Bunches of Bunnies!

Every time sit down with my cotton and think about what I'm going to make next, I try to think about all of the animals and different characters that I could possibly make...but when I actually start spinning the cotton...a bunny always seems to emerge! I can't help! Especially with thoughts of Easter and Spring....it's even more difficult to control. But I suppose there are bigger problems than having an over population of cute, soft and colorful bunnies! :)

The bunny box in the photo above with the paper leaves arch is my new favorite!

And I'm loving little bunnies and their mommies! I'll be doing more of these...maybe with some daddy bunnies too! The blue one in the middle is a adopted...his mommy isn't actually a bunny...lol.

I love sugary pink bunnies...but once in a while a crazy colored one slips though!


These mini silvery bunnies are a favorite. Ms. Kitty isn't a bunny either...but she's displaying one of my favorite color combo's...aqua and chocolate brown (the color of my bathroom)... I just had to show you! :)

I'll be making bunnies until my fingers are sore! Some of them are still available in my Etsy shop.

Who doesn't love a swap?!

I wanted to show you all this yummy party hat and hanging collage I got in a little swap with Mel at Little Melfie's Studio. She makes fabulous creations with fabulous materials and I couldn't resist her party hats!

I'm keeping it under a tall cloche on my living room end table alongside a floral frog with old photos of my sweet grandfather and an awesome paper weight I found for a Lincoln at a flea market in NYC.

This adorable little girl holds a flag with a "C" for Crystal! I love aqua and turquoise (the most difficult color to spell) and she incorporated them perfectly!

She almost looks like my little sister when she's pouty... :)

And she sent this pretty hanging collage as a surprise!! Thank you so much Mel! It's hanging on the mirror in my hallway. I asked Ben if he liked it thinking he would say it's too girly, but he looked at it, thought for a second and said "Yeah...actually I do". What a compliment for Mel! :)

We have a Winner!!

Congratulations to Nicole at Gibbysgirl! I'll be sending you Ms. Sweetheart Bird Girl. I hope you like her!!

Thank you so much to everyone who participated...it was so much fun! And Ben was such a good sport in choosing a number for me. I'll definitely be having more giveaways. Keep your eye out around Easter! :)

Pretty Pretty Pastels...

Lately I've been fighting off the winter blah's by spreading some color throughout the house. And since Spring is almost just around the corner (ok...maybe I'm pushing it a little...but I can pretend can't I?) I've been uncontrollably drawn to pastels.

A few weeks ago Ben brought home a whole bunch of cubby shelves that his work was going to throw away. He knew I would be able to use them and he was right! Forget flowers...the boy knows that the way to my heart consists of a little bit of rummaging through the garbage! Well...they were perfectly brand new and were still in their wrapping. So I took one and painted it in a vintage office green. Then I added some patterned paper and painted stripes and dots and came out with a pretty hanging cubby shelf for displaying new creations in my studio! I used bright pink ribbon to hang it from the picture rail near the ceiling. So pretty! I filled it with recent blue and pink characters and snapped a few photos to show you.

I only have two more of these four sisters...they're so sweet I'm getting a toothache just looking at them! :)

Bunnies and kitties...a specialty.

I just reorganized and redecorated my studio last month. The walls were a yellow ochre before (what was I thinking?) and I painted it a fresh and cheery seashore blue. It really brightens up the room! This is just a sneak peek at the new and improved space. I'll show you more photos later on.


Another little peek at my hat collection. They look so scrumptious slung up as a window treatment!

And I must not forget to tell you...as of now I have still not chosen a winner for my give away. I won't be seeing Ben until tonight around 8:00 EST or so (he's randomly picking the number of the winner), so you'll have all day to leave a comment on the post below (not this post - although I'd love to hear what you think of my new little shelf!) and enter to win! I'll announce the winner tomorrow. Good luck and thank you to everyone who has already left a comment...it's so so nice to hear your sweet words! :)

My First Blog Give Away!!!

Yup...it's about time. Time to be as generous to you as you all have been to me! I'm doing my first ever blog give away! The prize is a surprise, but it will be one of my adorable Valentine's Day spun cotton figures. Just leave a comment on THIS post and on Monday (Feb. 9th) I will randomly choose a winning comment. I think I'm going to do this by telling Ben to choose a number from 1 to how ever many comments there are (I won't tell him why...he's used to my asking him random questions anyway...lol). The comment that corresponds with the number he chooses will be the winner!! Good luck!! :)

So this morning I quickly snapped some group photos of my sugary sweet Valentine's Day pieces. Some of them have already found new homes (I'll have to say goodbye to them tomorrow when I package them up) and some are for sale now on Etsy. And one of them is the surprise prize for the give away!

The rest will be accompany me to Boston Handmade's Valentine's Day Show in SOWA tomorrow evening! I've added the details for this fantastic show below.

These two little gals (above and below) are my favorite creations this time around. Ms. Crimson Red has found a new home with a darling gal, but Ms. Pink Princess is going to be living with me a little while longer. I almost never keep my own work, but sometimes I can't help but keeping a certain character around for just little while longer. This little gal has such a pretty face and I used some of my favorite old millinery flowers (same with Ms. Crimson...she holds a rare - at least to me - red flower that I only have a few of).


Here's the whole gang (or some of the whole gang), all perched on this pretty cake pedestal that was a gift from my mom.

