101 Fairy Lane

Little Red Riding Hood, 1

The first story that Godmother read to Lemondrop is that time honored classic, Little Red Riding Hood. But here at 101 Fairy Lane where there be orchards and fairies, the stories tend to be about the mythical LemonHeads who once lived amongst the lemon trees. Or at least this is how Godmother explained it to Lemondrop.

"Once upon a time, there was a little girl who loved to play and skip all day long. Her mama asked her to be a dear and take a basket of fresh herbs and soup to her grandmama. It's a bit cold in the woods so she wore her new hood that her mama made out of her favorite color - red.

'Be careful and don't linger in the woods,' her mama warned.

Off went little red riding hood through the woods to grandmama's house."

IF: Tales and Legends

Lemondrop loved it when it her Godmother read her the tales and legends of old. The air became alive with the magic of the stories. They never were quite the same even when she begged for Godmother to read them twice in a row.

[EDIT]: Oops, I keep typing 2007 instead of 2008. By the time I get used to it I'm sure that it'll be 2009.

Cuttleberry's New Sign

Now that Silverius Cuttleberry had awakened to the need to modify the family tradition, he realized that his shop decor needed an update as well. Announcing the brand new reopening of Cuttleberry Millinery & daughter, the finest hat-makers in three counties.

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I hope that you've enjoyed the story of Silverius and Silvanna Cuttleberry but perhaps now it's time to check on Lemondrop and her friends. See you next time and we'll find out.

The newest hat maker

Silverius Cuttleberry had decided that it was time for old traditions to be less rigid. When the time is right, he'll pass on the family scissors to his daughter, Silvanna. She'll then become the newest hat maker in the Cuttleberry line. But in the meantime, he commissioned the metalsmith to forge a wee pair of scissors to hand to her.

"From now on you are welcome to any scraps of material and trim from my workshop to learn how to make hats," Silverius smiled, then his expression became a bit stern again. "But you are still grounded for a week because you took things that didn't belong to you."

Silvanna couldn't believe what her father was saying and shook her head. Soon she was grinning from ear to ear and gave him the world's best and longest lasting hug ever received in the orchard - perhaps even in the world.

IF: Stitch

Silvanna Cuttleberry went to her room as her father ordered. But he didn't say that she couldn't sew anymore hats. That's precisely what she began to do. Later when her father peeked in the room to check on her, that's what he saw her doing. His heart melted as he realized how much she loved making hats. Perhaps it was time for old traditions to change. He didn't really need to have a son to pass on the family business because he already had a fine and talented daughter. Off he went to work on a special project of his own.

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Media: Mechanical pencil on tracing vellum, sepia filters and "paint" in Adobe Photoshop. I find that it's hard to draw very good poses. If it's a simple pose I'll just work the body shapes until I like it. At other times, I'll sketch a basic idea of what I want then I go searching for images online that have a similar pose. This pose originally was from a Victorian era card of a little girl sewing her doll. I sketch out the original drawing, changing it to fit my needs. If I'm around my friend's children I'll try to capture a pose here and there, but they never seem to hold still for very long. :-)

How does everyone else go about drawing their figures? It's been a long time since I've had life drawing class. Oddly enough my quick thumbnails end up having a much better action flow to them. It's when I go back and do the detail work that I lose a little bit of that freedom of movement.

Grounded

Silverius Cuttleberry was very disappointed to discover that the mysterious source of hats was his own daughter, Silvanna.

"Why did you steal materials from my workshop? Whatever made you think that the insects and creatures of the orchard needed to have hats? And who made these hats?" he asked.

"I just thought that ..."

"You thought what? What did you think? No, don't answer that. I'm too upset right now. Go home and go to your room," Silverius ordered. "You're grounded while I think about this."

Silvanna sadly hung her head down, dropped her little hat and headed towards home. She was so upset that she didn't even bother to fly but walked instead. Silverius picked up the hat and started to take a good look at it.

Caught in the act

Silverius Cuttleberry flew along the path that the beetle directed him towards. Up ahead he heard a noise. Around a rock he peeked, only to find that the mysterious source of hats was his own daughter, Silvanna Cuttleberry! She was poised in the act of giving a little hat to a very anxious field mouse when she heard Silverius gasp in surprise. Oh no, she looked up and saw her father. Would he be happy or upset with her? She'll find out soon enough.

Beetle Chariot

What Silverius Cuttleberry saw when he flew down to the bottom of the lemon tree surprised him so much that he chuckled out loud. He asked the very kind beetle where did he and his grand steeds get their hats from. The beetle pointed off to the direction where he may find the mysterious source of hats. Once again Silverius took off in pursuit.

Egg Warmers

Silverius Cuttleberry followed the fairy wren until it stopped here at its nest. "My goodness", he thought, "maybe it had just taken the ribbon scraps that he left out for the birds. But now here's three more hats. Where could they have gotten them?" He wished that his daughter Silvanna was there. She knew how to communicate with the youngest of creatures. Maybe then he'd get to the bottom of the mystery hat maker. Just as Silverius was wondering where the trail would lead him next, he heard a strange noise at the bottom of the tree. Perhaps the source of the ruckus would hold the next clue.