An afternoon, deep in the gardens of Enchanted Cliff Manor… {+ shop update}

If you escape through the rounded door that sits in the towering stone wall, just at the edge of the lily pad pond, you might find yourself on the most exquisite span of earth ever created…  Where giant pale yellow flowers only bloom at night.  And beautiful toadstools fade from deep red to a tender shade of nectarine…

      

If you find yourself brave enough to visit this place, you must first convince a male member of your party, to cut down some of the Jasmine that almost blocks the fact that a door does sit in said wall.  When this door is opened, you will feel as though you are simply bursting forth.  Happily thrust out of the restraints of modern early 19th century life, and into the indulgent realm of freely roaming the wild overgrown outskirts, of the grounds at Enchanted Cliff Manor. 

And, you will most certainly find the evening blooming flowers, and tender glowing miniature canary flowers, that are a vivid part of children’s fairytales in this land…

On a perfect afternoon, as the sun started to fade, in a time, not so long ago, a party of 7, decided to have a tea party in this slightly forbidden place…  It was a magical night… 

      

You see, they were guests at cliff manor.  They travelled with a theater (carnivale/circus) company, and were taking the place of another party of 7 that had just left to perform in the gold rush land… They were a courageous group, and had no qualms about escaping for an evening tea party outside of the protected grounds.  They found it romantic and terribly exhilirating…

Tea time girl was the most prepared.  She was a truly impressive girl.  Holding all the qualities that were esteemend and glorified by societies most critical…  She was also a beauty….  But besides that, she was easy to love, due to her simple & humble approach to life…

      

She carried tea cups on her head, and a tea pot that she handpainted herself, along with a decadent piece of the most exquisite gateaux found in that part of the north country…

A large pitcher of the most amazing flowery jasmine tea, laced with edible flowers and tender mint leaves, was brought by the lovely Duchess of Avian-falls.

      

Oh She was a delightful woman indeed.  You see, she was given the title of Duchess by a man she married through a contract that her father made.  They were married on paper (and had not yet met).  Her new husband, the Duke, was making his way on a ship from East Asia, to join her.  He was a procuror of extravagant tea.  Much to his families chagrin (they had other plans for him, being Duke and all). 

Anyhow, The Duchess was sent a locket that held the Duke’s photograph.  And, dare I say, this was to be the most loveliest match in all of arranged marriages.  He was a beautiful man.  Serious and kind, all at once.  He had a charm in his eyes that melted the Duchesses heart.  And, he had already written her 3 letters that hinted at his romantic nature. 

Sadly, 2 days before his ship was to dock, and the Duchess would greet her husband… The ship was attacked by pirates.  And, the Duke was never heard of again.

      

 

You can imagine what this did to The Duchess?  Well, I’ll tell you, she created a vision in her mind, that The Duke had survived and had floated to an island in Fiji.  Where he ate exotic fruit, and was fanned all day by women of the Island.  She hoped that for him.  That he had lived & was happy… She could not bear the thought that he was held captive by pirates, or worse, eaten by a shark.

As for her…  After some time, she was just fine.  Although her heart would hold a deep crack forever, she was lovely by nature.  And it helped, that The Duke had left her a beautiful home that had the most amazing aviary, right by a waterfall.  She lived there with servants for a few years…  Until a man came knocking at her door.

      

 

He was a man who owned the most amazing Old time Circus Carnivale in history.  His caravan was passing through, and they spotted her lovely expansive land.  They wanted to ask if they might be able to set up on her land… Just for a week or two.

      

Being in a lonely state, and quite desperate for visitors, The Duchess obliged.  And as they say, the rest is history.  For, after a mere day or so, The Duchess found her calling.  She had a secret trick, you see.  She would carry her three most beloved blue birds with her, and sing the most hauntingly beautiful tunes alongside them.   

