A Fanciful Twist

Lovely February

Hello friends!

An update from my crazy little world.

Land of wild puppy, and a combination of super chilly and oddly warm days.

I'm not sure why my photos are uploading fuzzy, when they are clear, but hopefully if you click on any one you will see it more clearly.

How has your February been?

I have been itching madly to get back here.

I somehow misplaced my fancy camera charger, and I simply could not find it anywhere.

It might be under my bed or in Teddy's pile of everything under the sun.

He's such a pack rat, it's beyond amusing.

My charger is the one thing I always have at the ready, so that was a nutty misplace (I looked everywhere possible), and it took forever to receive a replacement, but now here I am again, hooray!

February is proving to be lovely.

We've spent most of our time in the country whilst training Teddy and such.

It's been lovely to roam the open spaces and garden paths without a care in the world.

Enjoying the fresh air of winter, and letting the boys run around with wild abandon.

It is citrus season, and we've had little picnics in the garden.

I put a little table in what I've always called the fairy bower part of the garden path.

Such delightful little times.

I've been planning a mural behind the wall of my other secret garden for two years.

I'm now painting some paintings to determine what I'd like my mural to look like.

I have a fairy tale landscape in mind, we'll see how that goes.

In the meantime, I've been painting my mural ideas and then doing what I like to do often, just abstract expressions of colors.

One of my favorite things to do really, which I rarely share.

But it's such a release of emotions and wildly fun.

I've been doing this sort of painting since I was a child, one of the very best things that ever has happened in my life.

Painting my emotions as I like to call it.

Nonsense paintings, wonderful for the soul.

I was dusting my country house room, and piled a bunch of my beloved junk on my shelf above the bed so Teddy could not reach it, and then I sort of liked it all lumped up together, so I took some photos.

I just love having my happy junk around me :-)

Matty is doing well also, just tolerating his new little brother really.

He was handsomely looking towards me and turned just as I snapped his photo.

As you know, he does not like cameras.

I am not sure Matty will ever play with Teddy, but we'll see.

I still spoil him tons, and he has the front seat of my car always.

Still scaring UPS drivers, acting 4 years old instead of 12.

There is also a little spring-time flutter in the air, with baby birds here and there.

Mama dove is not amused with our garden activity.

She had gone out to get breakfast when I snuck a little photo of her children.

Don't worry, I zoomed in from far away.

The days have been idyllic.

Our garden paths fill my soul in ways I cannot describe.

Bunnies scampering away from the pitter patter of paws.

Perfect warm light on a cool day.

My trees and shrubs are so big, I planted some of them, Mister Lovee the older ones.

To see them all grown up is beyond wonderful, they so feel like home to me.

They are home.

The sunshine, the comfort of trees...

A puppy discovering his own home.

Just warms my heart to no end.

But I should tell you...

About our dear Theodore Laurence.

The wildest child we've had to date.

Rambunctious beyond compare.

He's got a big attitude, but he's a lovely cuddler too.

Just beware because his biting is off the charts, haha!

He's brave and utterly self-assured, can you tell?

Matty wants no part of this.

Haha!

He just wants to nap, fight danger, and enjoy the scenery from the top of the porch stairs.

But they do run around the garden happily together, he and Teddy.

They just don't tumble and wrestle like the Matty and Miles team did.

Of course, Matty is much older now, and he stopped wrestling with Miles after that time her nearly died from valley fever years ago.

Maybe you could lift a little hopeful wish into the starry night sky that, perhaps that might still happen.

Matty and Teddy playing together a little.

Teddy would love that so much.

And so would all of us who are all bitten and scratched up, haha!

Truth be told though, Teddy is smart and adorable, and is learning all the tricks and commands.

He's the most different of all my kids, and I can't wait to see how his personality develops as teething subsides, and he starts to get a bit older.

But for now, I am enjoying his wild puppy days, as they are so short lived.

So, here is where you will find us...

Under canopies of trees with grapefruit-orange juice, freshly squeezed by me.

And a loaf of Italian rustic bread.

Where the trees sway and whisper...

And dreams still swirl about, inspiring me to do this and that.

In the fairy bower of my heart.

I feel lucky to enjoy these days.

With my boys, hidden away in our little parcel of earth.

Just as content as can be.

I'm fully aware of the importance of appreciating such times.

As the apple blossoms are just beginning to unfurl.

Bees are awakening from their slumber.

And it might even snow a tiny bit this week.

It was 78'F and then 58' - crazy I know.

And day after tomorrow there might be said snow flurry.

I've received some ridiculously enormous canvases to paint on by freight truck.

Sort of lavish for just a bit of amusement I feel.

But you only live once, and I intend to enjoy every second of painting on them.

I hope you are doing just lovely out there.

Thank you for coming to visit us here.

 

Lots of love, 

Vanessa

 

 

Whimsical Botanicals {Little Mushrooms in my Shop}

Hello Friends!

I finally finished my little mushroom sculptures.

I decided to add gold leaf and antique mica flakes as well.

They were extra fun to sculpt as I worked on the details.

I had to work very carefully and delicately with the clay.

