Mushrooms in a fine wood

Last year in our mini "workshop" (see the July 22, 2021 blogpost), we created needle felted fly agaric mushrooms, "faery mushrooms".  Of course, our mushrooms need a home so that's what I've been working on.

Through sheer luck, I found this beautiful wood display base in great condition, even with felt underneath.  It's a nice size, at about 14 inches by 5 inches.  

I cut a piece of foam to fit over top.  

I then used this gorgeous "Fine Wood" 70% Alpaca / 30% Wool fibre from Wellington Fibres to create the ground layer on my foam, gently needle felting it in place. 

I love the result!  Look at all the rich shades of brown! 

So now I had my base in earthy, forest browns and attached the mushrooms by inserting long pins from the underside of the foam.  The tips of the pins are embedded in the mushrooms so it's safe!

There's also a young fern with fiddleheads created by using the template available from Mum's Makery.  Just the thing for our micro forest floor scene!   

Now, it's time to embellish!

Little windows

Postcards are amazing little things.  They are social commentary, giving us a peek into what people thought in a by-gone time, and also little bits of retail:  who bought what and to send to whom?   My good friend Rose got me interested in postcards and, mostly because of her generosity, I have a lovely little collection of Krampus and rat cards, mostly vintage.  

A particular card caught my eye recently, this one:  

It features a lot of white mice having a good time, more or less realistic with a bit of whimsy. 

Attempting to find out more about this card online, I found this painting:

and was immediately struck by the similarities.  The overall placement of objects is very similar, but elements like the tipped glass on the right, the spoon in the jam, the partially eaten brioche on the left, etc... are copies of each other.  And if you look closely, some of the mice are identical! 

Take a look at these two images: 

While the postcard has a lot more mice, these two in the painting are obviously the same as in the postcard image.  

So the question is:  which came first, the postcard or the painting?  The postcard is dated 1904 by C. Riviere (perhaps Charles Riviere) while the painter, A. Bechard, is from the 19th-20th century but that's all I know so far.  This painting is for sale on the Proantic website and I have attempted to contact the vendor but have received no reply.  

If anyone has any insight or ideas, please contact me!  

Introducing Ginger

It's been a while, so much has changed.  We added a new member to the family:  Ginger joined us on March 5th!  She's a rescue from Texas, saved from Death Row by Niagara Dog Rescue who brought her up into Canada (along with 26 other dogs that day) and into our waiting hearts.  

Ginger is a Red Heeler, so we knew she'd be as stubborn and willful as our beloved Willow... but I'd forgotten what puppies are like!  It was with fond memories and a few "Good grief!" moments that I read through Willow's old journal when she was but a wee pup and did some really crazy things.  (What I lack in memory I make up for using paper and pencil!)

Obviously every day has been very busy with our new pup.  Three months in and Ginger I think is starting to realize that this is home... 

We're forever grateful to foster mom Chelsie down in Texas for giving Ginger a good start in her new life, helping her learn the basics and sharing so much information with us.  Dave of Niagara Dog Rescue was also essential in making all the pieces fall into place.    

 

And what does Zorro think?  See the video below, he's having a second puppyhood!