When the Carnivale keeper heard this, he was speechless.  He decided they should change their show a bit, and build a beautiful Theater for her to perform in on the road (if she would join them, that is)…  Of course, The Duchess didn’t think twice about it.  She kisssed her servants good-bye, left them enough gold to last a few years, and hit the road with the Carnivale…

Amogst the group was a young girl, quite lovely indeed.  She could turn any grain into the most scrumptious flour for making her heavenly pies.  She made all sorts of pies.  Fruit pies, savory pies, potato pies…  You name it, she baked it.  While her pies were baking, people could not help following the scent to her doorstep.  They smelled like a food of the Gods.  It was like no scent anyone had ever inhaled.  She loved baking for the performers…

      

   

The scent of her pies baking, was thought to be an enchanted scent…  But, only The Pie girl herself will ever know the truth… 😉

Having a way to speak through her pies was wonderful for Pie girl. You see, she was very very very shy.  She hardly ever showed a change in her expression, or uttered a word.  That is, unless she was alone or with the trusted few.  Then her smile shone like rays of light passing through a dewey rainbow…

      

 

(Back to the garden)  Just as the tea group was getting ready to close the door to have their voyage into the "other side" of the garden, Miss Polka Dot Cake Girl emerged.  She was racing along, shouting, oh please, please, wait for me….  She was a funny girl.  She was graced with lips that looked so plump and full and pouty, that her true character was always mistaken…

      

She was such a charming girl.  She was just learning the performing ropes, as her mother was the ever admired and respected, Story-teller Woman.  But this young girl had other wonderful traits.  She helped sew beautiful gowns & costumes for the performers.  And, she helped organize glorious tea parties, while perfecting her Strawberry and Vanilla Cake… Yumm Yummmmm…

The Story-teller woman held court to hundreds of wee munchkins.  Yes, the children inhabiting whatever town they were visiting next.  She held the key to the stories hidden in the attic of a magical place…  Oh, she was so delightful.  She had a chuckle deep in her belly, that you couldn’t help but be forced to join in with, when you heard it…

      

She had such a way with words, that she would have you sitting there, mouth agape, entranced by her incredible stories.  She was never at a loss for words, and seemed to have fairytales growing in her heart…  As there was always a new one, more fantastic that the last…   She sat in gardens so often, telling stories, and bringing new ones to life in her head, that she even had two perfect green mushrooms growing amogst tiny tender pieces of moss, in her dress…

      

Now all 6 of these friends, made it their mission to take such good care of one of their most beloved performers.  This wee girl, had the most tried and true form of gumption a creature could ever hope for.  For a snail that is…

      

She had people travelling from all over the world to get a peek at her at the shows.  People could not believe their eyes.  A real snail girl???  Snail girl herself would assure, "I am not the only snail person alive…" Hmmmm…. What does that tell us?

      

And, you must know… Snail girl enjoyed the trip outside the Manor’s walls, more than anyone could ever imagine… 

      

 

Isn’t she just so adorable?  I am so in love with her.  I hold her up to my ear, and she fills my head with stories 😉 (she has a red and white mushroom with a few tinypieces of moss tucked into each one of the buns in her hair)

Anyhow, if you can guess what I am leading up to…  It is to let you know, I am popping all these characters in the A Fanciful Twist shop, this afternoon/Evening.  After this blog post, I will take a tea break and then head over to the shop and fill it with these new friends, plus other treasures…

      

I know, a bit impromptu of me.  However, I just didn’t know when I was going to finish all of these.  Each one takes forever to make.  Especially since I build a bustle on them and then build the dresses out of paper… It takes a loooong time….  Then the hair, and well, you get the point….  But they are a labour of love, and are eager to go on new voyages…

Also, the giant mushroom is about 5" in diameter and was created as a little picnic table with 4 mushroom stools….  So it is a little table set in my eyes…

      

And the color is really fun in person.  It fades from red to nectarine…  And this little table set, includes Miss Snail girl…  Extra Fun!!! 

      

And, it has some realistic ridges and is decorated with real moss…

      

See, there are owl and elf boy, showing you how comfy the mushroom table set is 🙂  or you can use it any way you wish.. Also, the news around here is that Faun Boy is missing…  Hey, Pam, where’s faun boy????

      

So there you have it, a few treaaures…

      

Making their way from this little maker, to whomever would like to have a little magic grace their lives…  Found right here, in my Etsy Shop…  (after a break, I need tea first!!)

      

 

Distressed teeny tiny tea cups, make me happy.  I have tiny pinkies, so, you can imagine how little those cups are 😉

Off we go..

      

See you soon, xoxo V

ps:  I love Dustin O’Halloran, and I write and dream and draw to much of his work… But, I’d like to think, that this is what happened to the Duchess’ lost Duke…  My 3 hugest obsessions – piano’s, hot air balloons, & mermaids are involved, perfection.