Creative Day in the Fandom: RA Pocket Shrines 221-24/? – Thornton’s Pearls

/ September 18, 2020

Looks as if today is Creative Day in the Fandom: This morning I saw a post by Rachel about her beautiful RAPS-inspired wooden box of wonders that she created as a present for fellow fan Laura. And I just commented on Kate’s post – which is fittingly entitled “An Embarrassment of Rich(i)es” – where she presents a few pieces of gorgeous fan art given to her by fellow fans. The gist of my comment was “I love how our shared interest in the (life and) work of Mr A leads to creative inspiration. Even if others should sneer at our fangirling over an actor – I smugly think to myself that it is precisely the fangirling that has allowed me to fulfil my creative urges, as well as meeting lots of creative, funny, interesting fellow fans.” So in the spirit of all the creativity displayed today, I thought I’d add my long overdue RAPS post for an embarrassment (see above) of four mini-RAPSes that I actually created way back in April…

Remember the last shrine post? It was already way back in May when I presented the last shrine which was inspired by Mr Thornton – and chocolate. Well, it didn’t stop there. You see, I had received a gorgeous packet of Thornton’s chocolate from a dear friend (*waves at Hariclea*). As we all know, the Thornton’s brand of chocolate is irresistible for more than one reason, and even more, this one was salted caramel flavour. Needless to say that those little chocolate pearls did not last long *licks fingers*. And with Mr Thornton’s name splashed all over the box, Sonja had to save the packaging, too. The logo came handy in Thornton RAPS 220. But I also saved the individual pearl wrappers – they were just so pretty with their shiny sky blue foil and the shimmering golden logo. I knew I had to use them somehow, some time.

And I did.

Four mini RAPS came off the production line at RAPS Inc., and all four of them are riffing on the theme already established in the larger RAPS 220.

Slight variations to each of these four shrines. Poor Mr Thornton has been slightly muffled by the cravat… However, the little piece of fabric *can* actually be untied and Mr Thornton is undone.

The above mentioned wrappers all became the backdrop of the upper part of the minis. I was musing what kind of context I could invent for them, and then it came to me that the word “pearl” is often used in a phrase that describes wise words or statements. So, Thornton’s pearls would be iconic words, as spoken by our beloved Mr Thornton. There were indeed a few…

Which one is your favourite – and which of these completely subjectively chosen scenes is your favourite in the mini series?

Now, two of these four RAPS minis have already made their way to some lovely fandom friends. But two are still waiting to find a new home. Anybody looking for an overbearing master? Somebody interested in discussing Miss Hale’s brother with Mr Thornton? These two are still available, and I would like to raffle them off to you.

Same rules as always: You are in the draw if you leave me a comment here on my blog. There will be two winners – one for each shrine. The winners will be randomly selected via Randompicker. The raffle is open to everyone anywhere in the world. Entries open until Sunday, 20 September 2020 11.59pm BST. The shrine will be sent to you at no further cost. Good luck, everyone!

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70 thoughts on “Creative Day in the Fandom: RA Pocket Shrines 221-24/? – Thornton’s Pearls”

    • That whole cravat thing has almost become headcanon. It’s nowhere in the original book, but there was this amazing piece of fan fiction that prominently featured the untying of the cravat… ☺️

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  9. They’re all lovely. The ‘overbearing master’ quote is deliciously ambiguous, so that would have to be my favorite. *muahahahaha*

    Thank you for the link love. 😘 That post was long overdue, but I haven’t felt inspired (all kondoed out still) and I wanted to take some photos in proper lighting to do the goodies justice. I feel blessed indeed.

    Bearing that in mind, this is not a raffle entry. I’m lucky to own more than one RAPS already, so fingers crossed for everyone else.

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    • That delicious ambiguity is exactly what I was going for. *coughs* Probably says more about me than about (poor) Mr Thornton…
      Kudos to you for doing the full Kondo on your wardrobe. I mean, I love the idea, and I think I should do it, too. But I know it’s going to take aaaaages for me to make decisions *grins*. So full marks to you for actually going through with it.
      (Non-entry noted)

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  11. i’ve always loved his facial expression when he realises ‘he was her brother’ -very adorable and the first indication of super soft Mr Thornton
    Armitage really is a great muse and i am grateful to be able to be inspired to craft so much by his characters. And there’s nothing better than knowing you’ve made something specially for someone.

