Saturday, April 30, 2011

An expert Herdsman was Needed

The Rainbow Bridge was a very busy place this April. It seems our rabbit friends from all over decided it was time to cross it. First there was Ginny, then there was Louie and Abbey, then Freckles, and then my Sugie. With so many bunnies crossing the bridge in the same month, God must have been a bit overwhelmed as bunnies can be quite a handful when they get to partying and running amuck without proper leadership.

Yesterday, after complications from surgery, our dear friend Fezzik from Brynwood Needleworks, crossed the rainbow bridge. He must have heard that God needed an expert herdsman to gather the bunnies and help them cross.

We love you sweet boy. We will miss you so very, very, much.
xx, auntie shell and cousin harrington

Friday, April 29, 2011

Happy Friday. Mama's being a Slacker

Hi everybun, Harrington here. Well, Mama said she was going to show you her new pattern today and tell you some news about floss. NOT gonna happen. First, she had to do lots of work for her old boss this week. Then we had tornado's all around us again, which is not good for photo taking. Then, her battery in her laptop is dead and she isn't free to roam around the house until the new one get's here. Next, I've been really lonely without Sugie and she's been trying to keep me company up in Bunnyville so I don't get sick.

But honestly...you know Mama can only handle sad for so long before she demands some happy!! Soooooooo, like millions of other people around the world, Mama is going to be a total SLACKER today and watch the Royal Wedding!!! I mean Hello! Happy, happy, happy!! :)

I knew she would eventually start to see things from my perspective. hee,hee,hee.
Don't forget to register for the giveaway on the post below. She promises Monday she will show you all the fun new stuff, the new pattern and the exciting floss news. Until then, be a total SLACKER and enjoy some happy times.




xx,  (king of the slackers)

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Celebrating 700 Giveaway and a Sneaky Peeky

Well hellooooooooo there! How is everybun? I want to start off this post with a sneaky peeky of my new stitchery pattern. I was hoping to release it today, but as I was stitching away on it, I got a "wild hare" and kept adding stuff! I just finished the binding last night at 11:30. Can we say "Love it!!!" So anyway, I have to finish writing the pattern and I'll reveal it on Friday with some other fun things I'll be adding to my shop.

Here's your sneaky peeky of "Little Houses No. 1"   There will be 3 in this series.

Now onto our 700 Followers Celebration giveaway! Yippeeeeee!!! We are so glad to have so many wonderful friends following along on our adventures. I thought and thought and thought about what would be a fun prize for our friends. Hmmmmm..... I got it! Books! Most of you love books as much as I do. However, since some of our followers are quilters and some enjoy altered art and some are bunny lovers, I decided I would give you a choice! Oooooooo fun! 

Harrington, will you show our friends what they can choose from?
"You got it Mama. I still have 15 minutes left on my break."

Oh brother. Ok, I got it you lazy bunny. First choice, if you are a quilter and love applique, you will receive these two wonderful books.
Second choice, if you love altered art, you will receive these two wonderful books.
Third choice, if you love bunnies (especially sarcastic one's), you will receive these three books.

Fourth choice, if you love quilting, altered art, and sarcastic bunnies, you can pick one book from each of the above. Kinda like going to a book buffet! hee,hee,hee.

To enter, leave a comment on this post and tell us which choice you would like. As always, those followers signed up on the right to follow, will recieve 2 chances cause you're special. Harrington and I will choose the winner on Sunday, May 1st using the random number generator. Friends world wide are welcome and encouraged to enter. Good luck and thanks so much for your friendship. We truly treasure each of you!



xx,

Monday, April 25, 2011

Thank you for all the Hugs and an Invitation

Hello. Harrington here. Mama, Daddy, and I want to thank all of you so very much for all the hugs you gave us. We truly appreciate all of them and feel blessed a million times over by the love and support from our friends. Mama truly believes that good friends are the gifts we give ourselves.

Now, as acting EBO (executive bunny officer) of The Raspberry Rabbits, I have been asked to invite ya'll back on Wednesday for our 700 Friends/Followers giveaway. Mama also has some exciting news to share regarding floss and a new pattern. She will be adding new items to the shop as well. So please be sure to hop back and visit us.

I have also been informed that EBO's should act responsibly and partying in the poo poo bucket is highly frowned upon as stated in the employment contract.

I knew I should have read the fine print....Dag nab it! Where's the compaint department?

See ya Wednesday.
xx, Harrington

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Sugie Bunny...Love Never Ends

Well, this is not exactly what I had in mind to write about for my Easter Post, but it seems it shall be. Please bear with me and this long post, but I feel this story needs to be told.

Yesterday afternoon I lost my precious Sugie bunny to her Mega Colon Syndrome. Many of you have commented on how fat her tummy looked in recent photos. That was actually the progression of this disease. She in fact was almost all bones when I petted her back and hips while her stomach was bloated and large.
Some of you know how Sugie came to live in Bunnyville, but for those that don't, this is the story.

