Happy Holidays

Time for a nice long holiday...

 

 

...See you all mid-January XXOO

A Sweet Pink Tree, Lovelies from Lovely bloggers & Two Thankful Buns

Elsie and Henrie and I LOVE love love our new sweet-as-can-be studio tree

  

 

It tickles me pink every time I walk into the room.

 

 

And we are sending out huge delightful thanks & cheer

to our two lovely blogging friends who sent us such beautiful goodies for the tree....

 

 

The lovely and talented Natascha Rieper send us this gorgeous beauty.

Look at her 2 beautiful buns on the card..awww...I LOVE it.

 

 

 and the sweet and embracing Deb Dunn sent us this insanely cute & fun set of felt lovelies

and another handmade beautiful card.  So so so sweet, I love them.

 

I asked Henrie & Elsie what they wanted to send the lovely ladies in return

 

 

they choose this, my handmade rabbit felt goodies...

 

 

I have to thank my mom too for she gave me this bunny for Easter last year which I was able to add a string of sparkled snowflakes too and covert into the most perfect tree topper...

 

 

We look forward to adding new bunniful goodies to it in the coming seasons...

 

 

 Thanks again for taking part in our ornament swap Debb & Natascha,

bigs hugs being sent your way from me and especially from Elsie & Henrie Biggens

XXOO



Beady Eyed Muskrats

My Gorgeous Guy

Today, My Gorgeous Guy turns 39!
Happy Birthday Babe.  Love Love Love you.
I am sending this song out to you today my love XXXOOO

 



 (However!  Birthday celebrations are being put off for a few days this year for

my poor babe is not feeling so hot
as he had dental surgery yesterday to get his naughty wisdom teeth out...poor guy).

Henna & Headache

Oh boy did I ever have a monster migraine this past weekend

which left me feeling up to getting very little done unfortunately.

I only ventured out for 2 specific purposes, to get a blast of cold Northern air on my pounding dizzy head and to get a dose of Starbucks yummy goodness in the form of a caramel crème brule soy latte!

 

 

But I did manage to break out my henna supplies...

after attacking Jonathan's arm, I had a bit of fun on my own hand and wrist...

I mean if I had to sit still with a headache, I matter as well sit still waiting for henna to dry, ha ha!

What can I say, I am slightly addicted!

2 Years for Tee-Tee

Today marks the day, 2 years ago, that we went to adopt our Teela from the shelter.

 



 One of the best things we've done yet.  Love you little Miss Sunshine...so so much.

Happy Weekend

I am sitting here sharing a smoothie with Frenwyck & wishing a super great weekend your way...

 

 

My Shop has been invigorated with prints that have been resting in the shadows for abit, check it out.

Graeme Base...an inspiration

I've been thinking about early on inspirations.

Trying to remember my earliest memories of who and what inspired me to want to be an artist.

 

The art and incredible fantastical world of artist Graeme Base comes to mind right away.
(I am reading this book on him, his process and his artwork right now and it's great)

Though memory fails me and I can't remember the age I was when I discovered him...

I know it was one of the many many times my mom would bring me to the public library....

She took me there ALOT thankfully, ha ha, partly because she knew I was wild about books
and also because she taught herself English by reading English books.

Graeme's books used to be displayed behind the counter...you had to ask for them...and I always did.

 He brought animals to life in his stories...

He gave them larger than life personalities in wild and crazy scenerios

and I remember feeling a kinship...here was someone with a wild imagination for animals, like me.
Here was someone who must understand also that animals are more than just what meets the eye.

 

I would feel envious of the ladies who worked there in the library,

it had to be one of the best jobs ever! to get to spend their days surrounded by

amazing pictures and books and transporting stories, even if a tad on the quiet side!

Even when I was probably too old to be visiting the kids department I would still wander in.

I could not stay away from the books...and truthfully I still can't!

I have a rather large collection of kids books that slowly grows bigger each year.

(I did end up working in two bookstores for some time later in life and I was right!

whiles the paychecks sucked, it was indeed awesome to be near all the books, ha ha!)

 

I remember from first glance I was completely smitten with Base's work.

