A Return to The Garden...

Happy Sunday to you once again, Dear Friends!
The prompt for the challenge on Sunday Postcard Art this week is "Hats".  I always love making new collages for each challenge, but today, I hope you won't mind if we visit once again a collage I did about a year and half ago for a Mad Tea Party blog post.

Violetta, Victorienne and Dapple

in the Garden

Buttons and Bows

Dear Friends of The Tearoom,
Due to some recent happenings, I had not had the time to participate in the collage challenges that I love, but I took some time today so that I could participate in the one at the Take A Word Challenge.  The topic for today is "Buttons and Bows".

(click to see the image larger)

Monsieur Fromage is a photographer of great renown.
He has been asked by Madame Pensée

to come take a family photo.

Monsieur is taken aback by how fond the
Famille Pensée seems to be of buttons and bows.
Also, that kitty in the corner appears to be
the largest he has ever seen!

The buttons in my collage today are all from my own vintage button collection!  I decided to experiment with putting some on the scanner bed, scanning them and then playing with the contrast and brightness in Photoshop!  I hope you will enlarge the image and see how many of the iridescent colors came through from these mother-of-pearl buttons!

I think when most people think of "Buttons and Bows", they think of the popular song from 1947.  But I think of a song that my husband Mr. V introduced me to recently.  Give a listen to Long John Baldry and his song "Flying" from 1971 and see what you think!  By the way, anyone who is a long-time fan of Elton John (which I am!) will recognize his amazing work on the piano!

Thank you to Mr. V for all the music he has brought to my world, starting when we met in 1984,  and to our paperdoll daughter Victorienne for posing as one of the children of the Famille Pensée, on a break from the secret project she and I are working on together!

(Images used in my collage today from the following sources:  ItKuPiLLi Imagenarium on Mischief Circus, formerly Deviant Scrap, Tumble Fish Studios on Mischief Circus,  The Graphics Fairy and images from my own personal collection of vintage postcards and ephemera.)

(And since Kirsi of ItKuPiLLi Imagenarium and the Collage Obsession Challenge is getting that challenge started up again after a summer vacation hiatus, she asked if we would link to a collage to test her Linky Party links and so I have linked to that post from this one as well.)

Another Sign of Fall...

Hello to you, Dearest Friends!
Even though we are so very lucky to be having a lovely Indian Summer weekend here in The Land of The Tearoom, we have already had some very cold nights and so, already have quite a few brightly-colored leaves on the trees.  Here is a collage sheet I made and posted up in Velvet Revived this week.  I hope you like it and I hope it reminds you of all of your favorite things about fall!

Autumn Leaves Digital Collage Sheet

And, just as a reminder, if you haven't yet signed up for my friend Bill's class "I Don't Want to Grow Up" on his Purple Moose Heart Art site, it is not too late!  (Also, sending a big "Thank You" to him for mentioning me as one of his online friends who enjoy not growing up and giving a link to my last Mad Party Tea post!!!)  In fact, you can still sign up for his last class "Heal Your Heart With Dollar Store Art", which I can tell you, was so much fun!  I find Bill's classes so good for stretching my creativity and I'm so grateful to have him as a friend!

Please check back tomorrow, when I will be posting my submission for one of the collage challenges!  I haven't had the time to participate in them for a while, due to a big secret project I have been working on the last few weeks involving our Dear Little Sweetheart, Victorienne!  In the meanwhile, she will be happy to appear in my collage tomorrow as well!  Whew!  What a busy little girl she is!

Until tomorrow, Dear Friends!

A New Friend of The Tearoom...

Dearest Friends,
If you have read my blog, followed me on Twitter or Pinterest or looked at any of my Etsy shops, you know I am just crazy about Paris!  So, you can just imagine how excited I was to make the online acquaintance of Krystal, Editor-in-Chief of Romantic Paris Magazine!  If you haven't seen it yet, won't you take a moment to take a peek?   So much great information if you are planning a trip to Paris soon or are just armchair traveller for now!  And the photos!  So lovely!  If this doesn't make you dream of visiting Paris, nothing will!  And if you subscribe now, she is running a great buy-one-get-one-for-a-friend promotion and you can check that out here!

