With my love of vintage ephemera, of course I get all warm at the idea of a Patriotic paper extravaganza.
I have collected a few items over the years (yes! those are small crowns from The Ribboned Crown), and crafted a few items, too. What shall I do this year? Oh, the possibilities.
When one receives such an invite, as this invitation to the once a year Mad Tea Party, excitement prevails! But, I find myself unable to get out of bed this morning.
My head is full of impossible thoughts, just as my Dad used to have before breakfast. But mine are disturbingly dark; full of thoughts of PIRATES.
So I just cannot rouse myself from my bed of...what's this? Seaweed and shells!
Oh, dear. At least I'm out of that bed now, and ready to dress. As always I dress as me. However I do sometimes wish I was someone else.
The Hatter's rules about tea are very specific, even if they don't apply to him. One must not be LATE. Will the Hatter wait for me? I fear the scene he could make. And not just the Hatter. That wacky rabbit and angry little doormouse can be unkind.
Ah! My imagination did run wild today. Here is the party and all is well. The Hatter is happy and he's saved a bit of cake, just for me.
PS Thank you so much for visiting me and for leaving your comments. I have visited everyone who left a comment for me, (and I will continue to do so) but on a number of blogs I was unsuccessful. Don't know why the comment wasn't accepted, this sometimes does happen, but...I tried!
I have an invitation to the most exclusive, the most coveted, the most fantastic party of the season! YES! Miss Valencia's Tea Party. All I can think of is what to wear, because the most fashionable people will be there. Something with an Oriental flair, an homage to tea coming from that region? Or something a bit more refined? Must one wear a hat, of the type called a fascinator, which really only serves as a distraction from my well chosen ensemble? Well, perhaps I should be spending my time more wisely on etiquette, because, let's be honest, some of the perennial guests can be a bit, ah, mad? Do you think there will be cake?
I've had a firestorm of conversation with one of my BFF's this week, centered around our recent 45th High School Reunion. She was there; I wasn't. After a long phone conversation, with wide ranging subjects, I missed her so.
Missing the quick meet for coffee; the "let's go to TJMaxx or antiquing"; the drop-in visit for a restorative glass of wine and unburdening of the silly issue one of us has taken to heart. I miss the fierce hug that transfers love and spirit when one of us is flagging.
I will be with my California BFF's soon, but not soon, or often, enough. I was prodded to get to the studio and craft a sentiment to reflect my feelings of longing for my best friends. I encased the front of a vintage photo folder with old barkcloth, adding bits of this and that, including the embossed image from another old photo folder. Inside I glued an overleaf of very fragile vellum over the old studio photo of a woman in a wistful pose. I miss you so, my friend.
Everybody's doing it! Tin-ing. Is that a word? Yuh, probably isn't, but you get it, right? I've just altered my first Altoid tin. I've been wanting to make something patriotic for weeks, but I was distracted by broken computer and other household dramas. Today...the decks were clear so I fished around for some red, white & blue supplies. I was limited on scrap images that were the right scale. My stash of vintage Dennison striped crepe paper is precious, but added the right flourish.
I had already disassembled the tin, wanting to make dioramas rather than a box. Initially I was going for a Navy idea, in the patriotic spirit, but just loved that green background paper (old sailing schooners with a shell motif) so the red/white/blue wasn't going to harmonize with that. I just acquired (thank you, eBay) some vintage Victorian scrap of boats that were calling to me. Altoid, anyone?
Whilst I was without my computer (due to a nasty virus infection) I completed the tags for Karla's BirdSong swap. It was a lot of fun to have a mission, so to speak. Even though these aren't due until mid-July. Karla is very generous with her time allotment. I did some sewing on every tag.
I wanted to make them as textural and "busy" as possible, though busy art is still a challenge for my more OCD tendencies. But the gals who play on Karla's team are used to seeing the best paper art, so I worked to improve my game.
I sifted through my supplies for crepe paper, real Victorian scrap, fun elements, bits of fabric and an assortment of papers. So...what's next?
