Bunny invasion hits Queensland!

Chantelle and me and all the fluff with some extra necessary items like sleeping bags, spinning wheels, knitting needles and some clothes head off to Mapleton Camp, which is in land Sunshine coast. As soon as we left Brisbane the views were amazing with gorilla mountain (Im sorry I did not remember the aboriginal name that sounds so amazingly beautiful) and passed by heaps and heaps of pine plantations (which surprised me because I thought Queensland would be filled with tropical banana trees, lush sugar cane and palm trees..lol). We even passed by the Australia Zoo Crikey! You know, the famous Steve Irwin Crikey zoo, where we couldn’t stop to pat a croc because of the more important stop for lunch coming up at Maleny cheese ! Maleny Cheese artisan Factory is AMAZING! I can especially recommend the chilli cheese and the wasabi one but ofcourse I am biased and leaning towards Hot Stuff ..lol..but even the brie and camembert were YUM! I made a mental note to try and get the recipe of caramelised onion and figs that went so well with the platter of cheese and crackers. Safe to say that after visiting Maleny Cheese my brain is subliminally whispering “cheeeeeezzzze …crackers…cheeeeeeze”all the time : it’s hell, but what else can I do than give in? hahaha. After Maleny Cheese we visited a very cute tea and antique shop with amazing views and I was told scrumptious Earl Grey tea and scones.

We passed picturesque Montville where there were heaps and heaps of tourists venturing into the little quaint shopping area , where there were cuckoo clocks, Italian dolls, a gorgeous Gallery and shop called Silk Gallery (have a chat to Julie Gardner there !) Mapleton was just around the corner and oh boy what a nice place to have a camp! The camp grounds themselves were lush, excellently taken care of with lots of beautiful trees, a rainforest walk, and the craft hall where we would do all the spinning and weaving and felting and knitting and chatting was huge with a very nice welcoming fire burning !

Chantelle weaving for the first time on a rigid heddle loom with Colin looking over her shoulder in his hand woven Tartan

As soon as we arrived it was setting up time for the shop. I think my Tardis like car was uttering a sigh of relief as soon as we opened all the doors and let the fluff out..lol.

I have to tell you something about Queensland regarding bunnies: they are illegal! There is actually a fine of $20.000 if you are caught with a bunny unless you are a school and have one for educational purposes or..and here is the Monty Python like bit that really makes me laugh uncontrollably…..when you are registered as a MAGICIAN!!! I wonder how many closet magicians there are in Queensland eh?lol

Anyway, the Queensland Spinners and Weavers and Fibre Artists who organised the Mapleton Camp really made me feel very very welcome and I thank them so so much for giving me the opportunity to share my love for the craft and my bunny fibres ofcourse. I think the Queensland Fibre Artists at the camp were very happy to indulge as well because every time I turned around I saw somebody hugging some bunny fibres :) It was great fun!!! And I have not even told you about the FOOD there!!!! I am not kidding you but the Mapleton Camp Cooks did not let you go until you could roll down the drive: they gave us SIX meals a day and since I am a very slow eater it seemed that once I finished one meal it was almost time for the next one..lol: breakfast-morning tea or elevenses (as the Lord of The Ring fans might know it)-Lunch-afternoon tea-Dinner and then Supper !!!!! All in all I think it was extremely healthy coz they just do not give you time to snack in between…lol

Some of us Rebel Spinners did venture out to Mapleton Pub on the Friday night and I had a great time meeting Sandybags and Lollyanne and ofcourse her cute cuddly dogs :)

Thank you all so so much for sharing your wonderful photos and making Mapleton camp such an amazingly FUN experience! For more photos of Mapleton camp: there is a Mapleton 2010 group on www.flickr.com !

I had a fabulous time spinning, talking about bunnies and fibre, showing some spinning and blending techniques and actually finishing a twinkle bunny tailkspun kid mohair curls yarn that was lovingly named Party Pete by Lindel, who adopted him gladly and gave party Pete a very good home.

