A Fanciful Twist

In February we Dream...

The dreaming in February begins.

January was spent recuperating from December.

Snuggling by the fire, cleaning up holiday mess and painting every single day.

Sometimes, very often, into the wee hours of the night.

The sunshine came out for a few days, and garden tending commenced.

But February 14th is the date by when all roses are pruned in my gardens.

(Which I quite enjoy doing)

And so, the dreaming of roses finds its way in.

A reminder, made possible by the paper art of dried flowers, that roses in the garden really do exist.

That baskets of blossoms to fill your heart and soul will come again.

And so, on cloudy dappled light days -

The dreaming is vast and the paintbrush is rose petal happy.

With signs of fresh leaf nodules, which begin to line rose canes, only tantalizing a gardener's heart even further.

The mixing of colors in front of the fire at midnight does my heart so good.

I look at my dried roses, asking them for tips and tricks in the painting of them.

Alas, they pride themselves on such mysteries.

And so, all I can do is stare, trying to make mental pictures of exactly what petals are wont to do.

Folding and curving around in spirals.

The fur boys hang out right by my side.

Dreaming I'm sure, too.

We spend glorious days redoing vegetable beds.

Taking out giant roots of thorny trees.

Sunshine on shoulders.

Matty deeply napping whilst Teddy runs fast as lightning, jumping over boulders in circles, with a commendable joy that bursts forth.

January goes, and February enters.

Or rather, we enter into it.

I love Februaries.

One never knows if the sun will shine, or if there will be a random snow storm.

It is like love.

Up and down with its mood, but beckoning us in.

Cupid ready to strike.

Reminding you that the soil will be warm again soon.

That you should enjoy your good book by the fire and crochet your heart out.

Do all the wonderful winter things, before the busyness of spring and summer are upon us.

February reminds us to stay in the moment...

Because often, dreaming and hoping is even more wonderful than the real thing.

How I love to hope and dream.

To fantasize about bees and butterflies and drooping poppies.

Oh, I love a dream, the passion it stirs up in the soul.

What a gift.

To dream and hope and imagine.

I could scream from the delight of it all.

I wake up in the morning thinking of all the wonderful things I would like to do.

Even listening to mystery shows whilst cleaning the kitchen brings me great joy.

I think about the lemon treats I will make, and my big hot mug of tea as I paint flowers, whilst I wait for flowers.

I was a bit quiet in January, but only because I was catching up on life.

It's when you start doing things that you gain so much clarity and feel so free.

You just have to get up and begin.

Sometimes it can be overwhelming to determine exactly what one wants to do.

Especially when one has so many projects to do.

Boring ones and exciting ones alike.

So, I often say, I am going to go clean my kitchen to begin, or tidy up one part of the garden.

I put on some music and clarity finds me.

I work out what projects to tackle and in what order.

But the best thing of all for me, is painting flowers.

I listen to classical music, mystery tales, dogs snoring...

And I dream.

 

With that, February means back to work.

Back to art and gardening and filling lovely orders and visiting you here.

I've decided that coming here is like my letter to you.

An old-fashioned letter in the modern age.

You'll have to imagine the linen paper and quill ink penmanship.

 

See you soon!

 

Love, 

Vanessa

 

 

A Cozy Painting Nook

Happy April dear friends!

There are blossoms beginning everywhere, I even saw my first poppy this week, followed by 3 more.

I am painting flowers day and night, when I am not busy busy with life's happenings.

I have two spots where I enjoy painting the most.

At the country house it is in this little nook, with a skylight overhead, and the door with windowpanes behind me.

Tucking little treasures here and there and making your space your own can be really helpful in cultivating a space where you feel inspired to create.

The colors and textures you choose can also have a wonderful influence on your mood.

I felt so lucky to be able to pick flowers yesterday and tuck them in amongst my old little bits and bobs.

I am having so much fun painting flowers into the wee hours of the night.

It's bringing me so much joy, and peace of mind and soul.

To just get lost painting pretty little things is so good for me.

I've surrounded myself with things that I have had for 20 years, my favorite cozy studio chair, my old desk, my little tattered curio cabinet.

The things I find comfort in, and that are so familiar to me.

Not to mention the shelf that hung in my studio from the beginning, now repurposed here.

I had taken it down a couple of years ago to change things around and was so happy to put it back up here.

Flower bundles drying...

Some kind of bliss.

Just a cozy little nook for a girl in search of beauty.

I like to find it in the smallest ways, jam jars with blossoms - 

Colorful old spools of thread.

A cloche with old tid-bits.

Happy colors and me, cozied up in my little space.

This is where you will find me this afternoon, listening to audiobooks and mystery shows.

Whilst swirling paint together.

Yellow, red, white - the most perfect pink.

The dogs are snoring, the sun is getting warmer and warmer.

I woke up this morning in my country house bed, windows open and birds chirping (with Teddy tucked into my side), and I swooned at all the new leaves on the trees.

