CHAPTER 22: Christmas-tide in Wonderland!

From a Fairy to a Child 

LADY dear, if Fairies may For a moment lay aside Cunning tricks and elfish play, 'Tis at happy Christmas-tide. 

We have heared the children say -Gentle children, whom we love -Long ago, on Christmas Day, Came a message from above. 

Still, as Christmas-tide comes round,They remember it again -Echo still the joyful sound, 'Peace on earth, good-will to men.' 

Yet the hearts must child-like be Where such heavenly guests abide. Unto children, in their glee, All the year is Christmas-tide. 

Thus, forgetting tricks and play For a moment, Lady dear,We would wish you, if we may, Merry Christmas, glad New Year.
-- Lewis Carroll, Christmas, 1887.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from The Altered Alice! This month the design team brings you their holiday wishes, and we invite you to send your holiday greetings or share a special project with The Altered Alice and to our other readers. 

We do not have a sponsor this month, so we are just sharing for the joy of Christmas in Wonderland, and we hope that you will share too. We will have honorable mentions, so play along for the glory if not a prize!

To celebrate the season, we bring you The Lewis Carroll Memorial Window at Daniell Chapel in England. Notice the left panel where Lewis Carroll and Alice kneel to pay homage to the newly born Christ in this wonderful Nativity scene! This month's quote is actually contained within the windows, do you see it?

Click to enlarge - See Lewis Carroll and Alice in the left panel

The window, designed by the stained glass artist Geoffrey Webb, is a must-see for anyone who loves Wonderland. A wonderful Christmas poem by Lewis Carroll is shown in the center three bottom panels, which include characters from Wonderland - the White Rabbit, Dodo, the Caterpillar, Mad Hatter, and more! Our own Sue Roddis visited this chapel and gave me permission to show her close-up photos here, click to enlarge:

From Bonnie:

Bonnie McLain of Love Light and Peace is sharing an altered board book she calls "The Many Faces of Alice" and it showcases her love of the original Tenniel illustrations. The back page is much taller than the rest, perfect for the TALL Alice, my how she has grown!

 The cover is decked with this gorgeous black lace, forming a valence over Alice and Dinah, the kitten!

You can see one of the inner pages here; please visit Bonnie's blog to leave a comment and to see all the inner pages. They are truly lovely and you will not want to miss them!  Thanks Bonnie for making us such a lovely project to share at Christmas-tide!

Also stop by Love Light and Peace to wish Bonnie a happy, happy birthday!

Please consider adding your own project to share by Saturday, Dec. 29th. It can be a Christmas project or just something Alice-related that you want to share that perhaps did not fit with any of our other challenges! For this month only,we will allow you to back-link projects that were created before this month, as Christmas-tide is all about giving and sharing! Note: If you are viewing this in email or a reader, you can click on the title of the post to see submitted projects on the blog.  Merry Christmas to one and all, with great love from The Altered Alice!

Winner & Honorable Mentions, CHAPTER 21 - Gratitude

Our theme this month was GRATITUDE. The theme ties in nicely with this month's sponsor, Nature's Blessings, who have offered a $30 shopping spree to the randomly chosen winner! Nature's Blessings stamps were the beginning of my love affair with Alice in Wonderland stamping, as they have beautiful rubber versions of the original Tenniel illustrations of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland AND Through the Looking Glass. Without Nature's Blessings, The Altered Alice might not exist! In their words:

As avid readers and bibliophiles, we fell in love with the beautiful line drawings in the books in our family library. Our antiquarian stamps are a collection of our favorite images. If your tastes range from the classically elegant to the quirky and fun, then we make stamps for you! We also offer a variety of original art: be sure to visit John Wagner's page of Calligraphy and Art Lettering, and Laura Ann's pages of stamps for holidays and special occasions.

NOTE: Due to technical difficulties, my gratitude project will be shown in December. However, I wanted to share the project that started my love affair with Nature's Blessings stamps!

Design Team Inspiration:
For all the details on how this was made, please visit my blog: Lynne Phelps of Savvy Sisters Studio.

You can click any photo to make it bigger. I had a wood plaque in my stash that had the word "Dream" on it. The natural, unpainted wood surface was already sanded and coated with a soft clear gloss, all ready for altering!

Nature's Blessing stamps used include White Rabbit, I'm Late, I'm Late, Hatter, Herald, Little Golden Key and Mad Tea Party.

Please visit my blog: Lynne Phelps of Savvy Sisters Studio. to read all the details of the creative process and to leave me a comment!!



Winner:
And now, drum roll please, it is time to announce the winner of the $30 shopping spree from Nature's Blessings!

Congratulations Alison, of 21st Century Pillow Book! Alison created this charming thank you card as her project. I love the colors and patterns, and of course my favorite element is the snipped up text! Alison, please email me (there is a link at the top of the left column) so I can get your contact info and forward it to Nature's Blessings!  I hope you will also want to display this blog badge with pride:

Honorable Mentions:

I love the mix of new and vintage in WendyLynn's Thanksgiving card!

I love the sponging on this fun thank you card by Leintje. I am NOT a pink person, but I do love the pink and green color combination!

