East Coast Ducks...

Ahhh....Sunshine streaming throughout the whole house...Bunnies sunning themselves out on the deck and window bench...jazz tinkling away to the tune of a perfect day...all equals happiness for me today, ha ha.... ....anyhow, here is a brand new coloured pencil of mine. Another in realism done from one of my photographs. This photo was taken years back on our amazing East Coast trip...I am sure more coloured pencils from this trip are soon to come as I am really enjoying working from my photos lately....I've been working on them upstairs as I keep an eye on our Ella Bella. The original will be available shortly at the Art On Main Gallery but if your interested in purchasing it through me/my Etsy shop, let me know and I'll create a reserved posting just for you. It would be sold without the frame (to make for easier and cheaper shipping) BUT as you can see, it easily and happily slides well into any of your favourite 8x10" frames...

Prints and cards will be available shortly but the original is quite lovely I must confess:D It's living in our living room until it goes to a new home.

Till Friday...I leave you with this link to one of my new favorite songs by Priscilla Ahn, her voice is so lovely, I keep playing this song over and over whiles at work in my studio....

Update On Our Ella-Luna....

A few lovely people have been asking after our lovely Ella Bella:D...thank you all. It warms my heart when people ask after the bunnies. As most of you know, our Ella Luna had surgery to remove some infected 'bumps' a few weeks ago. Well since than she has had her stitches out and boy oh boy that girl of ours is an industrious one...first she pulled half the stitches out (despite very diligent watching I must add!) leaving the wound open in parts and making for some very tiring watching, cleaning and stressing!...the stitches she didn't yank out were pulled out to some degree and frayed to hell by the time they were suppose be removed (apparently she had another time schedule for their removal in mind)! The vet said he had never seen an animal pull their stitches like that, let alone natter at the nylon to the point where they were completely frayed. The doctor had a hard time to get the stitches out because they were so frayed and pulled, but he did a great and gentle job and Ella didn't even flinch once, not even when he had to cut some scabbing off and mentioning that, ha ha I'll just pass over the part where Jonathan and I almost passed out! ha ha...

...Now she's home without stitches and she's happy and doing beautifully...super active like she were a youngling, chasing and bossing Roo's butt around like there were no tomorrow, jumping up on the couches which she stopped doing years ago! so all this beautiful and fresh burst of energy leads us to believe that the bumps were indeed bothering her more than we suspected. We still have to clean the wound everyday with peroxide for another month and than than the doc wants to see her again at the beginning of April, but so far she's back to her wonderful spirited self...our precious heart...our little glossy black super trooper. OH and yes:D...I forgot, the biopsy results came back just a few day after the surgery and it was benign, yay:D After that news we were able to breathe normally again! So from Jon, Ella-Luna, Roo and moi...Thank you for all your energies, good thoughts, hugs and interest in our furry babe.

New Prints To Celebrate 2 Years Blogging...

I can't believe it's been 2 years today that I've been blogging...looking back on where I started, I smile and feel proud because I think this blog of mine has grown into it's own kind of special entity and I believe it's a quality blog worth spending some time in. I no longer worry what I'll post about for it seems to have over time naturally found it's own interest, voice and style...I am nowadays proud to call myself a blogger and lead people on over to my little online realm...hooray, 2 years, almost 400 posts strong and a growing number of people who visit...to celebrate I am putting 3 of my most favourite illustrations into my Etsy shop... These make beautiful prints and is a little inspirational series I am proud of. The prints are from original coloured pencils...and indeed the prints are part of the current sale (reg. price will be $24.00 right now they are $19.99). Hop on over to my shop if your interested.

Thank you to those of you who support and encourage me with your kind comments and emails...I have hopes of seeing this blog of mine grow triple fold over this new year...but whatever may happen in that area...Cheers to another good year of blogging.

Shop Update and SALE...

My Shop was abit sparse so I just filled it up with abunch of beautiful prints...and for the first time ever, all are on SALE for a limited time...

I am also trying something new and picked out 3 'Featured Items' and these 3 prints will be on sale for only $12.00 each...they are of a bunny theme of course...So hop on over to my store and browse and shop....Hope there's something there yous like.

(The Beautiful Birds series will be added to the shop on the week of the 15th.)

Another Beautiful Bird To Wish My Dad Happy B-Day.....

This Beautiful Bird is another new one...and it's the perfect day to introduce you all to him because to me it'd look like he'd be; unique, solid yet soft, pretty serious but also fun loving, strong yet sweet, just the kinda bird you'd admire and than wanna give a great big hug too...all these things, just like my dad...who today celebrates his birthday:D... So today Dad, this birds for you:D....HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD...Love you...XO Mandy & Jonathan & The Bunnies OX

My New Business Cards...

I completely forgot to show you all my brand new business cards...I got them just at the end of last year and I am still excited about them because up till now I've been printing my cards at home and cutting every single one out by hand, so over the years well lets just say I've hand cut one to many business card! My friend got me a great deal on printing and I am soooo happy with them. Jonathan and I whipped up the design together in about 3 hours, Jon worked his magic on the computer and voila 1000 new glossy cards. I just love them, what do you guys think:D?

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!