New Bunny Ornaments

I've been stitching away here in my studio & admit to being  head over heels for these new little rabbit ornaments I designed this year...


Aren't they so so sweet & adorable???

They will be making their debut at a Xmas Sale/Show I am doing this weekend.  I made 23 so far & besides 1 or 2 that I'll put aside for our own tree I am really hoping they are all adopted into new homes.

I off to the dentist again!  Have a great day lovelies.

XO M & The Buns, who are currently  basking in the sun.

Murals In Huntsville

Today it's super gloomy & rainy...yuck...So it seems the perfect day to share some colour, so I thought I'd show you all some photos from late summer that I forgot to post...

We go to a sweet little town called Huntsville every summer, it's about 2 hours from us.... 

The main street is so sweet & perfect to spend a couple hours on any hot sunny summer day...

The signage is old fashioned & gentle...(one of my pet peeves with today's society is our annoyingly loud & brash liking for super big, over done & repeat signage...& don't even get me started on fluorescent lettering!)....Huntsville seems to know how to do signage tastefully...like their pharmacy sign...love it!... 

I love just walking & exploring this place because besides being next to a lake, it has some of the best cottage-style stores, an all year xmas shop, one of the cutest little bookshops on the planet & fantastic little cafes, they also have these amazing murals scattered & hidden throughout the whole town...

...I did a post on Huntsville last summer...these are some new murals ones I found ...

...I wish I could paint like that...aren't they beautiful?  As far as I know they are all by the same artist & I bashfully admit I didnt' bother to collect that name...but there you go...some amazing murals full of movement, life & colour...now we just have to ignore the gloom & wetness outside the studio windows..

Have a great day everyone...see you Wednesday. 

XO M & 4 bunnies who are sick of the rain.

Ahhhhhhh......I am Breathing....

Ahhhhhhhhh.......the sky...that wonderful, most beautiful sky....I am breathing in deeply...

...and don't you think this cloud looks like a running rabbit???  I do & I was squealing with delight...

...I took these shots from our kitchen porch...as we cooked up our dinner & had the jazz playing this brilliance was going on just outside our door....ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Have a wonderful weekend...
I send you off with this most sweetly fantastic song from Tuung...we're sooo loving them & I've acutally turned off the jazz to listen to these guys lately, that's saying something:D...enjoy & see you next week.

XO M & The Grudge-Holding Bunnies (apparently I was gone from the warren too much this week & have some snuggling time to make up for!)

A New Project...Paper Dolls

I am working on a top secret project....

...Okay well maybe not so secret cause I really can't help but give you a sneak peek...

...I am designing my own paper dolls...they are going to be soooo fun.  I have 6 lil' gals designed & ready to be coloured in & the colourful brads I ordered just arrived.  I've always wanted to do paper dolls, they evoke such lovely cozy childhood memories.  I don't have ALL the details figured out quite yet such as what kind of paper to print them on etc, but I am pretty excited about them cause I think they'll be super cute and unique...

What do ya think?  Did any of you play with paper cut out dolls when you were young?  or have any of you made them yourselves???

Well, most likely as your reading this I am being tortured at the dentist, ugh.  Oh, I shouldn't say that I am being overly dramatic, (which I do oh so well:D)  I actually have an excellent & kind dentist, but who likes going ot the dentist right!  Don't suck on lemons people, it's apparently very super bad for your teeth...hindsight and all!

Have a fantastic Day,  See you tommorow
XO M & The Bunnies who smell like warm knitted mittens

P.S.  My November Newsletter has just gone out by email.  If you would like to receive my newsletters you can sign up here.  Or you can click here to go right to the online version. 

p.p.s.  If you've not entered your name for my November Giveaway yet, you still have plenty of time to do so. 

Hopping In With A Chickadee Hello...

With the craziness of preparing for some upcoming Xmas sales & getting a new Art Fire shop together & figuring out my newsletter template/design (which should be mailed out tomorrow hooray, ha ha)...with having to provide work for the Art On Main Gallery I am a member of  & getting a large body of mounted prints & some originals put together for a new place in town that has 2 lovely walls reserved just for me!...with a computer needing a complete re-load (thanks hon) & a bad few days of migraines and headaches...with Ella Luna's abscess needing much attention & the little bugger constantly getting out of the sweater we put on her to keep her from eating too much of the $50 Manuka Honey we're slathering on the wound... with two hour long dental appointments this week alone(I have horrible luck with my teeth!) & some other stuff...well I am feeling abit tired today, ha ha so  I am just hopping in quickly to share some some favourite new photos taken in our back yard...

...Chickadees are one of my favourite birds & luckily plentiful around these parts of our little northern world...