While I am not fond of zombies (or rotting flesh in any form, LOL) Monique has done the most amazing job coloring this Alice zombie image and I absolutely LOVE the background with the card suits!

Mrs. Beez made this neat tip card, to be left for hotel staff after a visit. There are pockets inside for tags and cash; be sure to visit her blog to see the inside!

This thank-you jewelry box by Nazneen was upcycled from a cardboard product box. I love how the quilling along the sides was used in a bold modern motif along the sides!

Thanks to all the participants. We hope you will display this blog badge with pride!

Thanks again to Nature's Blessings for being such a wonderful sponsor! Be sure to visit the Nature's Blessings store to see all the wonderful images available in wood and cling cushion or unmounted.

Please leave a comment before you go!

CHAPTER 21: Gratitude Challenge EXTENDED

Between the holiday weekend and technical difficulties, I am not going to be able to post the winner and honorable mentions until Thursday, so I have reopened the challenge! Get  busy and submit some projects by 5 p.m. EST on Thursday, November 29 and I'll post the winners on Friday, Nov. 30.

The theme is GRATITUDE, but the project can be anything as long as you explain the connection in your blog post. Of course thank-you cards are an obvious project, and you know you are going to need a lot of them after the holidays, so why not create a stash? Who wouldn't like a little Wonderland thank-you card in the mail?

WHY should you get busy? Because a FABULOUS prize is up for grabs! One randomly-chosen winner will receive a $30 shopping spree from Nature's Blessings. They have all the illustrations from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland AND Through the Looking Glass. But did you know they have LOTS of other amazing stamps, in unmounted, cling, or wood mount? (The price shown on the listings page is for wood mount, so the cling and unmounted are much less.)

Have you seen all the Nature's Blessings rubber stamp categories?

• Gorgeous Garlands just in time for an Old-Fashioned Christmas
• Check out the crazy monsters
• Fun Fish (number 5 is my favorite!)
• Beautiful still life images for coloring
• Charming vintage children
• Elegant vintage fashion illustrations (the heirloom children's garments are my favorites)
• Nursery Rhyme Time has whimsical fairies, Mother Goose, Little Red Riding Hood, the Three Bears and other fairy tales!
• The Odds and Ends category contains fantastic scientific gadgets from the past and some great skeletons and many other great images!
• And more!

So get busy, because you know you need some of these great stamps! Multiple entries are encouraged, but each project must be on a separate post. As always, all projects are welcome but those that feature Wonderland will have two chances per entry instead of one. (Note: if you are viewing this post in a reader or email, please click on the title of the post to go to the blog to see the entries or submit a project.)

Hurry!

Week 3, CHAPTER 21: Gratitude

'You ought to return thanks in a neat speech,' the Red Queen said, frowning at Alice as she spoke. . . .In fact it was rather difficult for her to keep in her place while she made her speech: the two Queens pushed her so, one on each side, that they nearly lifted her up into the air:'I rise to return thanks--' Alice began: and she really DID rise as she spoke, several inches; but she got hold of the edge of the table, and managed to pull herself down again.-- Chapter 9, Through the Looking Glass

The US Thanksgiving holiday is this month, and many people are dedicating the month to a spirit of gratitude; after all there is nothing like counting your blessings to make you realize how many blessings there are! Our theme this month is GRATITUDE, and you can interpret that any way you like as long as you explain it in your post. Enter by Friday, Nov. 23; all entries are welcome but those that feature Wonderland will have two chances instead of one. Multiple entries are encouraged, but each must be on a separate post to have additional chances at the prize, which is quite wonderful!

The theme ties in nicely with this month's sponsor, Nature's Blessings, who have offered a $30 shopping spree to the randomly chosen winner! Nature's Blessings stamps were the beginning of my love affair with Alice in Wonderland stamping, as they have beautiful rubber versions of the original Tenniel illustrations of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland AND Through the Looking Glass. Without Nature's Blessings, The Altered Alice might not exist! In their words:

As avid readers and bibliophiles, we fell in love with the beautiful line drawings in the books in our family library. Our antiquarian stamps are a collection of our favorite images. If your tastes range from the classically elegant to the quirky and fun, then we make stamps for you! We also offer a variety of original art: be sure to visit John Wagner's page of Calligraphy and Art Lettering, and Laura Ann's pages of stamps for holidays and special occasions.

Your Weekly Inspiration:

Donna Mundinger of Popsicle Toes created a very special Thanksgiving Wonderland menu for her gratitude project. She has done her Cricut magic on the outside, and I love the warm rich colors and elegant patterns. But wait until you see what's inside. . .

So elegant! The detail on these Nature's Blessings stamps is just wonderful, and they stand on their own without coloring. The autumn leaves in the background add the perfect touch of color.

The Drink Me image accompanies our Thanksgiving cocktail, spiced pumpkin martinis!

The Lobster Quadrille image accents our starter, lobster bisque! Yum!

Donna created a little turkey "patch" to place on the Mad Tea Party table!

