The Invitation of the Season...

It has arrived!  We have waited and waited and now, we have received THE Invitation of the Season!  Our Dear Friend, Our Dearest Mademoiselle Vanessa of A Fanciful Twist has invited all of us to her annual Halloween party!!   This year, it is scheduled for Saturday, October 27th.  So many things to plan!  What will we wear?  What will we eat?  Please don't worry!  I have been spending my every free moment in The Attic of My Imagination, concocting and creating...I promise our party here at The Tearoom will be spooky and fun! (Did I mention it will be spooooooky?)

If you would also like to join Vanessa's most fun Halloween blog party, please check here for the details!

I'm off to begin pulling things from old trucks and armoires.....

Please to remember...

Super Nice People Talking About My Cards...

Just want to say a huge "Thank You" to some lovely people tonight!  

"Ecka and Pecka" tweeted me a few days ago that The Gossamer Tearoom had been mentioned in an interview they had done for their blog with Bev, General Manager of PulpDC, who was a friend of Mr. V's and mine when we lived in Washington.  Earlier this year, Pulp started to sell some of my silk pillow and glitter cards!  Today, they tweeted me again to let me know they had published the interview with Bev on their blog!  

You know, I am still pretty amazed by what Mr. V and I call "The Internets".  People get a chance to know each other who might have never otherwise had a chance to meet.  It really is pretty incredible.  And, now I know of the nice ladies who call themselves Ecka and Pecka (and Meream) too!

Sending love out to all of the nice people I have met through my blog, Twitter and Pinterest.  And thank you and big hugs go out to Bev and the crew at PulpDC!

Wishing you all a wonderful Friday evening!

Halloween news coming soon....new brooches and ornaments and cards...and how could we let the holiday go by without a party here at The Tearoom.

The End of Summer...

Dearest Dear Friends of The Tearoom,
Welcome!  Even though Halloween is one of my favorite holidays of the year and here at The Tearoom, happy scramblings have begun to happen to prepare for it, I DO so hate when summer ends!  I love spring and summer the very best and honestly, Halloween may be the only thing that keeps me from digging a hole and hibernating in it until spring!

But, nonetheless, there are treats for us (because we always deserve treats, don't we?)

I still think it is so fun to bring to you the newest flavors from our favorite Houses of Haute Patisserie in Paris!  And I like it even better that so many of the lovely things they make are made with citrus or tropical flavors!  Is it just me or are they like eating sunshine?  Which will you try first...?

Perhaps one of the new flavor for autumn from The House of Ladurée:  Orange Sanguine Gingembre (Blood Orange Ginger)...

Which of the flavors like stored sunshine would you choose from the macarons from The House of Pierre Hermé?

(from left to right)...This is the Metissé macaron with the surprising, but intriguing combination of orange, carrot and Ceylon cinnamon!  I would definitely give this a try!  I used to love drinking orange and carrot juice combined and the cinnamon could only make it better!

Or would you try Monsieur Hermé's Huile d'Olive à la Mandarine (Olive Oil with Mandarin Orange).  An unusual combination to be sure.  Would you try it?  I would!  I have been experimenting with cooking with olive oil and have been adding extra virgin, not the lighter sort, to many baked goods with fruit and there is an extra depth of flavor to them thanks to it.  Remember, olives are fruit too!)

If lemon is your favorite citrus flavor, perhaps the Médélice (Lemon & Flaky Hazelnut Praline) or the Infiniment Citron (Infinite Lemon) would entice you?

I find tropical flavors like passionfruit and pineapple to be just as cheery as citrus ones.  The House of Dalloyau has new flavors of religieuses each season and their newest sweet flavor is their Religieuse Exotique filled with a cream bursting with tropical flavors!  Oh yes, please!!

...and what tea to have with all this sunshine?  I think...yes...that's it...Thé Satine by Pierre Hermé, a black tea scented with the lovely flavors of passionfruit and orange....

Oh, won't you stop for a bit and have a cup of tea and a treat with me?

And just to prepare you for Halloween, may I share with you a poetry reading from one of my favorite poets, Edgar Oliver, reading his poem "The End of Summer"?  I just love his voice and I'm so glad to have discovered him, if only recently.  I learned of him, as many have come to know him, from the fun and creepy show Oddities on The Science Channel (it is not to everyone's taste, but perhaps it speaks to my boredom with the area in which I currently live.  I miss living in the city and seeing so many different kinds of people...)


Video of Edgar Oliver "The End of Summer" by straw2gold pictures.

There are many more videos of his readings on YouTube, which I will be posting as our Halloween season draws ever nearer....

And as for Halloween...

Are You In Need of Wacky?

