Spring!!!

Okay, maybe it's not really Spring yet and in reality we have another two weeks and probably a frost or two to go, but come on...it feels like it's here! And looks like it too...

See what I mean?

So I've been on kind of a Spring binge with my doll making as well. Meet Keelie, a Spring fairy and harbinger of change and growth. I had so much fun doing all the details on her!

Keelie

I've got several others on the sewing table right now in various stages of completion; a Spring witch, a garden witch, and a couple of the bigger flower fairies, so if I actually get a few days without interuptions I might get a lot of work done!...and I haven't forgotten the promised fairy tale dolls...they're still in what I call the "percolation" stage. I did promise my best friend I'd go see the "Other Boleyn Girl" movie with her tomorrow so I only have myself to blame for that interuption...but I am a total sucker for a movie with good costumes!!

One last little fairy for your viewing pleasure...a tiny daffodil pixie...

isn't she cute?!

March Hares and Alice

I've been working on a colony of rabbits; or a warren, down, trove, leash, trace...insert collective noun of choice...yea, I'm pretty much of a word geek. But I digress. Since it is March and I am a well known Alice fanatic, I thought I'd share a few of the hares I've created this week.




































And for other lovers of all things "Alice", check out this 1903 Alice in Wonderland movie at Darkling Woods Studio blog. It's kinda rough, but pretty amazing if you consider the limitations of the time period.

This morning while thinking about writing this post I was trying to figure out just why I have always been so drawn to these books...and it's definitely plural, books, because I actually love "Alice Through the Looking Glass" even more than its predecessor. As a child, I was attracted to the story of a young girl entering a world of fantasy, but even then I'm sure I felt that this was not a world that was all sweetness and light. Alice meets some quite disagreeable characters along the way. But I think the fact that Lewis Carroll never writes down to his readers was appealing to me even at a young age. I was forced by a sadistic first grade teacher to read Dick and Jane books at school while the fantastic world beyond the mirror or down the rabbit hole were my nightly companions. Who wouldn't love that by contrast?! And as I became older I fell in love with the way Carroll made language such FUN! Just think about Humpty Dumpty explaining how he can make words mean whatever he likes. He explains, "They've a temper, some of them -- particularly verbs: they're the proudest -- adjectives you can do anything with, but not verbs -- however, I can manage the whole lot of them! Impenetrability! That's what I say!" And then there's all the wonderful absurd poetry that gets recited throughout both books. I personally adored "The Jabberwocky" so much that I was able to recite the entire thing from a ridiculously early age...thus adding to my weird kid status, I'm sure. ( The fact that I also knew most of the witches' chant from Macbeth didn't help much either!) And of course the books are sprinkled with so many great lines like the Red Queen saying, " it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place!" ( a feeling I have often!) Or the White Queen on using your imagination,"I daresay you haven't had much practice,' said the Queen. `When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast," excellent advice for today's plugged in generation. And, of course, many more! And let's not forget the wonderful illustrations by Tenniel, although I have to admit loving the ones done by Milo Winter as well. So if you haven't read those two wonderful books lately, give yourself a treat and pull them out to reread as an adult or to share with your kids. Some books never grow old.

The White Rabbit

The White Rabbit

I had to share the beautiful print that I recently bought from my online friend, Cat, of Darkling Woods Studio. She does the most gorgeous watercolors that have such an ethereal quality to them. You can see more of her fairytale art in her DA gallery too, so check them both out. Alice in Wonderland has been a favorite book of mine since childhood so when I saw this I had to have one!

It's been a crazy couple of weeks here at Casa Fairiesnest! First the roof started leaking in a totally inaccessible place ...at least for us!...and we had to get that patched. And while the guy was up there he noticed that there were several "soft spots" so we have to get the whole roof replaced! Big fun. Then on Saturday, right before we were expecting a house full of people for the weekend, first the dishwasher, then the vacuum, then the lawn mower all decided to quit. So I'm wondering did they all get together the night before and decide this together? My darling husband was able to fix the vac and the mower but the dishwasher is a goner...Sigh...I know it's a luxury but I love it and it does use less water then washing by hand. But a new roof is the priority right now, drat it! Owning a house...always interesting!

An Interview!!

FiddleLee on Etsy did an interview with me that's up on her blog, Etsy Treasures, this week. She did a great job and any incoherences are mine so go read it and leave her lots of comments! Heck, leave me comments here, I'd love to know what you think!
And to liven up this post some, here's my latest fae, Calliope the music fairy. Her hair is actually even brighter in real life..VERY colorful!

A Winter Wonderland

This was the view out my back door this morning. As my grandmother would say, "It's a Winter Wonderland!" ...now she lived in upper state New York and would say this even in blizzard conditions, but that's another story.... Of course this being N.Carolina the snow is almost completely gone this afternoon and the forecast is for 62 degrees tomorrow. But it was a nice Valentine's day surprise.

Happy Valentine's Week

I'm not feeling very well, but I felt that this picture of some Valentine cuties to start off Valentine's week would be better then my previous whining about how sick I was! So here for your viewing pleasure, the Valentine's Pixies counting out their candy stash. This week is the last chance 'til next year to purchase one of these because I will be taking them out of the shop next weekend.

The Queen of Tarts

It is a widely accepted fact ...well among my circle of friends ...that I am the queen of tarts. Now before you swerve onto the wrong track of thought let me assure you it is due to my tendency to bake a tart for any and all occasions and NOT because of anything tarty in my dress or relationships. I love to make tarts. They're easy, versatile, and they always make a big impression. My favorite and a hugely popular tart with most of my family is a fruit tart that I actually adapted from a recipe of my maternal grandmother's. It's so delicious! Of course we do have a lone fruit hater but that's another story...

You start with a pre baked tart shell, preferably a sweet shortcrust. My favorite one is from the book Festive Tarts by Sylvia Thompson. (This is a fantastic tart book that I highly recommend and although it's out of print you can find used copies really cheap.)But I digress...
Cut up enough fruit to fill your tart; peaches, berries, plums, all of one kind or a mix ...whatever you think is yummy. Mix together 1 cup sugar with 3 cups OJ and 4 tablespoons cornstarch in a saucepan. Heat this stirring constantly until it thickens. Put about 1/3 of the mixture in the bottom of the tart. Now place in the fruit in a pretty pattern or all mixed up, it doesn't matter. Then carefully cover all the fruit with the rest of the OJ sauce. Refrigerate for at least an hour, but not more than 4 or 5 because you don't want it to get soggy...though it'll still taste good! One little trick; if you're using fruit that might brown, like peaches, toss them with the OJ first and then drain them and proceed. It also gives the OJ a great peachy taste... This works well for freezing peaches too!

And why all the talk of tarts? Well I had been planning on making a Queen of Hearts doll and when I mentioned this to my darling hubby he said, "Like the card?" and I replied, "No, like the one who made tarts." Now my husband had a childhood seriously deprived of children's literature so he said, "Huh? Why would a queen make tarts? Couldn't she get the cook to do that?" Well that got me thinking...Why indeed? It had to have been out of love! (She was the queen of hearts!) Love of the King? Love for the little heirs? Or maybe, like moi, she just loved to cook!
And so here is the finished queen ready to hit the kitchen and cook up some tarts. Please note that as well as an apron, she carries two of my favorite tart books....