Victorienne's New Dresses...

What a lucky little girl Victorienne is!  Here she is in her latest collections of adorable rompers!  You can see the rest of these collections by viewing the newest digital collage sheets from Velvet Revived.

Here, she is so happy wearing the myriad of colors found in a rose garden!

And here, she is wearing her favorite color, which also happens to be mine: Purple!

And,

very soon,

Victorienne will make her debut

at

The Gossamer Tearoom shop on Etsy...!

The Airship Impatience....

(please click for larger image)

This, Dear Friends, is The Airship Impatience, piloted by our own Violette!  She is so dear!  After hearing me complain endlessly about how long spring is taking to get here, she has gone to get me spring flowers!  I don't know where she has gone to get them, but I am grateful!  And, as is always the way just when you think something will never happen, of course, it does!  Today, in The Land of The Tearoom, it has finally been warm enough to feel like springtime!  Soon enough, I will be be planting little flowers in the pots on our porch in my favorite pair of barefeet!

(This is actually my submission for the collage challenge at The Three Muses this week.  The prompt was "Transport".  The background and airship of my collage come from Marsha of Tumblefish Studio's newest sheets!)

Another Twinkling Night in Paris...

Having fun, doing collages today...

Here is my entry for the collage challenge on Collage Obsession.  The prompt this week is "Cities".  Of course I can't miss a chance to create yet another collage having to do with my favorite city!  The background is from Marsha of Tumblefish Studio's brand-new kits inspired by the film-maker Georges Méliés.  You might remember him if you saw the movie "Hugo" or have seen his famous film from 1902 "A Trip to the Moon". The scene from Paris is from my private collection of vintage postcards of Paris.

Easter Greetings...

Dearest Friends of The Gossamer Tearoom,

Victorienne and I wish you the most wonderful Easter!

Betty

A Digital Paper Doll...

As promised, here are the first two digital collage sheets, featuring Dear Little Victorienne!

In this sheet, she is dressed in rompers of pink, green and purple, in shades of blue bird, pink roses, freshly-bloomed violets...

...and in this sheet, ripe purples and reds, shades of cherries yellow and red, bucolic gardens and even more violets and pansies....

Please visit her at her second new home Velvet Revived!  She is waiting to say "Hello" and show you all of her favorite new clothes for spring and summer!

Victorienne....

Dearest Friends of The Tearoom,

May I introduce to you the newest member of The Gossamer Tearoom Family?   This is Victorienne!  She is a magical little girl and sweeter than strawberries in July!  She is my most recent digital collage project, made from vintage postcards and a vintage paper doll.  But she will soon be making her debut in the material world as I am currently creating art dolls, silk art brooches, banners, as well as digital collage sheets with her image, wearing her extensive wardrobe of adorable rompers and soon, I will be debuting all of these items in two of my Etsy shops, The Gossamer Tearoom and Velvet Revived!  Please check back later today as I will be debuting the first two digital collage sheets of images of our new little girl!

Victorienne is such a friendly little soul and she can't wait to meet you in person!

Immediate Gratification...

In my Etsy shop Velvet Revived, I have super exciting news!  I have joined the Prototype Team for Instant Downloads of Digital Files!  Why is this so exciting?  It means that all of my digital collage sheets are now available for instant download!  As soon as your payment is confirmed, you will receive an e-mail from Etsy with the links to the sheets you have purchased, usually within just a few minutes!  So, with Easter only one week away, you still have plenty of time to order my Easter and Springtime sheets to make cards or decorations!

What could be better than finding what will work with your projects just perfectly and having it to use almost as soon as you order it?  Thank you, Etsy, for making this wonderful new service available for sellers to use!

To Inspire You...

Steampunk Spring...

Hello Dear Friends,
This is my collage for The Three Muses Collage Challenge.  The prompt this week is "Steampunk".  This is my Post-Winter Floral Initiation Machine.  Some places are seeing some signs of spring and even seeing some flowers blooming already.  I'm impatient!!  Here in Maine, we still have snow on the ground and I want flowers!!!  So, I built this machine to get the flowers started up!  I will put it in the garden and hope for the best!

(Sources of images for this collage:
Dials and watch parts from "Paper Doll Steampunk Digital Collage Sheet no 242"- Cemerony on Etsy
Decorations on the machine, including cream marble, corners and floral decoration from "Victorian Grunge 1 inch" - the House Across the Bay on Etsy (Thank you, Cheryl!)
All other tubes, lights, Victrola speaker and label I made into the machine from "Nitty Gritty" and "Nitty Gritty2" - Tumblefish Studios on Deviant Scrap
and flowers from "The Digital Valentine" from my shop Velvet Revived on Etsy.)

I Think The Sky Is Falling...

