The Red & Black Tea...

Dearest Friends!
Welcome to The Red & Black Tea, the very first Teeny Tea!  So much work and preparation has gone into this fun event and we couldn't be happier that you could join us here today!  We are all so grateful for the beautiful day!

As always, please click any of the pictures to see them larger.

First of all, please take a peek at the menu.  I had a lot of fun rubberstamping and adding red and black Stickles to it!  As some of you might remember, I taught the rubberstamping class when I worked at Paper Source in Georgetown and I still enjoy it.  Expect to see more rubberstamping for the next Teeny Tea, which will be The Pansy Tea, which is already being planned!

The day was a perfectly beautiful one.

Here are a few pictures of the table, set and ready

for the guests to arrive!

I made the table as well, from a cardboard box, brown and white paper and white glue.  I could have looked forever for a table this size and shape, so instead, I made one!  I must admit being quite inspired by the furniture design of the great Scottish architect/designer/artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

As I pointed out in an Instagram post a few weeks ago, curating is its own art form.  Gathering together vintage doll dishes and decorative items from things that had belonged to my mother, things I own and things I found from various sellers on Etsy was just another aspect of this tea.  You can expect to see this eclectic collection more in future teas.

Here's a close up of one of my favorite vintage pieces, a tiny vase I bought many years ago at an antique shop in Gray, Maine.

Another aspect of this project was making new dresses for Thursday and Hyacinthe!  As always, I sewed the dresses and accessories by hand, without patterns.  I used the gorgeous "Madame Rouge" fabric from French General and used bits of ribbon and vintage buttons from my collections. Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle also had a new dress for the occasion.

Here are they are together in their new dresses!

Now everyone is seated at the table, ready for the party to begin!

The girls have been very excited for this party!

As you may have seen in the last post,

Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and I have been so busy

making all the food for this lovely day!

Mr. Bear and his old friend Parsnip

can't wait to see what tea treats will be served!

Mr. Mookie and Teddy have asked to sit with

Baby Hoobert because they thought he might

need help eating.  What helpful family members

they are.

Of course, what is a party like this without music?

Dear Brownie McNutt entertains us on the toy

piano!  Plinka-plinka-PLINK!!

But do not worrry!

He will be having his tea and treats along

with everyone else in sips and bites between songs!

Who is this?

We do not know who this kittycat is,

but he invited himself to the party

and spent most of the day on the porch

with us.

Mr. V did a good job keeping him distracted,

as he was rolling all over my feet as I was

trying to photograph the party!

Now, which of our tea selections would you like?

This is the Black Forest Cupcake Tea, the hot tea

selection.  It's a delicious chocolate/cherry tea,

made with cocoa nibs and hibiscus for tartness!

It's scrumptious with just a bit of milk and some sugar.

I love to see the milk swirling in the cup!

This tea really is best with a bit of sugar to bring out

the cherry flavor.  We have some turbinado sugar here.

Or perhaps, like Mr. Bear, you would prefer our iced

tea selection, the Brambleberry, which is quite

perfect just as it is.  It's an herbal infusion of

hibiscus, cinnamon, peppermint, lemongrass,

rose hips and orange peel, with

marionberry and apple juices.  And, as you can see,

we prefer to drink our iced tea from a proper

tea cup!  It just tastes better that way!

Oh look!  Here comes Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle with

the serving cart and the first of the tea treats!

The first course!  The sandwiches!

The round sandwich is kalamata olive, blended into

neufchatel cheese, on pumpernickel-rye.

The other sandwich is goat cheese mousse with

heirloom grape tomato slices on Italian pane bread.

Here are the cheese scones!

Would you like butter with your scone?

Here we are, enjoying our savory treats!

Some of us are saving our appetites for the sweet

treats to follow!

You might not think that Thursday would be one to

have a sweet tooth, but she is!  She's having only a

scone, so she has room for dessert!

But the sandwiches do look delicious, don't they?

Some like Mr. Bear and Parsnip want to have a bit

of everything!  They are each having both kinds

of sandwich and are sharing a scone between them.

Time for checkerboard cookies!

A cookie for Teddy?  Yes, please!