Sugie came from the most awful and horrible place. A man was raising lots of bunnies in his backyard to sell to pet stores and to sell as meat. He had over 100 some rabbits that kept breeding over and over again. The rabbits began to dig out under his fence and he got tired of trying to catch them, so he would sit on his front porch with his shotgun and shoot them as they tried to get away. Sugie was one that managed to get away and was found by a neighbor. She was pregnant at the time.

The people that captured Sugie called some folks that lived close to me. They came and got all the bunnies from the man. Then they carried them to their home, where there were lots and lots of bunnies out in horrible hutches in 100 degree heat. They placed the bunnies male, female, male, female in the hutches so they wouldn't fight. However, the males kept spraying Sugie from either side with urine to "mark" her. Her beautiful white fur was stained yellow and orange from all the urine. She sat there miserably covered in pee, in a hutch with that dreadful and painful wire floor, in 100 degree heat and had given birth to the babies who were now in a separate hutch.

I had just lost my Chloe bunny from a fluke problem called, root rot and was really not ready to get another bunny as my heart was so broken. But Razzy missed Chloe so much and my friend, Paula with Cape Fear House Rabbit Society, sent me the above picture of Sugie. One look at that scared, sad and pitiful face, I had to go get her.

My friend, Michelle (Captain as I call her) went with me. We were both on the verge of tears when we saw Sugie's living conditions and I about passed out when the man got her out of the pen by lifting her by the scruff of the neck!! WRONG!! I grabbed Sugie and she immediately snuggled into my neck. Captain was freaking out too and kept telling me to " just get to the car Shell, get to the car!" I noticed some very strange looking poop in the cage, but all I could think about was getting Sugie out of there.

I had her spayed and then introduced her to Razzy for the bonding process. You can read about it in the August of 2009 archive if you would like. It's a pretty funny story. (That's Razzy in the photo, not Harrington)

As Sugie got older, her poop started getting worse and worse. Her belly also started to get bigger and bigger. All of it stemming from what I later found out to be Mega Colon disease, which is a genetic disorder that probably came from all the inbreeding of bunnies that the stupid man did. Sugie has had two other hospital stays since the one yesterday. I have spent well over $3,000.00 on vet bills and medications, which I'm not complaining about, as I believe in being a responsible parent. But, I have sell a lot of patterns and embroidery floss to pay for these bills. My friend, Paula, told me that Sugie's life expectancy would not be good. In fact, if she made it be three years old, it would be amazing as most bunnies with this disease don't. Sugie was almost three.



Sunday afternoon I made her a new cardboard cottage and got her a fresh blanky. Her old cottage was suffering some structural damage from a bad renovation. ;)  Sugie adored her little cottages and loved to fix her blankies just so. She would stretch out in there and lick her front paws to show her happiness.

I will miss kissing her soft cheekies and telling her how pretty she was.

I will miss watching her take a nap with ther footies stretched out behind her.

I will miss her loving, sweet heart but most of all, I will just miss her presence in Bunnyville.

Harrington is now acting EBO (executive bunny officer) of Bunnyville. He is not very happy about it as ya'll know he would rather party in the poo poo bucket. However, we know that Easter is coming and lots of adults will make irrational and poor decisions to purchase bunnies as Easter gifts for their kiddo's instead of purchasing chocolate or stuffed toys. The children will grow tired of the bunnies in a few weeks and the parents will not want to have one more responsibility to their already over-committed lives. So like it happens every single Spring, hundreds of domestic bunnies will either be set free into neighborhoods where they will die because they don't know how to live in the wild, or they will end up in rescues waiting for a forever home where someone will love them and care for them no matter what.

Harrington, Sugie, Razzy, Chloe, and Rosey were all Easter bunnies that were no longer wanted. They all found their way to me and even though I never really know how long I will have with them or what illness they may have, my life is always better because of them. Love is patient and kind...

Love never ends.

xx, shell and harrington

Monday, April 18, 2011

Winner of the bunny pillow!

Congratulations to Judy of Shade Tree Quilting! Judy lives in NC and I'm so glad she made it through all the tornado's on Saturday. We were spared as well and are ever so grateful.

Send me your address Judy and I'll get your prize in the post to you!

I also see that I have reached 700 followers. I have a special giveaway planned to celebrate a few things, but it might take me to the weekend to get it ready. Many thanks to all of you for your friendship and for following along on Bunnyville adventures!

xx, shell, sugie and harrington

Friday, April 15, 2011

Happy Friday!

Hi everybun! I'm delighted to say that for the second time I was invited back to be a guest blogger on Sew We Quilt! Please HOP over here for my post.

Have a wonderful weekend and don't forget to register on the post below for the pillow. The winner will be announced Monday!

Happy quilting, stitching and Happy Happy Friday!!!
xx, shell, sugie and harrington

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

12 of Hearts BOM and a Giveaway! Yipee!

Hi everybun! I have to say, each month I am having more and more fun with this project! I have already stitched up to June and I've made 2 of each block!

Here is this months Block

The floss color this month is Valdani's O196 Muddy Bark. I just got another shipment of floss before the prices go up, so you can Get the Floss Kit Here. Remember, I also sell the linen, needles, hoops and Pigma pens. You can join in anytime!

This is what it looks like so far. Yes, I covered up May and June. No peeking! hee,hee,hee.

