A Mad Tea Party 2011

Greetings to you, My Dear Friends of The Tearoom,
Can you believe it has been a year since we met at the last Mad Tea Party? It is so wonderful to be here with you again, my dear friends (and ones I have not yet met).

Today's party is inspired in part by a tiny visitor we had a few nights ago. I walked past my studio late at night and there in the dark was a blinking chartreuse-colored light in the corner. I had to look at it for a minute to understand what it was and then I realized! A firefly had somehow come inside and was lighting up the room with his tiny light! It was very late and I was hoping he would find his way back out the way he came in (but didn't really expect he would). I looked for him the next day and didn't find him. But the next night, Dear Mr. V told me the little lightning bug was in the bathroom! I scurried upstairs, captured him and set him free outside (the insect, not Mr. V!!)! Whew! Luckily, the clever little thing had gotten into a house which is inhabited by card-carrying members of The Friends of Fireflies Foundation!!! (Is there really such an organization? I would join if there was, you know!)

So, with much twinkling and not much more ado, please join me on an adventure! And it will only cost you a nickel and a piece of lint from your pocket! Oh! And you did wear your gossamer wings, didn't you? You didn't? No worries! I keep extra sets in the closet just for such an occasion for folks who do not normally travel with an item such as this!

First, we must stop and get a drink. Here's where you must spend the nickel I gave you!

Now, quickly, please drink up! We must be very tiny to get where we are going!

Now, please look in your pocket! That wasn't a piece of lint after all, but a ticket for tonight's festivities!! Now that you are smaller, you can read it!


Right this way, please!


Have you ever been to one of the beautiful old classic movie theatres, the ones that seem to just have velvet everywhere? Tonight, we will be viewing a film, the first "Alice in Wonderland" movie, filmed in 1903!!! It is showing in a place with velvet everywhere too, the black velvet of night! It is a small bit of beauty and decadence, located in a remote corner of the garden and it even has a beautiful, glittering chandelier, suspended from the stars above by a spider web! While we are watching, we will be nesting inside the chandelier for the best, most twinkliest view and the most decadent place in which to have our tea-picnic! Isn't it just too exciting!!

Our dear friend Mademoiselle Violette Plantagenet is here to greet us! Now, spread your wings and up, up, up we go, into the chandelier!

Go ahead and make yourself comfy! Here is a nest I have made of old maps, a pretty cushion with a picture of Alice herself on it (Doesn't it smell so nice? I love lavender, don't you?). Now, please allow me to fill your thimble-cup with fairy-mint tea and please take a bottlecap-plate of treats for yourself. Mademoiselle Violette helped me to gather all that I needed today and she herself has picked the violet petals and wild strawberries, just for you! All comfy now?

Princess Sugar Verbena is welcoming us to the movie and tea party! Isn't she just the dearest thing? I do so admire the way she has her own practical style! Pink and frilly is just fine for some, but doesn't she look so smart in black? It's my favorite summer-time color, how about you? And really, her crown of cream is the envy of all here! Always an appropriate choice for tea! Royalty-watching is so much fun in this tiny world!

The movie is about to begin! I do think you will enjoy it!

Wasn't it just pure enchantment??

And now, for the surprise, if you will only just leave a comment, I will add your name to the giveaway! On July 1, I will draw a winner's name from the teapot. And what will you win? Why, the very pillow on which you reclined at tea and a matching gift tag! It is a pretty sachet, handmade by the dear ladies of The 5 Dollar French Market on Etsy! It has such a pretty picture of Our Dear Alice on it, with a bit of twinkly glitter in her hair! It is filled with beautiful lavender and it just smells so nice! The ladies who run this shop are so nice and make such nice things and they only cost $5 each!! I would like to thank them for the use of their photo!


Thanks also go to all the talented people who make the collage sheets that I have used in this post:
Hollie Haradon of Holliewood Studios@Deviant Scrap
Marsha of Tumblefish Studios@Deviant Scrap
Kirsi of Itkupilli
Karen of The Graphics Fairy
Kathy of KF Collection
Mark of Memories Emporium

Don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win the Alice lavender sachet and gift tag! And thank you so much for visiting my party today! Please take a minute to visit Vanessa, our hostess, at her party at A Fanciful Twist and the other participants as well!

A Little Reminder...

Dearest Friends,
Please don't forget that Saturday is the day! The day of the Magical Mademoiselle Vanessa's Marvelous Mad Tea Party at her magnificent home in the Aether, A Fanciful Twist! Monsieur Le Chat Cheshire wanted to drop in and remind you himself!

