The Tulip Collector

I wanted to quickly hop in today to show you a new picture.

"The Tulip Collector"

It's mostly watercolour with a bit of coloured pencil added just for some definition.

(Prints will be available at the end of this week once I get a better scan of it).



I finished it up whiles sitting on the floor beside Ella Luna...so it has extra good bunny mojo.

Jonathan and Ella both reminded me that I have to keep working

and making pictures and sharing my love of colour, etc, etc...

It's easy to hide in a little cocoon when things are sad, scary & unsure,

sometimes you have to do just that..

But other times, it's good to keep reaching out and showing your heart.

Hope you like the new picture.

I just finished up another super cute felt brooch as well, I'll show you that soon as well.

XO Mandy & Ella

Ella Bella

Our Beautiful Ella Luna is still with us,

but the last few days have been hard.

She took a turn for the worse last Thursday.

At this point we are unsure of what the problem is, it may be congestive heart failure, cancer,
kidney failure, diabetes or just old age and her precious little body slowing down.

She is looking abit better the last few hours

but we are just holding dear every single moment she's still with us,

because late last night it really did look like it was time for us to help her go.

This is all feeling impossibly hard....

I've had 6 pass on already, 5 died in my arms, 1 peacefully in his sleep...it doesn't get any easier.

The buns are my world, my babies...

and with Ella Luna, it's feeling a million times harder.

She's my baby girl...



But the time hasn't come yet...

she's still fighting...

she still wants to be here.

She lost a pound but she's eating more today,

and though she is weak, her eyes are big, beautiful & bright.

Jonathan is taking some time off of work to be with us.

One of us is always with her.

Her and Roo-Boo are snuggling it up like mad,

and she's smothering me with a million kisses.

The thought of life with out her is taking my breathe away.

Think of us and Ella...

light some candles for us...

wish us strength...

and forgive any lack of posts...

I am still getting work done, on the floor, by her side as she rests.

Ella has always been my muse and I know she likes to see her mama working away,

But aside from this quick post, my time right now belongs to my precious precious heart.

A Rabbit in Ducky Company

Ella Luna, Jonathan and I were out in the front yard enjoying a beautiful evening...

Ella was washing herself by the big tree in the middle of the yard,

She leans against the tree and it holds her up, so it's one of her favourite spots right now...



When suddenly Ella Luna said
'Heh I think we have some company....'

(Can you see who???  Look to the right of the photo)

The 'court ducks' decided to grace us with a lovely long visit.

They've been coming back to our court year after year, for about 10 years now.

They waddle around the court but usually seem to prefer the other side of the street to our side.

Ella Luna watched them...
she's never ever had the company of ducks before.

...and they watched Ella Luna...
perhaps they've never seen a black rabbit before!

Everyone got along swimmingly.

The ducks stayed with us for a couple of hours and they must have decided that they liked

the little black bunny because when we woke up this morning and looked outside

there they were, fast asleep by the tree & they've been there all day...

maybe they are waiting for Ella to go back out.

They are welcome visitors....Ella Luna says they seem like very lovely souls,

and I am extremely content to watch them waddle around our front yard

as I sit inside working on a watercolour.

Once again life delights...ahhhhh.

XO Mandy, Ella and the Court Ducks

Squirrel Stories & Antics

We always have a beautiful grey squirrel around here...
They make me so happy & are simple reminders of life's beauty.

I had a speacil little bond with a gourgeus grey girl named Chapman for years.
She would sit on my lap when I read.  She would take fruit out of my breakfast cereal in the mornings.
She would sit very silently and nearby whenever I had one of the buns in my arms on the deck,
like she wanted to be part of our little family.
I remember a certain time when our Hazel suddenly passed away...
I was outside in the yard, crying...stretched out on my belly near Hazel's favourite yard spot
and Chapman slowly walked over to me, and stretched out on her belly in the grass opposite from me,
she wasn't even a foot away and I said to her
"Chapman I am so sad, I miss Hazzy"...
and that squirrel looked at me, blinked & quietly put her head down to stare at me so gently.
We laid stretched out on the grass facing one another for some time.
It's never happened with any other squirrel, I'll never forget it, It was such a speacil experience.

Anyhow,
One day not long ago we saw the newest edition outside on the kitchen porch

and we moved in for closer inspection when we said to one another

'what the heck is she doing'...

Well apparently she was taking all of the stuffing from Jaks porch blanket

and stuffing her mouth until it was super full...

than coming back again and again until the blanket was half empty!

...

We keep a puffy blanket on the deck you see because Jaks little legs are so short, he kind of slides instead of hops down the deck stairs, so we spread out a big soft blanket over the stairs whenever we're

going down to play in the yard, so he can go up and down without getting little bunny boo-boo's!...

I guess we'll have to buy a new one this year,

for the blanket is not quite so puffy anymore, ha ha...

