Wordless Wednesday September 8, 2010

Where is the Brown Bunny?

Our newest little bunny has been in progress for over a month now - way longer than expected. The holidays definately created some delays - but that was not all. Unfortunately, I fell and broke my left elbow (oowwwwwie!) and that has slowed me way way down. Here is my poor little arm, in the u-g-l-y sling. :(



But our bunny really wants to be here, and so we have kept making progress. These pictures were taken by a variety of folks with a variety of cameras, but they will give you a good idea of how we have been progressing. One of the more complex activities is making the bunny's hind legs. Here I have begun the hind leg process. You can see that the circular part of the leg is much larger and flatter than we want on a bunny (or any creature!).



Here are the two hings legs, ready to be attached - and then, the attaching - and after that, the working of the legs into the actual leg shape. All this needling makes the bunny much stronger and keeps the legs from pulling off for ANYTHING. Take a look at this baby now, with his strong back legs! I added some more down wool to really firm things up and make the legs nice and long.

Then I created the front legs out of down wool - and covered them with the White New Zealand Corriedale Wool before attaching them. This makes it possible for me to give them a really good coat of the fine white, with fewer sticks of a needle into my fingers!

You can see that our bunny still looks pretty rough, with lots of visible joins of fiber. There is a lot of felting yet to do.

The next step is covering the bunny all over with the white Corriedale wool. This fine wool is perfect for a natural white, and really begins to give our bunny some nice fur. I start with one all over felting, and the bunny looks super soft and fuzzy. Then I follow up with two more feltings all over. Here is our fuzzy bun, and then a picture after the second felting. One more yet to come.

I should have that third felting completed tomorrow, and then I can REALLY have fun and move faster, as we add color, definition to the bunny's face, eyes, nose, mouth - and FINALLY, the ears! Now, in addition to one more all over felting with the beautiful white wool, I have started to card the browns together for the bunny's coat. The resulting color is more golden than I would like right now, so I am going to add some chocolate corriedale wool and see if I can get just the right beautifully textured woodland brown that this dear heart deserves. The hand carding is a bit rough with the arm, but I am planning to prevail upon Mr. Bryant for some assistance! I know he will help me - he is SUCH a sweetie! :)

A Bunny Begins

I am starting another new bunny for a delightful customer, and this one is going to be GORGEOUS, folks! I will document the process as I move through it, so you can enjoy this little creature as it comes to life. This should take me 3-4 days, so we will have updates right along. So, this bunny is going to be a floppy eared baby, with light camel and lovely white fur. My first step is gathering all my materials. Here is everything we need except a little pink and a little black fiber - along with the bunny that will be the older cousin.

Here is a close up view of the fiber that will be the base body of our little wild forest hare....this is 100% down wool.

The next picture shows the fiber that will be hand carded to make a lovely blend of camel colors for a warm coat. This is 100% New Zealand Corridale wool.

And here is our beautiful white Corridale wool that will be on our bunny's face and belly - and that, my friends, is the felting needle that will make all the magic happen.

And now here we go, beginning the body. I am using a multi-needle tool here to quickly build the dense body. I am working with the down wool here, and using a foam pillow in my lap to protect myself from needle sticks. :):)

More to come soon - I am ------- off to create!

Much more life going on than reflected here....

You might think that all is peaceful, calm, relaxed, and otherwise not noteworthy in life around here, if you read this blog. I am amazed at how little I have to say, these days.

But yes, under the quiet of the web silence, there is more...yes, oh yes, there's more. For example:
1. DD and change and learning and heartbreak
2. DP is buying a new house and moving
3. We are the proud owners of Gizmo
4. DH's momma is slipping away in a heartbreaking way
5. Work is proceeding, demanding my focus in places where it is hard – and so, it is hard. Hmpfh
6. MONEY needs my attention - and oh, how I loathe owning that responsibility
7. Crafting is demanding my time as the shop reopens in 10 days
8. We are in the middle of the 40 days to personal transformation for Yoga, and it is pulling my thinking around responsibility, focus, and drive - while making me have discipline - ug
9. Family wants attention
10. Possible land opportunity in the mountains is taking some thinking time - then see # 6
11. Diet for health is part of the big focus as well

Ok, so I'm busy. But not too busy to write. Not anymore. I owe posts on each of these, and on the felting of the pink bunny, the orange and green dragon, the trip to the mountains, the Design Your Life class, Maddie and the FISH diet (subtitled - What would you do to look like Cameron Diaz?), the challenge of finding a creative focus in the middle of everything, the just honest green envy I feel when I see people who HAVE found that focus, and The Dreadful Cold. Oh, and also The Book Thief.

So here is my commitment. Every day until I catch up. This being the first, but certainly not the last, entry. A discipline around writing. Communicating. Crafting a story. Weaving together the stories of life.

Yes, and there will be pictures too. That is a hard part of the discipline for me, just so you know. There is more work involved in taking the pictures, getting them to the computer from the camera, and then getting things loaded on the web. But hear me now - I will include them, and I will write.

So here, for your enjoyment, is the red bunny and the first bunny. Steph has promised me a picture of the pink bunny, because I already gave her to Jaya.

Two Feltings

A Bowl and a Bunny. More in the works. Whatcha think of these? Hmmmm? :)
Great fun, this needle-felting.