Getting into a very calm space to sculpt and detail, whilst keeping the structure intact.

I have the oldest package of mica flakes, still in their original antique packaging.

You can't imagine how delighted I was to find it years ago.

It's like rare gold to me.

I decided I'd open it, to add some to these special little pieces.

So they could sparkle in only the way mica can.

I wanted to make them part whimsical and part botanical.

They'd look really special under a bell jar, me thinks.

It took me a little while to make these, but I'm happy to finally be sharing them.

I popped them in my shop this evening.

Here is my shop link, in case you fancy a peek.

I have been having such delightful studio days.

It's officially chilly here, perfect weather for hunkering down and creating.

Books and mushrooms seem to be just the thing, don't they? :-)

I am obsessed with the effect of antique mica.

Once, I was hiking at the top of our forest mountains, and there were actual mica flakes strewn about.

Naturally occurring in the area, it was so magical.

And there were indeed Amanita Muscaria and butterflies everywhere.

So, that's what I've been up to dear friends.

I've also been painting and trying to conjure up some Christmas gifts for my family.

I hope you are doing extra well in your neck of the woods.

I do believe this might be a whirlwind week, eeek!

Are you ready for the holidays?

I'm not sure if I am or not, but I suppose I better get ready fast.

I have not wrapped a gift yet.

And I'd still like to make a Christmas cake.

And my yearly baklava.

But I'm not going to pressure myself, and just enjoy the moment.

I hope you do too <3

 

Thank you for stopping in.

See you extra soon!

 

Love, Vanessa

 

Oh and, here is my shop link again <3 <3 <3

 

 

 

Homemade Tempera Paint + 7 Days of Blogging {Day 2}

Day two and here I am, as promised.

I spent the day doing botanical kitchen experiments and paint chemistry yesterday.

I had sooo much fun making tempera paints, I was like a mad chemist, pulverizing organic matter to make paint.

This all began one day when I was looking at dry flower petals and thought, I MUST create paint.

Anywho, I bring you my findings for the day.

Also - 

It's been raining so much, which is glorious, but that means that I had a very difficult time taking indoor photos.

So, please forgive the dark cloudy vibe in my images, especially the art.

I would have retaken them on a sunny day if I wasn't doing this challenge, but since this is all about fun, I give you my bad photos for today :-)

Before I tell you about her and her friends...

Let me take you back to the day that I became obsessed with the idea of turning dried flower petals into paint or dye.

I was looking at all my dry flowers thinking, surely there is a way to create a pigment from these petals.

I thought about ways, and I decided that possibly the paint of the great masters might work.

Egg and pulverized powder was my thought.

I knew that to make tempera paint I would need a watery color and an egg yolk.

Of course, it was a bit trickier than that, and - 

I did come up with some colors in the end...

But first, let me tell you about my experimental findings, ahem :-)

I began by putting dried rose petals from my garden in my food processor.

I thought, this will surely work because I've made flour from oats before.

Nope.

Not fine enough.

So, I took my sort of ground up matter and put it in my blender.

Which sent flower particles up to the heavens, so I had to put on a mask because I was starting to sneeze, and I thought, what have I done?! HAHA!

Before I go on, I must tell you that I did not follow any recipe.

I just used the knowledge that I had.

I knew I had to mix up a tinge of water with only egg yolk, and I used one egg yolk per color.

When you mix the water with the egg yolk it turns into a sort of off-white creamy milk consistency.

To that you will then add your color, which has to be in a liquid form.

I'm not sure why I thought I would grind flowers to powder and mix them with water, and voila have a color.

But that was the nutty professor in me, thinking, SHAZAM! I've got it!

And of course, I didn't.

I am laughing whilst typing this, because it really was so ridiculously funny.

I did in fact manage to make rose powder, which actually smelled amazing, and I swirled it with a bit of water, but really it was like a cream of wheat texture.

So then, I cut up some panty hose to strain the color through, and that worked okay.

But I ended up with a very pale pink beige color.

So then I tried turmeric and cinnamon, and ended up having to strain through the stocking and do all the same steps as well.

I then decided to use some natural pink dye to make two shades of pink, which really turned more coral because the egg and water is a cream color base, so there was no way I would get pink. Which I was absolutely fine with.

The paint really has a glossy sheen, and is really more like a glaze.

It dried thick and sort of shiny, almost metallic in a way.

It's all really fascinating and I have more plans to try making colors.

Beets would have worked phenomenally.

So far, I liked working with the turmeric tempera paint the best.

The cinnamon was super chunky no matter what I tried, but was kind of fun for texture because it has little flecks.

Below are some samples I made, this is the next day and they are totally dry.

So, you can see how the yolk creates this thick shiny texture.

(the paints on the page below are actually dry)

Also, there is no egg smell to the paint whatsoever.

When I got tired of trying to paint things that were just globby, I took a quite bad brush and started using only the turmeric to make faces.

(And a hint of rose for cheeks)

This went on through the rest of the afternoon.

I made about 30.

I taped a few up to take photos, but my studio is just dark from the rain.

And turning on the lights did not help to take photos, because we all know what that does.

I did get a video that was a bit better, that I will post in my Instagram stories this evening.

