Now we’re in March I can see that spring has arrived; the delicate but hardy snowdrop has had its time, the bright yellow of our daffodils alluding to the spray of colours yet to come.

Daffodils mark the end of winter

This put me in mind of a poem by Sarah Chauncey Woolsey – Time To Go, the opening verse which reads:

They know the time to go!
The fairy clocks strike their inaudible hour
In field and woodland, and each punctual flower
Bows at the signal an obedient head
And hastes to bed.

So who was Sarah Chauncey Woolsey? We know her better for her novels rather than her poetry; to me her most well known novel was What Katy Did.  Have you worked out who she is yet? Of course, it’s Susan M. Coolidge.

Art Dress Assemblage - What Katy Did

Born January 29, 1835, Sarah Chauncey Woolsey worked as a nurse during the American Civil War (1861–1865), after which she started to write. What Katy Did, was published in 1872 under her pseudonym Susan M. Coolidge.

Art Dress Assemblage - What Katy Did

So far I’ve looked to classic English novels for the inspiration for my art dress assemblages. Perhaps now is the time to balance the books some, what better inspiration than What Katy Did – a novel about a 12 year old girl forever getting into scrapes but wishing to be beautiful and beloved.

To findout more about the author – Susan M. Coolidge and the novel, try these Wikipedia pages – the author or the novel .  If you would like to read the novel, it is avilable free and in several different formats, here at the wonderful Project Gutenberg.  If you’ve lost your copy of the novel and would like to buy it again, then you can always try Amazon  What Katy Did (Wordsworth Children’s Classics)

As usual the dress is available in my Etsy Store.  If you like the bunting used in the photographs, it was made by my daughter and is also available on Etsy.

Marianne Dashwod

Sense & Sensibility is a novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1811. A work of romantic fiction, Sense and Sensibility is set in southwest England in 1792 through 1797, and portrays the life and loves of the Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne, daughters of their father Henry’s second wife, Mrs. Dashwood. The sisters are starkly different from each other; Elinor is the epitome of prudence and self-control while Marianne embodies emotion and enthusiasm. Elinor, Marianne, and their younger sister, Margaret, are left in reduced circumstances when their father dies and his estate is passed onto their half-brother, John. The novel follows the young ladies to their new home, a meager cottage on a distant relative’s property, where they experience love, romance and heartbreak.

Marianne Dashwood

To findout more about the author – Jane Austen and the novel, try these Wikipedia pages – the author or the novel .  If you would like to read the novel, it is avilable free and in several different formats, here at the wonderful Project Gutenberg.

The assemblage as a closed book

I was given a tiny old 1930′s encyclopedia and loved the size of it.  So, I just thought of Alice in Wonderland, where she enters a minature world.

The assemblage opened

When I took the photos for our online shop and Etsy store the sun was out and I managed to get some good photos in the natural light.  Here are some of the extra photos I took but have not been used on Etsy.

Assemblage Art Dress Made From Paper and Fabric - Alice

I seem to make this size of assemblage dress quite regularlly.  This is the latest and, as with the others I’ve made recently, the theme is the Mad Hatter’s tea party – a tea party dress.

Assemblage Art Dress Made From Paper and Fabric - Alice

A full description can be found at our Etsy store or online shop.

Assemblage Art Dress Made From Paper and Fabric - The Tea Party

Assemblage Art Dress Made From Paper and Fabric - The Tea Party

I’m a little late putting this one up.  She’s already available on Etsy and will be going up in our own online shop this afternoon.

Assemblage Art Dress Made From Paper and Fabric

Small 14cm long, 15cm wide, paper fabric assemblage.

One small three dimensional tea party dress, ready for tea with the Mad Hatter and his friends. Tailored and stitched together from old book pages and old fabric.

Including hanger and wooden peg.

“There is a place. Like no place on Earth. A land full of wonder, mystery, and danger! Some say to survive it: You need to be as mad as a hatter. Which luckily I am.”
~The Mad Hatter – Alice in Wonderland.

Time for a little R&R before getting back into the swing of it.  I love being creative but sometimes its just nice to look and stare at what others can do.

Thanks to all the contributors.  And, thank you Silver Tree Studios for the title : )

The moth and the moon.

White Swans – Textu… leedledee $28.00	Cacophony Dulled to… LabyrinthineNa… $40.00	antique needlepoint… 5gardenias $78.00
Lacework 8×10 fine … mistflowerphot… $21.00	a perfect circle of… fatoldsunshine $20.00	Winter dancing hare Rommany $47.00
Maggie Dress megbydesign $145.00	HUGE Antique French… ParisPanacheAn… $6000.00	Beetle Plays The Ba… sintwister $54.00
old brown leather l… tinymatchboxst… $18.00	The Ghost’s Lib… MoonIsSingingP… $8.00	The Moth and the Mo… SilverTreeStud… $7.50
The Passage of Whis… SensitiveCircu… $35.00	Norway impressions … vlad $112.00	Lonely Sky 08 betsybarnum $50.00
36 inch Large Wall … BigClockShop $138.00

Assemblage Dress - Miss Havisham

Assemblage Dress - Estella Havisham

Remember these two?  (click the images to visit the original posts)  They never made it to our online shop or Etsy store but, were in fact destined for display at a gallery in South West England.

I’m so pleased to confirm that they are now on display, along with a couple of collages, at the Atelier Gallery in Barnstaple.  So, if you’re in the area drop by and let me know what you think.  Directions for the gallery can be found here – Gallery Atelier