So...don't forget to leave a comment on this post to be entered in the giveaway. And please leave your email address or some way that I can get into contact with you. If I am unable to get into contact with the winner, I will have Ben choose another number and another winner. And the prize will be one of my spun cotton figures...perhaps a curious kitty? Or a juggling bear? Maybe a sweet shy girl? I will reveal the prize to everyone once I've found a winner! :)

And here are the details for the show tomorrow (Friday):

Be Mine is the 2nd Annual Boston Handmade Valentine Show

DATE: Friday, February 6, 2009

TIME: 5 - 9pm

LOCATION: 450 Harrison Avenue ~ Gallery #31 ~ 31 Thayer Street
click HERE for directions

The Boston Handmade 2nd Annual Be Mine Valentine Show features
hand crafted Valentines & gifts for friends, family, and lovers.

This special Valentine event includes live acoustic music by Peter Paulousky &
new exhibitor designs created especially for the winter season & Valentine's Day.

Sponsored in part by GTI Properties and the individual members of Boston Handmade, this one-night-only event coincides with the First Friday open studios and gallery receptions in the SoWa arts district of Boston's South End.

Twenty local artists, artisans and craftspeople will be exhibiting their one-of-a-kind and limited edition works at Be Mine, which is the 2009 Boston Handmade debut after their successful 2008 Downtown Crossing holiday gallery.

Visit Be Mine to find the perfect gift for all your Valentines.

I hope to see you there!! :)

I'm feeling pink and rosy!

Oh yes...the Christmas decorations are finally put away and the cozy, rosy feeling of Valentine's Day is setting in! Valentine's Day for me has never really stood out as an important holiday. Half of the time it would pass right by before I even thought about it. I know for the longest time when I was in high school and college I wanted so bad to have a boyfriend on Valentine's Day to celebrate it with. One day I finally I did and we went out to dinner - the restaurants were so crowded and we had to wait in the freezing cold to get in - he gave me a card and flowers - a boring store bought card with a generic message and carnations...my very least favorite flower - and what was I to give him? Well I never thought about that part before. lol Of course I was grateful and didn't complain, the effort was charming on his behalf and my attempt at a gift for him was met with a "oh......thaannks". When Ben came along he told me right away that he didn't like Valentine's Day. "A holiday created by the greeting card companies during a slow sales period - I don't need to tell you I love you on a specified day of the year." Well...he couldn't be convinced, although he's always charmed me with a little something nice (the Napoleon Dynamite dvd one year! How perfect!).

So...after many years of a general lack of interest around Valentine's Day, I decided to embrace it for myself. Purely because in the middle of February, when the snow drifts are up to my waste and the cold wind is blowing, a nice burst of pink and red, and hearts and flowers are just what I need to perk up my little environment and put a smile on my face! I don't even decorate with red anywhere in the house, even at Christmas time, so it's an extra special treat. Plus it reminds me of when I was a kid and my mom used to cover the dining room hutch with her collection of vintage cards and valentine's.

To celebrate my new found love for Valentine's Day, I've made a cluster of friendly characters to help cheer up the holiday...and they do a good job!

Ms. spun cotton strawberry girl is a big hit! I love the contrast of the red and black that she shares with little Pepe Le Pew. And this sweet bunny in the middle represents a new needle felting technique I'm doing. The little details on the face and chest are almost drawn on with wool...so much fun!

I can't resist making kitties and I've made a bunch decked out in pink, red and cream. And the silly bird girls are some of my favorites!

I'm really into the jugglers lately too. I did a few for Christmas and just had to carry the theme over to Valentine's Day. They're so festive!

I also really love using tiny keepsake boxes as bases for these characters. It makes them pretty AND functional! The little pink squirrel is holding a heart acorn. :)

I still have a few of these left, check them out in my Etsy store! Also check back because I plan to make a few more. Maybe even one to keep for myself! :) AND check back here on my blog because pretty soon I'll be doing my first give away ever!!! So exciting!

Straight from Germany!!

Who wouldn't absolutely LOVE finding this scrumptious package on their doorstep? I was so thrilled when I got this stamp and sticker encrusted goody box from my best friend in Germany.

Lena and I met in high school when she was here as an exchange student. I didn't even realize she wasn't American when I first met her, her English was so good. She tried to teach me a little German, but let's just say it didn't work out... lol We've been friends ever since! She's such a fabulous person and I can't wait to see her again!

I went to Germany a few years ago to visit her and we shopped at some incredible antique and thrifts stores. One store in Chemnitz is my all time FAV store! One of these days I'll dig up the photos and post them. I walked in and my jaw dropped. It was a huge warehouse filled with aisle after aisle of awesome old goodies! They had an entire room filled with nothing but unupholstered chairs! Of course my favorite section was the one that had a huge stash of awesome antique holiday goodies. I sifted through boxes and gathered all sorts of goodies. I could have bought everything...if only my suitcase were big enough! I even bought an old block puzzle, a box of antique wooden game pieces and tiny dominos, all for about $30 euros!! I daydream about that store all of the time...

So ever since then Lena has been on the lookout for awesome vintage treasures to send around Christmas time. How exciting! I was thrilled last year with a box of perfectly silvered glass balls with tiny necks, old plastic animals (I love them!) and a dexterity game, spun cotton mushrooms (soooo scrumptious!) and more!! This year was just as good!

The old labels are from the 50's and were used to decorated envelopes at Christmas time. The mercury glass balls are to die for! I LOVE that pink one!! She also sent a package of silver lametta made from real metal...it's sooooo heavy! A huge hunk of Lush soap is vegan and earth friendly...I can't wait to use it!!!

And this is my favorite!! An old abacus in patriotic red white and blue! It's got perfectly chipped paint and faded wooden beads. It's PERFECT!!! I will be displaying this prominently in a fabulous vignette.



Thank you sooo much Lena! :)