The sheen of the dry paint is really something, as you can see below.

I tried Yupo paper (above), card stock and heavy duty watercolor paper (below).

The turmeric girls were best on the watercolor paper.

They really are quite a nice color in person.

Soooo, overall that was a lot of fun.

Yes, I could have used acrylic paint right off the shelf, but it's fun to do these sort of projects from time to time.

My kitchen is a wreck, but fun nonetheless, haha!

I really enjoyed making these girls.

Actually, maybe I'll make a YouTube video of them to insert at the bottom of this post...?

Only wish you could see them better, if it wasn't soooo dark out.

But turmeric works!

So, that's what I did with my turmeric tempera paint.

Not a total waste of time if you're amused, and I was.

I love experimenting, do you?

Here is a history of tempera paint if you are curious.

And, here is a list of paints you can make at home, including egg yolk paint.

Shame I didn't follow the directions myself :-)

Of course, I didn't paint the Mona Lisa with my tempera paints, but I did enjoy myself as it rained.

Now to clean up my mess.

I should let you know that, I have none of these 7 day posts planned.

I'm just taking you on a 7 day adventure of the sort of things I do on a whim.

No rhyme or reason, just go with the flow and see where it takes us.

Thank you soooo much for coming along with me!

I really appreciate you being here.

I loved the comment section in the previous post, and I responded to everyone there.

What a special group of kindred spirits you are!

 

See you tomorrow, fancy that!

<3 <3 <3

Looove, Vanessa

 

 

Here's that little video, but I think it is a cloudy day video too :-)

Tomorrow shall be brighter, I think, what with all this glorious rain, I'm quite uncertain of what shall come, and I looove the mystery of it all.

 

 

 

Into Wonderland for our 2021 Mad Tea Party!

It's time to plunge right into the fun of one of our virtual Mad Tea Parties!

Yes, It's true!

(details about participating will be shared at the end of this post)

I started these tea parties on my blog in the summer of 2007, on a very bored day, whilst in search of a magical infusion.

(see tea parties from the past by clicking here)

I decided to take all manner of tea sets and pretty things into the garden, and take photos to share here on my blog, and so began our yearly Mad Tea Party.

I took a few years off to pursue other exciting adventures, but now we are back with what is technically our 10th annual Mad Tea Party!

Can you believe it?

Time to get out your fancy napkins and tea cups and join in the fun!

Pour your tea, nice and hot.

Do you take one lump or two?

I've been drawing characters to inspire the event.

Here is Miss Alice herself, beckoning you to join in.

Step through the looking glass, and into Wonderland, won't you?

A little pencil and watercolor to get me there...

You can always count on the White Rabbit!

Now to set the table for the soirée.

We'll all be here on Saturday the 24th of July, hoping you'll join in.

Or at the very least, stop by...

Into that place of fairy tale magic, that we all hold so near and dear.

Through the viewing pane, and into....

A place of enchantment.

Wonderland!

Where you are free to be yourself and dream the dreams of your heart.

I so hope you can join me in this delightful celebration.

Below are two sizes of flyers for your use.

(flyer)

(badge)

 

If you do not recall the steps to participating in the past, I'll refresh your memory, and make it simple.

 

If you would like to participate by sharing your own Mad Tea Party on July 24th, here is what to do...

 

1) Leave a comment below with the link to your blog or Instagram account (or both) stating that you are going to join in.

I will be posting here on my blog, and on Instagram.

For example, my Instagram account URL is  -  Instagram.com/afancifultwist

My blog URL is, afancifultwist.com

Leave your url's so I can easily find you, and so that people can click to see who you are.

 

2) Post the event on your blog or social media and let your friends know.

Feel free to use the flyer or badge above and make sure to link to me or tag me.

(right click on the party flyer or badge above and save to your computer to use on your own blog and/or social media)

 

3) On the day of the event (July 24th) post your party as early as you can, and leave a comment in the comment section of my party post, with the link to your blog post or your Instagram account (or both).

That way I can easily find you to link you, and other people can visit you.

I will then add your name to a list I will make in the body of my actual tea party blog post and link back to you.

If you are joining via Instagram I will also link your account over in my Instagram party post. 

Leave your post up for a couple days to allow people a chance to visit you.

 

4) Make sure you link or tag me in your posts so people know where to go :-)

 

Easy right?

 

Remember, you can post anything you'd like for your tea party.

A real tea party, miniatures, art, anything at all.

It's your vision for your own tea party!

 

If you do not have social media or a blog, or if you simply can not participate that is okay too.

I know not very many people blog anymore or can put a party together as such, but you are always welcome as a guest! <3

 

Just come on over on the day of the party and be a guest at my table by visiting me here.

 

And so it's settled, we shall be having tea with each other once again my friends!

Hope to see you here <3

 

Lots of Love, 

Vanessa

 

 

 

ps: Thank you to those who would like to join in with me <3 <3 <3

If you are joining in, here is an example of the comment to leave so I can easily find you (and others can visit you too), thanks much!

"I will be joining in on my blog at, afancifultwist.com and on my Instagram account at, Instagram.com/afancifultwist