Before I go back to the bunnies & my felt & buttons & beads...oh my;D....

I have to share a link to one of my favourite new music groups, I can't play them enough in the studio this week, they are called "Bonobo" and this video is so so fantastic I find myself stopping to watch it Atleast once a day to just bask in it's beauty...ahhh...

...Thanks to all who have entered my giveaway so far, there have been so many wonderful comments, it just makes my heart squeeze with joy...I am so glad people seem to love and want my little itty bitty painting, yayyy.

Have a great day...

XO Mandy & some very destructive little bunnies! 

Novembers Teeny Tiny Original Giveaway...

I am excited to finally show you my November's Giveaway....

...it's a teeny tiny super sweet and sparkly original painting on it's very own teeny tiny easel...

This itty bitty cutie is acrylic paint with abit of coloured pencil & some sparkles on a miniature canvas measuring 3 x 3 inch's.  It has received a protective satin coat and one of my favourite mantras is written on the easel, "Live In The Light". 

I admit it's been delighting me because being so small just makes it kinda adorable but also because it sparkles and twinkles as you walk by it...

SO, here is how you can enter your name to win it, there are many options & you can do just one of these or all of them, it's entirely up to you:

-Leave a comment on this post = 1 entry

-Become a blog follower or let me know if you already are one = 1 entry

-Join me over at my Fan's of Bijou's Whimsy on Facebook or tell me if your already a member = 1 entry

-Follow me on Twitter or if you already do let me know = 1 entry

-Sign up to receive my newsletter or let me know you already receive it = 2 entries

-Mention this giveaway on your blog & let me know your doing so = 2 entries

-Link back to me with one of my Blog Buttons on your blog & again tell me if your doing so = 3 entries

Lots of ways to enter...

The Draw ends on November 29th 12pm & The Winner will be announced on November 30th 2010.

GOOD LUCK

XO M & The Sweet Toothed Bunnies

My Great Big Postcard Swap Sweetie...

I wanted to hop in today to show you the sweet little piece I just finished for The Great Big Postcard Swap hosted by Beth over at the Do What You Love blog...This is the 2nd year for this swap and there was quite a turn out with 85 people from 13 countries on 5 continents participating.

...most of you know that bunnies make up a very very big part of my home...physically and spiritually...having a home full of bunnies fills me with love and helps me grow and be more loving to the rest of the world...so a bunny full of nurturing love sprang forth when I conjured something up for the postcard swaps theme of 'home'.

...I made this stitched postcard with black, light blue, cream and red coloured felt, which I added some floral stamens to, than some red and white glass beads, some green and pink silk ribbon and a sweet singular pink button...all stitched by hand with black embroidery floss...

... I am hoping the person I send it too loves it & appreciates the time put into it and I am hoping they'll want to display it, so I also added abit of ribbon on the back so it could be easily hung.

So what do you think???  not to bad for my very first postcard swap...I admit that I'd kinda like to keep it, ha ha but tomorrow I am going to wrap it up sweetly and safely and mail it off to the recipient in Michigan USA...I am anxious to receive mine..I wonder which one I'll get.  I am so so glad I got it done because my head was just pounding the whole day but I knew I had to get it finished and I did, wohoo:D Now I am off to upload these photos to the flickr group, pop on by to see what everyone else has done if your interested.

Sweet dreams all and wishing some lucky bunny love to you all as well.

XO Mandy & The Bunnies from felt & stitching land.

Owlette Owan

Hi everyone, just hopping in today to show you a new creation.  I cut out some owl shapes from kiln dried pine quite a few weeks ago, I did about 10 of them & I had a ball designing each little character to be completely different from the next...and just last week I got around to painting the first little guy...

This series is called "Owlettes" and this little guys name is "Owan"...

I did this piece in acyclic and coloured pencil on gessoed pine.

 I am not sure yet if I'll bring the originals of this series to the gallery, to the City Streets Sale or put them up for adoption in my Etsy shop but until I decide I did just put a print version of him in my Etsy shop...

Thanks sooo much to everyone for the lovely birthday wishes, I had the best day and am feeling very very loved, lucky and completely spoiled in the studio today:D

See you all Saturday with Novembers giveaway. 

Have a wonderful day.  XO M & The Messy Buns.

33

Pssst....Today I am 33....

