Hip, hop, hippity hop

Finally - have found time to make something new! It's been a long time, what with the Christmas holidays and whatnot... I thought I'd get lots done while Jamie was home for two weeks on vacation between Christmas and New Year's, but of course I just spent whatever leisure time we carved out watching really terrible old mystery shows and making hot chocolate...

Found a great book - Aranzi Cute Stuff - by two crafty Japanese sisters. The book itself is fantastic - really quirky and full of translated glory. And it has a ton of terrific projects. Good basics, too, even if you don't want to applique everything with characters. I have at least half the pages dog-eared with projects for Cole (and myself too)... They have a Baby Stuff book coming out next month that I'm preordering now - can't wait!

First up though: this cute bunny for Cole.

It's from the "long doll bag" pattern, and is supposed to be a little purse with a zipper in the back that you can carry on your wrist, but I modified it a little and just stuffed the torso. I'm going to try making it a friend in a different fabric. Cole was instantly a big fan - grabbed it off the doorknob where it was hanging before I even had a chance to photograph it.

He chose the vintage fabric from my scrap stash himself! The eyes and mouth were supposed to be appliqued felt, but I figured he would just chew them off so instead I used non-toxic fabric paint.

He is a big fan of bunnies in general lately. He loves turning the pages of I am a Bunny and pointing out Nicholas, the little bunny who lives in a hollow tree. He also gets a big kick out of Mrs. Bunny, a weirdo hand puppet that we found at Yoko Yaya at Christmas time. He smiles from ear to ear when she pops out to give him a little talk. She seems to have a good opinion on most matters (as voiced by yours truly). Her bunnies always eat their veggies and take their naps.