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Thursday, December 21, 2017

Happy Holidays

Well this is the last post of 2017, holy smokes, another year come and gone!

I can't wait to just hang out with my sweet sweet man, with the 7 buns with food, Christmas movies
twinkle lights and vegan holiday nog (with a healthy dose of peppermint schnapps of course).
I can't wait to clean my studios.  Do some work without the pressure of everyone seeing etc...
I look forward to some skiing, some bunny snow fort building & closet cleaning, ha ha.

I can't thank you all enough for joining me here and/or all of the other places
online that you connect with the buns and I, time is short & precious so we so appreciate it
whenever we get to be part of your lives even if it's just for a moment or two now and than.
I am so full of gratitude for all of your messages, likes, letters, hearts, purchases & commissions.

I can't wait to see what 2018 brings.
(I truthfully hope it's way gentler to us than 2017 was).


I would like to list all of the things I dream and hope to achieve with my art business
in the New Year but I am learning that life as a chronic migraine headache sufferer
knocks me down even more than I've ever realized before and in that realization
my job in the New Year will continue to be one of learning to take better care of my physical
& mental self and to learn to be more satisfied and content in the quality of my achievements
and in the ferocity of my tenacity, instead of in the quantity of successes under my belt.

So I hope you'll join me again in the New Year, I am sure without a doubt that whatever
the buns & I get up to in and out of the studios, that it'll be whimsical, colourful
and my biggest hope as always, inspiring.

Thank you again so so much for always taking time to join me here.
See you again soon XOXO

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Holiday Shopping

I just wanted to let you know here on the blog that whiles the buns & I
are going to be taking a social media and studio break for the holidays,
my Etsy shop remains open for you all holiday season...I hope you'll take a peek
as there's much vivid, colorful & happy artwork to inspire you & your walls.


You can place your orders as usual etc there will be no disruptions in that
however we won't be shipping anything out until January 3rd or a couple days after that.
We need a break now and than too after all ha ha and I think this year we deserve one more
than ever before as we had to be extra tenacious in body and spirit throughout 2017.  Cheers XO

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Oldie Thyme

I've been looking back on old holiday images I've done...


I think though they are old that they are still pretty darn sweet. I'll offer Xmas cards next season!

Friday, December 15, 2017

The Monkey King

I am going to for go Food Friday this week to show you my newest image.
It's my very first image done 100% in beautiful Faber-Castell Polychromos.

It's called "The Monkey King"


I am very pleased with it even if I moved super slowly on it.
Prints and the original will be available but probably only after the holidays,
I promise to let you know when.

I think I am going to take this weekend off from blogging, so i'll be seeing you Monday. XO.

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Happy 1 Year Anniversary Babies

A year ago around this time we went to the Toronto shelter and adopted two more little bunnies.
It was pretty quickly after Teela died...we needed to do so more than words can tell after that loss.

My honey picked these two lovely ladies out and after much conversation with shelter people
it was clear that they were the right two babies to bring home.

Sweet precious baby Misa (named Aspen at the shelter)
was only two years old & a bundle of shaking nerves.
I felt so bad for her but was also instantly super nervous to adopt her at the same time
because I really really really just wanted a super cuddly bun after loosing my Teela.
But that's not how we work this, we adopt and choose based on gut, whose been there the longest,
whose a bit more 'unlikely to be adopted' than the rest etc...

Misa was there at the Toronto Humane Society from another shelter,
goodness knows what she had gone through before all of the shelter stays, poor baby.
I picked her up and she jumped out of my arms, crashing into the wall, the cage and the floor
OMG I was so embarrassed and shocked, I had never ever dropped a bunny before!
It was clear from that point that she was an all 4 feet
on the ground kind of rabbit if we ever did see one!


365+ days later have all been a blessing with her.  She is the first thing I think of when I wake up.
She is my new best friend.
She helps me with missing my Teela and she's beautifully a whole lot like Teela.
She still hates being picked up with a passion so we only do so to trim her nails or to administer meds
and sometimes that feels like an all day affair of stress and flying scratching fur!

But she also loves to be snuggled on the floor.
She LOVES company & has bonded strongly to me.
She loves licking her stuffed toys, she loves food, she loves to flip over and
she has the most fun when she's allowed the run of Henries rooms too, oh boy does she fly than.
She is very sensitive to noise, especially nose sniffing, book pages turning and jazz thimbles!
and she has this weird thing with feet, she's very fussy about where she wants them, ha ha

She's been pretty much the very best thing for me about this whole past year
and I can't imagine that I was ever nervous or trepidatious to bring her home...
for me this little grey and white bug is a blessing.


On the same day that we adopted Misa Adora, we also adopted Leisel (her shelter name was Emily).
On top of her situation there at the shelter not being a normal one,
She was also a 'problem rabbit' biting everyone around.
She was sent to a foster home for awhile to give her a shelter break because she had been there so long, but that did the trick only for a short spell apparently & she started biting her foster family too.
But we have ALOT of experience with rabbits who bite and we felt ready to take her on & be her new family and boy oh boy it's good that we have that experience of naughty monkeys because
she is pretty much the worst behaved bun we've ever had and boy oh boy she bites super hard!!!