And I love that still to this day, his work pushes me on to be better, to do better...

His work also reminds me that there is magic in the detailing...and you know me, I love my detail!

 And whiles we are in completely different spheres...I can only dream of being as good as he is...

His work still somehow indirectly reminds me to keep making pictures no matter what...

That it doesn't matter if anyone cares about what your doing because at the end of the day...

there is some kind of magic in being able to make pictures.

Don't ya think?

A Favourite Place

Hi ya.  I hope you had a great weekend?  Today I wanted to show you a spot dear to my heart.
This is one of my most favorite places to spend my time...

It's my coloured pencil work area in my upstairs studio.
I love it on sunny days.  I love it on rainy days.
I love it during the daylight hours & as much at night.
I love that Jaks sleeps by my feet the whole time I am here.
I love seeing people walk by, the snow falling, plants in the front garden moving in the breezes...
Ahhhh...it's a happy space for sure.
 

 

I love being surrounded by the colours of my beloved pencils.
I love that this room is jam packed with plants.
I adore the 'heating board' that my honey made for me for my last birthday,
it melts the pencils just enough to make them feel like butter
and it's heavenly on my always achy wrist.
I especially like that it's right off the kitchen so I can keep working whiles my hon makes dinner.
Or I can peek into the living room & see the tv or a roaring fire.  Ahhhh.

I am lucky.  I have many desks and work spaces set up for my art work! something like 10 maybe!
That doesn't count the comfy couch or all the spots I set up for myself outside in the summers!
Well, what is that old saying...
"Too Much Of A Good Thing Is Wonderful" ha ha!

Lama

A lama amongst stars and clouds and hills and grass.

A lama with some pretty nifty fashion sense too!

 

 

Today and this weekend I am working on some of my little quirky creature stories...

Why???  For now it's a secret....but I'll spill the beans sooner than later, I promise!

P.S.  My monthly e-news goes out today.  If you'd like to receive them just send me an email, thanks.

Snuggling It Up With Snores

My days have been feeling very rabbit-centric.

The weather has been so rotten, wet, damp and yucky that it's extra lovely to cozy up to the bunnies,
especially with a roaring fire sparking and crackling away in the fireplace.
I've learnt to allow myself extra bunny-time when I feel the need for it...
their precious life spans are so short after-all.
So indeed, coziness has been abundant lately...we've been venturing out little as possible and just
staying in and basking in the warmth of a cozy home full of cozy rabbits.

 



 We've had Gregory Porter albums on constantly...more inklings are in the making...

beautiful healthful food is being made...movies are being caught up on...it's been good...

but I tell ya one of my most favorite things in this whole wide world is something SO so simple...

It's the sound of a rabbit snoring...and yes, they do snore...

Teela snores louder than a person & I LOVE it so so much, ha ha!

 

What's one of your favorite sounds ever?

Favourite Salad

 I eat a lot of greens...
salads & green smoothies espeacially, my stomach just feels really crappy when I don't.
This is my favorite mix right now...

Red leaf lettuce with avocado, apple, grated carrot, pumpkin seeds and hemp seeds.

Pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds and avocado are great sources of protein for us veg heads.
I usually dislike store bought dressings so I make my own...
my usual quick & easy go to recipe is a blended mixture of light olive oil, agave, vinegar & pepper.

What is your favorite salad mix?

Happy Weekend

All 8 buns and I are hopping in with a dose of cute...

 

 

And are hoping that your having a lovely cozy weekend.

XO

Going Way Back & Catching Up

A year long self-inflicted project of mine has included loads of time at the computer

organizing, selecting, sizing & editing photographs.

I had fallen behind in printing things & getting them into our family albums.

I've been plugging away at it from present time all the way back to 2007!

I am on the final year and I am almost done...

 

 

This weekend I'll do the final printing batch so I'll be all caught up once again.

Thousands of photos printed, chronologically in order, lovingly labeled...

It's been quite the project and feels SO good to be at the end!

 

Next???

finishing a travel journal I started in 2004 for our East Coast adventures! 

Fishy Inkling

I had an inkling to do something fishy...

 

 

Head pain has been bad...these little inklings have been all I've been up for this past week.