Thank you Queensland Guild for the opportunity to visit and share and thank you everybody at the Mapleton Camp for making my visit so absolutely awesome! and last but not least thank you Chantelle and your beautiful family for letting me stay at your place before and after the Camp ! big big Hug!!

On the Monday I drove back home determined to make it in two days ! Which I did ! I was pulled over by Queensland Police once though, who thought I might be smuggling clandestine bunnies or illegal substances as soon as they saw my bright orange red and green hair and a zip lock bag in the front seat….”what’s in that bag?!”’ the cop shouted, ready to pull his gun on me just in case….I innocently pulled out the ziplock bag and showed him the illegal substance called cheese and bread, for which I would gladly go to jail if need be. Then, because he wanted to get me for something else illegal, he made me blow in a breathalyser thingy (at 10am in the morning I might add!) to find out that the only thing clouding my mind was cheese fumes….lol

I did have a brief stop in Coonabarabran at a mineral and fossil shop and museum. It has an amazing collection of fossils and no where else to be found minerals and crystals. I was tempted to get some woolly mammoth hair but there were only 4 guard hairs and a tiny bit of down in the display case that you could buy: not enough to make a shawl I’m afraid….I did buy fossilised glossoptera leaves dating from the Permian period (which is about 255 million years ago!) in the most amazing natural colours of pink and orange with so much details. When you are in the neighbourhood of Coonabarabran please stop at the crystal Kingdom shop (www.crystalkingdom.com.au) where they display heaps and heaps of crystals and minerals and fossils found in the Warrumbungle Volcanic region that produced so many fossil leaves, petrified wood, agates and volcanic opals. The Bugaldie Chalk mines have a massive l;ayer of diatomaceous earth (diatoms are the skeletons of algae) which have yielded fish and plant fossils. The glossoptera leaves was a prolific plant 255 million years ago and was responsible for the vast coal deposits to the east of Coonabarabran and before they were turned into coal or fossils were the diet of Dinosaurs.

On my way I was again and I made it to Parkes NSW at around 8pm where I crashed in the bath and then on the bed and happily made it home the next day to be greeted by a very enthusiastic Jazz our bunny dog and a very happy hubbie and a flock of bunnies :)
I loved the road trip, I loved the challenge of the drive, I loved meeting people I only really knew from Ravelry but had never seen in real life and loved the holiday! I did come to realise one thing though: there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home…….it’s good to be back !…but secretly I am soooo looking forward to my next adventure! Western Australia maybe? and definitely Queensland again next year ..I would not want to miss having so much fun ever again !

Since I was home earlier than expected I could not help myself and have some very luscious hand dyed fibre and yarns to offer you ! Just email me on ixchel@rabbit.com.au or message me on ravelry where I am Ixchelbunny and I will get back to you asap!

Hand dyed BFL Bunny Kid mohair tops 100g AU$21

Bliss -sold-

Bunny Fun -sold-

Camp fire -2left-

Maleny Cheese Ecstasy -sold-

Mapleton Pub Crawl -sold-

Misty Morning -sold-

Montville -1left-

Hand dyed Blue Faced Leicester Bunny Silk Tops 100g AU$21

Kookaburra tree -sold-

Mapleton -1left-

Mountain Mist -sold-

Party Pete -sold-

Hand dyed 4ply spun Blue faced Leicester sock weight yarn 100g AU$26

Cloudy Sky -1left-

Dream time -1left-

Punkbunny -sold-

Sand storm -1left-

Seaweed -1left-

Shimmer -2left-

Sunshine on a rainy day-1left-

Next week get ready for the big Bendigo Show lottery draw with lots of pretty Ixchel prizes to be won ! and some new new hand dyed TWINKLE Bunny tops ! they were THE hit of Bendigo and Mapleton !

RABBIT ON!!