...I guess I should be saying 'Oh My God', or panicking about my lack of artistic success, or the wrinkles starting to show up or grey hair taking root, or the fact that at this age I probably should be having babies...but ya know what I am not saying 'oh my god', I am saying 'bring on this 33rd year because I am gonna rock it'.  I am looking to tomorrow with an open and hopeful heart knowing it could be the day my ball finally starts rolling & I am finally starting to take pride and enjoy the teeny tiny accomplishments along this creative path.  As for the wrinkles, they are symbols of the immense love in my life and they are proof of great strength & a tough spirit that endures much pain.  The gray hair, ah who cares I might look cool with grey hair right! and the baby bit, at 33 I am finally ready to give up all the pressure of doing something I know I don't want to do, because in turning 33 I can honestly say I am confident and I can bask in the fact that I am not a normal gal...I can and will walk my own unique walk...and I am just grateful to have reached this age and I look forward to what the next 33 will bring to me...

So Happy Birthday to me...Happy Biirrttthhhddaaayyy TTTOOO MMEEEE....Happy Birthday dear sweet precious unique seeelllffff....HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME;D 

Have a wonderful day everyone & if you wanna give me a present of any kind, all you gotta do give some animals extra love and kindness today, make a donation to your local animal shelter or to a place such as IFAW & think about switching even just one of your household products to a cruelty-free alternative...XO M & The Bunnies.

Fall Rush Around

As we wrap up the last of the fall rush around and drag outdoor furniture & pots into storage, as we cover things in tarps and chop & pile firewood, as we try to finish off last minute wood projects and stock up the studio wood piles...we make sure to have the bunnies outside with us because getting them out for long sun lite romping sessions has also been part of our seasonal prep for almost 15 years now...

They sit and watch us go to and fro...wondering what all the busy-ness is about...

As we work away with our 'gotta get done' list, they have a list of 'to-do's' all of their own...it includes the very important absorption of vitamin D & some serious nappage....
.

...it includes Ella Luna keeping a close eye on us to make sure we do as we're suppose to...she's a bossy little thing & considers herself the foreman, ha ha...

...they do allow time for a cuddle now and then, but never for too long for there holes to dig, fallen leaves and pine needles to eat...& yes did we mention the sun basking, that is always top priority...

Even our little friends come out and join in the work...or, er I mean napping/sun basking....too cute, ha ha.

This was some of our weekend...we might be covered in snow for the next one, we'll see!  I love winter though, I really do...it's a time to hibernate of sorts, to rest up, to dive into the studio vortex even more...cozy fires, more movies, there is always more time to read...I love winter. 

How's about you all?

Funky Fish Now As Prints

I really wanted to show you some new work today BUT it's just been too darn dark & gloomy to properly photograph anything...but I do have something great and exciting to show you still..which is that the first 5 of my "Funky Fish" are now available as prints in my Etsy Shop...



Check them out...

See you all next week where I'll show some new work, some forgotten photos & Novembers special giveaway...have a wonderfully cozy and lovely weekend.

XO M & The Snoozing Bunnies 

Warm Whispers...

The sunset set everything on fire last night, the warmth of the colour spread out like warm whispers...whispers telling me to take a moment to pull in the beauty, to be still in the beauty of life...I was pulled to the beach with my camera in tow...with my favourite person beside me, we sat in the frigid November evening air to breathe in & slow down... 

I was all tired and scared from a doctors visit that morning...I am glad I listened to those warm whispers because being near water, near the sounds of waves, near my Jonathan next to that brilliantly setting sun stilled my jumbled nervous soul...ahhhh....Life is never perfect, but with some cultivating and habit, it's very easy to always find the beauty...I am learning to be in this life fully and I am so very very grateful for that.

Psst...This beach is about a 5 minute walk from our house...lucky, yes I know, ha ha...

Sun Basking Bunnies & Happy Heart Humming...

So some days a gals just gotta push all the 'to-do' aside to bring her furry brood outside to soak up some of the last warm rays before the snow flies...

...sometimes a gals just gotta take it easy and stretch out on the star gazing bench her sweetie pie man made for her and let her hand dangle down to the blissfully soft furry warmth of her Ella Luna & Roo...

....sometimes a girls just gotta take a few moments to do some yoga stretches to ward off a headache and sometimes if she's extra lucky her precious bunny will join in with some of her own plank poses...ha ha...

...sometimes a sensitive little artist just can't help but feel like everything is right in the world when she sees her little furries all snuggled up together in the sunlight...

...and than that same little artist feels blissed out when a couple hours later, her favourite little furry heart smartly decides on her own that that sun has gone down for the day and that it's time to go back inside the cozy warren...

But not without turning back around to make sure your coming in with her too...

...Ahhh....this is me, this is my whimsy filled life, these are my beautiful buns and today these photos of a precious day are making my heart hum happily...

Hope your having a good one as well.

XO M & The Sun Basking Bunnies XO