Please take a helping here.



With hugs from me,

Betty

Nothing Short of Brilliant...

Dearest Friends,

This brilliant video is called "Le Flâneur" and I found it while burrowing into The Rabbit Hole Called Pinterest yesterday.  I know I am very late to the party, but it is so very addictive, isn't it?  However, I do find it very inspiring as well and find that more people are finding their ways to my shops!

Nonetheless, let me clear my head of Pinterest Fog for a minute!  The video is by a very talented young man named Luke Shepard, a student at The American University of Paris.  I watched the video a few times (We also LOVE the music of The xx and his images are perfectly timed to it!).  I was amazed to read that the video is composed entirely of photographs!  I also saw that he has a Kickstarter project where he is raising money to make another film, only this time to include other monuments in Europe, also filmed at night.  My friends here at The Tearoom know that I do love the night-time and when Mr. V and I visited Paris, we kept a very strange schedule indeed whereby we arose late in the morning and were some of the last to have our breakfast in the little breakfast room in our hotel (we hope we did not annoy our very sweet hostess too, too much...she was so very nice!).  We walked around the city for a lot of the day, but in the afternoon, we would come back to the hotel and have a long nap.  We would then arise again, have a late dinner and walk the streets until midnight...one o'clock...after...  Maybe because we lived in Washington at the time, we were always very aware of our surroundings, but I will tell you that we felt much more at ease walking in Paris at night that we did in DC.  We were enchanted by Paris after dark and I feel that Mr. Shepard perfectly captures much of what we saw and how we saw it.

Won't you please consider checking into his Kickstarter site and making a contribution to what I am sure will be another beautiful film?

ow.ly/dneLE

Luke Shepard

The Flâneur

If you are unable to make a contribution (life is so hard for so many at this time, Mr. V and myself included), won't you please help by chatting about his video on your blog, on Facebook, on Twitter, on Pinterest or just by sharing it with your friends?

In the great synchronicity of life, it no longer surprises me when similar references to many things stack up, one on the other, coming from random places and planting themselves at my doorstep.  Only yesterday, I finished reading "The Flâneur" by Edmund White.  On the dustjacket, he says "A flâneur is a stroller, a loiterer, someone who ambles through a city without apparent purpose but is secretly attuned to the history of the place and in covert search of adventure..."

Mr. Shepard and Mr. White have given us definitive examples of what it is like to just wander and be open to the grand surprises that await us in Paris, and in fact, everywhere...

What Has Been Going On...?

Dear Friends,
Thank you so, so much for attending The Mad Tea Party last month!  It was SO much fun, wasn't it?

How is it that so much time has gone by already that the party was LAST month?  What have I been doing since then?  Well, some real-life things that I leave at the door, but some fun and artistic things too!  First, I have been reading this book, "Paris, The Magic City of the Seine", written by Gertrude Hauck Vonne in 1918!  I am lucky in that the copy I own is from that date and is in beautiful condition!  How fun it is to hold a book in your hands that is this old!  In reading it, I found that so many impressions of Paris that this woman had exactly matched ours!!  And just when you think she just may have been a friend who went along with you, she speaks about riding in an "electric carriage"!!  I've finished it now, but it is one of those books that stays with you!  This book is, however, somewhat of a mystery to me.  I usually remember how and when I got all of the books in my collection (which is fairly vast), but I am not sure if this was one I bought in one of the many used bookstores I used to frequent when I lived in Washington, DC, if it was one sent to me by my mother (who was single-handedly responsible for my book addiction) or if it was left here in the house by my great-aunt, who used to live here.  All I know is that it has now won itself a place of honor in the little bookcase next to my bed, to be read in long passages or short, over and over again!

But I digress...speaking of history (and we were, before I began my swooning description of my life-long affair with books!), we are finding ourselves spending a lot of time perusing a site called Retronaut.  Something between an online museum of history and a virtual time machine, The Retronaut is the creation of Chris Wild.  He has a background in museum curation. His site is arranged by time period, but within each time period are endless subjects of every imagined interest and many things you may never have known about before.  Subjects can be searched by key word, by time period or by subject category.  Oh...I'm sorry...I've managed to make it all sound a bit dry and somewhat like the explanations of the Dewey Decimal System that you would get from that librarian...but I promise you, dry does NOT describe the contents of this site.  I usually avoid much that would elicit much controversy, not for any other reason than it was just easier that way. But this website is worth a look and so, I will warn you that there are many wonderful and educational things on this site, but not all of it is "all audiences approved".  That having been said, please take a clue from Mr. Wild's very enticing tagline, which appears in his logo:  "The past is a foreign country.  This is your passport."

