Fellowship of the Flowers week 31 and our July project!

July, July, July, it's almost time to say goodbye. Are you having a good summer?

I know most of us are "Busy as Bees" this time of year. There are family vacations, barbeques, gardens and lots of time being spent outdoors. That's why I decided our July project would be something a little different. Something for all us "busy bees."  ;)

The project is actually two! There is a bee postcard, which is fun to send through the mail, but could also be used as a regular card to be framed.

Then there is the bee pin, which would be perfect on a package and then...

can be used on a jacket, bag, hat or re-gifted to brighten someone else's day. You could even add a magnet on the back and make these for little hostess gifts for the holidays! You could tell the hostess your are so "Hap-Bee" to celebrate with her! ;)

Remember, you can join The Fellowship of the Flowers anytime between now and December. Please click on the tab above for all the information. 

Now, here is the flower for week 31.

This flower was just lots and lots of therapeutic stitching. :)



































I decided I wanted the stitches to be the focal point.



















Thirty one weeks already. Good gracious.
 
Light, love and hugs to you,

Michelle and the Bunnies

Sneaky Peeky of "Falling for You"

Hi ya! How was your weekend? Mine was insane crazy! I will share more about it this Friday.

Today I want to show you a sneaky peeky of a new design I'm working on. It's actually a remake of a previous design, but in my Folk Art Fusion style.  It's called "Falling for You."

Here are the wool colors I am using. Aren't they fun?

My goal is to have the entire pattern, as well as kits, ready for you on August 15. So, I better get hopping!

Have a fun day.

xx,
Michelle and the Bunnies

Hoppy Friday! A little Irish toast for you.

May the light always find you on a dreary day.

When you need to be home may you find your way.

May you always have courage to take a chance.

And never find frogs in your underpants.

Hee,hee,hee. That makes me LOL!!

Hoppy Friday!

Light, love and hugs to you,
Michelle and the Bunnies

Fellowship of the Flowers week 30

Wow, only 20 to go. Amazing how fast the year is going.

I'm looking forward to sharing something totally different and new with you in 2015. It will be a block of the month, kinda sorta, but not really. There will be stitching, quotes, Folk Art Fusion, wool felt and...well lots of fun. The best part is there will be no pressure to keep up. It will only last for 6 months. You can do as many or as few as you want. I've discovered that most people are worn out by June. January is boring and they are ready to start new things. By June, everyone is outside playing. I also find I don't want to be tied down to huge commitments. So...stay tuned for something different.

Until then, here is our 30th flower.

This is how it looked before I stitched it.

I combined the ric rac and the yarn.

Remember, you can join us anytime between now and December. Please click on the tab at the top of my blog to find out more.

Light, love and hugs to you,

Michelle and the Bunnies

Elizabeth Armstrong and her felt magic

Hi ya!

Good gracious am I ever running around like a crazy bunny. I rarely go on vacation and now I know why. It's so hard to catch up when I return. It was fun to get away though. ;)

One of the things I wanted to do on vacation was visit an alpaca farm. I'm infatuated with these wonderful creatures. Plus, I am becoming more and more infatuated with wet felting and all the amazing things you can create with wool roving. The farm wasn't open for tours when I was there, so I will have to plan another visit.

Today I would like to introduce you to Elizabeth Armstrong. She is an amazing fiber artist in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. You know I love my Aussie friends to bits!

I purchased Elizabeth's book a few months ago. Oh my...is it ever wonderful!

Her work is so full of color and adventure.

This is a piece she made for a school. How cool is that! I love that it is framed. I'm still thinking about whether or not to frame my art quilts. I'm a neat freak and always think about dust. hee,hee,hee.

Elizabeth teaches classes and sells some of her original pieces.

Hop over and visit her HERE. I know you will enjoy meeting her and if you are in Australia, you might even be able to sign up for one of her classes.

Light, love and hugs to you,

Michelle and the Bunnies

Hoppy Friday! Grateful for being an Auntie and Uncle

Hi ya! Hoppy Friday!

This week I am grateful for David and I being an Auntie and Uncle. Our youngest niece, Noelle and our nephew Jonathan came to visit the other week.

We had so much fun together. Noelle went for walks with me in the morning. I loved how she noticed all the same simple things in life that I find to be so beautiful. She even house gawked like I do! hee,hee,hee.

Jonathan calls Uncle David his best friend. David enjoys teaching Jonathan how to do things like change the oil in the car and cut the grass. They also love to play video games together and oh, they love to drive around in David's ZL1 Camaro wearing their matching ball caps.

They stayed for a week. We went to see Maleficent, ate at Olive Garden, swam in Captain's pool and had a cookout. We went to see the fireworks for 4th of July and played at the park.

We laughed and laughed about all kinds of things like me trying to feed them healthy, buckwheat pancakes, which apparently are only liked by me. hee,hee,hee

 
Captain even took Noelle out shopping and surprised her with a new dress (not the one in the photo above). Both  kiddo's were pouty face on Sunday when it was time to leave. They asked if they could just stay for the entire summer. My sister would have been pouty face about that. ;)

I'm grateful these two remarkable kids think we are cool and enjoy spending time with us. I have always felt the same way about my aunt and uncle. :)

So what are you grateful for this week?

Light, love and hugs to you,
Michelle and the Bunnies

Fellowship of the Flowers Week 29

And we keep stitching and stitching and stitching along! :)

This week the Peach Blossom returns.

Here's how it looked before I started stitching.

I found some sparkly, silk ribbon in my stash.

It adds a neat dimension couched around the flower.

At first, I had some French knots in the center of the stitching, but I decided I liked the beads better.

Hope you are having a fun week!

(Remember, my shop is open, but I won't be mailing packages until July 20)

Light, Love and Hugs,
Michelle and the Bunnies

The art of Liz Cooksey

Hi ya!

