Saturday, July 28, 2012

Mad Tea Party Adventure. The Lost Rabbit.

Welcome, everyone
and especially all of you
who are here from

Would you like some tea?
I'll be Mother...


To Begin at the Beginning.

The Prologue.

Oh, dear, what can the matter be?
Dear, dear, what can the matter be?
Oh, dear, what can the matter be?
Bunny's so long at the Fair.



She went to the fair in a dress trimmed with roses
her new stripy stockings and shoes for her toeses!
She smiled very sweetly and won her Blue Ribbon
But she hasn't been seen since the Fair!



Chapter One

Look at the clock!



Indeed. Half-past three 
is time for tea.
Time for tea and cake.
There's scones to bake.
And, hey! There's cake!


Tea in the garden
shaded from the sun.
There'll be games and forfeits,
all kinds of fun.
But Miss Rabbit isn't here yet.
That's why we've not begun.


Ella brought a gift
tied with a blue bow.
Polly made the cake,
with icing soft as snow.
The tea is hot, but we can't start,
without our guest, you know.



Chapter Two

The sun, it moves around the sky
(It doesn't, really. It just looks that way)
And we get hungrier as time goes by.
And Rabbit better hurry 
or there'll be no cake to try!




Ella     'Can we start now?'
Polly                         'No.'
Ella   'May we start now?'
Polly                          'No.'
Ella   'Can I test the cake?'
Polly                        'No!'

 Oh my! Half past four?
It's not funny any more.
We're hungry for cake.
And Miss Rabbit's very late.


 Polly checked the clock,
stood up, and smoothed down her frock.
'I don't see her at the gate.
Why are Rabbits ALWAYS late?'

She sighed. 'Sit here and please be nice.
Stone Rabbit will have some advice.'

Chapter Three

Polly went off to find Stone Rabbit.
A wise old bunny, made of granite.
While Ella sat and pouted at the cake.
And thought about what mischief she could make...



Old Stone Rabbit looked calm and serene
even when she was told Bunny hadn't been seen
since the Fair. 'Don't worry,'she said 'things will be fine.
I'm sure she'll be here.She's just taking her time.
Be patient. Be hopeful. She'll be back before nine.'

So Polly walked back to the table and tea.
She wanted a cuppa, or maybe three.
But she gasped with shock!
Oh dear! What did she see?


Miss Polly is startled, until she sees Ella moving.
And, wait a minute, the skeleton is laughing!
She's very annoyed but Ella thinks it funny.
'It was a lot more fun than waiting for that Bunny!'


The Skeleton is giggling, she thought it was jolly
 but Polly keeps fussing until Ella is sorry.
And Bunny is still missing and it's getting late.
They must hunt for her, it's pointless to wait.

Chapter Four 

They find Mr Steambike
with his transport extreme
He fires up the Steambike 
and, as it starts to steam
suggests that the Tin Men
should join with their team.


The Tin Men are rusty and old and tall.
And Ella has always been scared of them all.
So Polly will ask them to help on the trail.
And Ella will see if Bunny's in the mail.



The Tin Men are flattered, of course they'll assist.
And Miss Rabbit's so sweet, she'll be terribly missed.
And off they go, with a clank and a hiss
looking diligently for one rabbit Miss.

Miss Ella climbs up to the mail box to check.


She peers inside, where it's cool and it's black
but there's no rabbit in there, no parcel, no pack.


The dolls meet up  at the old Wishing Well.
They throw in a penny and make that old spell.
And as their coin makes a splash of bubbly foam,
they wish for Miss Rabbit to quickly come home.


  Chapter Five

They're not sure what to do for the best.
Then Ella says, 'Let's go on a Quest!
Over the lawn and past the overgrown rose tree
and down through the meadow and back, for some more tea.
And look everywhere for bunny ears or tail
and keep looking , so our quest doesn't fail.'

 The brave little dolls venture abroad
on the dried Summer grass that make up the yard,
and many strange things they saw on the ground..
Here are few of the things that they found.


A pumpkin, still small and new.
And hey! That's a crystal shoe!


Fan and gloves, left on the ground?
That'll be some rabbit, I'll be bound!
But not Miss Rabbit, it's not she.
She doesn't wear gloves, you see?


What about this? A bottle of  'Drink Me' ?
Dangerous things,  that's what Alice once told me.
And if Rabbit has drunk one and shrunk very small,
there's no point in doing this search at all.

A peach tree covered in lace and flowers
the very best of gracious bowers.



And in it, a princess, quite asleep.
They tiptoe away, so her dreams she'll keep.


Chapter Six

Polly looks up to the sky above,
where the sunset is pink and blue as a dove.



And says,'Dear Ella, so brave and true,
there's only one thing left to do.
Miss Rabbit isn't here, so I must go seek her.
And you must stay here, so there's someone to greet her.


 And Polly bridled the mare, with blue ribbons and posies
and rode out in the starlight and pale Summer roses.
And she's out there still, while little Ella and I 
sit waiting for the bunny who got lost at the Fair.

To be continued...

Well, what I was going to do for my first Mad Tea Party
was an adventure with Miss R White.
But Miss R White never came home from the Fair.
No, she's out there, somewhere, 

I hope I get her back!


For more Tea Party Madness
visit 
where hot tea and iced cakes are being served, 
and there is colour and sweetness and more, 
for everyone.

Vanessa is waiting and she has laid out 
such a glorious spread.

Maybe Miss R White is there already?




















