two headed rabbit ref doll

Here is the little critter I cooked up for my roller derby team's holiday gift exchange.  Because nothing says Christmas quite like a two headed bunny derby referee.   

I could technically also call him White Rabbit V.5 and V.6, as he is a variation of the rabbit pattern I've been playing with (V.4 can be found here and the first three prototypes here).  However, he is not actually white.  So I will have to come up with a new name for these rabbits.  I've considered Sometimes White But Not Always Rabbits as a possibility but that is as far as I've gotten on that line of thought.

The ears have wire threaded through them and are fully pose-able.  I love that.  Skates made from a little bit of leather reused from an old ripped leather jacket.  The wheels are wooden beads.  Buttons over the joints help him be pose-able and he can stand all by himself, if nobody wiggles the table.

Something new for me was working with wool felt and needling a white fluffy tail on.  I also originally tried needle felting a pair of skates for him but when I actually squirted my own blood across the rabbit's leg, because DAMN, that needle is SHARP, I decided perhaps I wasn't ready for something so ambitious.  But, hey, fluffy white tail - I feel good about that.

The whistles were created with polymer clay.  Much to my annoyance, they do not work.  Of course they are only about the size of half a dime each, so perhaps I should just be happy that they are.

Or maybe they blow in supersonic tones that only animals can hear?

I also got to try out my new low tech light gathering box.  The winter days are so dreary, it is hard to find sufficient light to catch the details of these small projects.  I am happy to report that the light trap worked well.  It can't make me a better photographer, but I think it is still an improvement over my unusual winter time fair.

Boy child actually took these photos of the box.  That is me posing the bunny above.  And below, boy child caught the bunny trick skating when I wasn't looking.  You can see how dark the rest of the room is in comparison.

After the gift exchange tonight I had several requests for more freak show type dolls.   I've been doing a lot of reading about P.T. Barnum and old time circuses that displayed human and animal curiosities which inspired this two headed bunny.  I think by combining my new fledging needle felting skills I may be able to brew up a bearded lady or two.  Christmas gifts, perhaps?  Because the only thing more Christmas-y than a two headed bunny is a bearded lady.