moose and mouse wedding

Here's a really sweet commission I did recently--the couple asked me to recreate their totem animals: a moose and a mouse. They wanted them to touch noses on the cake. I have spent a fair amount of time in the great state of Maine, so it was really fun to try my hand at a moose figure. These figures are not attached to the base, so they will sit alone on the wedding cake, but the display stand is for home use later.


My love poem contest ends soon! Click here for details on how you can win a $100 gift certificate to my Etsy shop!

Love Poem Contest Entry #2!!

Of Two Penguins And Their Lives To Come
by bottledinsanity

My heart pounds deep inside my chest
As we lock fingers and embrace,
And stand beside each other closely,
Catching glimpses of your face.

We face each other frozen still,
Our gazes locked in icy blue.
My ears are ringing loud and heavy,
Barely hearing your “I do.”

Your lovely face is part obscured
By veils of white and blushes red.
But black and white do suit you, darling,
As do the flowers atop your head.

My turn at last as fears do grow
Inside my heart of hearts this day.
Can I make your days be happy?
Will you always want to stay?

But as I turn with you, the world
Withdraws, and with you at my side,
I know my fears are unfounded
As we lock lips as groom and bride.


Just a few more days to enter the Bunny with a Toolbelt love poem contest and win $100 worth of my stuff! Learn more about it by clicking here.

the ballerina and the soldier

I received a very sweet commission last month to recreate a version of the characters from a beloved Hans Christian Andersen story The Steadfast Tin Soldier.

This project, as well as a few others I did last year, inspired me to create a new custom listing option in my Etsy Shop. I am now taking commissions to make figures for your favorite children's book. Of course, I could be swayed to do just about any book you like. Try me.

deer wedding cake toppers

Here's a recent commission for deer wedding cake toppers--soon a variation on this theme will become a new regular product in my Etsy shop! Check back in February when my 2010 cake topper line makes its official debut.



Want a set of deer cake toppers for yourself? Don't forget we're having a love poem contest and the winner takes home a $100 gift certificate! Click here for the lowdown.

Love Poem Contest Entry #1!!

This poem reminds me of when I was fortunate enough to go see Gwendolyn Brooks read in New York when I was in college. I love her language and it's hilarious to me that there's a little Bunny with a Toolbelt in that experience.

Bebe saw my Nasty Little Secret figures and was inspired to write this piece:

~Love Poem~

They met on the net

at the place called Et(sy)

'n she said to him

'n he said to her

what do you like



'n she said to him

'n he said to her

I heart you

'n she hearted him



'n then he said lets meet

'n she said lets meet

but little did he know

'n little did she know that

they both had

a nasty little secret



he wrote to her

'n she wrote to him

where’ll we meet

'n he thought

bar n grille

'n she said no

how 'bout the

café aujourd’hui

'n he said no

'n he said to her

'n she said to him

let’s think about it




he thought out loud with

an "awwwww . . . ."

'n she thought out loud with

an "ayyyyyyy. . . . . ."

'n then he wrote

'n she wrote

how 'bout Hollywood 'n Vine

'n he said yes

'n she said yes



'n then he said

'n she said

Will you be Mine?

'n he said yes

'n she said yes

but what they both didn’t

know is that they both

had a nasty little secret



Well, she stood at Hollywood 'n Vine

with a crowd gathered round

'n then he came up 'n looked around

'n then he saw

'n then she saw

a plume of white smoke

'n then he knew

'n she knew

there was a nasty little secret



the crowd parted to the right

'n then he saw her

'n she saw him

'n it was love at first sight

even with that nasty little secret

----

Bebe is also known on Etsy as Peony Street (She's also having a giveaway on her blog, which you can see here.)

Psst! Wanna enter my love poem contest and win $100 worth of my stuff? All you need to know is yours by clicking here.

I pick you.

Remember back in the olden days when a boy would "pin" a girl to show the world that they were "going steady?" Well, I'm revising that timeless tradition by including an adorable little 1" heart squirrel button with every order between now and Valentine's Day. So you can get something for your sweetie AND for yourself, all in one fell swoop! If you want in on the romantic action, they're available in my CafePress shop, where you can get them one at a time, or at a bulk discount for 10 or 100.

show some love and win BIG!