Or perhaps you'd prefer a slice of jam tart?

We have made cherry and blackberry!

Thursday gets her wish and has both kinds of sweets:

a checkerboard cookie, as well as a piece of the

cherry jam tart!

Mr. Bear and Parsnip wanted both sweets too,

but they chose the blackberry jam tart.

Mr. Mookie, Baby Hoobert and Teddy are all having the cookies.

Mrs. Tiggy Winkle has a cup of iced Brambleberry Tea

and a checkerboard cookie!  She deserves it after having

worked so hard to help me prepare for the party.

And a cookie for Brownie, as he continues to

entertain us!

Plinka-plinka-PLINK PLINK!

Eggsy and his friends are having cookies too!

Now our first Teeny Tea is finished.

Thank you so much for joining us here today

for tea!

Please check back soon for the next Teeny Tea!

The Making of a Teeny Tea...

Hello to you, Dear Friends of The Gossamer Tearoom!

Thank you so much for visiting with us here today!  Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle is very excited to share with you the makings of our very first Teeny Tea, The Red & Black Tea!

As much fun as it is to eat all of the lovely sandwiches, scones and sweets for afternoon tea, we think that cooking all of these things is just as much fun!

The first thing we do is get our cooking equipment organized.  Please notice the beautiful little cookie/biscuit cutter on the left!  It's a tiny vintage piece and it perfectly cuts little 1-inch circles of dough!

"Sifting the flour is very important," instructs Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle.

Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle demonstrates carefully stirring

the dry ingredients.  The use of a Betty Boop spoon

just makes it more fun!

I help Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle by cutting out the scones after 

briefly kneading the dough and patting it out on the

floured board.

Here are the scones, all ready to bake!

Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle dons the hedgehog-shaped

hot mitts I made for her, ready to remove the delicious

hot scones from the oven!

Almost done!

Perfectly golden-brown...

...and served with tiniest pat of butter!!

Also, here are a couple of yummy marble cookies!

Here are the recipes for both!

Tiny Cheese Scones

2 cups flour

1 1/2 Tbls. sugar

3 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 egg

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup olive oil

3 Tbsp. milk

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Stir in cheese.  In a small bowl, whisk egg together with sour cream, olive oil and milk.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and put in the wet ingredients. Stir until just mixed.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Turn the dough onto a floured surface.  Knead the dough briefly (10 or 12 times), pat to 1/3 inch thickness.  Cut into 1-inch circles.  Place tiny scones onto greased baking sheet 1/2 inch apart and bake 12-15 minutes until golden (Since they are tiny, watch them carefully so they don't burn!)

Tiny Marble Cookies

3/4 cup softened butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 egg

1 3/4 cup sifted flour

1/2 tsp. of baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt (I like cooking with salted butter,

but if you use unsalted butter, increase the

salt to 1/2 tsp.)

1 oz. unsweetened chocolate

(Note: I will be instructing you to freeze the dough several times while constructing the cookies.  Because of the butter, it does soften quite quickly, making it difficult to handle.  The final freezing of the individual pieces is important if you want your final result to be square, otherwise they melt too fast in the oven and tend to spread more.  The process takes some patience, but they are worth it in the end result!)

Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy.  Beat in egg and vanilla extract.  Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.  Mix flour mixture into butter, sugar, egg and vanilla.  Divide into two parts.  Set one part aside and mix the chocolate into the second part.  Refrigerate both parts for several hours or overnight.

When dough is very cold and hard, place between two pieces of waxed paper and roll each piece until it is 5/8 inch thick.  Wrap each piece in waxed paper and freeze for several hours or overnight.

Unwrap each piece.  Lightly wet your hands with water and moisten the surface of one of the pieces of dough.  Top with the other piece of dough and press together firmly.  Wrap up the dough and freeze it again for several hours or overnight.

Unwrap the dough and using a large, sharp knife, dipped into hot water and then dried, cut the dough into slices which are 5/8 inch thick.  Starting with one slice of the dough, lightly pat water along one of the cut sides.  Take another of the dough slices and flip it so that when you press it into the first piece, the chocolate square is next to the vanilla square and vice versa, so that when you look at the end of the dough stick, it looks like a checkerboard pattern.  Wrap the dough and freeze it again.