A Secret Spot

Let me show you something secret like...

In my house, on a pretty little blue shelf which holds some of my most favorite stuff...

 

...Sits a very special and secret book...
 

But Shhhh....it's not a book..it's a box

 

...a secret box that holds one of my favorite mediums...my ink pens, notecards & inklings in progress.

 

 

I adore this box & what it contains...it's kinda like magic for me.

 

 

So easy to grab & use on the couch, floor, bed, in the yard, the truck, at the beach, whilst visiting...

 

Okay, so not so secret now, but still just as lovely, ha ha!



A Low Hanging Sun

I love this time of year...
(though I know most people working normal 9-5 jobs probably hate it!)
But, I love it when the sun hangs low in the sky, clocks have rolled back & it's suddenly dark at 5:00.

 

 

There's this delicious warmth to it all I find.

It's 3:30ish right now as I write this post...

Like most days at this time, I am enjoying a hot drink at my coloured pencil desk,

waiting for my hon to get home, thinking about what to have for dinner.

 

5pm darkness...It makes the evenings feel so deliciously long, embracing & cozy, don't you think?

Puuuurrrrr

Alongside jazz, sunshine (finally!) and ink pens

this photo, taken this morning really just beautifully epitomizes my day today...

I love how sometimes, a single photo really can say 1000 words....

 

 

Today it's all about sweetness & cuteness & warm fuzzy love...like many many days blessedly.

Oh my bun-babies they just make my heart purr.

Puuuuuurrrrrrrrrr.



Emmett Inspired

Well my morning started off with the tricky business of getting a plump grey squirrel

unstuck from the chimney & than out of the house!

Than I finished off this new ink drawing...

this one was inspired by our Min Min (aka Emmett)

 

 

I'll let you know when it's available in the shop.

Today I am working on another fish inkling in black & white and also on a goat in coloured pencil...

I have to work hard this week to keep up with an important deadline...more on that later!

Hope your having a good one.

Holy Geezus I am THIRTY SEVEN!

Holy Geezus!

I am 37 years old today!

It's kind of shocking to me...how fast time goes by!

I don't feel 37 though...

so I'll concentrate on that bit of positivity...

 

 

Yes, that's it, I'll ignore the whole 1 year older thing

and instead concentrate on the fact that

I am 37 and living my life of bliss...

love, bunnies, art, etc...hello!

So YES...HAPPY 37th to me, ha ha!

Colour and Pain: A Realization

I've been sitting her most days of the last 2 weeks

with a pounding head, an aching wrist and a throbbing knee.

I am feeling a bit like how Flynn looks in this photo, ha ha!

(that being said, isn't this such a cool photo of him, I think I'll have to do a pastel of this one soon!)

 

I've been thinking about how many people out there are SO lucky that they don't get migraines.

I've been thinking how I am lucky because I could be much worse off...

I could have more troubles...bigger troubles...

even though these migraines feel pretty big to deal with a lot of the time!!!

 

I've also just begun to realize the correlation between my art & the pain I deal with...

suddenly it's seeming very clear.

...

I love colour, period.

I've been told many times to calm down my palette!

but I know I could never do that because

my spirit just thrives and flourishes with colour.

colour is just part of my heart and soul...part of what makes me happy.

Colour is simply a part of what makes me me.

 

 

BUT, I am also realizing that my use of super bright colour in my work

is also a way for me, body & soul, to cope with all this pain that I have.

(and also is a way to leap over & look ahead from all of the bad happening in the world).

 

I woke up this AM with a very sore head, a screaming wrist and such a sore knee that I wanted to cry!

but after those first few moments of waking and taking inventory of how my body was feeling

I had the strongest urge & need to get to my desk...

so I could sit and bask and relax within all my colours.

 

A knee that dislocates at the drop of a hat and which throbs every single day...

the really shitty and horrible chronic & acute migraines and headaches...

the repetitive stress disorder and insistent pain of my working wrist...

the shortened muscle in my shoulder that leads to a sensation of being stabbed over & over again...

the wrong curvature of my upper spine that leads to discomfort...

the giddy up in my hip...

the arthritis in my neck...