And finally, I have now given in and joined those who are Addicted to Pinterest!  I have boards for rooms here in The Tearoom, plus I have others dedicated to the Gossamer Tearoom shop, Mirabella Morello, some a bit darker called A Credenza of Curiosities, The Moon and the Melodies and Mummy's Little Babies!  And you just can't miss Tea at The Tearoom, hosted on my Pinterest site!

Won't you please come and visit?

The Mad Tea Party 2012

Welcome, Dearest Friends!

We are so happy to see you!
We didn't tell you that our party today is not at the Gossamer Tearoom,
but instead,
at another Grand Tearoom of The Imagination!
Please travel with us!

I love road-trips on warm, summer nights, don't you?

Our little car glides quietly through the night 

and we are listening to our favorite tunes.

as we make our way to The Mad Tea Party.

We know all of our favorite blogging friends are waiting there for us,

especially our dear friend Miss Vanessa of

A Fanciful Twist.

Under a full moon, we sing to the music

and ponder something we have been thinking about for a while...

What if the man in the moon in the moon is really a woman?

We are almost there now...
You see, it didn't take too long, barely long enough for anyone to say,
"Are we there yet?"

One of the most amazing part of our trip is driving past
 the very rare, very elegant black tea rose bushes.
Ooooh....the scent....

He stopped the car and picked one of the beautiful roses for me.
I will wear it in my hair...

Another unusual feature of this very charming town is their unique street lights.
They are bird cages!
Each night, all of the fire-flies in the area come and congregate inside the cages
All of them together make a beautiful chartreuse light!
Sometime just before daylight, they all go home again.
Thank you, Dear Fire-Flies!

We check the time as we go past the samovar clock-tower.

We don't want to be late!

So many buildings here in Tea-Ville are built from giant pastries,

like this,

The Beautiful and Famous Black Rose Hotel!

And, some of the little tea-cup houses have lovely roof-top gardens,

just over-flowing with an exotic variety of giant pansies!!

Oh Goodie!
We have arrived at The Teapot Tearoom!

And just as in my dream from a few nights ago,
we drive through a thick fog before driving up the stairs
Yes, we are driving inside the house!
(The Drive-In Mad Tea Party here is so much fun!!)
And our car is so clever!
It telescopes up to become much shorter
and now it seems as though it is a car from a carnival ride!!
I LOVED those!!!
Did you too??

As we come to the top floor, it seems as though we might be outside again...

What are those things flying through the air??

They are not...

could they be....

pineapple and blackberry....

strawberry and cherry....

UPSIDE DOWN CAKES!!!

(I loved pineapple upside-down cake as a child,

but I could have sworn it looked different than this!)

Which flavor would you choose?

You only need whisper your choice 

and the butterfly carrying it will bring it to your plate!!

And as for the tea...

What is our selection?

Why...The Black Tea Rose,  of course!

And what does it taste like, you might ask?

It is an elegant, yet complex, Alice-in-Wonderlandian blend...

afternoon tea and roses in full bloom,

pineapple and memories of summer,

blackberries and warm, summer drives at night,

cherries, chocolate

tiny cars from carnival rides,

memories of fun meal eaten at drive-ins

strawberries, vanilla whipped cream and....

imagination!

Delicious!

Thank you to all the friends, 

old and new,

who have visited here today!

Thank you to Julia of Cemerony, Karen of The Graphics Fairy, Kirsi of Itkupilli

and Evelyn of Holliewood Studios (Deviant Scrap)

for some of the images I used in my collages here.

And most especially,

Thank You to Mademoiselle Vanessa

of

A Fanciful Twist

for hosting the most fun blog parties!!

Please visit her party and everyone else listed as party-goers

for today's fun all-day, all-weekend, all-week extravaganza!!

What Could It Possibly Be?

You will know soon enough, Dear Friends of The Tearoom!

But, in the meanwhile, try to guess!!

The Mad Party Tea is on it's way!

Please keep checking back!

What I Have Been Up To...

Most Dear Friends of The Gossamer Tearoom,
I do so hope that you will forgive my having been away for so long!  I do so miss our virtual teas together, the slips of scented steam from beautiful vintage teacups, the pastries so beautiful you think they must have come from a dream, and all of the other surprises that I bring to you here!  But, I will now share with you some of the projects which have been occupying my time and I hope you will be able to forgive me for not having visited with you in such a long while.

