Mad as a March Hare

As it is March, I've been thinking of the saying "Mad as a March hare", so I decided on the " Hares and Rabbits" theme for my turn to design for Tag Tuesday this fortnight. Ever wondered how the saying came about?

Hares have long been thought to behave excitedly in March, which is their mating season. Lewis Carroll is among many who have used this idea in stories - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland:
"The March Hare ... as this is May, it won't be raving mad - at least not so mad as it was in March."
More recently this behaviour has been questioned and it is now thought that hares behave oddly - boxing, jumping etc. - throughout their breeding season, which extends over several months.
Be that as it may, hares, especially March hares, have that reputation, which will surely stay with them. from https://www.phrases.org.uk

I prepared three tags and had lots of fun making these tags. The first (photograph above) is a fabric collage made by using iron -on double sided adhesive webbing on the fabric and then overstitching the appliqued pieces. The print is one from Loralie Designs fabrics and I added the rabbit ears, nose and whiskers. I thought the "dotty" fabric just added to the madness!
The second has a more classic feel to it, a tribute to Lewis Carroll. The feature is a cut out white rabbit from Graphics 45 "Halloween in Wonderland" paper. The background is a page of text, with a cut out photocopy of Alice from my own childhood volume of the Illustrated Alice in Wonderland, now about 60 years old. This has been layered with a photo of grass I took and printed onto vellum.

The third tag is a very simple layered one, but I think it is rather sweet. A paper napkin/serviette layered over the top of text with gel medium, and then a clip art image pasted over the top, with a leaf cut from the same napkin/serviette over the top, and then the stamped message.

I hope you enjoy creating your own 'hare and rabbit" inspired tags perhaps in preparation for Easter and join in the fun at Tag Tuesday... Best wishes, Wilma"

#the100dayproject : Inspiring Women Days 1 - 4

#The100DayProject is a *free* global art project that takes place online 🎨 E very year, thousands of people all around the world commit to 100 days of creating. Anyone can participate . The idea is simple: choose a creative project, do it every single day for 100 days, and document and share the process online. 2026 is my 8th year of participating. I have stitched daily observations, painted my egg cup collection, collaged postcards and envelopes, written poems, explored colour palettes .... this year I am researching, sketching and stitching 100 inspiring women. Fortunately I purchased a piece of beautiful linen, with preprinted outlines of 100 women ... just one issue - the figures are tiny (height 6cm /2.5 ins) My first week started tentatively ... I thought I would start with Empress Wu, after whom I named my creative activity. This is when I discovered how difficult it is to applique and stitch on these very small figures - I used tweezers to put pieces of fabric down, tried t...

"Temari Or Not Temari?" Tutorial

Background Information: Temari (literally translated “hand ball”) is a Japanese folk craft that is alleged to have originated in China and was introduced to Japan five or six hundred years ago. Traditionally, the balls were constructed from wrapped kimono fabric remnants and silk threads. They were made by mothers and grandmothers for children to play with. Nowadays, decorative embroidered temari represent a highly valued and cherished gift symbolizing friendship and loyalty. Recently I've wondered if your don't use traditional techniques whether you should call what you create "temari". That is an ongoing debate but today I share what I do to make a "non-traditional temari".... 1.I start with a polystrene ball ( traditionally the balls were wound silk scraps or other organic materials) and begin to wrap with approx 4 ply wool, turning the ball as I wrap. 2. I then wrap another layer of wool in a similar fashion , this time a 3 or 2 ...

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks .... The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or my husband or from off cuts gifted to us from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks. Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as w...

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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