The Bunny Project Continues

Spring is in the air and bunnies have been spotted (both in my backyard AND in my studio)! I’m pleased to announce my next collection of needle felted animal portraits, a continuation of The Bunny Project, which is a bunny-only collection I started many years ago and add to periodically. This season’s additions are all portraits intended to be hung on a wall, and each bunny has its own personality. They’re all needle felted with dyed wool fiber, feature some sort of accessory that gives them character, and are mounted on a variety of wooden backers.

This week, I’m doing a pre-sale of the bunnies through my Instagram stories. I’ll post each one with its name, dimensions, and price, and the first person to message me with their email address (for invoicing) and shipping info, gets to adopt the bunny. The bunnies will be slightly discounted during the pre-sale and I’m offering free shipping this time as well. Whatever bunnies remain after the 24 hour pre-sale ends on Instagram will go up on the website, but they’ll be full price and I do charge shipping for website orders.

Have a look at the bunnies, pick your favorites, message me with any questions you may have, and get ready to claim yours this week. These bunnies are all one-of-a-kind, and while I can recreate some of them to a certain extent, there are elements I’ll never be able to source again (like some of the accessories or backing materials), so if you have your heart set on something in this collection and love it exactly the way it’s shown, please know I’ll most likely not make it again exactly the same way.

As always, if you have another animal or specific accessories, colors, or sizes you’re wanting for a needle felted animal portrait, I’m more than happy to do custom orders. Send me a message and let me know what you have in mind, and I’ll get back to you with a quote and estimate of delivery timeframe. There’s never any pressure to buy – quotes are free! If you decide to proceed with the commission, I do ask for payment upfront, and I’ll always send you a photo of the finished item before shipping.

My ongoing series of needle felted bunny portraits is getting 12 new additions this week! Here's a sneak peek at the new bunnies coming soon. They'll be avai...

The Bunny Project

There’s something about bunnies. Sure, they’re utterly adorable and their skittishness is sweet, but they’re also quite clever, and perhaps a little bit spooky at times. Their secret lives make me awfully curious. Bunnies are my most beloved muse, and after months and months of holiday craft shows, holiday orders, and the holiday rush in general, I finally took a little time to make something just for fun. This collection was purely for my own enjoyment, but since several of my handmade pieces sold within hours of being posted, it would seem I’m not alone in my obsession with bunnies. Bunny lovers unite!

“The Bunny Project” had been stewing in my mind since early October, but during that time of year I simply don’t have the luxury of working on anything ol’ thing I feel like. I’m swamped keeping up with orders and preparing for craft shows, and getting ahead or developing new product ideas is just not possible in those busy months. As a reward for getting through a record breaking fall season, I treated myself to some time off after Christmas and finally made the bunnies I’d been imagining for so long. Some of them, at least. I have a list of about 30 cotton-tailed characters and was only able to produce 9 of them so far.

Will there be more bunnies in the future? YES!!! I don’t know when exactly, but I promise to add to #thebunnyproject as soon as I can. After all, bunnies are my favorite thing in the world to create.

So how are these creatures made anyway? Each bunny is needle felted with dyed wool fiber - no glue, no sewing, no hot water is involved. Just a bundle of roving (sheep’s wool that’s been cleaned and carded), a barbed felting needle, and lots of patience. These pieces took anywhere from 2 to 7 hours to make by hand. It’s a very time consuming craft, but I enjoy it!

Here’s a peek at what goes into making a small bunny. This time lapse video documents the 2 ½ hours it took me to needle felt a fairly simple rabbit, so you can see how it all comes together from start to finish.

Click Below to watch me make, or CLICK HERE to watch on my YouTube channel:

My material list is short:

-Polyfill wrapped in yarn (to create the form for the body & head)

-Pipe cleaners (to give the legs and arms rigidity)

-About 3-4 oz. of roving

-Flat sheet of felt (which I cut then covered in wool to make the ears)

-A set of plastic eyeballs