CHAPTER 22: Christmas-tide and Happy New Year in Wonderland!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from The Altered Alice! I am sorry to be posting the rest of our Christmas inspiration so late, but a scheduling error on my part almost meant that you would be seeing this post in December. . . 2013!

More Christmas-tide in Wonderland:

Barbara Washington of Magic Delights created this charming wreath with Wonderland ornaments!

The charms are made from stamped die-cut shrink plastic:

I just love the look of these "charming" ornaments, all unified with the sponged border of Alice Blue! Be sure to stop by Barbara's blog to leave a comment about these wonderful Wonderland ornaments!

Amy Bowerman of Plucking Daisies created a whimsical Christmas Tea Cup Village, let's take a look! 

What an amazing tree topper, I love it!

A small white Christmas tree is decorated in fine style!

Whimsical Christmas trees planted in vintage tea cups; I wish I could shrink like Alice to take a stroll through this winter Wonderland! I think Amy perfectly captured the magic of Wonderland, so be sure to stop by and leave a comment at Plucking Daisies!

Donna/Meme of Meme's Art Place created a wonderful set of holiday cards using the wacky Octopode characters!

Counting down to Christmas or welcoming the New Year!

I think this one is my favorite, with Alice and Cheshire all dressed up for the holiday!

The Mad Hatter makes a fine drummer boy!

Hearts come home for the holidays!

Donna/Meme of Meme's Art Place did a wonderful job with these holiday cards, so stop by her blog and leave a comment!

Honorable Mentions

Everyone who participated this month gets an Honorable Mention! We so appreciate that some of you had something to share in the spirit of the holidays. Take a look at all the wonderful projects linked below  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.  New Year blessings to one and all, with love from The Altered Alice!

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 10 - A Lewis Christmas Carroll to You!

The Winner

Random.org selected Miupoftea of Poetry in a Pot of Tea as this month's winner of the $40 gift certificate from Custom Crops! Please contact me (email link is in the left column) and I'll send you the info on how to collect your prize, and you are entitled to display this badge on your blog if you like!

Here is her winning entry; I love the way she's placed the rabbit in a tea cup, the torn red edge on the book text, the houndstooth background and the traditional red and green color scheme balanced with ivory and black neutrals!

Honorable Mentions

All the entries were fabulous, and I would like to grant ALL our December entrants an honorable mention badge! Thanks so much for your Wonderland holiday wishes, and Happy New Year to all our readers!

Kudos to Jan of chai tea 'n me for turning in a whole Christmas tree as her entry! LOVE that hat on top, it is fabulous!

Debra James (top) and LilyPinkScraps (bottom) both used charming Wonderland images fromDilly Beans, and I love the whimsical feeling of these fun Christmas cards!

Debra Beight brought Hannukah into the holiday mix, and I love the way she has the Mad Hatter singing The Dreidel Song while munching a few latkes with his tea!

I adore this "stained glass" image from Bonnie McLain of Love, Light and Peace! She used an elaborate black die cut over a luminous green background. To make her characters look like part of the window, she has edged each of them in back. Lovely!

 

And I have to give Anne of Card Challenges a mention for her set of six Wonderland cards. My favorites were her cards using the Tenniel images, and I love the way the fish footman is now delivering a Christmas card! You can see all of her entries below!

Remember, everyone who entered this month is an honorable mention and can grab the blog badge, I just don't have time to describe what I like about each wonderful Wonderland entry! Check them out:

Note - those viewing in a reader or email may need to click the title of this post to see the link list on the blog.

We'll be back in the new year with a new challenge, and I wish everyone a joyous and safe Happy New Year!

Week 3, CHAPTER 10: A Lewis Christmas Carroll to All!

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 to The Altered Alice. You have until Friday, Dec. 23 to enter. The winner post will either be a little early or late, as the last Sunday of the month falls on Christmas day!

Our prize this month is a $40.00 gift certificate to Custom Crops, the premier online retailer for crafters of all kinds. From Accuquilt to Zva Creative, adhesives to vinyl and everything in between, Custom Crops offers a huge selection of the products you've been looking for at competive prices with fast, friendly customer service. Thanks to design team member Donna for organizing this Christmas 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

The window was designed by the stained glass artist Geoffrey Webb,  a must-see for anyone that 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! 

Your Weekly Inspiration:

Amy Bowerman Stucki of Plucking Daisies used a real window in this interpretation of the window in Daniell Chapel, and holy moly, what a treat for the eyes! The window was painted gold, Amy printed out each window in grayscale on translucent parchment paper and added color with Copic markers These were adhered to the window glass, and Christmas lights behind add a wonderful glow to this gorgeous window!

On the muntins that divide the panes, Amy glued tiny little Tweety Jill thumbnail images to a Tim Holtz filmstrip ribbon.

This little embellishment of beads and charms decorates the top of the window.

And the sides are decorated as well with mosaic tiles and glass pebbles! Gorgeous! Be sure to go to Plucking Daisies to see more photos and leave a comment for Amy!

And now it is time to welcome Meme of Meme's Art Place back to the team! Meme had to take a few months off, and her hand-drawn Cheshire Cat is a wonderful way to return. The cat's tail wraps around the card to hold a little Christmas tree. . .

And when you swing the tail to the side, you see the Merry Christmas message!

Inside is wonderful too - notice the cuts in the center that allow the cat's face on the front to extend beyond the fold. The hand-lettered message shimmers with red Creative Inspirations paint.

Look how sparkly the flourishes and snowlakes are! Be sure to visit Meme's Art Place to welcome her back to The Altered Alice!

I have two Christmas cards to share, and you can visit Lynne Phelps at Savvy Sisters Studio to read all the details!

Be sure to visit me at Savvy Sisters Studio to leave a comment!

So you've seen the projects from the design team to you; aren't they great? I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful, talented design team! Now it is your turn to get busy and make a Wonderland holiday card for the team. You have until Friday, Dec.23 to enter.

Please leave a comment here before you go! Merry Christmas to all!