Dates to Remember:

Bunny Spin in at the Ixchel Fibre Farm…Saturday 21st of August and Thuirsday the 26th of August

The Bunny Show is on the Road !

Bendigo Show was amazingly full on ! and yes, you heard right I did dress as a bunny…lol…people who do not know me and saw my get up , thought I was absolutely out of my mind. Hey, even people who know me probably did..lol but you know how it is, when I promise to do something I do it. It was fun and I def loved the ears. On the Sunday IO ditched the skirt because I lost my tail and what is a bunny without its tail eh? Lol It was super to see everybody again and although I was in another spot than last year and a bit out of the way, I am sure next year we can get a bunny movement started and getmore people and fibre fans heading our way. There were a lot of brave bunny dress ups going on , because they knew that it would earn them a very nice fluffy pressie and hey, bunnies are cool :)

Here are some of the photos made by bunny fans of my version of a Tim Burton Bunny ..haha I know it will haunt me for a long time….lol

my best side?…lol

me and Tara (the awesome Ravelry event organiser at the Bendigo show !)

me and some of the funky bunny batts

After Bendigo Show I headed off to Queensland with all my bunny fluff and more for the Mapleton Craft Camp. A loooooooong drive with a car packed with heaps of fluffy airbags as I call them ! I stopped at Parkes (NSW) because I really wanted to see the Radio Telescope and they were just researching masars ! wow!

The Parkes Radio Telescope (so makes me want to see the movie The Dish again..lol)

Then off to Tamworth, where unfortunately everything waas totally booked so I had a hard time finding a bed…finally found something ..phew but I must say (no offence to any tamworthians reading this)…Tamworth is not really my thing…After that I headed for Sawtell to meet my dad in law. It was very nice seeing and talking to somebody again, coz one thing I can tell you: driving alone is ..eh well, solitary…and although I was talking , my dashboard did not really talk back…

Sawtell was a bit nippy but very nice views !

It was getting warmer and by the time I hit the road for the final stage to Queensland today I stopped at New Italy (yes you heard right, but it is in NSW) and had the nicest coffee and tomato-basil bruscetta ever! Yum! I am in Queensland now where Chantelle and het family is making me feel very welcome and then it is Mapleton camp tomorrow. I hope I wont fall asleep but Im sure that the fibre fans will keep me wide awake. Tip: pour coffee in me at any time and I’ll be happy !
Here are some photos I took on the road. I do have some more raod trip photos but they are on my telephone and I don’t yet know how to get them from my phone onto my laptop yet..patience I will get there..soon.
I was hoping to worok on getting my website ready but it the 6 hour drives per day is taking a bit more energy out of me than I reckoned with. I promise as soon as I get back home I will get the website up and running immediately! First thing I do. Mainly because Paul and all my fibre friends are harassing me to get the show on the road ! and you know what? I am and I will …really ! lol

Mapleton camp here I come ! and after that it is a loooong drive back home ! Look at the map and see if you are anywhere near where I am passing through , shoot me an email and if you want me and my fluff will make an urgent fibre stop ! ;-)

Another product update will happen as soon as I get back home because I have some very nice yummy new stuff planned !

RABBIT ON!


Queensland Spinners Annual Craft Weekend @ the Mapleton Centre ……23-25July (I will be there with bells on, lots of bunny and other fluffy animal fibre, tops and yarns )

a little bit of heaven

I fell asleep last evening..and it was not late, it was very very early! I didn't even make dinner! and Paul did not wake me up...probably the early early mornings and the late late nights filled with preparing for Bendigo and watching the world cup soccer games and the Tour de France is catching up with me more than I thought...so this is going to be a short blog..lol I did dream about blue purple baby bunnies and some deep burgundy baby bunnies...lol