Hello Beautiful Person! It's time for another brand new Valentine-themed contest! This time the theme is love poems. Pick one of the characters from the Etsy Shop, blog, Facebook or Flickr photo albums and write a love poem dedicated to that little cutie. You can also be creative with the theme--one figure wooing another.....have fun with it! Your poem can be a simple "roses are red...." kind of thing, a parody of a famous romantic ode, or an all-out epic. Email it to me at bunnywithatoolbelt@gmail.com when you're done and I'll post it on the blog and Facebook fan page, along with a link and tag to the website or blog of your heart's desire! Please make sure you tell me which figure(s) your poem is about, and if it's a parody or homage, send all the info about that so I can credit it.

Keep those entries coming--you can enter as many times as you wish between now and February 1, but only one mushy entry will win a $100 gift certificate to my Etsy shop to buy yourself a super sweet valentine gift. Starting February 5, we'll hold another vote to see who's the best bard of all. I'll announce the next phase here and on my Facebook Fan Page so stay tuned, loved ones!

happy new new new!

Hello friends! Need a reason to smile in 2010?? I added three new designs to the Bunny with a Toolbelt cafe press site! Here's a sneak preview for you, but these images are available on all kinds of cool stuff. Click here to see the whole shop!

a Christmas story about A Penguin Story

I wanted to share with you the Christmas present I made for my nieces and their parents. It started with a walk down the street from where I live to Green Bean Books, a wonderful community bookstore for readers of all ages. (Heavy focus on younger readers) I found a great book in their front window called A Penguin Story, which seemed perfect to me because it's wintry, has cute animals as the stars that I already know how to render, great color scheme, and talks about science which is good for any young girl to start contemplating.
I read through the book and picked out elements of the story that seemed important, and made them in my Bunny with a Toolbelt style. Then I wrapped each gift separately and put a number on the top. I put a correspondingly numbered post-it note in the book so that the pieces could be opened as the story unfolded.

Sadly, I did not get to see either family open their gifts, but it was a fun project. Happy holidays everyone!

happy holidays!!

Video by United Fakes

cute commissions

Phew--got all my shipping out finally. Now I can tell you about a few last minute commissions I got this year. First, another dog owner wanted me to render her pups. This one's Boo, a Jack Russell who has a snaggletooth.


Her second doggie is a little chihuahua named Hammy. This hamburger squeak toy was one of her favorite playthings, so the customer asked if I could make a hamburger to put atop Hammy's head. I wasn't sure if it would fit, but am really happy with the results!


And then she had me do a third dog for her grandmother, who's in love with her new puppy named Wilma. She decided to have me add a crown atop her head to let everyone know how important she is!!

epicutealicious

mmmm....my rumball Santa was just discovered by epicute, a blog devoted to cute food. Wow--I'm going to have to visit this one at least once a week to see more images like this miniature scene above by virginhoney. Or the banana nutella sandwich by bentomom. Thanks epicute!

little things

The Little Things show at Guardino Gallery continues.... Oregon Public Broadcasting's KC Cowan wrote an article about this great show where you can get your holiday shopping done in one fell swoop. You can read her article by clicking here. (My Santas even got a mention!)

and the winner is.....

Phew! Of course the internet went down just as I was sitting down to tally votes. But I am now back on board and ready to announce the winner of the first Bunny with a Toolbelt photo contest. (Did you notice I typed the word "first"?? Details at the end of this post!)

I had to use my reserved rights to not count votes that didn't follow the rules, as well as adjusting for the fact that the two highest vote getters were submitted by the same person (one prize per person)

So without further ado, I present to you the winner in the MOST HILARIOUS category:
Flower Guy by Susan! Congratulations--you get one of the $100 gift certificates to my Etsy shop!



There's a tie for MOST ORIGINAL, with eight votes each going to.....

Succuphant by Ashley


and Dog Walk on Haunted Hill as portrayed by Tashina.
You will split the prize, each getting a $50 gift certificate!

And by a landslide,the PEOPLE'S CHOICE award went to the cute little mooooooo cow!
Congratulations, little doggie, you get a $100 gift certificate! I hope you'll share it with your mom Janet!


I decided to also offer a consolation prize to Rebecca, who had plenty of votes but unfortunately they were split between most hilarious and most original. I couldn't agree more, plus I think anyone who's willing to wear their food deserves a little something. Rebecca, I will be mailing you the fungi and feathers piece for your heroic efforts in the name of Bunny with a Toolbelt.


Thanks for playing everyone, that was fun! I decided to do it again this summer, so put your thinking caps on now. I have planned many more contests for 2010 if performance art isn't your thing. If you want to be sure not to miss any of them, sign up for my email list, join the facebook fan page, or check back on the Bunny with a Toolbelt blog or Etsy shop announcements. We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

Let the voting begin!!

