Friday, November 29, 2013

Happy Shopping Weekend!

Dear Friends of The Tearoom,
It is that time of year again!  The first weekend following Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season and we do hope that you will consider missing the crowds and in the comfort of your jammies, sipping your favorite cup of tea, shop for your loved ones by buying handmade and vintage items.  But three of your choices...

Handmade silk brooches of delightfully dark and
wonderful whimsical design,
paperdoll banners, glittering cards and bookmarks,
SPECIAL:
FREE shipping within the U.S.!
Reduced shipping rates for international orders!

Vintage loveliness, waiting for a new life with you
or someone special,
SPECIAL:
FREE shipping within the U.S. on orders over $100.00!
Reduced shipping rates for international orders over $100.00!

For your art projects and Christmas crafts,
unique digital collage sheets
and printable cards and invitations,
SPECIAL:
Buy ANY 3 sheets, receive ANY 2 sheets FREE!

Convo me for more information on any of these offers.

Happy Shopping!

Thursday, November 28, 2013

The Word is Vintage...

Wishing all a Very Happy Thanksgiving!

My post today is my first submission to the Take a Word Collage Challenge!  The word prompt for this week is the word "Vintage".  Oh, I do so love all things vintage!  It was easy to find vintage images I love to put together for this challenge!

Our Dear Little Girl Victorienne loves to dress up so much!  And I love dressing her up just as much as  she loves dressing up!  So, when I found this sweet vintage postcard today on The Graphics Fairy blog, I just knew Victorienne would love dressing up as this sweet little snowman (or shall we say "snow-girl"?).


Even in the snow, she looks all cozy and warm, doesn't she?

Wishing all a cozy day, wherever you are!

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Altered Cards and Another Trip to The Dollhouse...

Dearest Friends,
I do so love the serendipity and synchronicity which visits The Tearoom on occasion!  (Not often enough for my taste, actually!  How do you suppose you can get it to visit more?  Offer cupcakes, perhaps?).  Anyway, this week, I was VERY inspired to continue on with my dollhouse project based on the challenge offered by The Three Muses!  Their challenge was "Altered Playing Cards" and it was something that had been cooking in my head for a while in conjunction with my extra-fun dollhouse project, which I debuted here a few days ago.

I call my dollhouse project "The Little House of Sometimes" because there are a lot of things that sometimes happen in the lives of Charlotte Framboise, Evelyn Rose and their pets.  And so today, I am happy to show you the altered playing cards I made the other day and show you what happened to them when I brought them into the world of The Little House of Sometimes!

(It is a bit of a gloomy day here in the The World of The Tearoom, so I had some fun colorizing the pictures I took today!)

Here are the cards!  First, I tore and stained pieces of a vintage road atlas and added them to the corners.  Then, I rubberstamped some tiny roses and birds in shades of purple, pink and brown (I also added more colors to some of them with more stamp pad ink and a Q-tip.  That's one of my favorite altered art techniques.). Then, I added Stickes to make them twinkly! On the back side of the cards, I used more atlas pages, stained purple with chalk ink, my "Mademoiselle" stamp from a Cavallini set I have, stamped the word "Rose" in various vintage rubberstamp alphabet sets I have (I got one at a flea market once and the other my mother got for me from the toy section of the grocery store when I was little!), stamped larger roses, colored them with ink and Q-tip, added them to the cards and then finished with tiny dots of more twinkly Stickles!

I brought them to The Garden of The Dollhouse...

...and just as I suspected...

Sometimes,
Charlotte Framboise and Evelyn Rose like to play cards 
in the garden.  (But admittedly, it does take them a while.)

(No cheating allowed, although it is hard not to
look at each other's hand!!)

Thank you so much to
for their continued creative inspiration!!

Monday, November 25, 2013

My Latest Project...

Dear Friends,
Here in The World of The Tearoom, one can almost always find oneself tripping over the makings of an art project or two on the floor!  I am never happier than when I am on the floor, surrounded by my latest creative endeavor!   I love challenging myself artistically and I find that one of the most interesting challenges can come from limiting yourself in some way.

A few weeks ago, I happened upon a wooden box that my mother had built to store something she did not want to get damaged.   I found myself being very inspired by this simple wooden box and began to take cardboard, glue and brown paper bags and convert this box into floors and walls to make a dollhouse!  I realized there were many things around this house I could use to make not just the house, but also the furnishings and even a garden!  And so, I challenged myself to do this project using only things I found around the house!  I will admit to you that I cheated only twice.  First, I used quite a bit  of glue and had to buy more twice ($1.29 per bottle X 2) and I bought two electric candles and I will reveal their purpose soon ($1.00 for two candles).

Once upon a time, when Mr. V and I lived in Washington, DC, my job there was at Paper Source in Georgetown.  If you have never been in one, there are many kinds of paper sold there, much of it used for crafting projects, card making, scrapbooking, etc.  I knew when I moved to this microscopic spot on the map in Maine, there would be no place to buy such things, so I bought as many art supplies as I could before moving.  It was another challenge to myself to use some of my stash to make this project.  Sometimes, one must use what one has in order to make room for more in one's life!

The dolls and animals that live there are all vintage items that I had or that I found here that once belonged to my mother or other relatives.  I have furnished the house with items I found around the house or made myself.

And so, today, here is the first of several posts, introducing you to the dolls and animals that now live in this little world.  Please keep checking back to see the rooms in detail and take a tour of their beautiful garden!

In this picture, some of the rooms of the house were finished and decorated.  I had made floors and walls from corrugated card board and then covered them with old book pages and then the decorative papers as walls and flooring.

