Celebrate Elephabet this May!

Hey Beautiful Person! Did you know that May is Elephabet month in Portland? 

I have scheduled a whole bunch of free events all month to celebrate my new book!
Click here for the complete schedule--I'll post individual updates on the blog as their respective events near.

Today was the first installation of the diorama at Green Bean Books! If you don't know, Green Bean is the best little bookstore in Portland, located in the Alberta Arts District. Don't let the small size fool you--the selection is extremely well-curated, with not only a plethora of children's books, but great pre-teen and adult sections to boot. This store is a really fun destination because there are vending machines all over, dispensing moustaches and finger puppets and tiny treasures to the masses. The window displays are always fun, and when the weather's nice, there's a bush out back that doubles as a secret fort. There are two rotating diorama sites inside the store, and I was asked to create a little Elephabet scene in one this month! Here's the video of it in action:

The diorama will be up all month long, so make sure to go down and see it!

Green Bean has a lot of fun events too. Later on in the month, I'll be hosting the Pachyderm Portmanteau Party at- Green Bean Books!!
a hands-on workshop where you can draw your own pachyderm portmanteaus!


where: Green Bean Books, 1600 NE Alberta Street, 


when: Sunday, May 20, 2012, 1PM


cost: Free! registration encouraged- call (503) 954-2354 


Elephabet books will be available for purchase.

Pachyderm Portmanteau Contest!

Hello Beautiful People!

It's been a while since I've had a contest around here, so I decided to launch one to go along with the big Elephabet celebrations this May!

Here are the details:
I want YOU to show me your Elephabet! Draw up your wildest dream and give it an Elephabet-style name, as I did in my book. I will post images of your drawings on the Bunny with a Toolbelt blog, Do-it-YourSelfabet Flickr page, and Facebook page as they come in. You can enter as many times as you want through the month of May, 2012.  Send me a photo of you holding your drawing to bunnywithatoolbelt@gmail.com.

The earlier you enter, the better your chances of winning! Entries received before May 10 will count as three entries, those I receive between May 11-21 count as two entries, and the ones I receive between May 22 and 31 will count as one entry. 

On June 1, 2012, I will put all of these entries in the hopper and draw out two winners.  These lucky folks will get their idea made into a real live elephant sculpture!!!

Of course, you can also skip the contest if you want, and pledge to my Kickstarter campaign to get your own custom elephant! Click here to find out more!

Hey there beautiful people! I just launched a new Kickstarter campaign to fund an eBook version of Elephabet and a full color posted printed on eco-friendly paper! Won't you help me realize these simple dreams?

That's My Ride, Bro.

From Meet the Cast of Elephabet!

I'm working on some Vaniphants for a show at Grass Hut next month. The show is called "That's My Ride, Bro" and was curated by Tripper Dungan. Tripper was interviewed about the deep inner meaning of this show on the Grass Hut blog--read it here! Other artists in this show are: Bwana Spoons, Scrappers, Martin Ontiveros, Meredith Dittmar, Brett Superstar,Eatcho, Adrienne Vita, Aaron Barker, Steve Mathews, Chelsea Fletcher, Caleb Highley,& Tripper Dungan

Opening First Thursday April 5th, 6-9 pm
Show runs from April 5th to may 1st
Grass Hut Art Market
400 NW Couch street
Portland, OR 97209

I can't go out tonight because I have to wash my hare.

Finished the last six pieces for the Randall Children's Hospital!

The new pieces, plus a few studio shots have been added to my photo album of the work I did this winter for the Randall Children's Hospital at Legacy Emanuel. The ones with the pink background are the first batch, and the ones with the orange background are the ones I made in the second batch.

more work in progress from the Randall Children's Hospital commission

waiting for paint

it's Behind the Scenes Week at Bunny with a Toolbelt!

Hey Kids! I'm finishing up six more sculptures for the Randall Children's Hospital this week and I'm going to post images from the studio all week long. Stay tuned! The first image is a longtail weasel who will be holding a yellow daisy.

fantastic creatures you can wear!

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

I love you (knot!)

fun facts about animals

Randall Hospital Opening Day!

Randall Children's Hospital

I was commissioned to create five large sculptures for the new Randall Children's Hospital in Portland, Oregon in winter of 2011-12. Each floor of the building is a different ecoregion of Oregon, so I created two pieces for the Cascade region (bear with lupine and hummingbird and gray wolf with bluebird and trillium,) one for the Willamette Valley (Brush Hare with Western Tanager and Daisies) and two for the coastal region (puffin with sea anenome and Brown Pelican with Silverspot butterfly and violets.)

Here's a slide show that takes you through the process from drawing to sculpture!

planning a Portland wedding?

Reverend Steve Sharp from A Beautiful Ceremony NW will be at the Bravo! Wedding Event on Sunday, January 22 - pop in and see some of my wedding cake toppers in person!

say it with cake

It's my birthday! Let's make a cool cake!


video and recipe via: whisk kid

what are you waiting for?

I'll be posting my new cake topper designs for 2012 next month, just in time for your impending engagement!

Looking for a little fun in 2012?

Click on the image to enlarge it and read about my workshop I'll be teaching next June in Australia, or click here to head straight to the Fibre Arts website.

eat your cuteness!

from Absolutely Fobulous

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!