When we went to get her at the shelter, Jonathan left me to meet Misa for her felt pulled to Leisel.
He walked into the adoption room,
opened up her pen and scooped her up and he felt her melt into him
as the volunteers nearby stood and watched, ha ha.  Those two bonded instantly.
When I walked up to them standing there together kinda clutching each other,
my honey had tears in his eyes
and I knew his missing Frenwyck would get just a tiny smidgen better with the help of her.


When she first came Misa was soooo like Teela and Leisel was soooo like our Frenwyck
that it kinda took our breathe away and it was also so strange because Teela was bonded to me
and Frenwyck was bonded to Jonathan but these two new ones so like their predecessors were the opposite!  I was the one sleeping on the floor with Leisel and Jonathan was with Misa etc.
Than all of the sudden, a couple weeks in, on the same day for unknown reasons they both switched
and I became Misa's favorite and Leisel started biting me and chose Jonathan as her person!

Now over a whole year with her, she is still naughty but we understand her a lot better.
Apparently before her long shelter stay she wasn't in a very nurturing or stable home.
Her humans would not only constantly leave her with strangers but with people who didn't know
how to care for bunnies on top of everything.  So you can see clearly that she has separation anxiety.
She will lunge at you and grab your pants when you leave the room and when your gone for
a while she needs to be held and calmed down for a bit afterwards...poor girl.
You can tell, you can just feel it in her body language and in her face etc that she is terrified still
of being left behind.  She was also very clearly teased with food, that much is apparent
and she must have been in a household with a lot of tension because even when we are watching tv
and get excited about something and raise our voices, Leisel will start harrumphing and stomping.


We were hoping that one or even both of the girls would bond but no bunny has, yet!
We were really hoping that one of them would bond with Yuuji who has been lonely without Teela
but that hasn't happened and we aren't pushing anything at the moment.
So we have 7 little bunnies, all from the Toronto shelter except for Jaks, who are cage-free
and doted on and happy and playful and healthy (knock on wood) and whiles none are friends,
some of them do lay together at the gates (whiles others hate and fight each other at the gates!).

Shelter bunnies seem to come with their own set of baggage more times than not
but as we always say, we are like the island of misfit toys,
my honey and I and all misfits are welcome heavy baggage or not!

Bunnies are so fickle.  They are adorable and they are vicious.
They are strange little creatures....beaming such bright light with such huge personalities.

I adore them more and more even amidst all the sacrifice and struggle and stress and destruction!

but my whole point of this post today, ha ha was to say "Happy 1 year Anniversary babies"
We love love love you and are so blessed and happy that your here,
nerves and quirks and biting and everything that makes you both your wonderful unique selves XO

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Art & Buns

Recent days are feeling long and cozy in the studios, as it quietly snows almost everyday lately...


As I pack up orders and move around from room to room from project to project and bun to bun.

Monday, December 11, 2017

Renaissance Babe

Happy Happy Birthday my gorgeous, amazing, renaissance babe...you deserve the whole world...


But I know you'll just be happy with some vegan cheesecake! The buns & I love you so so much XO

Sunday, December 10, 2017

Coloring Fun Anyone?

Hey guys, this is the cute coloring page
going out in the next few days to my studio subscribers...


If you want it too just sign up to Keep In Touch on my website
& you'll get it by email along with future free cuties XO.

Saturday, December 9, 2017

Share Sunday On Saturday

I feel the need to post my usual Share Sunday today instead of waiting another day,
so this week it's a Share Saturday if you please.

This week as we here in Northern Ontario Canada are blissfully buried under cold pure white snow,
we put out extra seeds, peanuts and apples etc for the birds, critters and deer
and extra old blankets in the garage for the squirrels that live out there,
we provide little areas where they can huddle in for warmth and get a break from the snow
and we know that the bunny fluff we spread outside all last Fall will be keeping lots of nests warms.
But my heart has been hurting deeply as my mind is just constantly on the fires in California.
I of course feel for all the people being affected but my heart aches for all the animals.
So this week my Share Sunday are good/happy links amidst all the devastation...


I keep watching this
I think I keep watching it because whiles my heart chokes at the fear these animals must feel,
I have hope that there are more kind people out there than I think there are, willing to stop & help.

I know there are going to be beautiful places and people like this
and like this who will be opening their doors & offering a hand to all of those
misplaced & injured (but I can't help but constantly think on all the ones who didn't make it).

 but it's all of the good stories that I am trying to concentrate
on so my heart doesn't feel such overwhelm.  It's easy for me to look down on people in general
because as a person who has rescued animals first hand & who adopts shelter bunnies, I see
how animals are treated poorly & forgotten by people, it can breed hate sometimes, so it's a must for me to concentrate on and find the good stories & kind people, the amazing people who

I will be looking at my favorite animal charities & will decide which one is best to make a donation to but if your anywhere near the area and your able to help out in any way, shape or form
there is a list at the bottom of this article to point you in the right direction

XOXO Hugs and Kisses from my tender heart to all of my fellow tender-hearted XOXO

Friday, December 8, 2017

Food Friday....Vegan Frittata

I made this Vegan Frittata this week and my honey and I loved it.
(We are planning on making a pizza version tonight with mushrooms & vegan pepperoni).


