On "Disney Alice in Wonderland 70th Art by Mary Blair Sketch Book": A Book Review

 

Title:  Disney Alice in Wonderland 70 Art by Mary Blair Sketch Book
Genre: Art

About the book...
Created in honor of the 70th anniversary of Alice in Wonderland (1951), this book is a collection of artwork pertaining to the film, ranging from concept art, model sheets, and still images, accompanied by pages to color and blank pages to try your hand at doing your own sketches.

What I think...

This is an incredible book! The prints are beautiful and some of the artwork included is in plastic pockets, so, if you really wanted to, you could frame them. It also has a decent amount of fold outs allowing for some of the lovely details to be better appreciated. 

 The pages themselves are great quality with some having a nice texture to them (love how some of the images from the movie are glossy while the concept art on the same page are matte!). I love getting to see the different artwork behind the movie, how it progressed from the concept art, and I adore that they included facsimiles of model sheets, which I always enjoy looking at. 

I was a little surprised at it being an actual sketchbook and not just artwork from the archives and sketches that were used for the film. I think, though, having fine tuned my drawing skills as a child copying images from Disney storybooks freehand, the idea for Disney to create a sketch book of this sort was a great one!  

My only minor disappointment with this book was that while it begins with a written portion about Blair and her role with Disney, it is a very short and very basic. It would have been nice for this part to have been a little bit longer and provide more detail, but, overall, it didn't detract much from this wonderful book!

To sum it all up...
A fun collectible book of artwork for any fan of Alice in Wonderland and a perfect un-birthday present for oneself! ♥

On a Couple of Carrots: A Photo Post

I managed to avoid giving into the urge to add faces to my pumpkins, apple, and corn, but couldn't resist making a pair of smiling carrots. 

Happy almost Easter!

♥ ♥ ♥

On "Invitation to Waltz": A Book Review

Title: Invitation to the Waltz
Author: Rosamond Lehmann
Genre: Fiction

About the book...
Written in 1932, Invitation to the Waltz follows Olivia and Kate Curtis over the period of two days as they celebrate Olivia's 17th birthday and prepare for and attend a coming out dance at the neighboring Spencer's. As their friend is introduced into society, Olivia is given a considerable amount to consider in terms of her place in society, the people who inhabit her circle, and overall her place in the world she lives in, which is the primary focus of the book.  

What I think...
I liked this book, which manages to deftly tie in the funny, bittersweet, and charming experiences of a young woman attending her first society dance and coming to terms with entering adulthood as well as reflecting on where she fits in her swiftly changing world. 

It was well written and alternates between a traditional narrative and steam of consciousness with Olivia's being the primary perspective. In some ways, it reminded me of Katherine Mansfield writing in terms of tone and just in general how an experience can shape the way you view the world around you. 

There is a lot of emotion tied in with the writing, but in a way that enhances rather than hampers the story and that captures a lot of what being at the dance means to Olivia. I liked how Lehmann includes the more mundane observations, such as details and meandering thoughts about clothing or furniture, along with the more serious ones that lead to deeper thoughts about what it means to be an individual and life, in general.

It is on the leisurely side with the bulk of it taking place at the dance and with it being focused on Olivia's encounters, observations, and reflections. However, it does not come across as being a book that drags on and on, but as one that ends way too soon.

To sum it all up...
A pleasant coming of age story centered around a young woman's first dance and offering a look at society in the 1920's. ♥  

(This is being antedated by a day because as usual I failed to press the publish button after scheduling it.)  

On a Bit of Green for Spring

My St.Patrick's Day post did not get up, nor due to a challenging past few weeks did one of my St. Patrick's day projects even get finished. To avoid going through another month with just a book review, I've decided to do a a brief post devoted to vintage green things that make me happy.

Tea cups! While most of my teacups have plants on them, two get the prize for being on the greener side. 

The first one is part of a playing card set, which came in white, black, and avocado green (unfortunately, the ones I found didn't have the saucers).

 

 

The second one belonged to my great-grandma and has a delightful little scene at the bottom, which I love!

This record album, which spends a lot more time in the frame that it does on the player, has a nice green glow to it, which makes the lovely ladies on it stand out ever so much more, in my opinion. (Possible sneak peek for a future Album Cover Story, as it's been quite some time since I've done one and I really would like to resume that series.)

 

 

One can't get through this post without seeing something sewing related, so here we have some buttons, a belt buckle, and a small spool of green thread. The green thread came from a vintage Tidee Maid Deluxe sewing box that was filled almost entirely with little spools of green thread.  

And not vintage, but I wanted to share it before the month was over, this shamrock was my one completed St. Patrick's Day project.

There were two little clovers to go with this large one, but turning the stem portion turned out to be an absolute nightmare and I managed to poke a hole through the base of one of the stems, turn the one stem inside out through it, then couldn't get it right side out again, and had to cut it off. That being said, from this point on, any clovers I make will absolutely not be made out of any fabric that is 100% polyester! ♥