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 18: Now you see him. . . Now you don't

This month's winner will receive three digi stamps from our sponsor Dilly Beans, featuring the whimsical art of Megan Suarez, famous for her charming big-eyed girls! You can see the digi stamps and collage sheets on her blog, Dilly Beans Stamps. There is also a Dilly Beans design team challenge blog and an Etsy shop with Megan's artwork to inspire you. Dilly Beans offers four Alice-related digi stamps: Alice in Wonderland, the Queen of Hearts, the Cheshire Cat and some whimsical mushrooms.

The Winner

Our challenge this month was to make a card where things appear and disappear; it could be as simple as a tag in a pocket or something more interactive and fun!

Our randomly chosen winner is Wendy of WendyLynn's Paper Whims, who was inspired by Alice's every changing size. Look!

I love the humor, what a great sentiment! Wendy, please contact me via the email link in the left column. You may also display this blog badge!

Honorable Mentions
All of the entries this month were fantastic!

Ana Caldatto of Scrap da Ana, joining us from Sao Paolo, Brazil, created these fun pocket Cheshire Cats; the pockets are decorated with text cut from an old ex-library book. I love the way she related her project to the way books appear and sometimes disappear from the library!

Debbie of Arty Crafty created another set of pages in her altered calendar. I really LOVE this, all of her Altered Alice challenges this year are in the same altered calendar, with a focus on quotes from the Tim Burton movie, which I adore! The "blood" rimmed claw marks give us a peek at what is to come!

Silvia of BarniesBaustelle, joining us from Germany, created a fabulous waterfall card - when you tug on the ribbon at the base, the layers at the top flip up one-by-one to reveal various images! Please visit Silvia's blog to see photos of all the layers, it is so  much fun!

Keren Howell of Altered Ego, who comes to us from Swansea, UK, created a fun slider card! I love the way the sentiment and the blue butterfly tie in with the Caterpillar.

Karen Goulet of Krafty Kitty Karen created a fun pop-up card, complete with a charming little story!

All Honorable Mention recipients are entitled to display this blog badge!

We will have a new challenge for you next week; please leave a comment before you go!

CHAPTER 8: Celebrating the Mad Hatter, with Twinkles!

The Hatter shook his head mournfully. `Not I!' he replied. `We quarrelled last March--just before HE went mad, you know--' (pointing with his tea spoon at the March Hare,)
`--it was at the great concert given by the Queen of Hearts, and I had to sing 
"Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!
How I wonder what you're at!"
You know the song, perhaps?' 
`I've heard something like it,' said Alice. 
`It goes on, you know,' the Hatter continued, `in this way:-- 
"Up above the world you fly,
Like a tea-tray in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle--"'
-- Chapter 7, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Here at The Altered Alice we celebrate Mad Hatter's Day twice a year as the date is taken from the price on his hat - ten shillings and a sixpence or 10/6. That means it is on October 6 here in the United States, and on June 10 in the United Kingdom. But mainly it is just a great reason to party with the Mad Hatter twice a year! Your challenge is to celebrate the Mad Hatter, and as OPTIONS you can use something that twinkles or shines AND/OR you can bring some spookiness into it since we are all having a "Twinkle twinkle little bat" sing-along around our mad tea table!

Our prize this month is an A5 sized unmounted stamp set from IndigoBlu (a £13 value), or an equivalent amount of A6 stamps. IndigoBlu is a fantastic new British stamp company that makes "Quintessentially English Rubber Stamps" right there in England.

In fact IndigoBlu is sponsoring The Altered Alice for October AND November, and the design team will be working with these two fantastic Alice stamp sets, titled appropriately "Alice I" and "Alice II". Most Americans don't know what A5 and A6 mean so I'll just tell you, these sets are really big!

I encourage you to go visit IndigoBlu.com. All stamps are on sale right now with their introductory pricing, but that won't last forever, and the designs are all wonderful! In addition, the Head Honcho Alfie says
"The Altered Alice readers can take 10% OFF during the challenge; just use coupon code AlteredAlice in the voucher code box at checkout!" 
Thanks Alfie!

Enter by Friday, October 28; our randomly drawn winner and the honorable mentions will be announced on the last Sunday, October 30. Multiple entries are encouraged, but each must be on a separate post. As always, entries that feature Wonderland in some way will get two chances in the drawing instead of one.

Design Team Changes!

When Terri DeVine stepped down, it left an opening on the permanent design team. It will come as no surprise to our followers that I asked Retta Fox of Foxy's Weblog to fill the position. Retta has been a guest for the past few months and I am thrilled and proud to announce that she will continue to inspire you each month with her splendid creations! Please stop by Retta's blog to welcome her to The Altered Alice!