We let her take as much as she wanted,

Since it was no doubt being brought to her secret nest in preparations for her new little babies.

The antics and beauty of the grey squirrels never ceases to delight and enchant.
I am grateful for them.

XO Mandy and the lovely grey squirrels of our yard.

Goodies For Cheap

I am not a mall person whatsoever, 

I love thrift stores and the uniqueness that comes in the items from them,

I totally believe that 'someone else's trash is another's treasure'.

It can be the smallest little find that gets me so excited,

Like last month I found a paper doll book from Emily Martin & The Black Apple for $5

(I squealed for the whole store to hear when I came across that one, ha ha,

because I've been designing some paperdolls and I loved seeing how she presented her beautiful line).

Or recently, my heart did a giddy little flutter,

when I found these threads, including the case, for something like $2.

I love making felt goodies and I knew I could use them straight away.

The thread colours put me on cloud nine, ha ha...

and I had never seen these super handy little floss divider's before, I am hooked on them now!

And just look at this...

My heart did a happy little dance when I found this ceramic cherry pie for $3.

I already scored a giant ceramic strawberry last year for my upstairs studio, it holds my muslin...

When I saw this pie, I knew it'd be the perfect place to store other fabric goodies on the go.

(bunny hair in the upstairs studio is a constant battle after all, ha ha).

...and check out the super delicate table cloth, handmade and only $2...ahhhhh.



Have you had any awesome thrifty finds lately??

Do share.

Have a fabulous summer day...

XO Mandy

Mama's Day

I have a wonderful mom....I LOVE her SO.

Happy Mother's Day Mom.

Happy Mother's day to all of my friends out there who are mama's too...

 

And of course Happy Mother's Day to all of the animal mommy's as well

 

XXOO

I hope your all super spoiled today

(My man snuck out early this morning to bring home a massive
flower bouquet & chocolate croissants)

XO Mandy & Jonathan & The Bunnies

On My Desks

Sometimes I get in the habit of working on several pieces all at once...

usually you know that it what is happening when you've not seen new work from me in awhile.

I promised last year to not just show finished pieces

but to also offer sneak peeks into works in progress...

I don't quite know when the awkwardness of doing so has melted away, but it has and it's nice.

So here's some of what I am working on lately...

In my make-shift studio to be near Ella Luna, I am working on this lovely coloured pencil lady.

And in my upstairs studio that I share with Jin and Jaks,

I am working on this rabbit with a basket watercolour.

(the driftwood/wire piece you see hanging from my brush holder was just given to me
from my beautiful new friend Aline, who I spent a wonderful day with yesterday...
I am so happy to have it in my workspace).

I am also playing with this small 5 x7 watercolour, just for fun

& to rest my wrist in between coloured pencils time.

Whether your making something in your home, in your kitchens, in your garages or in your studios,

Wherever in the world you may be...

The buns and I really hope your heart is full, blissful & inspired.

XO Mandy and the bunnies
who have the doors thrown wide open to enjoy the beautiful wind & birdsong today.

Time Outside with Jin and Jaks!

Jaks and Jin got outside the other weekend and had a complete ball...

They made us laugh so hard with their crazy high speed frolicking and in Jaks case, spastic pop-corning.

We think we got enough video for another great 'Bunny Diverson'...

After several hours they came inside the house completely spent and napped the rest of the day, ha ha.

Time spent outside with the buns is always wonderful time...

It's stressful abit though,

there's alot out there that can hurt them so we stay very vigilant...

and now they must all get their flea meds of course...

But keeping them inside just isn't fair, not when they've been enjoying their large yards for years now...

So here's hoping it'll be a wonderful and safe summer for all,

even though the routine of summer days will change drastically for us and Ella Bella...

but she's been spending time with us in the front yard now, since she can't run away...

she watches us as we work on the gardens, etc and she seems happy with that thus far.

Hope your week is going wonderfully.

XO Mandy and Jaks and Jinny

A New Bunny Diversion - Beanie At The Cottage

I am hopping in today with a new 'Bunny Diversion' video for you.

This is the rabbit who started our addiction to the long-earred.

Our Beanie...

We recently uncovered this old footage of him enjoying his outdoor 'cottage'

and my honey made it into a new Bunny Diversion video for me.

This little guy had quite the life, ha ha.

He was very well travelled, he went with us everywhere...

he probably had more miles under his belt than many people, ha ha.

He was super hyper and crazy and happy and never sick a day in his life.

He passed away peacefully in his sleep at the age of 8.

We miss him everyday and are so glad he graced our life.

I hope you enjoy watching our little spaz as much as we do.

XO Mandy and our angel up above, Beanster

P.S. One of the super great Polarity/Bijou's Whimsy magnetic locket necklace sets
is now available in my own shop.