear her saying "Ummm what did you guys do with the grass?"... Our Ella has always been a high energy bunny...quite a handful and sometimes abit hard to keep busy...but we wouldn't have her any other way. It's been very cold the past 2 weeks and none of the buns have gotten out in the snow for too long, hence the boredom commences and with young rabbits, a bored rabbit is usually a destructive rabbit but all our babies are older and seem fairly content to spend the day napping away in the sun...and I've been quite sick this past week myself so I too am happy just to sit and colour in the sun! anyhoo...just wanted to hop in and wish you all a good weekend with much bunny love.

Jana Brogan "The Forest Speaks"

As mentioned a couple days ago my pal, the lovely Jana Brogan is having a solo exhibition of recent works at our arts collective Art On Main.

..."Jana Brogan has always felt a special connection to the life and energy of forests. She is known for her beautiful silver and copper jewelry inspired by trees and organic shapes. However, while preparing for this exhibition, she began to ponder the question, “When the forest speaks… what does the forest say?” The answer took her in a new and exciting direction, and she began an exploration of non-traditional materials which were, in her words, “kinder to the earth… in an attempt to create without destroying. In the spirit of environmental protection, preservation, and sustainability, Jana’s makes use of organic, recycled material such as sawdust, wood ash, and coffee grinds, and combines them with found forest detritus such as bark and branches. The results are quiet and haunting works that truly capture the essence and magic of the forest".

I had fun photographing the pieces in Jana's show...here's a sampling...

Jana's opening is tonight and will be great fun...come on out to celebrate Jana's exhibition and her exciting divergence into sculptural work and join us for some hot cocoa and other wholesome and healthful nibblies and treats.

Nubbins In The Window....

As most of you already know I am part of an artists collective which runs a gallery/store called Art On Main...each month our member Rachael designs and sets up the windows and I love taking photos of them and documenting them...here is February's small window...

...and lookie 3 of my Nubbins are in the window, again:D ha ha...I admittedly just LOVE seeing my work in the street front windows, it makes me proud and excited....

On the top is "Lovely Lalita" than lower down below is "Avril May Aviva" and the one holding the bunny is "Lillie Fionn Lapradie".

...and the larger window is a group showing....my coloured pencil "Conjure One" is included again(the colourful birds on the wall in the pine frame:D)...

I love the little arts collective I am a part of and I am so glad I decided to give it a try....I joined in June so I guess we're rounding up on my first year of joining...I do hope I can stay on another year...Espeacially when we get to spend our shifts in the gallery/store with great company like Coco, one of our members doggie:D....

Well, that's all for today....time for a cup of something warm and sweet and some bunnies snuggles before getting back to my coloured pencils....Hugs everyone.

p.s. This week is looking like it'll be posts on AOM stuff. If your interested to see an exhibit my friend Jana is having, join me here this Friday. We had fun hanging the show together last week and it's a kind-to-the-earth solo show with some interesting and playful forest fellows. Next week we'll get back to bunnies and artwork:D!