It's super easy...
Whisk together:
2 cups of chickpea flour
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of nutritional yeast
2 cups of water
Salt and pepper to taste
Pour into a oiled casserole dish.

Than add to the mixture:
1-2 chopped garlic
A big handful of chopped spinach
A whole tomato chopped
1 whole red pepper finely chopped
Sun dried tomatoes to your liking
Olives chopped & added to your liking

Bake for 1 hour at 350°c or until set.

Enjoy XO

Thursday, December 7, 2017

She's Looking Pretty

I am doing this pretty doll on watercolour paper which takes layers of colored pencils beautifully
but which I find a lot more time consuming because I find that you do have to put down more layers to cover the texture of the paper (I like my paper grain to be hidden by the time I am done)...

 

I am glad I started showing you guys all of these detail & in progress shots. 
I think it's nice for people to really see all the detail I put in my work.
I hope your enjoying these closer looks?

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

9 Little Vegans All In A Row

Leisel is a little foodie, like Flynn, like me, like her Daddy...
With the 7 buns and us two, we make 9...Nine little veg-heads all in a row...


She's happy that her parents after many years of being vegetarian have finally gone vegan...
we're feeling pretty good about it too.  It's not always easy but our love for animals gets us through.

Monday, December 4, 2017

He's Almost Done

This golden monkey of mine has taken forever only because
I've been working on so many pieces at the same time.


But it's just about finished and as usual, I can't wait to show you.
P.S.  I just renewed a whack of older art prints in my shop, do hop over and check them out.

Sunday, December 3, 2017

Share Sunday

Hi Ya, here's some link love and inspiration heading your way XO.......


Okay this little bit I want to show you was a complete surprise to me and totally made my heart burst,
I get alot of letters from people who admire my tenacity with pain and how much work I get done anyhow but I've never really considered my life or way of living to be an inspiration to anyone
but apparently I am, ha ha...this is from a darling and sweet fellow maker/creative.
She was interviewed for The Willful Project and she (unexpectedly to me) gives
little old me one of the sweetest shout outs I've ever received
(watch the whole video of course but to see what has me smiling still jump to minute 1:00 on the dot)

*******

Did you guys ever see this news story
about rabbits who hopped on top of sheep to survive a flood?
It's sad I suppose but I like to concentrate on the fact that they were tenacious enough to find saftey, that the sheep let them stay up there on them & most importantly that the farmer who found them
let them be realizing the poor souls worked hard enough to survive.
Now people wouldn't typically think about rabbits as being able to grasp with their paws but
I've experienced it myself...only once but I did.  When we adopted our late Emmett from the shelter,
I was holding him the whole time it took to do the paperwork etc and I didn't want to hog him,
so I thought to pass him over to his new Daddy for a spell but that little guy actually gripped my coat
with this little front paws and wouldn't let go, so I ended up keeping him in my arms.
I will always remember that feeling, of his holding onto me, I too had no idea buns could do that.

*******

I am probably one of the only ones cooing over the animal instead of the baby int his gif
but hey I gotta share it anyhow just incase you've not seen it yet....
Bunny Steals From Baby 

Enjoy Lovelies...see you tommorow XOXO

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Uses For A Knot In A Lionheads Mane

Hey guys what do you think?
Should Yuuji and I open up a mustachery??


Cruelty-Free...slightly knotted but stylishly so...Available only in velveteen black.
available in a very exclusive extremely limited quantity!  Ha ha!!!

Friday, December 1, 2017

A Huge Roll Of Possibilities

Back in the middle of summer I went searching for vinyl because I was back into lino-cuts
and I was on my last few small pieces and I knew I had to make the switch from linoleum,
which I had always used, to vinyl because after all these years all my lino blocks were sadly cracking.


Apparently vinyl is much more robust and pliable and won't crack.
I went to a flooring store into their off-cuts section & found this huge 4 year old roll for only $80.00.
It's super smooth with no grain either way and whiles I am nervous to break into it, I also can't wait.

Thursday, November 30, 2017

A Favorite Paddle With Bald Eagles!

This is the lake by our house.  We launch our boats here on days that we want to stay close to town.
This day out kayaking was AMAZING because guess what!?
We actually saw TWO AMERICAN BALD EAGLES....holy #(#*!!!
We've never ever seen these kind of birds here, apparently they do come this far North now & than.


It amazes me how different each time out paddling can be.  All the beauty we see.
(check out that super cool orange lichen covered island...magic...and the water lilies...magic again!)
Unfortunately the water was quite choppy that day so we couldn't get super close or super clear photos of the two eagles but it is going down for sure as one of my favorite paddles ever.