It was the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes.

My familiar view of giant trees in the distance, and my own trees close by.

I was amazed at a tiny tree that has been tiny for 15 years, now a big tree, with arms outstretched.

This was its year to grow up I suppose.

As I get older, nothing is taken for granted.

Every moment, everything I see that is familiar to me.

The sounds, the smells.

My trees, the sound of coffee percolating, the rustle of the huge eucalyptus leaves in the breeze, orange tree blossoms...

The mountains, pink in the afternoon.

My garden paths.

Wisteria and gigantic bumble bees.

Rosemary scented dogs.

Oh, so many good things.

All the little things sewn up together to make up the map of my heart.

How wonderful to be able to appreciate and enjoy them still, on this Easter Weekend.

I feel so lucky to get to experience another season of spring.

 

Happiest Easter wishes to you.

I hope to return sooner than the last time.

 

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

 

 

 

Wonderlandishness & the Making of a Custom Blythe Doll

Hello dear friends!

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

I've been working on so many arty projects lately, including this lil' cutie...

She is a recently completed custom Blythe doll.

What this means is that I have taken a factory made doll and resculpted, painted, sanded and changed her up completely.

Changed eye chips, washed and cut hair, repainted face, etc etc.

(if you are curious about this you can google custom Blythe dolls to peek into the vast world of Blythe dolls)

I have been collecting custom Blythe dolls by different artists for many years.

They range from around $500 dollars and can go above $1000 easily.

I know, you are thinking to yourself, how is this possible?

But the time and detail is what makes them so expensive, and they are not that easy to come by.

All mine have come from Russia, as most custom Blythe artists are way over there.

Anyways, I got the bright idea that I wanted to try one out myself recently, and not only was it fascinatingly fun, it was so relaxing and enjoyable.

Since I normally sculpt my dolls from a chunk of clay, working with hard and delicate plastic was definitely interesting.

I've also been doing a lot of drawing and painting of the wonderlandish variety, which I'll share more about at the end of this post.

So, to begin customizing a Blythe doll you have to disassemble them completely.

Not the easiest thing in the world, especially the eyes.

There are so many delicate moving parts inside the head, along with springs and strings that make the eyes work, to name a few things.

So, you have to carefully take the doll apart before sanding, sculpting and repainting.

This is what she looked like before I started the sanding process.

And this was her face after I had sanded, sculpted, changed forehead, chin, nose, lips, etc.

Here's a peek into the inside mechanism after removing screws, springs and strings.

Right before I removed the eyes and changed the eye chips.

(eye chips were very challenging and had to be drilled out beyond carefully)

Then there was the making of powder pigments for her face...

I decided to change her skull cap to a more peachy hair color after coloring her face, because of the warm tones I ended up using.

And then, because I go way back as a Barbie hair cutter :-), I decided she needed a little hair cut (after washing and drying).

Remember when your mom cut your bangs as a child?

My dad cut mine once when I was around 8, and he cut them exactly in the shape of Eddie Munsters forehead hair line, it was gorgeous, (haha).

My mom and I both sobbed, so then I ended up with one inch long bangs as the repair.

Luckily it all grew back.

Unfortunately, I only had one shot with my little lass and no chance for regrowth if I messed up, eeek!

That's the thing with the face too, you only get one chance.

I worked very slowly on her bangs (fringe) because doll hair is so straight and cuts so bluntly.

Happily, it all worked out in the end, hooray and phew.

And here she is, completely done.

I had all these different elements of clothing that I put together to create one outfit.

It was such a pleasure and delight to get to put her back together and see how cute she was.

You don't really have a full idea when you just have the face plate in your hand.

Such a fulfilling project, I must say.

I understand why custom Blythe dolls are so pricey.

It takes a very long time, it is super fragile work and there are soooo many steps.

Also, you just get that one chance, and the cost of the doll and supplies and clothing really adds up.

I love trying new projects and this was a top contender in the joy department.

You just have to be super patient and delicate handed.

I've already started a couple more, but I'm not sure if I can part with them.

Maybe if I make a few.

Meanwhile I have been sculpting, I have also been preparing myself for our Mad Tea Party.

I will definitely & undoubtedly post a mad tea party this year.

You can join in if you'd like exactly as we have in previous years.

This time you can join in via your Instagram or blog link.

Or you can just pop in as a visitor.

I will give more details in a separate blog post.

But for now, we have a new little cutie in the house, hanging out in the tea room.

But the question of all questions is...

What should I name her?

Have you any idea?

If you know, then pray tell, please share.

Are you a Blythe doll collector or into Blythes at all?

Many of you know I've been making clay dolls for many years, and now am inspired to make more of my old school dolls.

That's the thing about creativity.

Once you start, all sorts of a ideas and inspirations find you.

You just have to start.

I hope you are doing well friends.

Thank you for stopping in, it means the world to me.

 

Love, Vanessa

 

See you soon!!

 

<3 <3 <3