One of the projects in which I am most pleased to be having the chance in which to participate involves my beautiful silk and glitter cards!  I wrote about them here for the first time and have been selling them in The Gossamer Tearoom shop on Etsy since the first of the year.  They are finding a wider and wider audience and now I could not be more pleased to tell you that they are now being sold in what was one of Mr. V's and my favorite shops when we lived in Washington, DC!!  Several of my designs are now for sale in Pulp on 14th Street!!  I just could not be more excited!  Pulp is such a fun place, selling cards, books, paper, gifts, all with a great sense of humor and a beautiful sense of design.  Bev and all of the great people who work with her were so sweet to us when we would come in and shop and now, I am SO happy to be working with them!!

This is a photo they took in the store when they featured my cards on their Facebook page:

photo courtesy of Vickey at Pulp

and...some shots I took of them myself:

Balloon Vendor One

Balloon Vendor Two

The Bug Lady

The Countess

In the Crimson Garden

The Lily Grower

The Seance

The Family

An example of the back of one of the cards,
done in metallic copper embossing powder
(for any rubberstamping and scrapbooking geeks out there,
or (wishing and hoping) any of the former
students of my rubberstamping class!!

When we lived there, I always told people that everyone will want to see the monuments and the museums when they visit Washington, but if you miss the neighborhoods, you miss a big part of the picture.  If you live in the DC area or will be visiting there this summer on vacation (or anytime!), please make some time to visit 14th Street, and especially Pulp!  We could not be more thrilled to know that my cards now live in our former home, a place that will always hold a special place in our hearts!  Thank you again to Beverly, Vickey and all of the nice folks at Pulp!




Pulp
1803 14th Street, NW
Washington, DC  20009
(202) 462-7857



(Please don't forget to check back here on Saturday when, once again, The Gossamer Tearoom participates in the Mad Tea Party at A Fanciful Twist!

The Surprises...

Oh my goodness...
Such a long time between chats with you, My Dear Friends...

So, while I finish some projects, here are some hints...

Some new friends...

and...

some you may remember from before,
now seen in a whole new light!
(Very exciting!)
And please don't forget to meet me back here
on
Saturday, July 28th
for another Very Mad Tea Party,
hosted by Mademoiselle Vanessa
from A Fanciful Twist....
(I'm still being VERY quiet about my plans for this...!)

A Mad Tea Party 2012

Dearest Dear Friends of The Tearoom,
I hope you are not feeling neglected and dejected!  I have not meant to be absent!  I do have some wonderful news and some fun projects that I will be sharing very soon and it will explain (at least part of) my absence!  But, in the meanwhile, I have the very loveliest news!  Once again this year, I will be participating in the extra-elegant, most-magical, super-special Mad Tea Party Blog Party hosted by The Most Very Dearest Mademoiselle Vanessa of A Fanciful Twist!  The date of the party will be Saturday, July 28th and as usual, I will be keeping the details of my party a secret until that day for The Maximum Madness Factor!

Won't you please join me here on that day for fun and madness in the style to which you have become accustomed here at The Gossamer Tearoom?

A Birthday Message....

Dearest Friends of The Tearoom,
This birthday message is from one of my great musical crushes, Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran. Today, he is 50.

This was brought to my attention by My Darling Mr. V, my husband, who, in 1985, loved teasing me about my crush on Mr. Rhodes! I don't think he had any idea he would end up being my biggest crush after all.

Happy Birthday, Nick and thank you for all of the wonderful musical memories.

Do You Love Vintage French Postcards?

I do and have just created the first of a series of collage sheets using images from them! I think the ladies were so lovely and the colors of these cards were amazing considering they were done in the 20's and 30's. I couldn't resist playing with them a bit more, making some into oval shapes, adding colors to others. I even took some of the words from the backs of the postcards and made them into digital elements for you to use in your art work! Very fun!

Available here in .jpg and .png from Velvet Revived on Etsy.

Some Music for You...

Dearest Friends of The Tearoom,
If you have not heard of the band The Blue Nile, please do yourself a favor and make them new friends of yours. Unfortunately, the band did not make that many albums and it is my understanding that they are now broken up, but their lead singer Paul Buchanan's solo album is just out and is truly indescribable. His music always makes me cry, in the very best way. May your heart be broken by this:

Five Years Ago Today...

...I married my best friend. Thank you, Dear Caroline, for capturing this most beautiful evening in our lives so we can live it over and over again. And thank you to everyone else who made our wedding so special. We love you all.

For Our Mommies....

Wishing a Very Happy Mothers Day to all Mommies today! I made this little card for My Mommy Cupcake and I'm sure she can smell the flowers from where she is...

Wishing Mommy Agnes, Mommy Elfriede and all the other Mommies in the world A Most Happy Day!

With our love,


Betty & Mr. V

(Thank you to The Graphics Fairy and Asunder Ephemera for the images I used in my collage.)