Today I would like to share the art of Liz Cooksey with you. I found her work through Pinterest.

You know this bunny piece caught my eye right away. ;)

What I love about her work is the brilliant combination of elements.

To me these patchwork sculptures are so interesting to look at with all the textures, shapes and dimensions.

I find her work to be charming with each piece telling it's own little story. I'm going to save my pennies and purchase a piece from her.

Do hop over and visit Liz. She has several galleries you can scroll through.

I do hope you enjoy discovering these artists. I have a really fun board on Pinterest. It's called Textile and Fiber Art. Hop over and take a look around and follow my board if you like.

(Don't forget my shop is open, but I won't be mailing any orders until July 20th)

Light, love and hugs to you,
Michelle and the Bunnies

Hoppy Friday! Lindsey Stirling, Best Friends and SUP

Hi ya! Hoppy Friday!

So what do Lindsey Stirling, Best Friends and Stand Up Paddle-Boarding have in common? Well they are three things I was very grateful for two weeks ago.

I had backstage passes to meet Lindsey Stirling in person! There were about 50-75 of us. We all lined up to meet her, have a photo taken and have her autograph something. What I found to be so nice is she gave each person a hug, asked their name and thanked them for coming to support her! What a super sweet girl!

I had her sign the CD cover for her new album (LOVE IT and you can buy it at Target), but I also gave her a gift.

 
I made her a honey bunny postcard. On the back I wrote a note in which I thanked her for sharing her beautiful gift of music with the world and how her music makes working in my studio a very "hop-bee" place to be. I included a little photo of Harrington and Hannah stating they were her fans. She asked me what I did and I told her I was a textile folk artist and crazy bunny lady. I told her my rescue bunnies live in my studio.

At the end of the concert, she thanked everyone for supporting her. She said nobody in the music industry believed in her and it was a hard road full of doubt and uncertainty. It was her fans who believed in her, made her dreams come true and she was grateful for all of us. Boy could I relate to that! Then she said she had the best time at the meet and greet and that she had met an artist and loved that everyone is so different, yet we all have a love of music in common. I had the biggest smile on my face. I guess she liked my gift.

The video at the bottom of the post is the actual opening act that night. Beth and I were right up at the front of the stage. This video was shot by somebunny behind us. It starts out dark because of the curtain, but stay tuned, it's worth watching. Beth and I stood for over 6 hours that night. Our old bodies felt it the next day. Sure is different seeing a concert at 16 versus 46. ;)

So that brings me to the second thing I was grateful for, my best friend of 34 years, Beth. Yep, we have been best friends since we were 12. We chat on the phone weekly, but she lives in West Virginia and I'm in North Carolina so we only get to see each other once a year. We meet up for some kind of adventure together.

Now mind you, we may be best friends, but we are polar opposites. Beth is athletic, strong, very smart, analytical and focused. Me? Well, I'm a crazy bunny lady who's mind runs wild hoping from one thing to the next, likes Starbucks coffee black, drinks red wine and talks to bunnies all day long like they really care what I have to say. I walk the neighborhood while Beth runs a 5k.

I heard a saying once about friendships like ours. The friendships that start when you are children. It said that they last because you met each other and knew each other when you were just you. I was just Shell and she was just Beth. When you get older and meet someone, the first things you say are "What do you do? Do you have children?" When you are little you simply say, "Hi, I'm Shell, what is your name?"

So, being the polar opposites we are and planning something fun for both of us on our yearly adventure, I planned the Lindsey concert while Beth planned Stand Up Paddle Boarding. Here we are getting ready to head out into the inlet. Oh my...

Now I wasn't worried about falling off as I have good balance and I can roller blade. I grew up in Virginia Beach and I'm not afraid of the water at all. 

What I was worried about is I have no upper body strength. I have snowman arms. Yep that's right, they are STICKS! Paddling against the wind was really hard. At one point I got down on my knees and silently yelled to myself, Stroke! Stroke! Stroke!  I also imagined a new Folk Art Fusion design I've been working on. It has turtles  with bunnies sitting on them with megaphones. You know, the tortoise and the hare kinda thing. That took my mind off the fact that I might be blown out to sea. hee,hee,hee.

But alas I made it and out of yet another crazy adventure Beth has talked me into. At least this one I walked away from without my knees knocking, being out of breath and in fear for my life. I actually had fun and would do it again. Perhaps on a less windy day. ;)

So, I'm grateful that life brings wonderful adventures with wonderful friends and creates wonderful moments in time to be treasured always.


Enjoy the video and let me know what you are grateful for this week!

xx,
Michelle and the Bunnies

ONE FINAL NOTE: I WILL BE AWAY ALL NEXT WEEK. ANY ORDERS PLACED IN MY SHOP WILL NOT BE MAILED UNTIL JULY 20TH. 

Fellowship of the Flowers - Week 28 and Art Walk

Hi ya!

This week the daisy is returning.

Here's how it looked before I stitched it (good gracious that photo is washed out).

I must say it's been challenging (in a fun way) to come up with different ideas to stitch 50 flowers.

Remember, you can join us anytime before December 20th. After that date, the patterns for the flowers, the bee and all 12 projects will no longer be available. However, the photos of the finished flowers will remain on my blog to inspire you.

Just a little shout out to my local friends. This Friday, July 11, I will be in downtown New Bern at Ballantyne Framing on Craven Street. The owners, Mary Kay and Marianne invited me to be their featured artist for Art Walk. I will be there from 5-8 with all the pieces from my book and some extras. I will be signing books should you wish to purchase a copy.

Ok, have a fun rest of your week and happy stitching! Oh and don't forget the sale on Valdani 3 strand floss. Colors are going fast so don't miss out!

xx,
Michelle and the Bunnies