Saturday, October 1, 2011

Quietly Curious....a trip to Wonderland



Well...
This is how it all came about...

with a convo in our Etsy inbox...
"Hello. I love your work. Your images are enchanting and graceful. I have been looking for a skill-developing activity book for my baby daughter but I can't find one that is beautiful enough. Would you be interested in doing a commission? I am willing to pay a fair price for your labour.

I have some ideas, which we could discuss in detail if you're agreeable to a commission. The book would need to focus on skills such as tieing shoelaces, zipping, buttoning, buckling, matching colours, identifying textures, etc. I want it to have an edgy Alice in Wonderland feel to it. (Alice in Wonderland filtered through Tim Burton) I'm open to the use of novel materials and textures.

Thanks and hope to hear from you soon.

Clarissa"


Hmmm....let's think about this a moment...

it would need to have an 'Alice',



and a  'Mad Hatter'


And you can't have a Wonderland
without the forever grinning 'Cheshire Cat'.


(Our minds were racing with possibilities)

Hmmm...this could actually be do-able...

We could include a
Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee


and well, the White Rabbit was a must have!


The creative wheels were turning,

but how to turn these characters
into something
fabric and interact-able??

Hmmm... Google was scoured for inspiration,




'Alice' could have a bow!!!

Hmmm...Cheshire Cat...
well...
he has lots of teeth...



The Mad Hatter has
very fuzzy messy bright hair!

 This was really coming together now!!

Oh...the Caterpillar...

the Card Man...

the Tea Party...




Creative wheels
were ferociously turning now...

Many nights were spent
unable to sleep
with
images running through my mind.

ARRRRRGH!!!!!!


I must get this book
out of my head and on paper
or I will go crazy!!!


Some sketches were drawn.
Lots of trips to every conceivable
craft and fabric shop
were taken, for inspiration
...more sketches were drawn...
and eventually the prototype pages were born.



The lovely Alice


Alice's Boots


              
Cheshire Cat's big 'Grin'
                                
....well, sort of...did you know it is impossible to
make a zip CURVE?
(just something to note when trying to make a grinning mouth out of a large toothed zipper)

One of those poor harried CARD MEN
hurriedly painting the WHITE roses RED



 

The Tweedles


Tea Party
  
  Looking back now...
I REALLY SHOULD have thought
of a BETTER WAY other than BLANKET stitch,
to sew this little Tea Party....
took SOOOOO LONG!!!!

The quintessential Mad Hatter.


  
Now....One of my FAVOURITE things from Tim Burton's 
'Alice in Wonderland' was the


GORGEOUS SCENERY ...



 hmmm.....nice WROUGHT IRON GATES
.....and GIGANTIC mushrooms....
and of course those beautiful flowers!



Don't even THINK about asking me HOW I did these gates..."I'll never tell" :-)




   Look at those lovely TOPIARY....huh....a FLAMINGO!
 
I would HAVE to do something with THAT! 

I found this fantastic image of the Caterpillar, which was PERFECT as I didn't want to depict the Caterpillar with the smoke pipe that he can usually be found with.


Of Course a project of this magnitude cannot be attempted without the support of family and biggest fans (and helpers)



My little Ellie and Mum helping out with the making of the Flower People....


TaDa!!!








Just when I thought it was finished....sold....and complete....

Another order for two! For 2yr old TWINS!
(a girl and a boy) 

8 pages each, with the 'GIRL' pages in one book and the 'BOY' pages in the other....

Hmmmm....

....would need to design some more 'BOY' pages


Here comes the
March Hare,


White Rabbit,



Clock,



and Mad hatters Boots




Ahhhh, FINALLY FINISHED!
Boys Version

Girls Version



phew...all done....for now....


~ by Jill.


4 comments:

  1. Oh Vicki,

    I so love this..and is that why I CAN'T SLEEP? WHEELS TURNING IN MY HEAD? Yes. Creativity never sleeps and our minds, as in need of repose as they are, HAVE to rest, but if they didn't, they would keep on RUNNING AND TICKING and issuing out fantastic ideas such as THESE!!! BRAVO MY FRIEND and I am so happy with the banner. YOU ARE UNBELIEVABLY KIND AND WONDERFUL!!!! I wish I could see you face to face.....

    Anita

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  2. Oh, I am an Alice in Wonderland, in love with your shop on etsy and in love with Miss Anita from Castles Crowns and Cottages. I suppose you must be a kindred spirit for sure. I posted about my treasury Lovely Ballerina, and showed off one of your lovely creations linking to your listing.

    So wonderful to have found your blog. I love Anita's banner for her etsy shop.

    Now if only we could meet under your enchanting tree and have a cup of tea and shared kindred spirty things.

    Karen

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  3. Oh my! Absolutely adorable. What sweet toddler wouldn't love to learn from that precious book? I made a similar book for my son (the one that is now 33 years old and featured on my blog today). It had the "snaps and shoe laces and zippers, etc" but none as delightful as yours. So nice to meet you. I found you through A Scrapbook of Inspiration blog. :)

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