Saturday, July 27, 2013

As Always, My Heart is Still in Paris!

After watching the Tour de France for three weeks on TV for nothing more than the scenery and having drooled over hours and hours of coverage of the final ride and ending ceremonies from Versailles to Paris last Sunday, I have Paris on the brain again (like it ever left!!).

So, I have created some new Paris-inspired digital collage sheets for Velvet Revived!

The first Scenes from Paris Past (Sepia) is a sheet I created from my collection of vintage postcards of Paris.  This sheet I kept in all of its original tones of charcoal and cream, sepia, or in the case of the images of the Eiffel Tower and the Hotel de Ville, a deep shade of peach.  They are perfect for all of your creative projects where vintage images of a Paris long past are needed.

Next, I created this next Scenes from Paris Past sheet from the same images, but with these I added gradient ombre shades of color! How many ways could you use these vibrantly-colored images?

Next, I created a new sheet of images of our own Dear Sweetie,  Our Paperdoll-in-Residence, Victorienne!!  In this sheet, she is modelling her newest rompers, depicting her trip to Paris!  What an adorable paperdoll chain these images of her would make!


Also, my Beautiful Ladies of Paris sheet has been selected to be part of the weekly BNS for  The Pacific Postcard Team on Etsy!!  The treasury that Colleen has curated this weekend "The Summer Fun Series - The Night Life" is very special!  Everything she has selected has something  to do with summer nights and in her comments,  she explains how night images were always her  favorites among the linen postcards she loves.  I agree!  There is just something surreal and beautiful about the colors used in the night images!  So won't you please go check out this lovely treasury?

And...still keeping Paris in my mind,  I am working on another very special project, one that will result in a downloadable kit for sale in Velvet Revived, as well as the same item, ready made in The Gossamer Tearoom shop!  I'm having so much fun designing it and I can't wait for you to see what I am working on!

Saturday, July 20, 2013

We Have A Winner!

As promised at The Mad Tea Party last week,
the name of one of the attendees of the party 
has been drawn from a hat and that name belongs to one:


Bill wins the set of Chapeaux des Gateaux 
bookmarks/gift tags, all wrapped up in 
a one-of-a-kind folder!

(YAY Bill!!)

Thank you to everyone for coming to
have tea with me!

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

The Return of Santa Miranda

Yes, Dear Friends, if you have been taking tea here at The Tearoom for a while, you will recognize the return of someone who made his debut on Christmas Eve last year, Mr. Santa Miranda!  And now, he has heard about some fun things going on in the Etsy shops and so, has decided to make a return visit!

First off all, I was so happy that my Vintage Fruit collage sheet from Velvet Revived was part of such a cool treasury today!
Patricia of the Forget Me Nots Daily Discoveries Team on Etsy has curated the very fun "Channeling Carmen Miranda" treasury, so won't you please stop by and take a look?

Also, the Christmas in July Sale is still on-going on Etsy!  I have items in each of my shops at special prices!

Just listed today in Mirabella Morello, a fun art book, Artists Christmas Cards!  There are so many fun Christmas cards in this book to look at, all of them designed by famous graphic artists!  Charles Addams, the creator of "The Addams Family" said about the book, "Cheerful and amusing, this is one of the best Christmas books around."

I also have a vintage mercury glass ornament and several Norman Rockwell buildings on sale in my Christmas in July section...

...as well as these two lovely vintage dolls, the Sisters Clementine and Evangeline!

In The Gossamer Tearoom, I have put my one Christmas ornament "I've Been Good" on sale!

And, I still have both of my Christmas digital collage sheets on sale at Velvet Revived:



So, please have a glass of iced tea and take a peek at the Christmas in July Sales in my Etsy shops!

Saturday, July 13, 2013

The Secret Life of The Mad Hatter

Welcome, Dear Friends, to The Mad Tea Party 2013!
Please do visit with our lovely hostess Mademoiselle Vanessa of
and the other wonderful attendees of this party by clicking HERE!


Here at The Tearoom, one our favorite friends of all time from the World of Wonderland is The Mad Hatter!  We did want so much to be able to introduce him to you today in person! Regrettably, he is unable to join us for the party here today, due to his attendance at The Royal Haberdashers Convention. It is held at the palace of The White Queen each year!

Because he cannot be with us today, how gracious of him to instead grant us access to his atelier, full of his favorite pictures of his life and art...

Look, the Hatter's work area and inspiration board...


And an album of pictures and a note...



This is a picture of The Hatter at 15.  
Already a hat-making prodigy,
he had begun to make his fantastic hats.
In this picture, he was wearing
one of his first creations.

And there he is again, 
pictured with his brother Adin and his sister Adelade.
As you can see, his Adin proudly wears a top hat
which is identical to that of his brother.
And their dear little sister could not
have been happier with her giant butterfly hat!
(And yes, Adelade does look familiar! She is a distant
cousin of Princess Sugar Verbena,
whom you might remember from this Mad Tea Party

We know that he has been designing hats for his dear friend Alice
since they met, (which may have been sometime before that
famous Tea Party) although you may not have had the chance to see
some of the marvelous creations he invented just for her!

This one is appropriate to wear to an event
at The Palace of either The Red Queen or The White Queen,
as it is covered in red, white and black roses!
He even added a giant "A" for Alice on the top!


Originally, in this famous scene from "Alice in Wonderland",
Alice was wearing one of his typically beautiful yet whimsical creations...

