two crafty dames : deeply fabulous vintage-inspired handmade fashion

Posts Tagged ‘Tea Party’

Trish & Paula pose prettily on the magic carpet

It was with great delight that the Dames accepted another gracious invitation to afternoon tea with the fabulous artist Trish Little! You might remember from our last visit to Trish’s studio, my gushing about her beautiful decoration of her home with lovingly restored furniture, quirky and artistic objects, especially the various hand hooked rag rugs scattered about the house. And so our merry party did herald a special occasion: the unveiling of a custom-made hand-hooked rag rug especially for MOI!

It was love at first sight, and the love only burned brighter as Trish described the various recycled “rags” that had gone into its creation, a treasured length of fabric that was meant to be made into a skirt (or was it a jacket?), a print designed by an Aboriginal artist with a decidedly “Ken Done” colour scheme, and the green accent fabric meticulously dyed by hand to just the right colour to finish the zig-zag border of the rug. The artist masterfully wrestled with this 1.3 x 1.9m beauty, hooking lengths of fabric through a hessian base in arduous 85+ hour long process. Delicious texture underfoot, and jewelled colours glinting in a gorgeous harlequin pattern, this truly is a “magic carpet” which i will treasure forever…

…and as suspected, it looks completely wonderful against my 70′s “violent orange” loungeroom floor!

As if our delicious afternoon tea and the unveiling of the magic carpet was not enough, Trish very generously gifted to us some more of her vintage textile treasures. Dear readers, it is a great surprise we did not hyperventilate with all the gasping we did as Trish unveiled (with great bombast) one deeply fabulous garment after another. Stay tuned for a studio tour of Trish’s artistic abode and a photo story of the gorgeous garments!

If you would love a hand-hooked rug of your very own, Trish has several stowed away carefully, waiting for a loving home to go to. Email us if you would like us to put you in touch with the artist!

You can find out more about Trish’s artworks and the history of her hand-hooked rugs with this fantastic article and interview by Rebecca McLaren on the ABC Goldfields website.

Detail of the luscious fabric rags used in the carpet

How spoiled are we?! Homemade brownies and fresh mulberries from the garden for tea… Is it just me or are we suddenly characters in an Enid Blyton book?

Heavenly scented roses from Trish’s garden decorate the table

I recently celebrated my 27th birthday, and what a lovely birthday it was! I shared  a gorgeous  afternoon tea with my fabulous family and friends. There were plenty of tasty homemade goodies to be had… my sister cooked scrumptious Blueberry Sponge Cakes and Lemon Tarts, Paula baked some heavenly Strawberry Custard Tarts and my Mam and Aunties prepared some very retro but very delicious finger tea sandwiches complete with (cellophane tipped toothpicks). After a near baking disaster I managed to pull together some tasty Chocolate Raspberry Cakes.

Left: Blueberry Spongecakes, Lemon Tarts
Right: Choc Raspberry Cakes, Strawberry Custard Tarts.

I have a real passion for baking and Tea Party’s are always a welcome opportunity to really ‘go to town’ and bake up a storm. I love sharing food with my family and friends, and I I love the way food brings people together. There is a real pleasure in making people happy by giving them something delicious to eat, I adore this sharing of nourishment and companionship.

“Bakers ABC”, by Carly Ennor 2010
Digital Artwork

Don’t you think a tea party is just the loveliest way to spend bright morning or lazy afternoon with friends? I love how this gentle social art is becoming so fashionable again. Sweet treats, delectable little finger sandwiches and fragrant, hot tea served in cute tea sets. What’s not to love?

When I first moved out of home, dizzy with the new-found novelty of of domestic bliss, I was oh-so-keen to host wonderful dinner parties with all the trimmings. But after two attempts… and my famished guests waiting until VERY late in the pm to have their main meal… I have finally turned up my snubby nose at dinner parties. Tea parties are so much more superior– You pre-make practically all the refreshments and then all you have to do is boil the kettle when your guests arrive. PERFECT!

“Tea Party”, by Paula Fletcher 2010
Inks, Pink Tea, Digital Manipulation

There’s something very comforting and almost romantic about a lovely hot cup of tea- it’s a simple pleasure that everyone can relate to! It was pretty cool to see in the vast array of works produced for the Food for Thought exhibition, that quite a few artists had created their own rendition on the Tea theme. (Including Carly and I of course!). This piece above entitled “Tea Party” is an ode to the many cups of pink tea shared with my ex housemate Olivia in our drafty crooked blue house. We nicknamed Leaf’ Mt Lawley’s Island Groove blend “pink tea” as it brewed up to the most gorgeous raspberry colour. You can see in the background of this artwork though, that the tea, when used as a colourwash, has much more of a blueish grey tinge! The fabulous teaset featured was a flawless set that Olivia found in a local op-shop… An absolute treasure made in Spain in the 1960′s-70′s! What a gorgeous gift.

“Un amour de macarons de Paris”, by Paula Fletcher 2010
Photograph, Digital Manipulation

Another obsession of mine is the Parisian style Macaron. Oh, my! The colours and flavours (or “parfums” as they say in french) absolutely appeal to my design sensibilities and of course my appetite! During a trip to Paris in 2008, I made it my mission to seek out the best Macarons in Paris… the winner is the celebrated Parisian pastry chef, Pierre Hermé. His flavour combinations are inspired, and the macarons are little bites of perfection that melt in your mouth. Trailing behind at second place is the famous tea house Ladurée, who catered the sugary confections seen in Sophia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette film. The macarons are of lower quality imho, but the adorable packaging is enough to seduce the packaging-whore in me!

On my return from Paris I was determined to recreate the wondrous pastry in my own kitchen, and after a couple of failed attempts, I scoured the internet for the best macaron tips and recipes. The pistachio and grapefruit macarons in the photo above to this day are my favourite flavour, which I made using a recipe by the very talented Aran of Canelle et Vanille. The most comprehensive advice on baking macarons that I have found is on the Australian Syrup and Tang blog. Baking macarons is an adventure fraught with danger, and beginners will almost always produce ugly (but nonetheless delicious) results, so proceed with caution!