fantastic creatures you can wear!

My little blue elephant pendant was included in this Lark Crafts blog posting about animal jewelry!

Elephabet on OPB!

Being a big time public radio geek, I was thrilled to be recently profiled in a nice little video piece about Elephabet on Oregon Public Broadcasting's website--by jeweler and erstewhile videographer Sarah Fox!

Click here to watch the video!

Elephabet off to print!

Hurrah! I have finally completed and submitted my files for the Elephabet book! I should have them in my hands by Thanksgiving! Here's a few sneak preview pages of the cover and interior:

And here's some images from the workbook, titled Do-it-your-Selfabet, which will be available at Amazon.com in a few weeks!

Sometime before the end of the month, I will update my website to have links to purchase any or all of these! All Righty! No time for rest...there's an animation to make!

C is for Cuckoophant!

Hurrah! I have finally completed all of the elephants for Elephabet!

Cuckoophant proved to be a challenge, as its namesake cuckoo clock, this tradition is rich with detail! Part of the holdup was that I wanted to get some decorative trim to add to the forms, as well as the cedar shingles for the roof. I'm pretty happy with the results:

This piece is modeled after the more colorful Swiss chalet style cuckoo clocks.

And this is an homage to the original Black Forest style, which are so much more ornate and my favorites of all.

(If you click on either of these images, you can see a larger version of them.)

Don't forget, if you missed out on pre-ordering your copy through Kickstarter, I'm still taking orders on my website. Click here for more information.

So, what's next, you ask? Well, now I can officially launch into the planning of the book. I'll check in next week to fill you in on those details, as well as a visit to my niece Alex's 2nd grade classroom, who have been following the project. See you later, elephagator!

Two more letters before pre-sales end!

Hello Beautiful Person!

It's time to reveal letters H and W from the Elephabet Book, the last of the original work I will be able to show before the end of my Kickstarter campaign. More on that at the end of this posting, but for now, let's get down to it....

Those of you who watched the behind-the-scenes video I posted a few days ago saw the very early stages of the Hulaphants, who will be representing the letter H.

We begin with the actual Hulaphant. She will be $100.

Ukelelephant will be $100 as well

Beachiphant is also $100.

And, of course, pineapplephant, who will be $75.

Letter W is Wanderlustiphant, and was inspired by two pieces I showed you earlier that I thought would be part of the Dwellephant series. Wanderlust is a word of German origin that refers to a love of adventure and travel.

I decided to make a larger version of my VW bus so now it's like mama and baby. The large piece will be $100 and the smaller one will be $75.

I also made a mama Airstreamaphant. The large piece will be $150 and the smaller one is now $100.

Last, but not least, I wanted to pay tribute to the classic family road trip cars from the mid- to late-20th century cars with wood-paneled siding. The kids and pets piled in so luggage was on top. This piece will be $75.

So...now I want to tell you just a little bit about what I'll be revealing in the next few weeks because there's only 24 hours left to adjust your Kickstarter pledge! The one letter of the alphabet I have to complete is C, and those elephants will be inspired by cuckoo clocks. I expect they will be in the $100 to $150 range.

I also need to go back and fill in the rest of the elephants with letters on their backs that will help the animation move along.

These pieces will make up the majority of the $45 elephants, a pledge level that has sold out. Every letter will match its theme, of course.

Okay...that's it! Thank you again so very very much to everyone who has pre-ordered their copy of the book or original elephants. Your affirmation of this project means so much to me and I am so thankful to have the funds to be able to produce a higher quality product with your help! I'll check in next week when I have more to show you. For those of you still waiting to grab your book or original elephant, you have less than 24 hours to get in on the fun! Have a great weekend!!

Let the intergalactiphants roulez!

As we wind down the last (gulp!) 48 hours of my Kickstarter pre-sales of Elephabet, I have two more elephants to reveal this morning.

First, we have our Intergalactiphants, representing the letter I. (Special thanks to Jennifer at Green Bean Books for supplying the nifty space helmets from her vending machines!)

Rockephant will be $150

Lunaphant will be $100

Galaxiphant will be $100

and little martiaphant shall be $45.

The last letter of the alphabet had some great choices, and I opted for Zydephant, honoring the music and, of course, culinary traditions of the Zydeco capital of the world, New Orleans.

Accordiophant is shaped like an accordion and will be $150.

Zydephant has washboard ears and a fiddle on the gator's back. He will be $100.

And last, but not least....

This rather large foodiephant will be $150 - includes crawfish, pepper, corn on the cob, and a play on the Tabasco logo on the ear. I am still not sure what to call him, so if you have any suggestions.....

Tomorrow I shall reveal the last two elephants I will be able to finish before the Kickstarter campaign ends. That will only leave one last letter you won't get to see, but I expect to reveal that next week. Don't forget--if you've pledged at a level to receive one of these pieces from the book/video project, you get first dibs, next in line are the rest of the Kickstarter supporters, and if you missed the boat on this, what's remaining will be available to the general public in early December. Thanks everyone for your amazing support of this project! It is exceeding my original expectations and I am re-investing the surplus in a better quality book. Until then, laisser les bons temps rouler!

Y is for......

Hello again Elephabet fans! I'm excited to finally bring you my letter Y. Are you ready for it? Y is for Yippie-ki-Yayiphant. It's what the cowboys say, dontchaknow?

I made two of these little dogies:

blue bandana with spur and ten gallon hat $150

and a red bandana with a cowboy hat also $150.

I have a second letter completed today - J - which is for Jeansiphant. If you know me, you know that I rarely am seen in public without my blue jeans, so I couldn't resist this one. Note that it's not Blue Jeansiphant, using the B, because I have a much better entry for my B, which I'm finishing up this week. Stay tuned!

