memo to customers: you rock!

My super fantastic graphic designer/go go gadget girl Peggy designed and printed some new note cards for me! Yay Peggy! As soon as I get some matching envelopes, every Bunny with a Toolbelt purchase will come with one blank gift enclosure card in one of four different designs! (my choice of gator, birthday dog, topiary, or elephant unless you request a certain one!) Thanks Pegster! You're the BEST!

giraffe family

sneak preview

Bunny with a Toolbelt is teaming up with Ice Cream Truck Face (aka Tripper Dungan) for a two person show next month at Guardino Gallery. (Opens August 27!) We got together the other night to chalk out the gallery space on my back patio so we could see how much work we still had to make. I'm happy that I only have one piece yet to create, but a bunch of finishing to do is in the horizon. Here's some pictures I took of our planning party. Enjoy!









Mark your calendars! I'll post more images of individual pieces as I come down the homestretch the next 30 days. Ciao!

why walk when you can boogie down the aisle!

They're with the band...

This customer was making the wedding cake for her sister's celebration, and wanted to surprise the couple with custom cake toppers. The groom plays the guitar and the bride plays harmonica--thought this made a sweet pair. I hope they'll send photos of the finished cake so I can see how it all came out!

Bunny sighting!

At the Lurie Gardens in Chicago....a doctor wearing his new Bunny with a Toolbelt "Eat your vegetables" t-shirt!

party animals

another special request from one of my special customers!

a wedding proposal to remember

unicorns+giraffes=love

I get a lot of special orders from couples who each identify with a different animal, rather than the same animal sets I usually offer in my Etsy store. This was a sweet commission to make a unicorn bride, and I think she turned out really sweet. I thought the horn should be sparkly, and am glad the customer agreed! The blue flowers are the colors of their wedding.

penguin family

Here's a special set of bride and groom penguins with kidlets I made earlier this summer. It's for a hockey playing family from Pittsburgh who thought everyone should be on the groom's cake. Cuteness!

and the winner is.....

Hello Beautiful People! Well, it's time to announce the winner of the first ever Bunny with a Toolbelt Limerick Contest! There were 26 entries in our inaugural limerick contest. I invited my sweetie Christian to help me sift through the entries at one of our favorite local joints, the Fifth Quadrant, which serves up an incredible pint of C-Note and a delectable selection of meal-worthy salads, just perfect for an 85 degree Oregon summer evening. First things first: we refreshed ourselves with the basics of limerick writing. The highlights, according to the eHow "How to Write a Limerick" site, cited in the contest instructions, are:
1. five lines of verse (everyone followed this most basic of rules)
2. the following 8 or 9 syllable stress pattern and rhyme in lines 1,2,5: da-DA-da-da-DA-da-da-DA da (last "da" is optional) --a lot of entries sadly had to be disqualified due to an over-abundance of syllables in one or more of these lines.
3. the third and fourth lines should go: da-DA da-da-DA da--and rhyme with each other.
4. "exploit puns and wordplay"--which is, to me, what makes a true limerick.

That said, we had several finalists. Our runner up was Katherine's clever limerick about Emeril Lagasse, which you can read by clicking here.

But the winner of the 2009 Bunny with a Toolbelt Limerick Contest is....
Garth Johnson's entry about the Public Radio Birdie:


Rest on these speakers a spell, son
To hear radio news that is well done
from reporters acclaimed
with elliptical names
like Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson.

Congratulations Garth! You win $100 worth of schwag in the Bunny with a Toolbelt Etsy store!!

I'd also like to give a shout out to 10 year old Elizabeth K. who submitted three entries! (numbers 16, 18, and 25)

Thanks to everyone who entered. This was so much fun that I decided to have contests more often! To find out when the next one will be, sign up for my mailing list by clicking here.

Limerick Contest Ends!

Thanks to everyone who entered my limerick contest! All entries have been posted on this site and judging will commence. Stay tuned...the esteemed committee meets tonight to determine the winner! It will be announced here on the blog, on the official Facebook Fan site, and on my Twitter feed.

Limerick entry #26!!

There once was a bluebird named Cher,
who was unable to get up in the air.
So henrietta the cow,
made a solem vow,
to ferry her friend everywhere.

submitted by Lindsay Jennings

Bunny with a Toolbelt Limerick Contest ends at midnight tonight! (PST) Try your hand at the time honored craft of wordsmithing and be eligible to win my amazing grand prize! Click here for more information. For more information about this item, click here.

limerick entry #25!!

FLASH!FLASH!FLASH!FLASH!FLASH!
"Stop using the camera or you'll get an awful bash!"
The wielder of cameras replied:
"This camera is cockeyed,"
"But for your picture, I still want cash"

submitted by Kathy

Bunny with a Toolbelt Limerick Contest ends at midnight tonight! (PST) Try your hand at the time honored craft of wordsmithing and be eligible to win my amazing grand prize! Click here for more information. For more information about this item, click here.

Limerick Entry #24

The man in black seemed to be quite sour
but in his heart lived a small flower
That grew love in the light
Of the lady in white
and tick talked like the old clock tower

Keith & Crystal Waye

Bunny with a Toolbelt Limerick Contest ends at midnight tonight! Try your hand at the time honored craft of wordsmithing and be eligible to win my amazing grand prize! Click here for more information. For more information about this item, click here.

Limerick entry #23!!

Let me tell you all 'bout a heart dropper,
Someone ran off with our Cake Toppers
Or they tossed 'em in the trash
At our little wedding bash
They're hard to replace 'cuz we're Paupers

a sad but true story, made into a limerick by Keith & Crystal Waye

Bunny with a Toolbelt Limerick Contest ends at midnight tonight! Try your hand at the time honored craft of wordsmithing and be eligible to win my amazing grand prize! Click here for more information. For more information about this item, click here.

limerick entry #22!!

