Etsy Rabbit Team Profiles - Rabbittude

This post begins a series of interviews that will take place in coming weeks with the Etsy Rabbit team members to get to know the artisans. Some of the artists create rabbit themed items, some have pet rabbits, all of them love rabbits.

The first interview is with Rabbittude, team captain of the Etsy Rabbits.

Tell us a bit about yourself.
Hi, this is Rebecca Pullin speaking for Rabbittude. Rabbittude is part of Pullin Too, LLC which is the two Pullins, Blaine and Rebecca. Rabbittude came to us with the arrival of two small baby bunnies of incredible personality back in 2001. After several years of describing their antics and saying we had rabbits with attitude, it just slurred into Rabbittude. Bunny rabbit ideas were literally hopping around and popping their heads up everywhere here. We had to do something with all the bunspiration that was coming our way so Rabbittude art and designs were born.

We began a website in 2003, http://www.rabbittude.com/. A shop on CafePress followed in 2005, Rabbittude Shop, with our Rabbittude designs on apparel and gifts, but it wasn’t hands on enough. So a little over a year ago, I began the Etsy Rabbittude shop to be able to have hand created and hand picked items of art, jewelry, crafts and some supplies and vintage items. The Rabbittude shop on Etsy is all bunny rabbits all the time. We love the personal atmosphere that Etsy provides for buyers and sellers.

Apart from creating things, what do you do?
I feel like I am always creating things. I work as a freelance web designer / developer, have the CafePress and Etsy shops and love craft work and nature photography. Blaine works as a network engineer. We both love rabbits, flowers, nature, color, joy and laughter. We love to visit gardens and Blaine is an avid gardener with a wonderful collection of bog plants.

Look closely at the photo
to see why Shadow is his name

For almost ten years now Tigger and Shadow, the bunnies who inspired Rabbittude have kept us hopping. We were even more hopping when we had a third rescue bunny, Portia, who left us too soon due to a heart defect. They are very interactive intelligent beings and we love sharing their company and watching the house rabbit antics.

Tigger, Shadow and Portia are the basis of the Rabbittude Posse design and logo which appears below with our links. Our current two "rabbidents" demand quality time and attention from us. So, we take bunny breaks. We take lots of pictures of them and are trying to figure out how to use a new video camera to see if they have slowed down enough so that we can catch their action!

What first made you want to become an artist?
As a child, I was enrolled in art lessons every weekend at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The instructors would take us into the different galleries and gardens and surround us with works of art as they helped us learn how to create our own.

As the first grandchild on one side of the family and the one who lived the closest on the other, I had a mother and grandmothers who loved to show me the jewelry design, crafts, sewing, and embroidery that they loved. I had an aunt who taught me Origami. Part of my father’s work was photography and graphic design and he would take me to work with him.

Infurior Designer
 Rabbit School of Design

Please describe how rabbits inspire your creative process.
I read once that rabbits are the pet of choice for people who love mysteries, because rabbits are less predictable than other animals. I love the unexpectedness of rabbits. They can be serious, cautious observers, lighthearted to outright comical, athletic, sweet and lovable snuggle bunnies, or complete brats turning their back on you with little noses in the air. They are comedy and drama all in furry little packages.

I am both right and left handed, so I feel an affinity with my little rabbit friends. I can be quite unexpected too depending on whether I am in left brained analytic mode or right brained creative quirky mode. If you watch rabbits, they zig and they zag, but they get where they want to go. They are also very inquisitive. My idea process feels like a rabbit process, bouncing around, hopping here and there, sometimes very serious, sometimes lighthearted and fun, always wanting to know more than I do now.

What handmade possession do you most cherish?
I have two store bought handkerchiefs that my grandmother took and upcycled by adding hand crocheted lace around the edges. She used the finest cotton thread and her crochet hook had to have been the smallest available, because the stitches in the lace are so tiny. The crochet lace is beautiful. I look at the handkerchiefs and think of the time and skill it took her to do that lovely delicate intricate work. I carried one in the satin clutch I made to have her presence with me on my wedding day.

In ten years, where would you like to be?
Rabbittude is almost seven years old now. The Rabbittude business and design line have been steadily growing and improving over time. I haven’t minded the slow growth, because I wanted to keep improving the quality. Keeping my hands personally on things allows that. Tigger and Shadow won’t be with us much longer and we are enjoying our remaining time with them. They have inspired a lot of ideas for art and crafts that haven’t been created yet. I have notebooks, sketches and photo inspirations that I will be using for a very long time to come.

Follow Rabbittude:

Website - http://www.rabbittude.com/
Blog - http://blog.rabbittude.com/
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/rabbittude
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/rabbittude
Etsy Shop - http://www.rabbittude.etsy.com/
CafePress Shop - http://www.cafepress.com/rabbittudeshop