Cut each stick into 1/4 inch slices.  Place the slices on a tray that you can put into the freezer one last time.   When hardened, remove the cookies from the freezer, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F, place the cookies on un-greased cookie sheets and bake for 8-9 minutes until golden. (Since they are tiny, watch carefully so they don't burn!)

I adapted the scone recipe from one given to me by a friend.  I adapted the cookie recipe from one that I was taught in 8th Grade cooking class.  I copied it out from the blackboard onto a piece of Mickey Mouse notebook paper.  Look!  Here's the Mickey on the bottom of the page!

Please keep watch for our next blog post,

The Red & Black Tea,

the first Teeny Tea, in the porch garden!

Etiquette for Dolls and Toys by Mr. Bear...

Hello Again Dear Friends!

The time for the very first Teeny Tea draws near!  There is much excitement from the Doll and Animal Family, but there is also a bit of brushing up on their etiquette for such a momentous occasion!

For those of you who do not know Mr. Bear, he is a long-time member of the Family.  He was another flea-market rescue, but has been with me so long he doesn't quite remember where he came from and occasionally speaks about when he was a "bear of the woods".  We are not sure when he thinks he lived in the woods, but we are entirely too polite to point out to him that this story may or may not be true!

Nonetheless, he has been a faithful companion to me for many years and I know him to be a bear of unfailingly good manners.  Therefore, I feel entirely comfortable leaving you in his hands (or paws, as it were) for a few small points in etiquette, specifically as it pertains to Dolls and Toys.

-First of all, we follow a Frienditarian diet.  This means, as Mr. Bear tells me (most earnestly, I must add),  "We must not bite anything which might be a friend."  Creatures that could be thought of as possible friends are not acceptable foods for tea.  Tea sandwiches must not be made of meat, fish or fowl of any kind, nor egg, as they are the babies of Mrs. Chicken (tragic!), however, cheese and cream are always welcome, as Mrs. Cow and Mrs. Goat very graciously provide their milk for these items and we enjoy them gratefully.*

*(Admittedly and most regrettably, the occasional egg is used in baking, but we do not discuss it, as it makes The Family quite sad.)

-Using only a spoon at the table is perfectly acceptable, but generally only for the stirring of tea (unless the day is cold and soup has been served).  The use of hands and paws for picking up food is not only acceptable, but preferable.  Napkin use is not unheard of in Doll and Toy circles, however, discrete licking of small sticky or crunchy bits from paws and hands following a meal shows an appreciation for the food served.

-The concept of high shabbiness is desired.  In the same way that the Dolls and Animals value the look of being a bit shabby as evidence of having been much loved, their rules of table etiquette follow the same rules.  Dishes and tableware do not need to match, nor be in perfectly new condition.  Items which look charming together are preferred to all perfectly matching table items.  Dishes, flatware and other tabletop items are valued for their history and their ability to still be used in spite of their age.  Chips and flaws are valued attributes at the Doll and Animal table.

-The offering of a food item from one's plate is a demonstration of respect and even, admiration.

-Even numbers of guests at the table and alternating of male and female party guests are considered to be unnecessary restrictions in Doll and Toy table etiquette.  All members are welcome and more guests just results in more fun for us all!

Please come back and visit with us soon, as this is just the first post pertaining to the upcoming Red & Black Teeny Tea!  As always, there will be posts on Twitter and Instagram as well, so please consider following along there too!

A Night in The Dragonfly Heart Hotel...

Hello to you Dear Friends,
I have been in the middle of several projects since I posted here last.  While we finish up with the last details of the first Teeny Tea, here is something just a bit different...

I gather my inspiration for my art from lots of different places.  One of the biggest places I draw my inspiration from are my dreams!  Oh boy, do I dream big some nights!  Amazing things happen to me in my dreams, things that could not ever really happen in real life.

I have had many dreams about some sort of retro/noir/futuristic/rococco urban landscape.  These collages are inspired by some of my dreams!

(As usual, please click on the images to see them larger.)

A crackle of neon

on the top of The Dragonfly Heart Hotel

lights up the night.

