Crème de la crème

An idea occurred to me this afternoon as as I perused the chocolate counters for Easter treats - what fun it would be to have a dress entirely made of Creme Egg wrappers! I got to work that afternoon, unwrapping and carefully smoothing out the crinkled foil before photographing it. A little while later - ta da! My Crème de la crème dress was born.

I teamed it with an asymmetric purple bob, red heart shape sunglasses by elsa Liebknecht, and a dear little chirpy chick by Whynx Whiplash. I made the topper, adding red ostrich plumes and two little creme eggs tucked alongside. My mismatched purple and red boots, and red gloves came from Doh!

Altogether, not your average Easter look, but I think it's rather stunning all the same. Most eggcellent in fact.

The March Shadowbox

The shadowbox for March is now on the wall at Atelier, since it's late again, I'll keep it out for most of April too.

For a March theme, I had to include a March Hare, and have had the main picture for this shadowbox in mind for a long time. Of course, a March hare theme would not be complete without one of  Tenniel's Alice in Wonderland woodcuts, the March Hare here seen dunking the poor dormouse into the pot. I also added a woodcut I found of the Vernal Equinox, which occurs on the 21st, the image here representing the equal hours of sunlight and darkness at this time. The bronze Roman coin, is a symbol of 'The ides of March', the name for the 15th March in the Roman Calendar. The term Ides of March is best known as the date that Julius Caesar was assassinated, as dramatized in Shakespeare's play, and the coin was commissioned by assassin Brutus after Caesar's death. Two green porcelain hare-shaped buttons and a bottle of pussy willow buds bring the nature theme back into focus, and a line from an ode by Victorian poet Algernon C. Swinburne, on a stained and torn scrap of paper, sum up the madness and chaos of the season.

"March, master of winds, bright minstrel and marshal of storms 

that enkindle the season they smite."

Algernon C. Swinburne, March: An Ode

Curious cogroaches!

The onset of warmer weather in New Babbage saw the broom cupboard here at Atelier somewhat plagued with beetles earlier this week. On capturing a few specimens I noticed, that like so many things in our fair city, that they are indeed clockwork insects! I have thus named them 'cogroaches'.

They are quite the most curious yet beautiful creatures, with delicate, papery wing cases and glowing eyes. Not being one to let such a discovery go to waste, I have utilised them to adorn a charming spring straw bonnet, which can be found for purchase at the store, along with some sweet little cogroach brooches.

I find insecty jewellery such a joy, don't you?! And the bonnet is just the sort of hat that one might wish to wear to church, providing you can convince the vicar that cogroaches are not wood burrowing and will not eat the pews.