Furry Butts Fursday!

A little something to cheer our dear friends at Furrybutts. In memory of Hans.

bunny hugs to you,

shell

Let's Party! Where Bloggers Create!

Welcome to "Where Bloggers Create" hosted by my friend, Karen Valentine of My Desert Cottage. Please be sure and hop over to her blog and check out her creative space and visit with all the other participants! Oooooooo boy this is gonna be fun peeking in the "windows" so to speak on a non weirdo way! hee,hee,hee.

Let's get this party started!!

Welcome to Bunnyville! My favorite place in the whole world to be!

I am truly blessed to have this space all to myself. NOT!!! These two live here and allow me hang out with them. I mean if you're gonna name a studio Bunnyville, it better have some bunnies!

This is Raspberry aka Razzy, aka Mama's Chocolate Easter Bunny

aka Chunky Bunny

Don't ya just wanna kiss that face. Buck teeth and all!

Of course Sugar, aka Suuuggggeeeee, aka Cutie Girl feels like Cinderella after being rescued and brought to Bunnyville. We plan on making her life a beautiful fairytale.

As you come up the stairs, you are greeted by Gabriella. I just looooove scrolly metal stuff. I have it all over my house. When I saw this dress form (even though I hate dresses) I just had to have it. It was the perfect green.

The rose canvas pictures going down the stairs are some of my all time favorites. I have had them since the mid 90's. They have a distressed look on them and were done way before the whole distressing look was in. I love these.

This is my little sitting and reading area. The wicker settee is made from that PVC stuff. It's meant to be outside, but with bunnies it's perfect for Bunnyville. If it were real wicker, I would come home to find it chewed to bits in a big pile on the floor! More scrolly metal stuff hangs on the walls.

The pictures hanging on the garden trellis are by one of my most Favorite artists, Diane Duda

I just love her whimsical style. Her work always makes me happy and feel good. The top piece is called "Bunny Bliss." The bottom piece is called "She Believed in Spontaneous Dancing." They both truly reflect my personality and I absolutely treasure them!

This is a view of my storage cabinets filled with fabrics, supplies etc. I'll admit it. I'm a total neat freak and I hate mess and too much clutter. Having too much stuff around clouds my mind and makes me wonky. I like everything to look neat and pretty.

This is an upclose of my vision board. I love vision boards and update them all the time.

This is my sewing table with my next pattern in the works. I had my cabinet maker build this table for me. He is such a craftsman. When he got done with it, he said, "shuuuugggg, don't tell anyone I made that. It was a pain in the butt!" Yikes!

Of course, I leave the doors open on both ends so certain fuzzy coworkers can run through or take a nap in the cabinet.

Then of course the fuzzy coworkers need a lounge area with restrooms and a snack bar. Razzy is busy washing up after going potty. Good bunny!

These cute little clothes belonged to my niece, Laura Michelle. Yep, she was named after me. These were my favorite outfits on her. My sister saved them for me. Laura Michelle is now 8 and she's just like me, but get's her smarts from her mama.

I just love this lamp!

My best friend, Beth, made this box for me on my 40th birthday. I just love it!

The perfect clock custom made for me by my friend Cindy at Angel Heart Designs

This jar contains actual angora rabbit fur from my friends Fats and Nuage over at Potentially Nervous. I just love them buns and I love having this fur. (no bunny was hurt in the removal of the fur)

Cross stitch pictures made by my dear friend Goldie a long time ago. This one says, "Friends are like quilts, they both lend great comfor when needed." How true!

This piece was given to me by my friend, Michelle. It totally cracks me and David up.

It looks like (from left to right), big bunny farted and is saying "oh my", the blast was so bad that it blew the second bunny off his feet and he's saying, "what the??" and the third bunny got his ears blown back and is saying "whew! what a wretched stench!"

Ok, ok. I know, David and are sick individuals that probably need medication, but hey.... it's funny!

Well, there ya have it. A tour around Bunnyville. Thanks so much for visiting and enjoy the rest of your adventure with the other participants!