Hello Dear Friends,
This is my collage for the collage challenge on Collage Obsessions.  The subject this week is "Inspired by Fairy Tales and/or Children's Literature".    I have chosen to depict the moment after Chicken Little was hit by the acorn and is just about to announce "The sky is falling!!!".  What a silly!  Please check out all the other interpretations of favorite children's stories here.

(Sources of my images for this collage:
Chick from an image from friend Nigea's long-gone and sorely-missed free graphics blogs
Bucolic garden image from my collage sheet "The Rose Garden" from my shop Velvet Revived on Etsy.)

A Valentine Wish for You...

Hello, Dearest Friends!

Again, wishing all a wonderful

Valentine's Day!

It's a busy project day,

here at The Tearoom

and I would like to show you

some of what I have been working on.

This is Thursday.

Last year at this time, she was still packed away,

 in a box in the basement, in pieces,

as I had bought her at a flea market over 30 years ago.

As you can see from her face,

she has not had the easiest of lives.

When I bought her, she had many scratches

on her lovely face and no longer had hair,

only the glue that had once held a wig

on her dear little head,

which as it happens, is cracked.

But this summer, I started a project.

I decided to go in search of my mother's old dolls.

I found them, many of whom are 

in much sadder shape than

My Dear Thursday.

I also found where she was packed away,

restrung her parts back together

and began to hand-sew clothes for

all of these dear old things!

Who knows when was the last time any

of them had had new dresses!

I named her Thursday because of the old

children's rhyme:

"...Wednesday's child is full of woe,

Thursday's child has far to go..."

This little doll had far to go to be loved again.

In spite of her flaws,

I love her just the way she is.

Today, she is modeling for you my most

recent outfit from her now-growing collection...

a drop-waist gown of deep red velvet,

with burn-out roses and trim of crimson satin,

an over-sized black taffeta bow,

decorated with one of my

glitter anatomical hearts,

and on her feet,

her favorite new accessory...

...a vintage pair of doll's rollerskates

I found for her on Etsy!

This is not exactly the first time

you have seen Thursday.

I posted a picture of her here this summer,

(along with her new adopted sister Bebé Agnès).

You will be hearing more about Thursday soon...

This is my dear little Charlotte Framboise.

I had wanted a Frozen Charlotte doll and last year,

I treated myself at Christmastime.

And, just recently, I decided that if I didn't make

a dress for her, she really would be

Frozen Charlotte!

It is really too cold in Maine to be

running around nakey!

So, I took some black taffeta, black tulle and

black and white cord and made her a 

festive little dress!

There!

That's better!

She lives on my bed-side table and here she is pictured

with her friends, the mother cat and kittens,

Boston Terrier puppy and teeny, tiny duckling.

Here she is again,

posing on top of my favorite lip gloss treat,

Sweet Cream by Tokyo Milk.

Sweet dreams are assured if you go to sleep

with the taste of vanilla cream cake

on your lips...!

And because I just can't be happy working on

just one project at a time,

later today, this new collage sheet will be available

on Velvet Revived on Etsy...

"The Rose Garden" is just the first of my new

collection of digital collage sheets

for spring!

And, what am I listening to on this

Happy Valentine's Day?

Something sweet,

just a bit trippy

and brand-new.

Enjoy two tracks from a new band called inc.

Their debut album will be released on 4AD on the 19th.

In the meanwhile, if you like what you hear,

you can stream the entire album on Fader.

A Rose & Violet Cream Tea...

Welcome Once Again, Dearest Friends....

....welcome to my special Valentine's Day Tea...

A Rose and Violet Cream Tea,

with a few unconventional additions

from London and Paris...

Princess Sugar Verbena,

wearing her

Drop-of-Cream Royal Crown,

 is sitting

 inside one of the giant roses

I found and brought into The Tearoom!

I thought they would be

a fun and comfortable 

(and not to mention, fragrant!)

place to sit

while having our treats!

I am so happy to see her again and

The Tearoom is very honored

she accepted our invitation for today!

dAdA doll Rose de Blanc

and her baby,

Rose Lapin

are here for

the Valentine festivities

as well!

Shall we see what awaits us in the samovar?

Harney & Sons

Valentine's Blend Tea

chocolate tea with rosebuds...

or,

perhaps you'd prefer

Fortnum & Mason's

Rose & Violet Hot Chocolate,

like Princess Sugar is having...?

In a cream tea,

scones are traditionally served with strawberry jam

and clotted cream....

....but may we try something

a bit more adventuresome than

the strawberry jam?

Today, shall we try

Confiture d'Amour 

from Fauchon of Paris,

 with rose petals, 

strawberries

and

passionfruit

instead?

Will you take cream or sugar in your tea,

whipped cream for your hot chocolate?

...And so, I take you for a few moments,

to my favorite cinematic vacation spot

"Les Vacances de M. Hulot"

(Mr. Hulot's Vacation)...

It is the night of the masked ball,

there at the hotel,

and the eccentric but always-polite Monsieur Hulot

has a chance to dance with that

charming young lady, also staying at the hotel!

