And The Christmas Card....
You Might be Surprised to learn, Dear Readers, that "Cloude-With an 'e' " who spends most of his Time hanging out at The Cloud Palace way up on top of the clouds, was tired of being always above the clouds! It was plenty cold enough that he never had to be concerned about melting away, being a Snowbeary of modest proportions, but there was only so much to see from way up there. It was Winter down below, and he was restless.... he wanted to be Under the Clouds... where all the action was! It had been a long time since he had ventured far from the Cloud Palace, and since he had no wings to carry him gently to Earth, he had to make use of a Wishing Star to get there....
Wheeeeee.......!
It was quite an exciting ride!
He rolled and spun and swirled through the sky
and landed a bit inelegantly with a "thump"
in the snowy yard of The Folly dollhouse!
Oh, My! he thought...
That was better than a roller coaster!
He sat up and wondered where he had landed....
it had been a while since he had "toured beneath the clouds"!
"I say" he said to no-one in particular....
"I think I remember this place!
Last time I was here there were some
'Little Snowfellas' .... with hats!".... he thought.
"Hmmmmm".... he said, "I seem to have lost my hat!"
"I wonder where it got off to....?" he said as he climbed up
the snowdrifts toward the Folly.
"Are you talking to me?" muttered Mr. Gnome
from under the snowdrift.
"Oh, hello!" said Cloude-With an 'e',
"I didn't see you there under all the snow!"
"And you would be......?" asked Mr Gnome a trifle rudely....
"Oh! Said Cloude. "I'm Cloude. Cloude-With an 'e' " He said cheerfully.
"I've just dropped in for a visit in the snow!" he added helpfully.
Meanwhile, the "Little Snowfellas",
Mr Red, Mr. Green and Ms. Blue
had ventured out to investigate
what all the thumping noise was about!
"There's something out there!" said Mr. Red, sounding alarmed.
"Perhaps you should have a look...?" suggested Mr. Green helpfully.
"Of course... of course," said Mr. Red bravely.
"Well...? What do you see...?" said Mr. Green warily.
"There's a Huge Snowlump up there!" said Mr. Red, clearly agitated.
"A Snowlump...?" asked Mr. Green.
"Where did it come from..?" he wondered.
"You should go ask it what it's doing here...!" he declared.
Mr Red climbed back up the snowdrift
and from there he could hear voices ....
"Hey !" he called out....
"Who are you talking to...?" he hollered bravely.
"What...?" said Cloude turning to look behind him.
"Oh!" He said..."There you are!
I was just asking Mr. Gnome If you Little Snowfellas
were around anywhere!" he added happily!
"Oh, Hi!" said Mr. Red.
"I didn't recognize you without
your hat, Mr. Cloude!" he added politely.
"Ah, yes...." said Cloude... "I seem to have lost my hat in the wind....
"I have no idea where it got off to!"
"Maybe you should talk to Mr. Gnome about a Hat...." said Mr. Red helpfully.
"They are really good at Hats!" he added.
"Ah!....... Mr. Gnome...." said Cloude thoughtfully...
"What do you know about Hats?" he added.
"Hmmmmph!" declared Mr. Gnome.
"Hats!" he added cryptically.
"What were you thinking of?"
Cloude paused for a moment, a funny look on his face....
Then.... Poof!!
A tall red hat appeared on his head!
"Whoa!" said Mr. Red, alarmed....
"How does it look....?" asked Cloude.... a little nervously.
(It wasn't as though he tried on new hats every day!)
"Red, is it?" he added.
"I'm not sure....." he added.... "Maybe red isn't my color...." he said.
"I was sort of thinking something... 'Cloudy' " he added.
"Hmmmph....!" declared Mr. Gnome.
"Cloudy...?" you say, he added grumpily.
Then.... POOF!
"Ah!!!" said Cloude happily....
"That feels..... more like Me!" he added.
"Well... what do you think....?" he asked Mr. Red.
"Definitely an improvement...." said Mr. Red cheerfully.
"A little easier on the eyes!" he added quietly.
Mr Green and Ms. Blue had come to look too.
"I think it makes you look like a 'Gnomeman'....!" said Ms. Blue giggling.
"A 'Gnomeman' ?".... says Cloude thoughtfully....
"Hmmmph!" he added. "I suppose I can go with that!"
"Thanks for the Hat, Mr Gnome!" called Cloude.
"I think it fits me perfectly!" he added cheerfully.
"Hmmph!' declared Mr. Gnome....
"Gnome problem....!" he added
with a twinkle in his eyes.
Well, Dear Readers, I have taken much of your time
with little to show with this "Cloude-With an 'e' " Tale.
It has been snowing more in RL
and the Cold came with it so nothing is melting.