Big Bunny Hugs,

shell

Pink Friday at Make Mine Pink, A Stitch In Time

Please join me and all my friends this Friday, July 24th for Pink Friday at Make Mine Pink! This week's theme is
A Stitch in Time. All things quilted and stitched! Oooooh, my kinda Pink Friday!


Photo by Kitty Kitty Designs


Photo by The Quilt Shoppe


Photo by Beloved Creations

See ya there!
shell

Where Bloggers Create

You're invited to a party! Please join me this Friday, July 24th for "Where Bloggers Create" blog party. Hop on over and visit my friend Karen Valentine (fabulous name) at My Desert Cottage

There is a list of names of all those participating (me included). You can hop over to their blogs and see photos of their creative spaces! So grab some coffee, tea or wine, sit in a comfy chair and enjoy!

See you there!

shell

Following Bliss Down the Rabbit Hole

Ever have those scary moments when you feel like your life is caught up in a war zone? When chaos, uncertainty and destruction are all around you? Those times when you are about to leap into a different future, but your brain won't cooperate with your feet?

When all your 20 years of daydreaming about creating with fabrics and textiles and sharing it with others may indeed become your full time career? It was kinda fun when it was a daydream. But a reality???? Doubt, fear, worry and all that other crap creep in. Will I make it? Can I do it? Will I make any money to help support us and the fuzzy ones? Am I being selfish to want to follow my bliss for once in my life?

Then I stop and think about all of those that have made it. That truly for once in their lives followed their bliss only to discover they should have taken the leap earlier. That they put off their dreams and now realize that there is always a beautiful light that guides us through the rabbit hole if only we take a moment and let our eyes focus on it.

We must believe. We must stay focused that we can have peaceful and happy hearts as we follow the dreams. The dreams of our bliss down the rabbit hole.

blissfully dreaming,

shell

this week IGF the light that guides me down the hole.

Shop Hop

What's this about Hopping and Shopping?
Well Razzy, it's the Christmas in July Shop Hop with all our friends at Make Mine Pink!
All you have to do is click the link below to register!

Not only is it a great time to start your Christmas shopping, but you can win prizes!!!
Oh I do love prizes!

Ok... on top of that, I'm offering a Mystery Stitchery on my website!
This is how it works. Each day from July 20th until July 26th I will post a free Stitchery Pattern. The pattern will only be available that day so if you don't show up, it will be gone. I will post it by 7:30 am EST and it will remain until the next morning. Collect all the patterns. On the final day, I will show the finished piece and give instructions for putting it all together.

Then..... you will have until August 10th to complete the project. Send me a photo of your finished project giving me permission to blog about it. I will draw three names from the list of participants and you will win your choice of any of my patterns as well as a bag of fusible fleece!

So are you ready??? (I've even had two men say they thought the designs were cool)
See you Monday, July 20th. Let's get Hoppin!

shell

Fleur de Bunny

Yippeeeeee!! It's finally finished. My new pattern "Fleur de Bunny." Get it??? The Fleur de Lis design with my signature bunnies. I just love how it turned out!
The colors of pink, green, brown and cream.

The pattern is available on my website.

It's got lots of mixed techniques including fusible applique, hand stitching with Valdani Floss (love this floss and will be carrying it), machine quilting and some pearl beads for a little bling. I like the primative look of the hand stitching in contrast to the pearl bead. A little small town meets big city.

Of course, someone decided napping under the box was a much better idea on a Sunday.

So while Razzy napped up in Bunnyville, I came down to spend a little time with Sugar.

She's been with me two weeks now and is doing pretty good. She's still pretty skittish, but she's warming up to me, especially when I bring her a salad. She jumps up and practically knocks the dish out of my hand. I've learned to hand her a piece of somthing first before I attempt to put the dish down. Poor thing eats like it's her last super.

I think she has the cutest face. Her ears are really long and she can twist them around and stand them up like a radar. Cracks me up. I think she's gonna have a great personality when she is brave enough/relaxed enough to let it out.

We are on schedule to have her spade on July 28.

Well, gotta get back to some sewing on a new pattern. Fun! Fun! Fun!

bunny hugs,

shell

This week IGF beautiful fabrics and the inspiration that comes from them.