Friday, July 27, 2012

Come for tea, at half past three

Tomorrow is the 
2012.


It's the first year I've been!

I'm so excited!
I have my dress 
and my fan and gloves.


Please come, tomorrow.
There'll be tea and cake!

Thursday, July 26, 2012

I won a Giveaway!


Thank you to Deanna
for a Knook

What is a Knook, I hear you say?
Well, it helps people knit
with a crochet hook.
Doesn't that sound cool?

I'm so excited about getting this!
I'm hoping to make little woollies
for my dolls.
 I've never been able to do this before
because I'm a dreadful knitter.

I did learn to knit, once,
about a thousand years ago
before the Beatles broke up.

Everyone had to learn to knit 
at the school I was at
boys and girls, 
and that's obviously something I support.
I just wasn't any good at it!

So, I'm hoping to be better at 
Knooking
(is that a word?)
I'll keep you posted.

Thank you so much,
 Deanna!

Deanna is the go-to girl for 
experiments in dying fabric
and  she was really helpful 
with my tea dyeing .


Sunday, July 22, 2012

100 days to Halloween...

You'd better not shout!
You'd better not cry!
You'd better not pout!

I've given fair warning.
100 day to 
 Halloween.

Also
Pure coincidence
as I really don't have the 
organisational skill
but it's the blogoversary of
 my Steampunk blog.



There will be giveaways and tutorials, 
all geared towards Halloween 
and the coming
mists and mellow fruitfulness 
of Autumn.

In other news...

I am moving ahead with my little
paperclay dolls.

I have an important lesson 
I wish to pass on to you
to spare you the 
drama and tears I suffered.

If you're making a paperclay doll,
who will have a wig and a soft cloth body,
paint and seal the doll parts
BEFORE
you attach the body and the hair!


RIGHT


WRONG

Then you can avoid the whole body-bag
CSI scenario and strands of hair
stuck in the varnish.

The nice lady who enrolled the dolls,
at the County Fair,
remembered me from other years
and was kind enough to take some photographs.

There was more room this year, 
which was good
as I entered three dolls.


Sookie and a Bad Fairy


Miss R White and Alice.

(Technically, that makes four dolls)

I couldn't get to the Fair 
to see the judging but I'm told 
Miss R White
won a Blue Ribbon!

Yay!

I hope to get her back tomorrow.
I just hope she isn't broken.
Yes, they break my dolls at the fair...




Monday, July 16, 2012

Sookie!

Firstly!

Sherry over at
Decorating with Cents
did a lovely photo session
of all the things I managed to cram into the box
for the giveaway she won.
Sherry is a real sweetheart
and does some of the most amazing things
with paint on glass.
Pop over and say Hi!

And,
thanks to all you
wonderful
helpful
supportive
people,
I finished Miss R White
 a week early!

I decided, what the heck,
and finished another doll as well!

I know!

This is for Aunt Linda.
Aunt Linda is Aunt Brenda's twin sister
and Aunt Brenda got a doll 
last year for her birthday.

A doll with clothes, obviously.
 I have no photos of the finished doll.
It was a deadline thing


Anyway.
You know how twins can be, right?
So, this year, Aunt Linda gets a doll.

She gets Sookie.


Sookie is a similar design,
with a soft sculpted face
and other soft sculpted
....uh...
features.


I've been looking at boudoir dolls
and rather fancied making some
fancy ladies who've led rather racy lives.


Sookie is a Saloon Gal.
She can sing;
 she can dance a little in those fancy boots.
She's got a couple of other talents...

(Hubby has already requested
a German Beer Garden girl.
Maybe I could go around the world,
French Can Can girls?
Belly Dancers?)


Sookie is all bows and ringlets
at the back.

 This is what Patti,
over at Ivy and Elephants
called a Butt Bow
It's a brilliant term!

She is wearing seamed stockings
and she has a laced corset
over her frothy tulle skirt
with  ribbons and roses.

The frothy red tulle adorning her derriere
comes from
 the lovely bundle of fabrics I won
in Teresa's Giveaway at
A Magical Whimsy .




All dressed up
she insists on going to the fair
 before being wrapped up
and delivered to Aunt Linda.



So that will be Sookie
and Miss R White 
going off tomorrow.
Wish them luck!



Why did I call her Sookie?

So I could say it like Bill in True Blood.
C'mon!
Say it with me.
Say it like Bill.
Say it like Sookie, saying it like Bill.

Sookeh!

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Look what I got! A story in pictures.

See?
A parcel!

 
And inside the parcel


a pretty box


decorated with tulle and ribbons
and roses and a little card.

Under the tulle.
is a lid.


Under the lid.
crisp white paper.


Under the paper


tissue and fluffy stuff
and a tiny pillow with roses
and a book.


See?

Under the pillow
a dear little bed
all hand painted 
with a garland of roses.


and hiding under the bed


 a sweet little fairy
all sleepy and small


tiny and snoozy
with a bonnet to keep warm.

Gently turn the fairy over
and there's darling little baby wings
tender as rose petals and 
pretty with glitter.


There's a fairy  baby 
and a bed
so the book must be full of 
fairy bed-time stories




to be read at bed time.




Good night!



Thank you, thank you,
 to Penny

The little bed and cushion
 and teeny little book 
and weeny little fairy 
are all so precious.
I was thrilled to win this giveaway 
and extra thrilled to have a piece of
Penny's wonderfully crafted art.

 Have a wonderful day

(Oh, and
 Happy Bastille Day!
Vive la France!)