Now, let's talk about a giveaway shall we!

Remember I've been showing you little sneaky peeky's of my new quilt pattern? Well, the quilt is at the Lea's, my long arm quilter, being quilted right now. I'm in the process of writing up the pattern while it's with Lea.  I had soooooo much fun making the pattern, that I decided to make a pillow for this months giveaway!

So here ya go! The giveaway is a quilted pillow that matches my upcoming quilt pattern! See the little bunny head and the big giant ears? He's sneaking around in the flower garden looking for a sneaky snack! Fun huh? It's almost Easter Bunny time and this kinda bunny is less messy than the one's that dig and have a party in the litter box! Harrington!!! And you won't have expensive vet bills with this mischievous little bun!

To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment on this post. As always, our followers (sign up on the right) are treasured friends and they get two chances! The winner will be chosen by the random number generator on Monday, April 18th. Everyone worldwide is more than welcome to enter. We are delighted to have friends in other countries!

Well get to stitchin and have some fun! I do hope you are enjoying these little hearts so far.
xx, shell, sugie and harrington

Monday, April 11, 2011

12 of Hearts BOM Reminder

Just a reminder that tomorrow is the next block in the free, 12 of Hearts BOM. Mama has a fun giveaway too so be sure and visit us.

Have a magical week everybun! (demand treats from your boss for doing a good job.)
xx, Harrington

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Our Visitor to Bunnyville

On Friday I had a wonderful visit with my new friend, Sharon, of Corgis in My Garden. I had sooooooooo much fun hanging out with her and the time went by way to fast! She is just the sweetest lady and I wish she lived closer. But, I found out she lives very close to my sister in Virginia, so I will get to see her whenever I'm up there! Yippeeeee!

Look at this fun gift she brought me! It looks like a chocolate bunny, but it's really resin underneath the wrapping. I can enjoy it forever and it won't make my butt big! hee,hee,hee.

Sharon is a critter lover too. She has 3 Corgis and 2 cat's. She believes in spoiling her fuzzy kids as much as I do. My kinda lady!

Sharon also collects all kinds of dishes. She spotted this pitcher on my living room table. She know's how much I redecorate and have yard sales, so she told me to put her name on this as she has dishes to match it.

Name is on it! :)

Well not only is this one sweet lady that loves critters and has great taste in dishes, she too loves to decorate, but in miniature! Check these out!!

The Garden Room. I love the wisteria climbing on the side. I could see myself sitting there having tea with her and her dogs and cats!

This is the Flower Shop.

Hello little bunny on the bench. Are you waiting for a snack?

The kitty on the bench outside is just too cute!

This is a bathroom in one of her doll houses. Makes me laugh with the kitty playing in the potty!

I took Sharon to lunch at the Sea Glass Cafe. Our time truly went by way to fast. (I'm squinting in this photo because the sun was so bright and my eye's can't hang! So I look dorky!) Sharon, it was so wonderful to meet you in person and Sugie and Harrington are very happy to have another special auntie.

Until I see you again, sending lots of hugs your way!
Shell

Friday, April 8, 2011

Happy Friday!

Hello everybun, Sugie here. Mama is all excited because she get's to meet a blog friend in person today! A visitor to Bunnyville! She will have photos to share next week. Harrington and I are very excited to meet her!

Sugie, does my "hare" look ok?

Have a wonderful weekend and happy Friday!
xx, sugie bun bun

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Before's and After - The Dining Room

Ok everybun, this week we are on to the Dining Room. I'm waiting on a handmade quilt/plate rack for the big wall, but I figured I'd show you this room anyway and I'll catch that up down the road. Besides, I don't have the quilt made yet. Are you ready?  Let's get this tour started.

First up we have the "Victorian" phase with stained glass chandelier, yellow walls and frou frou dining room set.

Next we have the "Shabby Chic" with the handpainted mural on the ceiling and crystal chandelier phase. I even put crystal trim on the shades. Have I mentioned I will never have a crystal chandelier again? I'm too much of a clean freak and when those crystals get dirty, they are a booger to clean. It takes forever!

Then we moved on to the "see ya later ceiling mural, yellow walls, crystal chandelier and frou frou dining set and hello French" phase.

And then we removed the blue accents (that David didn't like) and went to the "shades of white" phase.

And finally here we are today with our "Country Cottage" phase with a simple brushed nickel chandelier. Doesn't Natascha's fruit swag (see post below) look perfect above the window? I love it! I'm in the process of designing a table runner (yes, it will be a pattern so you can make one too) and the neighbor down the road is making me a beautiful wooden bowl.

This is a close up of the curtain fabric. I love the folky flowers and the olive green against the black. It's actually an indoor/outdoor fabric from Waverly. I thought it would be perfect because it won't fade. Plus, it was a breeze to sew!

Well there ya have it. The new Country Cottage dining room and all the other phases. I am truly enjoying reading all your comments as to which one is your favorite. So far the new style is still winning! :)

xx, shell, sugie and harrington

Lady Hannah Goldenhare - Nothing Gold Can Stay

Hello dear friends, It's been a minute hasn't it? My last post was over a year ago. I decided I wanted to stay in my bubble where it...