Purple Peacocks

"Down Briarside Lane, Purple Peacocks are Proud of Their Plumes."

Another project that will be in my book (available next month in my shop). I had such a fun time making this one and I'm so loving the colors. There are no rules with Folk Art. It's suppose to be fun, not fussy, so if you want purple peacocks, you can have them! :) :) :)

The borders in all these project are hand stitched in a primitive style stitch with Valdani 3 strand, colorfast floss.

The wool applique is also hand stitched with Valdani while the black background is machine quilted.

This project was completely inspired by my friend and one of my most favorite artists, Jeri Landers, of Hopalong Hollow. You see Jeri has two peacocks that live at the hollow. She calls them            "The Peabody Boys."

Here they are on the gate while Jeri stands in the garden. Jeri's husband, James, took this photo and I think it is just so magical! I love it! I also love the bunnies cut into the gate!

I know you will truly enjoy visiting with Jeri and all the critters in the Hollow, so hop over and visit. Tell her we said hello!

Have a fun and inspiring day.

xx, Michelle and the Bunnies

Gathering Inspiration

When people ask me what inspires my designs, most of the time I say music. I listen to music all day long and find it very powerful. I love all kinds of music and my mood usually dictates what I listen to. Lyrics help me to imagine things.

However, sometimes I need to hop out of Bunnyville, breathe some fresh air, and use my eyes instead of my ears for inspiration. I go gathering.

The "friends entry" to my home.

Then I return to Bunnyville where I turn the music back on and gaze around at the fuzzy inspiration that resides there.

So what inspires you?

xx, Michelle and the Bunnies

Continuing with imagination

So lately, I've been having lots of fun imagining things. Every morning I get up and go for a walk really early. I like being outside when the day is fresh and new. I love all the critters, the sounds and the smell of the air.

Right now all the Mimosa tree's are blooming. I find them so pretty and they smell so sweet. I stopped on the sidewalk and picked up three little blooms.

Right away I imagined all kinds of things with these little blooms. They look kinda fancy in the bunny creamer my mom gave me. A fancy parisol? A hat?

Then I thought about Dr. Seuss. Oh how I love all the Dr. Seuss stories. When I was in second grade I use to read these stories to the kindergarten class (yes, I thought I was hot stuff).

I thought of Horton Hears a Who. I wondered if Dr. Seuss had Mimosa tree's in his yard and he imagined them into this story.

This video is my most favorite part of the whole movie. Katie just makes me laugh and laugh.

http://youtu.be/xJkaKAIl_Fc

Have fun in your little world today.

xx, Michelle and the bunnies