It is also time for a new guest designer: Amy Bowerman Stucki is joining us for a few months! Amy loves painting and "up-cycling" all kinds of items and I love her "out of the box" approach to the past challenges, or maybe I should say out of the drawer, or out of the pinata? You never know what you'll find on Plucking Daisies! Please stop by Amy's blog and welcome her to The Altered Alice!

Your Weekly Inspiration

Altered book cover - click to enlarge

Tracy Evans has outdone herself this month with this gorgeous altered book! I can't wait to visit her blog post and find out how she textured this cover, it's amazing, and I love the embedded letters.

Click to enlarge

The sepia tinting of the IndigoBlu images gives it such a charming vintage look!

Niche carved in block of pages - click to enlarge

The piece de resistance is this fabulous niche Tracy has created by gluing together a block of pages and carving out a window. LOVE that, especially the ragged edges! The March Hare image is one of my favorite IndigoBlu stamps, doesn't he look great on this page?

Closeup of niche - click to enlarge

I really love the way Tracy has used the depth of the niche. By placing Alice near the front of the opening, it really does look like she has turned to look at the Mad Hatter! Stop by Tracy's blog to leave a comment on her wonderful creation!


Retta Fox of Foxy's Weblog is created a charming Mad Tea Party shadowbox which began its life as a box holding K & Co. chipboard elements. It's enough to make you look at packaging in a whole new way!

Inside the box - click to enlarge

It looks like Retta was inspired by the Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat song, and those red eyes add a whole new dimension to this mad tea party.

Cover of box - click to enlarge

Inside lid of box - click to enlarge

Be sure to stop by Retta's blog and leave her a comment about this spooky scene, and to congratulate and welcome her to the permanent design team!

Click to enlarge

Donna Mundinger of Popsicle Toes has created a wonderful bat-infested 3D teacup! Love the teabag detail. The pleated black rosette really sets off the watch, and how can you not love a project with bats soaring aloft?

Click to enlarge

The IndigoBlu

This side view shows the way she has supported the bats with wire attached to the frame, made with two layers of fun foam! I love the way Donna thinks in 3D, I am always surprised and full of pleasure whenever I see what she has created for us. Be sure to stop by Donna's blog and leave her a comment!

October is a long month with five Sundays, so you'll have no excuse not to join us in our Mad Tea Party celebrating Mad Hatter Day, US style! Enter by Friday, October 28; our randomly drawn winner and the honorable mentions will be announced on the last Sunday, October 30. Just make sure YOUR watch is not two days slow!

To enter your creation, use the linky tool below - just click the link below the thumbnail images. Please list YOUR NAME or YOUR BLOG NAME in the TITLE, for example "Alice Liddell - Tea Party Collage".  The field is long enough that you can also put the name of your piece, but please put your name first in the title field. (Note - if you are viewing this in email or through a reader, you will need to click on the title of this post to view it on the blog.)
Please leave a comment before you go, they mean a lot!

Celebrate Mad Hatter Day with a MAD TEA PARTY - Winner & Honorable Mentions

We hope you have enjoyed our Mad Tea Party! I have two more design team projects to share with you, then we will move on to the news you are all waiting for: the winner of The Artistic Stamper's generous prize!

The project from me, Lynne Phelps of Savvy Sisters Studio, is a little dimensional tea party vignette! I wanted to pay tribute to the style of Mabel Lucie Attwell, with her soft yellow skies and orange suns. Her Alice had red hair, and as a red head myself I complete approve of the move away from our traditional blond!

Here you can see the dimension. I drew in a table to extend the stamped image, then scored and folded it at the front and back edges of the table. The dormouse and tea pot were stamped again and popped up. My photography does not capture the 3D effect when you see this piece!  For more detail, and to leave me a comment, please visit my blog, Savvy Sisters Studio! I would really love a visit from you!

Jess Marin of My Scrap Diary made this wonderfully "hatted" easel card! I really love the patterned paper hat and ribbon hatband with the "Mad as a Hatter" charm! Of course the focal point is Jess' vivid coloring; I love her choice of colors and beatiful shading! She has inspired me to give my colored pencils some again, and to remember there are other methods besides Copics, LOL!

Jess' vivid color choices and fantastic shading has been applied to the stack of teacups. I love her touch of a handwritten note, as though the Mad Hatter was just jotting down a few items to remember! Please stop by My Scrap Diary to leave Jess a comment on her wonderful easel card!

Our sponsor, Jennie of The Artistic Stamper, is bringing her favorite teapot to the party. She has done some clever work with her scissors and actually has the Mad Hatter and the March Hare stuffing the dormouse into a real teapot! In case you were wondering, Jennie was counted OUT before I did the drawing, LOL!

Challenge Winner

Our generous sponsor this month is The Artistic Stamper, and the winner will receive a £15 pound voucher for The Artistic Stamper stamps! (Please note the voucher is for The Artistic Stamper stamps, not for other merchandise.) They have a WONDERFUL online store that offers free worldwide shipping on orders over £35 and they carry loads of my favorite brands. The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog offers amazing inspiration and interesting challenges, so be sure to visit! 