His heart was held on by a string
The girl to him was everything
He thought it quite wise
To play “In Your Eyes”
Like Cusack in “Say Anything”

submitted by Katherine

Bunny with a Toolbelt Limerick Contest ends at midnight July 14, 2009! Try your hand at the time honored craft of wordsmithing and be eligible to win my amazing grand prize! Click here for more information. For more information about this item, click here.

lovebirds

This was a custom design I made earlier this summer, combining the ubiquitous Bunny with a Toolbelt simple bird and my wedding cake toppers on detachable base. Great ideas often come from my customers!

limerick entry #21!!

there once was a scary parolee
whose face was covered in pozole
he said with a grin
as he wiped off his chin
that he wished it was Sylvia Poggioli

from Garth Johnson at Extreme Craft

Bunny with a Toolbelt Limerick Contest ends at midnight July 14, 2009! Try your hand at the time honored craft of wordsmithing and be eligible to win my amazing grand prize! Click here for more information. For more information about this item, click here.

Robot Fix

Here's a great website I just found about from one of my limerick contest entrants--it's called Robot a Day although the author has recently scaled that promise down to two a week or "as often as humanly possible." They make me smile.

limerick entry #20

The owls said all their vows in rhyme
and the animals thought it high time.
Of the weddings I've seen,
this was fit for a queen.
Oh how we'll remember the bells chime.

Submitted by Amy Jones

Bunny with a Toolbelt Limerick Contest ends at midnight July 14, 2009! Try your hand at the time honored craft of wordsmithing and be eligible to win my amazing grand prize! Click here for more information. For more information about this item, click here.

Limerick Entry #19!

Rest on these speakers a spell, son
To hear radio news that is well done
from reporters acclaimed
with elliptical names
like Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson

from Garth Johnson at Extreme Craft

Bunny with a Toolbelt Limerick Contest ends at midnight July 14, 2009! Try your hand at the time honored craft of wordsmithing and be eligible to win my amazing grand prize! Click here for more information. For more information about this item, click here.

Limerick Entry #18!!!

A bird was on vacation
to feel the sensation
of being on an island
for he was from the Highland
Truth is, he just hated conversation

submitted by Kathy

Bunny with a Toolbelt Limerick Contest now through July 14! Click here for more information. For more information about this item, click here.

limerick entry #17!!

There once was a squirrel named Jake
Who wanted to make a cake.
He made up his bed,
put a hat on his head,
and a pretty pink cake he did bake!

submitted by Alice

Bunny with a Toolbelt Limerick Contest now through July 14! Click here for more information. For more information about this item, click here.

limerick entry #16!!

A bird was a skater
He sat on a gator
Thinking to himself
"What a scaly shelf"
And he sat on that gator 'til later

submitted by Elizabeth K, who turned me onto two great websites. Click here to see one, and I'll post a blog about the other one soon because it's got great images!

Bunny with a Toolbelt Limerick Contest now through July 14! Click here for more information. For more information about this item, click here.

limerick entry #15!!

Chef Emeril Lagasse’s no joke
According to this little bloke
Who, try as he may
Still burned the soufflé
Thus filling his house up with smoke.

from Katherine

Bunny with a Toolbelt Limerick Contest now through July 14! Click here for more information.

limerick entry #14!!

A squirrel once pretended to scavenge for nuts
And his friend thought him a real and true klutz
Because he only gathered hearts
But in the end he showed real smarts
Saying I’d rather have love than look at squirrel smut.

submitted by Angela Evans

Bunny with a Toolbelt Limerick Contest now through July 14! Click here for more information. For more information about this item, click here.

true colors

So I made these three new elephant designs, right? And I'm listing them on Etsy and looking for the perfect descriptive words to tag two of them, who are sporting some pretty fabulous minty green ears. Hmmm....is that really mint green? Maybe it's more, oh I don't know, celadon? Cucumber? What other words are used to describe that particular shade of green? I turn to Google, as I am wont to do and found this interesting article from 2002 that talks about the true color of the universe being a mint green. Who knew? If that statement has piqued your curiosity, click here to read more. Otherwise, I invite you to gaze upon the latest additions to the Bunny with a Toolbelt menagerie.

limerick entry #13!!

A giraffe and chicken tried to show love and affection
In an affair that seemed the height of perfection
But they could not embrace
For the chicken couldn’t reach his face
So instead the giraffe practiced neck flexion!

submitted by Angela Evans

Bunny with a Toolbelt Limerick Contest now through July 14! Click here for more information. For more information about this item, click here.

limerick entry #12!!

An elephant once challenged a bird to a game
Over a six pack of beer he did proclaim
I bet I can beat you in beer pong
The bird tweeted “You’re so wrong”
And the sport of Beirut was never the same

submitted by Angela Evans

Bunny with a Toolbelt Limerick Contest now through July 14! Click here for more information. For more information about this item, click here.

Blue Energy!

Yay! I can finally share a commission I did last spring for my sister-in-law, who wanted me to make a special set for my brother Mathias for his early July birthday. Mathias runs a nonprofit organization called Blue Energy, who builds wind turbines for poor communities in Eastern Nicaragua. Click here to read more about Blue Energy. Cheers!

limerick entry #11!!

There once was a bird that was so tall
His bride couldn’t reach him at all
Before the wedding she did scurry
To buy leg extensions in a hurry
And their love was sweeter than 10,000 gum balls.

submitted by Angela Evans

Bunny with a Toolbelt Limerick Contest now through July 14! Click here for more information. For more information about this item, click here.

squirrels!

You asked for it...you got it. Go nuts, people!