I have some new stuff ready that is going to go with me to Bendigo show next weekend and to the Mapleton Camp (QLD) the weekend after. My studio is slowly filling up with packed bags and fluff and more fluff :)

part of the Bendi stash all packed in the studio

I also had some badges made that are really so coooool !!! They will be available at Bendigo and camp but if you can't come to either let me know and I can send you these fun badges :)

Rabbit on! badges

Rabbit on! scream badge

I want to leave you with some wonderful photos I took from my studio. I always leave wild birdseed out for the plethora of wild birds visiting us: from tiny finches to sulphur crested cocokatoos to King Parrots and now the newest addition: the little corella !! This pair has been coming to munch on the seed just recently and are becoming less and less nervous about the environment here. Normally they are very flighty but now I caught this pair lovingly cuddling kissing and cleaning each other..so cuuuuute ! BARE EYED COCKATOOS (Little Corella) at 17 inches are one of the most intelligent of the species. The bluish skin patch around their eyes detracts from their appearance. But they more than make up for it with their comical personality. They are also one of the best talkers in the cockatoo family.

u lookin at me?

us

cuddle

I will be leaving for the bendigo Show on wednesday with all the fibres yarns fluff batts and more packed in every little corner of the car: kind of like fibre airbags....

It will be an amazing show! hey I even will be there with my "bunny outfit"on so believe me you will not be able to miss me..lol.

Then immediately after Bendigo I will be driving up to Queensland for the Mapleton Camp for spinning and chatting and enabling with more fibre yarns and fluff ...and no I will not be wearing my bunny outfit while driving to Queensland -I heard that bunnies are illegal there....lol

I will try and blog in july and keep you posted about the things happening but it will depend on access to wifi and net and things like that. I will be back start of August ! In the meantime please follow me on twitter, facebook, Ravelry and watch this space too! Hopefully I will have some time up my sleeves to finally get the shop website finalised, so keep your eyes peeled :)


Talking about bunnies: All the bunnies are doing fine! Popcorn has totally recovered and looking very spiffy and Gilderoy is going great guns too. So happy !!

Well, see you all at Bendigo, Mapleton or here on line!!! RABBIT ON !

Tears and Joy

Popcorn our golden angora bunny boy :)

They say bad or good things happen in three…well, I stopped counting really, but I have this faint idea that my three has gone by a lot of times so maybe it is multiple of three? Anyway, in between the hussle and bussle of preparing everything for the Bendigo Show AND the Queensland spin Camp at Mapleton, we have had a very very rough time with the bunnies.

Four of them were struck with a what I call tummy bug or woolblock. Cinderel or Cindy for short was not his usual self , went off his food completely and was very lethargic. Mind you, this has not been going on for long. Bunnies are very fragile and can die of woolblock or a tummy bug in matters of hours not days! You have to act fast and even then it is very difficult. Flopsy had it when she was 8 weeks old and she survived which was a miracle but has not been a healthy bunny since.

It is devastating to see, but we battled on and gave Cindy critical care (which is a high in fibre care product packed with timothy hay that you basically have to get into the bunny together with lots of fluids. Keep him or her warm and give the bunny lots of TLC. We did all those things but on the Monday at 7pm Cindy died in my arms. It was heartbreaking.

He was an amazingly gentle boy ( we wrongly gave him a girls name by mistake when he was 6weeks old and looked like a girl….ahem….lol). Cindy was what they call a silver fox with extremely gorgeous hair and a wonderful attitude. He will be sadly missed. He is survived by his brother Mickey, his sister Max and his mum Jasmin. We love you bunny…….

Cinderel RIP

The night Cindy died I went and checked on all the bunnies again and found Popcorn not responding well and being a bit lethargic…so not like him! So, again, I took him to the studio, gave him critical care and lots of tlc and hoped that he would get better. There were no poos no pees no nothing but his tummy started to rumble (=good sign!) after a couple of critical care transfusions…phew…..and today, the studio has two recovering bunnies: Popcorn enjoying his corn and Gilderoy happily hopping around as well ! phew….sigh..