Alice and the Plum Cake image is perfect for our dessert. I love the knife buried in the cake, it's a wonderful illustration! Be sure to stop by Popsicle Toes to leave a comment for Donna. I need to head over there and find out what time to show up for this wonderful Thanksgiving dinner!

Donna/Meme of Meme's Art Place created a pair of beautiful vintage thank-you cards! She has carefully aged the paper and darkened the edges to give the impression of pages torn from an old book. This image of Alice playing with Dinah in the big chair is one of my favorites!

I love Alice and the Tweedles! Meme has done a fantasic job of creating an authentic vintage look with distress markers and inks. Be sure to stop by Meme's Art Place to leave a comment for Donna about her gorgeous vintage thank-you cards!

Hurry up, you have time to enter for a WONDERFUL prize! Enter your projects in the Linky list below by November 23, and PLEASE include your name or blog name in the TITLE. This helps me enormously when it comes time to had out the honorable mentions! (Note: if you are viewing this post in a reader or email, please click on the title of the post to go to the blog to see the entries or submit a project.)

Please leave a comment before you go!

Week 2, CHAPTER 21: Gratitude

'You ought to return thanks in a neat speech,' the Red Queen said, frowning at Alice as she spoke. . . .In fact it was rather difficult for her to keep in her place while she made her speech: the two Queens pushed her so, one on each side, that they nearly lifted her up into the air:'I rise to return thanks--' Alice began: and she really DID rise as she spoke, several inches; but she got hold of the edge of the table, and managed to pull herself down again.-- Chapter 9, Through the Looking Glass

The US Thanksgiving holiday is this month, and many people are dedicating the month to a spirit of gratitude; after all there is nothing like counting your blessings to make you realize how many blessings there are! Our theme this month is GRATITUDE, and you can interpret that any way you like as long as you explain it in your post. Enter by Friday, Nov. 23; all entries are welcome but those that feature Wonderland will have two chances instead of one. Multiple entries are encouraged, but each must be on a separate post to have additional chances at the prize, which is quite wonderful!

The theme ties in nicely with this month's sponsor, Nature's Blessings, who have offered a $30 shopping spree to the randomly chosen winner! Nature's Blessings stamps were the beginning of my love affair with Alice in Wonderland stamping, as they have beautiful rubber versions of the original Tenniel illustrations of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland AND Through the Looking Glass. Without Nature's Blessings, The Altered Alice might not exist! In their words:

As avid readers and bibliophiles, we fell in love with the beautiful line drawings in the books in our family library. Our antiquarian stamps are a collection of our favorite images. If your tastes range from the classically elegant to the quirky and fun, then we make stamps for you! We also offer a variety of original art: be sure to visit John Wagner's page of Calligraphy and Art Lettering, and Laura Ann's pages of stamps for holidays and special occasions.

Your Weekly Inspiration:

Barbara Washington of Magic Delights came up with a fantastic idea for our gratitude challenge; she made a thank you card and a set of charming hostess gifts for the upcoming holiday season! I love her thank you card, pictured above, don't you?

Everyone on the design team decided they would like to invite Barbara over when they saw these charming gifts! This night light with the custom made Alice shade is absolutely charming, even when unlit.

It is even lovelier when illuminated, isn't it? 

The next hostess gift is a set of coasters in a holder. Gratitude is indeed the memory of the heart, and some of my dearest childhood memories are involved with reading Alice in Wonderland! Here are the individual coasters:

I love it that Nature's Blessings has such a complete set of the original Tenniel illustrations! These coasters are fantastic; hasn't Barbara done a wonderful job with this gratitude theme? Please stop by Barbara's blog to tell her so!

Amy Bowerman Stucki of Plucking Daisies dyed a vintage handbag (her grandmother's) with rit dye and created iron on transfers with Nature's Blessings stamps and "Transfermations". Amy is our queen of upcycling, and this bag looks new and funky and fun!

I was so pleased to learn about this product; look how well it transfers onto dark fabrics! It is designed for ink jet printers but Amy has great results with stamping!

These stamps have such wonderful detail; the cross-hatched lines are crisp and distinct. Lizard Bill is looking good!

Some Blue Moon charms add interest!

Gratitude is embodied in what this bag was used for; in Amy's words:

The bag was used to transport a package to hurricane victims. A friend of mine from NJ has spearheaded a campaign called "Socks for Sandy" . Such a simple necessity that so many are lacking since the storm hit. As far as grattitude I'm thankful that power was the only thing I lost in the storm when others have lost so much.

You can read about Socks for Sandy HERE. They are in urgent need of socks, winter gloves, mittens and hats, and NEW packages of underwear for men, women and children.  Please stop by Amy's blog to leave a comment on her stamped "Transfermation" bag, her Alice post will be up soon so check back at her blog to read all the details.

We look forward to seeing your interpretation of our gratitude theme! Enter your projects in the Linky list below by November 23, and PLEASE include your name or blog name in the TITLE. This helps me enormously when it comes time to had out the honorable mentions! (Note: if you are viewing this post in a reader or email, please click on the title of the post to go to the blog to see the entries or submit a project.)

Please leave a comment before you go!