Pink Friday at Make Mine Pink

Please join us at Make Mine Pink for shopping with a twist on Friday July 10, 2009 as we present
"SUMMER PORCH AND GARDEN"


There’s nothing more inviting than a summer porch and garden. It can be a source of shade when the temperature gets too warm, a place of shelter during a gentle summer rain, or just a place to sit with someone special on a lazy summer day. It can be a welcoming start your day with your favorite antique tea cup in hand or a front row seat to watch the sunset from the weathered oak rocker, that in it’s day sat proudly in your grandmother’s home.

A welcoming porch and garden can create a friendly entryway to your home. A welcome sign hand painted with pink roses perched against the railing or a lilac berry wreath with a scent as inviting as it looks, letting guests know that you're glad they're here before you've said a word. If entertaining guests, perhaps vintage chairs, refinished and made comfortable with dainty floral needlepoint cushions, or a white painted table set with a vintage lace-tablecloth like your mom and before her - grandmother used.

With the right accessories, a porch and garden can even become an extension of your home. For candlelit evenings, a candle inside a
topiary lantern casting a romantic glow. For lazy afternoons, a daisy metal basket filled with fresh cut flowers, a knitting project, or even as cliche as this sounds, a glass of fresh squeezed lemonade and a favorite books. Tucked in the corner, a vintage pink metal watering can kept handy to water the flowers in the window boxes while the lace curtains on the windows gently sway in the afternoon breeze. As much comfort as your home, with the right accessories.

You can add a cottage touch to your garden with decorations like ceramic garden mushrooms and inspiring garden plaques sprinkled with just the right amount of glitter. Tea cup bird feeders, handmade birdhouses, and antique iron birdbaths are all welcome sites for feathered friends. Remember to add a touch of whimsy just to make you smile - like a basket of flowers placed on a pink bicycle.

No matter what your summer days hold, a porch and garden can provide the ideal setting for friends, family and even a private retreat. Won’t you join me for a cup of tea as we help you design your summer porch and garden.

Joyce Lucas, Founder of Make Mine Pink
Photo Contributions: 1 Camelia Cottage 2 Shabby Shan's Cottage

The Shop Hop is Coming!

It's July already and every year I tell myself that I'm going to start getting ready for Christmas in July. I love to make my own cards and usually I'm running around like a crazy woman (more so than usual) trying to get everything done. Well not this year. I made myself a promise and I'm going to keep it. This year I'm starting in July so that when December get's here, I can sit and enjoy the season, the festivities and have some peace.

My pink sister's and I over at Make Mine Pink are having a fun and festive Shop Hop! You simply hop to each boutique, find the shopping bag and then get registered for prizes! Oh I just love prizes!

In addition, I'm offering a Mystery Stitchery Project and it's FREEEEEE. All you have to do is hop over to my website The Raspberry Rabbits each day and get your free stitchery pattern. The pattern will only be available for that day. Each day of the hop is a new one. Then... after you have collected them all, you will have two weeks to put the project together (don't be scared, you can do it). Then you send me an email and a photo of your completed Mystery Stitchery. I will pick three winners from those that participate. Your prize will be any pattern from my site and a bag of fusible fleece!

So join me on getting with the program early this year so we can kick back and relax at Christmas instead of kicking ourselves in the butt for procrastinating yet another year.

Looking forward to Hopping and Shopping with you!

bunny hugs,

shell

Brown and Blue

I'm just loving the combination of Brown and Blue together. The warmth and coolness of it. The contrast without harshness.

This picture of Razzy made me think of his gorgeous Brown fur and the Blue look on his face.

He was giving me the "I'll feel happier if you give me a carrot" look.


These are some fabrics that I just got. I've have the coolest pattern designed for them. Very "French Cottage." Stay tuned.

bunny hugs,
shell

Sugar is Sweet

I debated and thought and then thought some more about sharing this news with all of you. Mainly because we have a bit of a journey ahead of us. Mainly because we still have aching hearts over the loss of our beloved Chloe. Mainly because I couldn't get a grip on my thoughts and emotions. Then I paused and thought... Shell you have wonderful friends. People you have never met, yet their warmth, love and hugs, are felt. Oh heck, let's take them along for this journey. Traveling with good friends is always much more fun!