(The eyes are rivets, just in case you can't see it here!) The smaller one will be $55 and the larger one will be $75.

There's about 25 days, more or less, in my Kickstarter campaign for the Elephabet Book! Still plenty of time to tell all your friends about it. Although I reached my initial goal in record time, I later realized that there were so many more hardback books ordered than I initially anticipated, so I am now trying to double my initial Kickstarter goal in order to get a larger quantity of these books at a better price. This will insure that I can keep the retail price the same later, but you only get free shipping, the set of buttons, early notice of the original artwork going on sale, AND my eternal gratitude if you pre-order now! Thanks, friends, for helping me spread the gospel that is Elephabet.

(Oh, and one last thing before I go. I also decided that for all Portland residents, I will personally deliver your Kickstarter pledges wearing my bunny suit. Yippie-ki-YAY!)

This update brought to you by the letters B and X (and maybe I)

Hello again, beautiful person! In spite of the recent shocking headlines, I am nonetheless here to introduce two new letters to the Elephabet.

First, we have letter D, which was almost H. Let me explain. I'm assuming that most of you dear readers have seen my Kickstarter video explaining the pieces I had made thus far for the Elephabet book. WELL...at that time I had a number of elephants that surrounded the idea of housing and was thusly dubbing them "Habitatiphants." I have recently decided that the most appropriate name should really be "Dwellephants." Much better, huh? Here's the batch of Dwellephants you saw in the video, with estimated prices:

habitatiphant $150

Hi-Risiphant $150

Tipiphant $75

I haven't included this one here, mainly because I'm contemplating giving Iglooiphant its own letter I. Igloo is such a great word......stay tuned for details.

This piece will also be $150.

I also made this LogCabiphant for the D category:

This piece will also be $150.

Last, but not least, I have these two pieces that were part of the initial Dwellephant concept. But, like Iglooiphant, I am not sure they belong in this category. It started with Airstreamaphant

This piece will probably also be $150.

I made this VWBusiphant to tow the Airstreamaphant through the video, but the trunks prove to be a bit of a logistical problem when put together. It just doesn't look right. I still like him though!!

This piece will probably be around $75. I'll decide when I'm in the graphics stage of this process whether they make it into the book, but they'll definitely be available for sale when the rest of this work goes on my Etsy site in November.

Moving on, I decided to go with the classic alphabet book word for X, X-Ray. And that makes X-Rayiphant. I couldn't resist painting the skeletal graphic design I thought of, plus a view into the recently consumed foods by these pachyderms:

This one has eaten a pear, orange, and apple, as evidenced in its stomach cavity.

This one ate a big circus peanut, and is the same on both sides.

Okay...that's it for now. I am finishing up Y right now and will reveal it in a day or two. In the meantime, let's see if you can guess what it will be!

Meet the Foodiephants!

Hello Beautiful Person! I'm thrilled to announce that I met my Kickstarter goal the other day! Thank you to everyone who has pre-purchased their copies or got their foot in the door to own one of the original pieces from the book/animation! If you haven't pledged yet, there's still time to get yours at a slightly reduced price through Kickstarter.

Today, I'm going to present four new letters from the Elephabet book-- and all are food or beverage related words.

We begin with F, which is for Fromagiphant. This comes from fromage, the French word for cheese. I could have gone on and on and on in this category, but limited it to three for now. (Note: the numbers in parentheses after their names is the price I expect to list them at later in the year when they become available.)

Francophant, carrying a nice slice of brie on his back. ($75)

Nacho Cheesiphant ($75)

and Ham& Swissiphant. ($75)


Next up are the two I made for the letter G. These Guacamolephants are inspired by tasty guacamole themes.


This one has the three main ingredients for making guacamole ($75)


And this one has a stone molcajete on its back, ready for action. ($75)


Thirsty? Meet the Quaffiphants! The term quaff means to drink, so I thought I'd honor my favorite beverages.....

We start with Earl Grayiphant ($45)

Moving on to Coffephant ($75) (my little tribute to New York!)

And HotChocliphant ($45)

SixPackiphant $75

Martiniphant, Margaritaphant and Microbrewiphant are all $45 each.

A is for Acrobatiphant!

Yippeee! I have another letter to show you from the Elephabet Book, which is inching closer and closer towards realizing its Kickstarter goal! I proclaim that A is for Acrobatiphant, combining the word acrobat with elephant, thinking it would be a good thing to start with a simpler portmanteau to get the ball rolling when one is reading the eventual book from A to Z. Not to mention the fact that I love stacking animals and things on top of animals and things, both in real life and in Bunnywood, where all the Bunny with a Toolbelt creatures live. (Note: it is much easier to do this in Bunnywood!)

Here are my three attempts at Acrobatiphant:
This apple-licious one is the largest, and will probably be priced around $150

This one is only slightly smaller in stature, but more complex, so it will also be around $150.

This one's actually the smallest of the bunch, and will probably be priced around $85.

Before I go, I want to give a big Bunny with a Toolbelt shout out to my niece Alma who affixed over 50 stamps to my Elephabet Kickstarter promo postcards yesterday! I told her about ye olden days when you had to either lick all the stamps, or set up a damp sponge on a plate. The responded as any seven-year-old in their right mind should: Ewwwwwww!

Thanks everyone for your support! I feel so happy that I'm finally realizing this project and, thanks to Kickstarter, it's really fun to be able to do it with a community of well-wishers. I wish you all the best as well!

Not a supporter yet? Click here and join in on the fun!