Welcome to The Little House of Sometimes


Here is a closer view of the facade.
(I made the facade from a re-purposed curtain of
sheer dotted swiss and then I printed the
windows and door on printable organza fabric
and hand-sewed them on with transparent nylon
thread for a see-through effect!)

May I introduce to you the tenants of this elegant house:
This is Charlotte Framboise
and Evelyn Rose.
(Here they are in the garden.)

They have quite a few pets.

This is Velvet and her kittens Silly and Sooty

This is Blackie the Scotty Dog
(hiding in the shadows), 
and Chloe and her puppy Charlie, the Boston Terriers

Nutkin the Squirrel (with Evelyn Rose)

Peanutbutter the Baby Elephant and
Mr. Pinchy the Turtle,
sunning himself on his rock in the pool.

Dandelion the Duckling
and Forget-Me-Not the Bluebird
are trading birdie secrets with one of the statues
in the garden.

Won't you come back very soon so I can continue
to take you on a tour of the house?


Sunday, November 24, 2013

More Collage Sheets for Your Holiday Crafts

Dear Friends of The Tearoom,
I've been having fun creating several new digital collage sheets for my shop Velvet Revived on Etsy.

Just in case you have some Thanksgiving projects to work on this week, it's not too late to get some fun images to use here in this sheet:

 some sweet turkey images and even a cornucopia too!

And, here are my two newest Christmas collage sheets!

is made up of eighteen digital ornaments I made
from my collection of vintage French postcards and
a new technique I finally accomplished which
resembles vintage mercury glass ornaments!

And finally, something I had a lot of fun creating,
This is an original collage I designed using
the iconic original Mad Tea Party scene
from Alice in Wonderland!
Here, they are in full madness for the holidays,
having a Christmas tea and acting out,
per usual.  And, as usual,
Alice is less than amused.
I think this could make the cutest Christmas
cards ever!

Thank you for taking a peek at what goes
on in Velvet Revived and keep checking back here
in The Tearoom,
as I am about to reveal a major project I have
been working on recently!

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

A Special Message

I haven't had a chance to participate in the collage challenges lately, but I am joining in for the challenge on The Three Muses this week.  The prompt was "Gone With the Wind" and was left open for our interpretation.


"The owl and the pussycat went to sea in a beautiful pea-green boat..."

This is a special message to someone special:  In the Voyage of my Dreams, we sail away in a beautiful pea-green boat.  Our sails fill, we glide away and all of our troubles are gone with the wind.

Images used in this collage from Tumblefish Studios, The Graphics Fairy and my personal collection.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas...

Well, not really, but ready or not, Christmas is on its way!

I've been busy with so many things!

First, Colleen from Butterfly in the Attic
is very sweet and she named my
Christmastime is Here Digital Collage Sheet
as the featured image on her
"Wait A Minute Mr. Postman" Linky Party
this week!
How very nice of her!
Thank you, Colleen!

Next, I'm participating in the Linky Party on
once again this week!

I'm listing my two newest sheets,
both of them perfect for all of your Christmas crafts!

Our dear little girl is so excited for Christmas!
She can barely sleep from thinking about
all of the parties, the cookie decorating,
the little surprises and gifts and then,
her favorite,
Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning!
She is always a good girl, but she
is being extra, extra good to make
sure she is on Santa's "Good" List!


And this is still The Gossamer Tearoom, after all,
so, this is the other new sheet from Velvet Revived:
Oh!
What lovely teas we shall have using these
lovely tea cups, tea pot, creamer and sugar bowl
at our Christmas party in front of the fire!

Both sheets are perfect for making holiday cards,
garlands, tree decorations and scrapbook pages,
as well as all sorts of digital projects!

So, be sure and check out
Even though in the world of The Tearoom,
the heat is on and there were even a few
flakes of snow blowing by today,
in the world of The Butterfly in the Attic,
it is warm and sunny and this week,
Colleen makes an excellent point:
It simply does not snow everywhere
at Christmastime!
Check out some of the lovely vintage
postcards she is posting as examples of this truth!

Finally,
I am currently listing quite a few new items
in Mirabella Morello.

The sweet little vintage handkerchiefs are just
two of the new items I am listing,
just in time for holiday shopping.

Saturday, November 16, 2013

A Linky Party and A New Addition to the Family...

Hello Dear Friends,
Happy Saturday to you!
Once again, I'm participating in a linky party
on Butterfly in the Attic!
This week, I've linked my
Christmastime is Here Digital Collage Sheet,
which is also featured in the
BNS on the Pacific Postcards Team!


This is a sheet I made for last Christmas.
I'm making new ones for posting in Velvet Revived very soon!

In more news from The Tearoom,
in one of my Halloween posts, 
I promised to introduce you to the newest addition to our Dear Doll Family.  
May I introduce to you...Baby Hoobert!



Mr. V took these pictures of him shortly after he arrived!


Here he is sleeping!
Sssshhhh!



And here he is in his new black velvet romper
that I made for him from a pair of old leggings!
Doesn't he look dapper!



Thursday just loves her new brother!
 


What a good baby he is!
We are so happy that the Etsy stork
delivered him to our house!

I repaired a couple of small tears he had
on his shoulder and very carefully cleaned his
arms and hands.  He is all fixed up now!

In my Halloween post for Miss Vanessa's blog party,
I mentioned that my Betty Boop doll had once gone to
The New York Doll Hospital, but it is now closed.
Several people made comments about this, 
saying they thought a doll hospital was a good idea
and expressing how sad that it was now gone.
It occurs to me that perhaps Mr. V and I should
start another one.

What do you all think of this idea,
Dear Friends of The Tearoom?

(Coming very soon...
pictures taken while visiting
The Little House of Sometimes...)