It all leads me to colour like a horse to water.

 

Colour...bright and pure and joyful...unbridled...uplifting...vibrant...transporting!

I just NEED it.

I rely on it, body & soul, because of the drudgery of all this pain...

and well, I just LOVE that despite the negative,

I have this amazing escape that no one can take away.

Colour saves me, it pulls me out of the negativity!

Even if sometimes the pain keeps me away from it for long periods...

when I get back to it the comfort is not one iota less.

Colour...

it's always there patiently waiting for me,

ready to engulf & lift me...waiting to soothe and embrace

and I love love love that.

 

XO

New Prints

Hi everyone...

these sweet beauties are now available as prints in my shop...FINALLY.
YAY!

 (they really do look GREAT)
 

 

 

$20 for awesome 8 x 10" prints

or you can take advantage of the new multiple print deals that I am offering.

Do hop on over and check things out...
your sure to find some joy, whimsy, a whole lot of colour & hopefully some smiles & inspiration too.
www.BijousWhimsy.Etsy.com



To Each Our Own BLISS

Today was quiet...

one of those days where you've got tons to do and your busy the whole day

but somehow still manage to not get anything done!

 

I hope your day was more productive than mine...

but hey, I did get bunnies snuggled...what's more important than that at the end of the day, ha ha!

To Each Our Own Bliss...I always say.

I did get my Flickr Photostream updated too if your interested.



This Week

I've been finding the news so difficult to take these last couple weeks,
especially with the attack & murder of Cpl. Nathan Cirrilo at our parliament hill in Ottawa

& all the scary Ebola news...

so I've been diving into rabbit time & snuggles even more so lately.

Just laying on the floors hanging out with my babies is one of the best ways to settle my whole being.

 

So from that perspective...

from the floor with blankets & pillows. surrounded by bunnies in every room to hug & love,

with an Alice Hoffman constantly tucked under arm...and jazz tinkling & candles flickering....

The week was good and looked a little something like this....

 

 

 

It was good until Wednesday A.M. that is!
That's when Jaks stopped eating completely and went into g.i.stasis

(which fellow rabbit parents know is very serious & can quickly kill buns).

So medical bromide injections, Gas-X tablets, belly rubs, critical care feedings, forced movement,

very little sleep, etc were also our part of our week for 48 hours. 

 

Jaks is eating today though, so it's looking like he's on the mend, thank goodness.
He's the last of the original 'tough-nut' clan & the bridge to the new brigade.

 

Well it's time to turn off all the lights and hunker down with my guy & some take out,

It's time for our ritual Halloween 'Walking Dead' marathon.

Nightie night all & Happy weekend.

The Bird Who Carried Around A Star

A new inkling just finished.  Next is a couple of beady-eyed muskrats, a Dall sheep, a fish & more...

 

 

I am working on getting the lot of them into the shop as soon as possible...bear with me!

A Tree For Elsie & Henrie?

This will be Elsie & Henrie Biggens very first Christmas with us.

  

 

And whilst the upstairs is always all decked out in holiday cheer,

this is the first year I need to decorate my downstairs studio space...

Since it's their first Christmas here, I want Elsie and Henrie to have a beautiful twinkling tree

all of their very own (hopefully a pink one to match my room, their eyes and their ears, ha ha).

 

 

I would put the tree up there on the little green desk to the left of their couch (see above)

 

So let me ask you... 

Are you up for a ornament swap???????

 



 A swap for these two awesome buns who were given away & spent almost 2 years in a shelter?

 

 

I think it would be SO lovely.

I would create and make a special ornament, something handmade & whimsical of course

that I would send to you and in turn you would send me something

that you have made to hang on their tree.

 

 

What do you think???

If anyone is interested do let me know and I'll begin work on my ornament right away...

and once it's all up and decorated I'll do a post for the tree and we'll list everyone who took part.

 

(I have to say rabbit-themed ornaments would be SO awesome, they are so hard to find in the stores!)

 

So yes, do let me know...

could be so much lovely fun, for me, for you and two big bunnies

who will be able to spend their first Christmas here gazing up and into a dazzling heartfelt tree.