But that is as January should be in these parts!
And I finally completed "The Christmas Card"!
I know....
why do I even bother calling it a "Christmas Card"?
But ready or not.... here it is!
Once again, I apologize for the poor photo...
it is difficult to get a good photo of the printed card
which has a slightly glossy surface.
As always it is pen and ink and watercolor on watercolor paper.
It is drawn full size at 8.5x11 inches
and features vignettes of my life from the past year.
I know this year's version is a bit "dark"....
but I wanted to honor the dark time of year....
This is the 41st year in a row that I have drawn a card at Christmas!
And I hope that even your darkest days
are filled with Illumination!
Nice story and the card is skillfully made! I wonder if you wrote the text by hand?
ReplyDeleteHi Mummu, Yes, I wrote the text by hand. It is old fashioned, but I like to do it! Thank you for your comments!
DeleteWhat a wonderful story! I very much enjoyed meeting all your snow characters :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Janine! I do get carried away with stories. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Betsy! It has been so long since I've been able to visit, but what luck getting to come by for the Christmas card post! Once again I am enchanted by all of the detail you are able to include, down to the screen film on the windows behind the castle. Just magical!!! Placing your likeness next to the castle helps to convey the majesty and grandeur of the structure. And what a year you had full of friends, family and love! There is nothing better, except maybe commemorating it in such an amazing way! I hope the New Year has been good to you, so far, and I really enjoyed reading about Cloude's adventure! You can have my share of the snow, though. No thank you, lol!
ReplyDeleteEsos cuatro personajes han disfrutado mucho juntos.
ReplyDeleteMuy bonita la tarjeta.
Una bonita historia de las aventuras de Cloude y sus amigos!
ReplyDeleteMaravillosa la tarjeta de Navidad, increíble tu paciencia para colocar tantísimos detalles en ella, es mágica!
Espero que h
estés teniendo un buen principio de año!
Besos.
Ooookaaaaayyyyy... how should I start best with all the things I really want and need to say now without making the comment form explode... Oh, I know: Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, this was such a big pleasure to see Cloude again and in some kind of a new adventure meeting old friends and gaining a new one. You made my day with this snowy cloud(e)y tale... the pictures are so lovely and made me smile all over. But I really had to grin about your helping tool in the first picture - a bottle cup stand... I shall keep that in mind *grin*.
ReplyDeleteIt was so lovely to see the cute snowfellows again and I really started to like Mr. Gnome with his grumpy attitude and his big heart very much. However, I hope Cloude was prepared enough to have one more wishing star for enabling him to return to the Cloud Palace before the temperatures in your part of the world will rise... and hopefully one more to make him find his hat again. Okay, he can wear everything and sorry, Mr. Red, but Cloude looked very, very handsome with the red hat on matching his big heart. Thank you so much for such a heartwarming adventure of a snowman being so dear to me.
And now... NOW to the Christmas card... aka the next masterpiece in an honorable line of so many outstanding masterpieces. It made me smile that this year's letter was "I"... what else could it have been to honor and highlight your awesome work with the castle's tower who comes along as appearing as some big "I"?
And as always I am in awe with your painting skills... I know I'm saying this every time but what am I supposed to say else as this is simply true: It's awesome in every way, you did not miss any single detail. Everything is there... the new stairs and the big entrance gates, the arches and I really admire the light effects you've captured. Of course it's stunning to see the portrait of yourself next to the tower reminding so well of how big this project is after all.
And of course there was so much more to discover and enjoy next to the central main piece being the tower this time. It touched me to see the vignette reminding of the day when you and your Mom watched old family photos together. And of course the wonderful visits of your sister when you were working on the dollies... and even the jam Advent calendar is there in the picture. Btw - did I already mention that you never stop to amaze me with your attention to every single detail???
I also need to mention that it was great to see the beautiful window of the Dollmaker's Studio with its stunning window lights appearing in your card, a well deserved honor. And of course it was absolutely necessary to show yourself while stitching some of your many awesome needlework projects. And for sure I need to say a very special thanks for this special vignette... you know it always warms my heart whenever my BiWuBearies make it on your card. Spotting the whole Cloud Palace Gang watching and guarding you while you're stiching another awesome project made my day! ;O)
Bravo for another fabulous, amazing and awesome member of this ongoing series of outstanding drawings known as "The Christmas Card" - and thanks for sharing it once more with us. I always have a great time to discover all the details.
Hugs
Birgit
Betsy, this was the very best, sweetest story and I enjoyed reading it so much! Your little characters are so adorable. And wow, your Christmas card turned out amazing! What a wonderful work of art to send out to people, and I'm sure they look forward to receiving them every year!
ReplyDelete