I am working overtime..dyeing lots of fibres, making packaging, labels, signage, flyers even new fun stuff like BADGES!!! and ofcourse spinning.

Spinning always makes things either “go away” or makes it easier to see things more clearly. My meditation spinning sessions I call it. I know my old Buddhist teacher would not be happy with me when I “multitask”meditations but it really works for me and besides you make yarn at the same time with lots of good vibes! What can be better?

Spinning is soothing & relaxing: just what I need after a hard day of dyeing, caring for animals, keeping everybody fed and happy..you know how it is…lol. Well spinning or knitting is my time, my way of a holiday. What can be better than a good cuppa, a wheel and fibre ?

Well, enough "rabbiting on!' : ....Here are the NEW things I have on offer this week. Enjoy !!!!!

“No, they are not Rabbit droppings….”
I have been adding some yummy teas and coffees in every sock club parcel in the past and there have been so many people asking me if I sell the hand rolled jasmine pearl tea known as Buddhas tears. So, I finally got my act together and packaged and labelled this wonderful relaxing soothing organic green tea with a jasmine tea pearl inside. Just add 3 to 4 pearls in your tea cup and watch the leaves unfold, add honey if you want or enjoy as is.

Hand rolled Buddhas tears tea 50grams AU$15

BTW, After Bendigo Show and the Queensland Spin Retreat I will offer you some of my recipe hand blended awesome CHAI in tea bags !

Skull Beads for crafty Bunnies
For the Hand knitters guild Wool and Yarn Show at the Brunswick Town hall last month I had some handspun and hand dyed skeins for sale in my Art Yarn section to which I had added some awesome skull beads. These beads are so called Rave kandy or dreadlock beads so they have big holes, made of moulded plastic (so nice and light so they won’t weigh your yarn down!) in bone colour, are easy to thread and most of all are lots of FUN! Kids love ‘em , hey, I love ‘em ..lol Again, lots of people asked me if I had any for sale from my stash, which ofcourse I had not at that time, but again, I got my act together, made a label and packaged them up for you and here they are: Skull beads for crafty bunnies !

skull beads for crafty bunnies 20 pieces AU$4.50

Art Yarnzzzz
In between all the drama, the heart ache and the joy in the dyestudio and Batt room I also have been doing some spinning. You know, just to test out what my new fibre blend would be like ..lol..

I corespun and wrapped and added some fancy satin hearts and the yarns look fabulous. They are soft, about a 12ply, wrapped in love, gold thread and hearts ! both skeins weigh 93grams and are a dream to work with ! and they can be yours !

The new fibre blend by the way is a mix of 18micron Superfine merino, angora bunny and Tencel (70/10/20) and I call it TWINKLE BUNNY ! It is shiny, supersoft and a dream to spin. I have dyed a lot for the Bendigo show this week but it is still drying. I couldn’t resist making a photo to show off this blend to you today though..lol

Twinkle Bunny Blend Hand dyed top

Red Heart throb Twinkle Bunny Yarn 93grams..AU$39

purple Heart throb Twinkle Bunny Yarn 93grams….AU$39

Hand dyed Super Soft, unique and squishy Blue Faced Leicester Cashmere Superwash Hand dyed tops
100g/AU$24

Copper Party

Indigo Sky

Kandy

Wattle Blossom

Daintree Dash

Rave Party

Velvet Touch

High Altitude

Dates to remember:

Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show …..July 16-17-18 !!!Visit me at the Flowershed and get your bunny and super soft Fibre and yarn and BATT fix ! Lots of surprises too !!

Queensland Spinners Annual Craft Weekend @ the Mapleton Centre ……23-25July (I will be there with bells on, lots of bunny and other fluffy animal fibre, tops and yarns )

Email me (ixchel@rabbit.com.au) , call me or pm me on www.Ravelry.com where I am Ixchelbunny, when you want to adopt some fun fibre yarn, tea or beads. Have a fun week!