I won't resist the urge to stay up all night,

watching the city below,

from one of these windows...

Another guest arrives...

This room is a romantic confection...

...and this one as well.

What mysterious, clandestine situations

could we find ourselves in here?

Time spent at The Dragonfly Heart Hotel

will not be soon forgotten.

(Images used in my collages today from the following sources:

Tumble Fish Studios at Mischief Circus

The Graphics Fairy

as well as several images from the public domain)

Be certain to check back again soon.

The time for the first Teeny Tea is nearly here!

Ready For a Fight

Hello Dear Friends,
Today is International Women's Day and even though I haven't really been inspired to work on much artwork lately, I decided that today was a good day to try to make something.

I cannot possibly tell you how much I hate speaking about politics here, but the current state of what is calling itself our government will have to be rebelled against in a variety of ways.  Some of the folks I know are very vocal.  Some folks like myself will be the quieter fighters.  And just like the rest of life, it just might be the quiet ones you will have to watch out for.

The evil person who, for the time being, calls himself our president is a friend of no one.  He is obviously against anyone who is not like himself and is clearly against women, children, the poor, people who struggle to just be accepted for who they are, who should not have to struggle with their gender or their gender identity or their sexuality, their ethnic background, the ill and disabled and so many other folks who struggle with just living and being OK.

The father of our country should be just that.  He is allowed to not agree with all of us and our agendas, but he is not allowed to harm us.

I believe that art will be taking a lot of interesting directions in vocal protest of our currently very frightening state of affairs.  And this could be just the first piece I will do that will speak to my objection to the evil people who clearly lack empathy and basic human decency, who are currently in charge of our country.

(For my collage today, I used images from Tumble Fish Studios and itKuPiLLi on Mischief Circus.)

Thursday is The Doe Princess...

Hello Dear Friends of The Tearoom,
I hope your New Year is splendid so far!  As usual, I have so many projects going, but this was the first one I wanted to finish for the year.

Some Friends of The Gossamer Tearoom already know that my doll Thursday came to live with me sometime in the late 1970's, when I bought her in pieces, in a shoebox, at a flea market where I lived in Casper, Wyoming, but I am happy to tell her story again today.  At the point I found her, I was not able to figure out how to put her together and so, she was stored away for many years and it was not until the spring of 2011 that I found her again in my mother's basement after we moved here to Maine, when I was looking for a project to work on.  I needed a project to distract myself from the things going on around me and finally concentrated on how I would put this doll back together that I had owned for so many years.  After doing some research online, I found some elastic in the sewing materials my mother had had and was able to re-assemble her!  She still has no hair, her head is cracked and still has some slight damage to her face that she had when I bought her, but to my eyes, she is beautiful.

I have spent a few years now making dresses and outfits for her from scratch, using no patterns, but mostly using repurposed clothes that belonged to my mother and myself and some fabrics that my mother had stashed away.  She truly is the super-model of my Doll & Animal Family!

But I have felt that she has been asking for one particular outfit all this time that I had not gotten around to making for her, a deer costume.  I have no idea why this is what she has wanted, but it was an idea I have had since she was reassembled almost 6 years ago now.

Finally, I sat down and created this outfit she has asked for from a pair of brown velvet jeans I found in my mother's closet that will never fit me (and honestly, didn't fit her, so I have no idea why she had them).  I ordered some Tim Holtz fabric from an Etsy seller to use for the ears on her hat and for the blouse under the jacket, but everything else I used was something I had stashed away.  I made her crown from a faux branch of pussy willow I had.  She has a couple of different kinds of vintage buttons at the closure of her jacket, on her cuffs and on her booties

.

And so, finally, my Thursday is The Doe Princess...

 (As always, please click the images in order to see them larger.)

Holding a sprig of violets.

Taking a short nap.

Here she is with Eggsy!

Mr. Mookie, Teddy, Eggsy, Brownie McNutt & Thursday,

all happy members of my Doll & Animal Family!

Brownie McNutt gives Eggsy a hug!

Thank you so much for visiting The Gossamer Tearoom today!

(I had fun editing all of my photos for this blog post today with Afterlight on my iPhone.)