(He also wants you to know that he is wearing one of the extra-fun party hats from the always-wonderful modiste Marsha of Tumble Fish Studio at Deviant Scrap!)

We cannot wait to see you next at the party!

Our Dream...

Dear Friends,
Do you love books? We do!!! I mean, we REALLY love books.

And so did my mother.

The same ones I did.

So....

we have...

LOTS!

It has always been our dream to own a bookstore. I am so pleased to announce that a new bookstore is now open, in the same block as The Gossamer Tearoom and Mirabella Morello. My Dear Mr. V has opened a shop on Amazon.com, called VixMixx, where he is selling used books, DVDs and CDs. We are so pleased with how well it is doing so far! It is definitely still under construction, but that does not mean that we don't already have some wonderful things there! You will find it is a very eclectic collection and wide range of prices, starting from 1 cent for some paper backs (you basically only pay the postage to send them) to some very unusual and collectable art books! Won't you please come in and dig through the stacks of wonderful words and images, sights and sounds!!

Burlesque Tea Review + Real Paris Adventure

Found backstage at Paris' famous Moulin Rouge:


next to one of the dressing room doors...


...a heart-shaped box of chocolates filled with luscious rose cream,


roses of a very rare chocolate and cream variety,
grown in only one greenhouse
by one especially eccentric count,


and a note:
When you are on stage, you belong to everyone.
When you are not, please say you will belong to me.....



(Inspired by the luxurious, decadent and romantic combination of roses and chocolate in Opus Oils' luxurious Burlesque Tea from their Jitterbug Perfume Parlour Tea Collection! With its combination of Congou Tea, Rose Oolong Tea, Rose Absolute Infused Premium Grade Organic Edible Rose Petals and Cocoa Nibs, it is a singularly sensuous experience. I could not have imagined that the flavors of two of the most highly recognized symbols of love and sensuality could combine in such a perfect way! This really is a brilliant combination!)



And for all Friends of The Tearoom who reside in Paris (and those who might be visiting), I have a treat for you! I have an invitation for you all from Adam of Paris Patisseries. Adam has organized an event at the patisserie Jacques Genin, in the 3rd Arrondissment. You will get to meet him and other people who will gather to buy treats and then walk to the parc de la rue Perrée to enjoy them! You can learn all about it here! We so wish we were going to be there with you, but I promised Adam I would let you all know so you could join him instead!

New to Mirabella Morello

Dear Friends of The Tearoom,
I am so sorry I have been away so long, but I have so many fun things planned for you....! As usual, I am scurrying from attic to cellar, working on so many things at once! It seems that each day I find new things to sell at Mirabella Morello, my little vintage shop on Etsy! But I had so much fun taking pictures of some of the newest items that I would like to share some of the other images I caught too!





We have so many lovely flowers in our yard right now, so I gathered some of the lilacs, lilies-of-the-valley and pansies to show off some of the little vases and bottles I have for sale. The scents that surrounded me yesterday...the depth of the purple lilacs, the lighter, more honey-ed notes of the white ones, the lemon-y, chartreuse scent of the lily-of-the-valley. These scents take me back to my childhood so quickly, so easily. My mother would fill the house with lilacs she had picked from our yard and on hot summer afternoons, she would draw all the curtains in the house to try and block the summer heat. On those hot, dark summer days, the scent would nearly be stifling, but in the nicest way. And that bright scent of lilies-of-the-valley takes me to hot summer days as well. In one of the two tiny guest rooms in my Grandmother Parker's house, she had a container of talcum powder in this scent. I would sneak a sniff everytime I went in and my memories are filled with hot, stifling days in that tiny room with the faded floral wallpaper and low ceilings. I can see the bed-spread, the night lights in the headboard bookcase, only weakly illuminating the room at night and I can still smell the bright, lightly lemon scent....

And from my Grandmother Cleaveland, I think I inherited (among many other things), her love of pansies and violas! She was always fascinated with their "dear little faces", as she always said. But I must admit, I don't think to look for faces when I look at them because I am always so enchanted by their myriad of colors. Of course I love their infinite ranges of purple to blue, but also the magentas, the heliotropes, the orchids, their bright yellow accents...instant happiness.























Oh, by the way, that delicious warm vanilla color in the background of the first and fourth pictures is the wall of our new studio! It's just a sneak peek. I promise you'll get to have a full tour as soon as it's a bit more organized.