So.... I would like to introduce you to Sugar.


Last week I was forwarded an email by my good friend Paula at Cape Fear House Rabbit Society Paula is an incredible woman that I have had the pleasure to get to know. She rescues rabbits, nurses them back to health, finds them good homes, or if they are not adoptable, keeps them in her care to live out their lives in a sactuary. I adopted Rosey and Chloe from Paula. So... Paula forwards me an email from a couple just 20 minutes from me that have rescued some rabbits and they want to know if Paula knows anyone in the area that would be interested in giving a loving home to some female rabbits that just had babies.

At first I didn't know what to do. My emotions were running wild, the tears still falling and my heart still aching. Then the couple sent me her photo.

Here was this poor little bunny that weened her babies outside in the heat (we live in NC and it's been in the 90's!) I looked at her sad eyes and the scared look on her face. Then I read about where this couple got her. Apparently there was a crazy weirdo man that had about 40 lop rabbits in his back yard just running around. The bunnies would dig under the fence and try to escape. The man got tired of trying to catch the fleeing bunnies and decided it was easier to sit on his front porch with a shot gun and just SHOOT them!!!!!!! Sugar and her sister, both of whom were pregnant, managed to run to a neighbors house without getting shot! Then this couple came and took them and the remaining 8 bunnies back to their house. Sugar was placed in a pen outside with male rabbits on either side of her. The male rabbits would spray her with pee to "mark" her. She had her babies and they were weened.
These are the Sugar Babies. I wish I could take them too. They are up for adoption if anyone is interested.

I tossed and turned all night and couldn't get the sad image of Sugar out of my head. Her name came to me out of nowhere. The next morning, my good friend Michelle went with me to see her. Upon picking her up, she snuggled into my neck and pretty much wispered "don't leave me here." In the carrier she went and into the a/c of the car. My friend Patricia said she went from the slums to the Four Seasons in one fail swoop! hee,hee,hee.

Razzy has been doing ok, but I know he misses Chloe and the companionship of his friend. They always snuggled together and Chloe always groomed him and showered him with kisses. I thought to myself how bad off I would be without my friends. Getting Razzy some Sugar felt right. It not only felt right for Razzy's heart but for mine and David's as well. Giving a little critter a safe place to live and lot's and lot's of love is what we do, no matter how brief that moment may be.

So... now comes the journey part. We can't just throw her up in Bunnyville with Razzy. Bonding rabbits is a process and a journey. Right now she is living in a playpen in the foyer. Since she has never been properly fed, we are working on getting her diet in order. All her nasty pee stained fur will shed out and I know she will be soft and glowing. On July 28th we will get her spayed. The first weekend in August we will move her (in the playpen) up to Bunnyville where she will be able to sniff and see Razzy and he will be able to see her. From there it could be a couple of weeks to see how they do before we actually let them go free together.

So.... are you up for the journey with me?? We know Chloe is looking down on Sugar and saying , "don't worry, your safe now and loved."

Sugar is sweet.

hugs,
shell
This week IGF Paula at Cape Fear House Rabbit Society and her incredible heart and her friendship to me.

Thank you for this Award

Thanks so much to my friend "Sparklyjools" over at Adventures in Thread for this award. Jools is an incredible doll artist! Hop over and check her out!

I have to pass this award on to 8 other creative people. Here are a few rules when accepting your award (these are not my rules) Please feel free to deliver this gift to 8 other people and include the following text with the award on your site:

These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. I'm passing this award on to the following people who I've been inspired by, and love reading their blogs.

Tiffany at Shabby Scraps
Freckles and Deb
Charmaine at Beautiful Things to Share
Diane at Duda Daze
Lori at My Faerie Window
Margaret at The French Bear
Rima at Into The Hermitage
Kim at Prims by Kim

I so enjoy visiting with all of you!
bunny hugs,
shell