Drum roll please. . . Random.org has selected #11, and Valerianas Studio from Germany is our winner!

The color scheme is fun and I really love the way it sets off the black and white illustrations! Note that her tea party contribution was some lovely cupcakes!  Valeriana had two entries, the other one being a wonderful digital collage.

Valeriana, you are now entitled to display this Challenge Winner blog badge! Contact me through the email link at the top of the left column, and I will forward your information to Jennie to arrange your prize!

A few Challenge notes

• Remember, with almost a month to enter, you are welcome to enter more than one project as long as they are on separate posts.
• You do not need to have a blog to enter. You can also upload your photos to a gallery or album. Splitcoaststampers is highly recommended, it is designed for uploading stamped artwork, accounts are free and include a member gallery, and the permissions allow anyone to view your gallery. They also have forums, tutorials, and other resources for the stamping community.
• If you link a Facebook photo, we probably will NOT be able to see it! Normal Facebook permissions are either "Friends Only" or "Friends and Friends of Friends" which will not include most of us, and if you have created a challenge entry, we would sure like to see it! For security reasons, we DO NOT recommend that you open up your Facebook permissions, so we also DO NOT recommend that you link your challenge entries from Facebook.

• Flickr and Photobucket would be a good alternative to Facebook, just make sure your photos are visible to the public. They will also allow us to leave comments! 

• Entry #18, Sassy Lou, we would have loved to leave a comment but we could not see your entry.

And now, the Honorable Mentions!


This month it was a TWO part challenge. You had to create a project that celebrated the Mad Hatter, AND you had to tell us what you were bringing to our Mad Tea Party!

As usual with Lola Azul's challenge entry, I need to show more than one picture so you can get the full effect! She has created a wonderful wallet which holds set of party invitations featuring realistic photos which she has altered into Mad Hatters; they are really quite extraordinary!

 

And her party contribution is equally extraordinary: SOCKS for the table and chair legs!!! How funny and how madly Alice is that?

I just love this project and party contribution, and I hope you will stop by and leave a comment for Lola on Apuntes des Colores!

Kathleen of Kat's Craft Creations brought a lovely lacy tablecloth for our tea table, which she incorporated into her fab side-step card design! I love all the warm colors and patterns, and the rosettes with the playing cards, price tag, and the watch at the top are the perfect accents!

Hazel of Hazel's Creative Moments has actually recreated the whole tea party, AND brought a piano plus the kitchen sink! Be sure to visit her blog to read about how she made this and to see a close-up photo. She says we can all have a "jolly old sing song and knees up" plus wash up after the party! I love it that she has a tiny kitchen sink teapot on the tiny table, which is made from a small stretched canvas, and the piano tea pot is perfect. I'll just bet it can play "Twinkle twinkle little bat. . . . " Of course I also love it that there are pints of the best brew sitting atop the piano, LOL!  While I drink hot tea all day every day, there are other brews I'm quite fond of!

Nigel of Freebird's flights of fancy captured the moment of the Mad Hatter's party performance of "Twinkle, twinkle, little bat" AND he brought a lovely tea loaf! Yum! We had several slices slathered with the BEST BUTTER! He did a salt technique that gives his night sky a wonderful starry effect. Love the cut and pasted text, not to mention the bat!

Rhea of Starrgazer Creates made a divine altered book cover, and she is bringing some lovely vintage linens for our party table! I really LOVE the way she has arranged the Fragment-covered images and tags around the large rabbit image. The juxtaposition of the large White Rabbit and the teeny-tiny images makes this piece so interesting! 

Blackdragon has brought a teacup, saucer, and teapot to the party in this intriguing shadow box! Of course it has a dark side! Visit her blog for lots of closeup photos. My favorite bit is that Mad Hatter chess piece and the Cheshire Cat in the lower right corner, enjoying the little garden!

I just LOVE the way Artyjen created her own story caption from the image! LOVE this art journal page. Artyjen is bringing a bottle of Cava to the party, woohoo!  Cava is a sparkling wine from Spain, sometimes call Spanish Champagne! Thank for that, Artyjen!

I had to close with this one. Godzoned (Debbie) of Have a Crafty Day! altered a chocolate brownie into Upelkuchen, and warns us that eating too much WILL cause us to grow too large! Too funny!

Those mentioned here today are awarded this Honorable Mention blog badge, and I hope all of you will display it on your blogs with pride! I wish I had time to mention each and every entrant, but I think it would take me until next week to say what I loved about each one. THANKS to everyone for playing along with The Altered Alice!

Thanks again to The Artistic Stamper for being such a great sponsor, and to Hels and Jennie for playing along! Please leave a comment here before you go, we all LOVE reading your comments!