(Notice how gallant he is as he tries

not to touch her bare back as they dance!!!)

If you have not yet seen this movie,

please do so.

If you have seen it,

please see it again!

...and something romantic and wistful from Duran Duran

Before you leave, please allow me to spoil you once more...

...from Paris, 

Fauchon's Saint Valentin Coffret of 

Rose-Vanilla Macarons...

or...

from London, Rose and Violet Cream Chocolates
from Rococo of London...

Thank you so much for joining me
and my guests!
Wishing you a Most Happy Valentine's Day!



Images used in my collages from:
The Graphics Fairy
Tumblefish Studios
and many of the images used
were from my collage sheets
from Velvet Revived,
my shop on Etsy.
The image of the scone from
my Pinterest board
"Tea at The Tearoom".

Don't Forget...

...tomorrow's Valentine's Day tea,

here, 

at

The Tearoom!

Butterfly Princess of Great Potential

Here is my collage for this week's challenge 

for Collage Obsession, 

where the inspiration this week is Maps!

I call it "Butterfly Princess of Great Potential".  

I had so much fun with this!  

I altered a vintage photo of Louise Brooks

(who is so lovely, but was looking a little serious

in this picture for this project!)

I added the face of another lovely actress

 and Ziegfield dancer of yesteryear,

Drucilla Strain and then added wings made from a

vintage map of Paris!

Her crown is the little directional thingy

that is on most maps, her brooch is the Palais de Louvre,

and there are strips of the map all through her

glittery dress!

This collage is serving two purposes.

One, as my submission for this challenge, 

but I also designed it as a 

"Good Luck and Happy Retirement"card

for our friend Dawn, who is retiring from her job

at our teeny tiny post office, here in our teeny tiny town.

We will miss Our Miss Dawn!

She was always so sweet.

(I added lots of Black Diamond, Platinum and

Cinnamon Stickles to her card to make it

extra festive!!!)

I hope The Butterfly Princess brings many years

of doing the things she would like to do with

her life!

What I Have Been Working On...

These are the Valentines that I made for the Special Delivery Project from the Etsy Blog.  I sent them to the Etsy offices in Brooklyn so that some of the members of Etsy admin can deliver handmade Valentines with meals to the elderly for Citymeals-on-Wheels, the Meals-On-Wheels program in New York City.

When my father was living at the Veterans' Home, I remember how happy he was to receive handmade cards like this, made by volunteers.  He would happily show me the cards he got and I saw that even though he didn't know the person who had made it, he was just happy to receive it.

It Has Been Too Long...

...since we had tea!

I hope to see you here on the 8th...

Everyday is Valentine's Day Giveaway!

Too early to be thinking about this, you say?  January is still such a baby caterpillar and shows very few signs of turning into a February butterfly? Really now, Dear Friends, even if you don't believe that everyday is Valentine's Day, shouldn't you at least be starting to think about valentines for your loved one(s)?  Your valentines won't take the paper and glue out of your desk and make themselves, you know!  Maybe you need just a bit of inspiration...

I just finished creating a fun set of digital collage sheets for Velvet Revived.  The set is called "The Digital Valentine" and is made up of fun and beautiful images from the 1920's and 30's: French postcards, vintage soap and cosmetic labels, flower frames made from flower images from a vintage seed catalog and more.  And just because you are such nice friends, I wanted to surprise you!  I am giving away one of these sets, complete with some ideas for putting the pieces together!

Just leave a comment below and on Sunday, January 20th,  I will draw a name and announce a winner! If you would like to get a better look at this fun set of images (or if you just can't wait to own them!), please click here.

Have fun planning your Valentine's Day and keep watching for more Valentine fun!

Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered for the drawing!!!

A Happy New Year for Us All...

Dearest Friends,

I don't know about you, but I won't be listing 2012 as one of my favorite years.  So, here is my wish for  us all:  That 2013 will be so wonderful that we will all be convinced that the number 13 is our new lucky number!  

And, because I love it so, here is my favorite New Years Eve video:

Wishing everyone a bright and beautiful 2013!

With love,

Betty

Fun with Santa...

Dearest Friends of The Tearoom,
While we sit, snuggled under the black velvet night, waiting for Santa to arrive, I would like to share with you some collages I have made of Our Dear St. Nick!

Santa in The Time of Roses

Santa Miranda

Wishing all Dear Friends of The Tearoom a Most Beautiful and Magical Christmas and Creative and Successful 2013!

Some Late Night Chill Out

Live performance of "Protection" by Everything But the Girl, bringing back some sweet memories...
(This is one of my favorite songs ever!)

I was so very lucky to have seen them live on the last two tours they took of the States before they stopped performing to raise their family.  Their show at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC started with a 45-minute DJ set by Ben and then they performed for about an hour and fifteen minutes!

Thank you, Tracey and Ben!