Please check back soon as I will be announcing a giveaway here at The Tearoom, in collaboration with Romantic Paris Magazine!!!

Summer is Over, But Autumn Brings Treats!

Dearest Friends of The Tearoom,
How did it happen?  Only a few short weeks ago, Mr. V and I were wandering about in some of the dear little coastal towns only a few hours from here, eating dinner outside in Belfast, having lunch in a park in Camden...I even got to paddle my feet in the ocean at Lincolnville Beach!  And now, we are back to blankets on the bed at night and making curries and pizzas for dinner.  The summer just does not last long enough for us here in The Land of The Tearoom, glorious and lush as it might be.

But we won't be sad for long because we have treats waiting for us as autumn approaches!

First of all, Our Dear Friend Vanessa of A Fanciful Twist has announced the date of her annual Halloween Blog Party!!!  The date is October 25th this year!  If you are so inclined, please visit her blog and sign up to participate on your blog!  Or, if just visiting is more your style, please mark the date to come back here and see what madness we will be up to and then go visit her and the other party-goers as well!

I always have fun participating in Vanessa's blog parties and if you would like to see what festivities went on in The Tearoom on Halloweens Past, please take a peek here:

Halloween 2010 - A Midnight Carnival

Halloween 2011 - Blood and Chocolate (Part One)

Halloween 2011 - Blood and Chocolate (Part Two)

Halloween 2012 - Halloween At The Doll House (Part One)

Halloween 2012 - Halloween At The Doll House (Part Two)

Halloween 2013 - Halloween With The Babies

And it is starting to look like Halloween (at least a bit!) at Velvet Revived recently as well!  I moved my Halloween collage sheets to the first page and couldn't resist making a new one from several public domain sources I found!

Spirit Photography Cabinet Cards Digital Collage Sheet,

available now at Velvet Revived

And finally, may I recommend some videos for your Halloween viewing?  We have been big fans of Jim Jarmusch for such a long time (Night on Earth and Mystery Train are two of our favorites) and when we finally received Only Lovers Left Alive on DVD recently, we dived in like it was a plate of pastries!  Not scary in the least, but so dark and atmospheric with a very wry sense of humor, these vampires are more hot-house flowers than monsters.  Our own personal copy is on its way to us and we peer into the mailbox each day until it arrives!

I also can't wait for the DVD release of Penny Dreadful on DVD next month!  I got to see several episodes in the hotel where we stayed in Belfast a few weeks ago.  It's so good!

Keep watching for more upcoming surprises here at The Tearoom, including news about a giveaway (or two)!

Is It Really Getting to Be That Time of Year Already?

Hello Dear Friends,
I hope your summer has been a good one.  Ours was busy and continues to remain so.  As I sit here, in the fan and the humidity, thinking a thunderstorm will reach us sooner than expected today, it is with some reluctance, I find myself thinking about Halloween already!  I, for one, am quite sad to see the summer go and so I have to post this lovely poem by my favorite poet, Edgar Oliver:

And so, it is time for My Lovely Old Doll Family to join our Paperdoll Daughter Victorienne in thinking about their costumes for their Halloween festivities!

Halloween Spooky Doll

Masquerade Party One Digital Collage Sheet

Halloween Spooky Doll

Masquerade Party Two Digital Collage Sheet

(This sheet is being promoted today, thanks to the kindness of Christie Cottage Blog and my friend Colleen of Butterfly in the Attic!!  Thank you, Nice Friends!!  And speaking of Colleen, please check out her great Saturday Networking Linky Party today as well!)

Victorienne's Halloween Party

(All of these sheets are always available for instant download at Velvet Revived on Etsy!)

And, of course, it is that time of year to start planning for the extra-festive Halloween party at our Dear Vanessa's blog A Fanciful Twist!  I already have some great ideas that I am working on (even though the date has not yet been announced!), in between working on my book project!

And so, we sit here today, listening to the fantastic soundtrack from "Only Lovers Left Alive", that deliciously creepy and atmospheric cinematic treat that we saw recently and fell in love with!  It's one we will be buying for our video library for sure and adding to our Halloween Movie Marathons!

Won't you please keep checking back for more information about upcoming and ongoing projects?  There is always so much going on here at The Tearoom!