Felties: Bunny Twins

Our little felt menagerie keeps growing. You’ll remember Bob and Rose; Li’l Fox and Baby Bear followed shortly after. They are now joined by the bunny twins, Kumo (Cloud) and Taiyou (Sun). I was relieved that K came up with such clever Japanese names – perhaps she sensed my imploring look and mental pleadings of “don’t name them bunny 1 and bunny 2 or white bunny and grey bunny”…

I am staying true to my Valentine’s theme and in case you’re wondering, they are bunny-cupid-babies. Or something like that. And apparently, none of the animals in our delightful imaginary urban forest have tails. An evolutionary trait that makes them a species of their own…Did you notice that the twins are one color on the front and another on the back?

Don’t let their practically saccharine cuteness fool you; they are rascals, these two. Always climbing high up into the trees, trying to play tricks on their fellow tail-less animal friends.

Taiyou (the white one) was born a couple of minutes before Kumo, and plays every bit of the older sister part. She hogs all the food they forage and poor Kumo is a little undernourished and smaller as a result. They were born on Valentine’s Day naturally.

I want you to know that I spent an embarrassingly long time trying to get those diapers right. There’s nothing that will make you feel more ridiculous than trying to repeatedly diaper a mini felt bunny. Seeing K’s thrilled face this morning was priceless though. She immediately started playing with them and has been making accessories (baby bottles, purses) and I’ve promised to feature them on this ole blog at some point.

Funnily enough, I’ve been asked by K’s school to speak at their career day as an artist. When they requested my presence, somehow I don’t think they were expecting that I spend my days making little felt animals and gluing beads to toothpicks for mock arrows…they should have asked Patty Grazini. Now, there’s an artist. She makes animals too, but her artistry is beyond anything I can hope to achieve. I saw her work at the fabulous Curtis Steiner store, which is truly a curiosity shoppe filled with unusual treasures. The intricacies of Patty Grazini’s paper sculptures are astounding. I love the themes she’s chosen (Victorian-era criminals represented as animals), and her work has a great sense of humor, an almost obsessive attention to detail and a charming yet haunting quality about them. I really enjoyed this video of her (I have no idea how to embed videos), and if you’re in the area and get the chance, it’s so worth it to see her phenomenal paper sculptures.