Okay folks! It's time to vote on your favorite photos in my holiday contest!! Voting will be open until midnight, (Pacific Standard Time) December 14th. Look back in the recent archives at the Bunny with a Toolbelt blog or the Bunny with a Toolbelt Facebook Fan Page and view all eight entries. Then leave a comment to this post (in either place) telling me your three choices for the following categories:

1. most hilarious
2. most creative
3. people's choice

I reserve the right to not count votes that don't follow these simple rules:
One vote per person, please, and you can't vote for the same entry for more than one category.

I will tally the results on Tuesday, December 15, 2009 and award the three $100 gift certificates!

holiday contest entry #8!!

Okay, here it is, what seems to be the last contest entry! If anything else comes into my inbox in the next few minutes as we count down to midnight. Tomorrow I'll set up a voting system, so stay tuned for those details!

Here's the entry, based on this piece in my Etsy shop.

holiday contest entry #7!!

We're seeing a lot of pets who are obvious fans of my Bunny with a Toolbelt critters. I have long been intrigued by animals dressed up as other animals, so here's the dog's interpretation of my Mooooooooooooooo cow.....time is ticking away folks! Read below for contest rules!!



***DEADLINE IS SATURDAY DECEMBER 12 AT 11:59PM PST!***

Here are the contest rules again just in case we've caught your attention!

This time it's a photo contest--take a gander at the items in my Etsy shop, blog archives, or Facebook fan page and pick one to emulate. It's up to you how elaborate you want to get, but take a picture of yourself acting like one of my figures in whatever way you see fit.

I'll post all entries here on the blog between now and December 12th at midnight. Then we'll have a two day voting period where you can all help decide the winner. Three $100 gift certificates will be awarded in the following categories:
1. most hilarious
2. most creative
3. people's choice

You can enter as many times as you want, but each person who enters can only win one of these gift certificates. The winners will be announced on December 14, 2009.

So get your thinking caps on and send photos to me at bunnywithatoolbelt@gmail.com If you're not in the mood to dress up and look like a fool in front of the whole world, you can always click here and buy a gift certificate for the Bunny with a Toolbelt afficionado in your world.

holiday contest entry #6!!

We have a sixth entry in the Bunny with a Toolbelt Contest! It's a rendition of another one of my fall pieces inspired by Edward Gorey--Dog Walk on Haunted Hill. Time's ticking down--all entries that make it to my inbox by midnight (Pacific Standard Time) will be entered!!



***DEADLINE IS SATURDAY DECEMBER 12 AT 11:59PM PST!***

Here are the contest rules again just in case we've caught your attention!

This time it's a photo contest--take a gander at the items in my Etsy shop, blog archives, or Facebook fan page and pick one to emulate. It's up to you how elaborate you want to get, but take a picture of yourself acting like one of my figures in whatever way you see fit.

I'll post all entries here on the blog between now and December 12th at midnight. Then we'll have a two day voting period where you can all help decide the winner. Three $100 gift certificates will be awarded in the following categories:
1. most hilarious
2. most creative
3. people's choice

You can enter as many times as you want, but each person who enters can only win one of these gift certificates. The winners will be announced on December 14, 2009.

So get your thinking caps on and send photos to me at bunnywithatoolbelt@gmail.com If you're not in the mood to dress up and look like a fool in front of the whole world, you can always click here and buy a gift certificate for the Bunny with a Toolbelt afficionado in your world.

holiday contest entry #5!!

Here's yet another entry....a Trompe-l'œil tribute to my fall-inspired kitty on a pumpkin sculpture, made way back when I only had a vague notion of what it meant to be chilled to the bones. Oh, the folly of youth.

***DEADLINE IS SATURDAY DECEMBER 12 AT 11:59PM PST!***

Here are the contest rules again just in case we've caught your attention!

This time it's a photo contest--take a gander at the items in my Etsy shop, blog archives, or Facebook fan page and pick one to emulate. It's up to you how elaborate you want to get, but take a picture of yourself acting like one of my figures in whatever way you see fit.

I'll post all entries here on the blog between now and December 12th at midnight. Then we'll have a two day voting period where you can all help decide the winner. Three $100 gift certificates will be awarded in the following categories:
1. most hilarious
2. most creative
3. people's choice

You can enter as many times as you want, but each person who enters can only win one of these gift certificates. The winners will be announced on December 14, 2009.

So get your thinking caps on and send photos to me at bunnywithatoolbelt@gmail.com If you're not in the mood to dress up and look like a fool in front of the whole world, you can always click here and buy a gift certificate for the Bunny with a Toolbelt afficionado in your world.