But, as you can see,
the idea had to be scrapped after she drank
from the bottle marked
"Drink Me".
Oh Dear.

It seems that every successful career is littered with
its share of hits and misses!



Perhaps you did not know that he was the one
responsible for some very beautiful and innovative
designs, some of which The Gossamer Tearoom
has been honored to feature.

This lovely image of Princess Arabella
was our Happy New Year image,
celebrating the start of 2013!


Even our much-adored
Paperdoll-in-Residence
Victorienne
has served as muse
for The Hatter!


And here she is again,
playing in The Garden of The Tearoom,
and posing with two other Dear Friends,
Violetta and Dapple.
Their matching striped hats
are too cute and helpful for keeping
the sun from their eyes while
planting flowers.


A Steampunk dream in electric blue and silver,
with one of his famous Thimble Fezzes,
designed for the Patron Saint of The Tearoom,
Lina Cavalieri


And here, Lina fairly shimmers 
in a never-before seen confection of mauve and periwinkle....


And did you know that he was the inventor of the cage hat?
It is hat and veil in one,
with room for a lovely flower inside as well!


Even our mysterious Lily Grower owes much to The Hatter!
Oh!  That bow!
Don't you want to try it on yourself?
I do!



Oh!
Here are the tea party treats left for us by The Hatter!!
He's left us a samovar of hot water, to stay warm for our tea...

And look!
He's left his special white porcelain
top hat tea cups for us to drink it in!


And look at the treats he has left us...
Individual Strawberry Chocolate Marble Cakes
with Amaretto Buttercream
and Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache!
There is one for each of us and they are shaped like top hats!!


Oooh...chocolate covered strawberries!
My favorite!
I hope they are yours, as well!

And of which tea shall you partake?
The Hatter acquires his teas from various places...

This one is from Fauchon of Paris.
Called "Oui Pour La Vie" or "Yes for Life"
is an intriguing combination of flavors:
black tea, rose petals, strawberry, raspberry
and
notes of black peppercorns from Tanzania!

This one is from
L'Epicerie d'Imagination
and even has his image on it, so it must be magical.
It's called The Mad Hatter's Special Tea Party Mix Tea Leaves.
It tastes like strawberries.
Or chocolate.
Or tazzleberries
(Haven't you had them?  They are VERY rare indeed!),
Or any other flavor you can imagine,
but only if you have been asked by a March Hare
to have some more tea
when you have not yet had any!

Our party is nearly done,
but what is a party without gifts?

The name of everyone who visits the party until next weekend
will be thrown into a hat (what else?)
and a name will be drawn on Saturday night (July 20th).

The name drawn will receive this set
of handmade bookmarks/gift tags,
courtesy of The Gossamer Tearoom shop on Etsy!

These are the very special
Chapeaux de Gateaux (Cake Hat) tags!

The winner will receive a Special Edition package of nine tags,
three of each design,
packaged in a one-of-a-kind folder!

Each tag is hand-glittered with gorgeous black glitter
(which twinkles with flashes of orange, green and purple!)
and each is tied with black organza ribbon!
In this special package,
you will have enough to keep for yourself
and some to give away as gifts as well!


(Sets of three are always on sale in The Gossamer Tearoom shop,
so if you aren't feeling lucky or just can't live without them,
you can order them here!)



I thank you and The Mad Hatter thanks you
(in absentia)
for visiting our Mad Tea Party today!

Now, please make certain to visit the rest of the parties
and most especially that of our host Vanessa
by clicking HERE!

Images used in my collages are from the following
talented artists:

Ella of Calico Collage, Marsha of Tumble Fish Studios, Karen of The Graphics Fairy,
and Lori of The Magic Pug





Friday, July 12, 2013

What Is Going On In The Tearoom?

Hello Friends and Happy Friday Night to You!

It is a warm summer night (finally) here in The Land of The Tearoom!

It's the perfect time to be planning for that extra-fun event of the summer, The Mad Tea Party at A Fanciful Twist!   Tomorrow is the big day!  I am putting my finishing touches on my post and can't wait for everyone to visit!

Who is this little girl and what is she wearing on her head?!?!?!

In other news from Velvet Revived on Etsy, here is my newest digital collage sheet :

I had so much fun creating these frames and borders from vintage postcards I bought from some of my new team members on Etsy!  Colleen of Postcards In the Attic,  Patricia of The Old Barn Door, and Marilyn of VintageNutsInc all sell great vintage postcards and I love buying my supplies from other Etsy sellers!

Here's an example I made of how these frames can be used.
Mommy looks even sweeter surrounded by pansies!
You know, the English word pansy is derived from the French word pensée, which means "thought".
This is very appropriate because my Dear Mommy Cupcake is in my thoughts each day.

Also, my Christmastime is Here collage sheet is on sale in the Velvet Revived shop and is featured in the Christmas In July treasury from the Forget Me Nots Daily Discovery Team!



My Rose Garden collage sheet is part of the Pacific Postcard's BNS this weekend!





Don't forget to check back tomorrow for The Mad Tea Party here at The Gossamer Tearoom!

Monday, July 8, 2013

Raucous Monday Morning Optimism Dance Party

Keeping my spirits up.
Hoping these do the same for you.



Life's What You Make It - Talk Talk



The Wildlife - Bananarama



Deep and Wide and Tall - Aztec Camera