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  16. They are all lovely in different ways… “You’re coming home with me” is just swoonworthy, but I too adore the expression on his his face in “he was her brother”. Overbearing master speaks to me far too much to acknowledge publicly (oops 🤣) and Look back at me is just iconic 😊

    I am blessed with many shrines so leave me out of the draw but I know these beauties will find loving homes 😊

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    • “You’re coming home with me…” – in combination with the supersoft look of wonder in his eyes and his supersoft voice… I mean, who could resist that? It’s iconic.
      The overbearing master is just one of those wonderfully ambiguous lines…

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  17. The RAPS are all really beautiful, you´ve been so creative again, I love them all and can´t say which is my favourite.
    Richard was amazing as John, I really enjoy watching N&S every time. My favourite scenes/quotes are the “Look back at me” and the “You´re oming home with me” ones.
    It´s also so lovely to see all the creativity and craftiness he inspires throughout the fandom and how he brings us all together, I´m glad and proud to be a part of it.
    Thank you for doing this 💕😊.

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    • It’s been quite a while since I have last watched NS, I really should go through it again. RA was so good, but I have to say I also really loved him most in the last episode, when Thornton becomes less serious and more soft.

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  20. My favourite pearl spoken by Mr. T. is “You’re coming home with me?!” I just love the humility and awed surprise that it is spoken with. That being said, they are all wonderful phrases, set in a gorgeous mini-RAPS!

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  21. What adorable tins to hold the shrines of our Mr. Thornton. Fingers crossed that I might be an owner of one of these special RAPS. You also do such fun work.

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  22. I must have a dirty mind. When I saw “untie me” I thought he was tied up by a sexy dominatrix (me in an alternate universe.) upon freeing Mr. Thornton, highjinks would ensue. Untying his cravat never crossed my mind.

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  24. I am running out of words for your RAPS. ❤ I want them all 😀 My creativity is being somewhere out there, my nieces are shadowing everything else. Hoping they will go to kindergarten by the October. 😛

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    • Aw, Andrea, you sweetie.
      Well, if you have your nieces around, I can see how it is not that easy finding time for your own projects. However, there is nothing more worth while than time spent with young people. Enjoy the time you have with them – it passes so quickly.

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      • ❤
        I know. Can't believe they are already 6,5 (older one will not go to school this year, she only wants to play, has no concentration needed for school) and almost 5. They have been with us since 15 March most of the time (98%) because their parents work. There are days I want to bang my head against the wall, the way they behave. That's why is good they will go to kg and spend time with friends. They will still come to us 2 days in a week. So, plenty of time to spend with them.

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        • Yup, it’s quite some work, looking after a couple of kids… Especially when there is no kindergarten or school to occasionally provide some outside entertainment. Hehe, I sometimes look back and wonder how I did it myself when the kids were small. Alas, mine went to kindergarten from age 4, so I had at least the mornings off… And yet, as I said, I also look back with some melancholy. It was a very precious time 😉

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  25. Thornton’s pearls are so purdy! I love them all, but ‘overbearing master’ – gulp, my fantasy Armitage, yes please. My son regularly buy me Thornton’s chocolates, for birthdays, Christmas, Mothers Day, he doesn’t realise the secret thrill they give me and it’s always a wrench to throw the empty boxes away, seconds after I’ve received them, because they’ve been given by my son and the ‘Thornton’s’ emblazoned on them.

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    • That’s a very good son. (And may he never find out what his mother thinks about overbearing masters *muhahaha*).
      And I totally agree with you – I also have problems throwing away the Thornton’s packaging. In fact, there still is the empty box of Thornton’s chocolates (given to me by a lovely fellow fan just four weeks ago) sitting in my craft room. “Just because you never know…” Yeah. Right.

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  26. I have to say I will always have a special affection for Mr Thornton. He is how I first fell under the spell of the talented Mr Armitage. (I think that show prompted me to travel down a fascinating rabbit hole discovering all of his work I could find at the time.) These shrines capture some of his most memorable quotes and are all lovely. I especially liked the creative use of the candy wrap ❤️ And the “untie me” …well, ok if you insist sir 😉

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    • Admittedly, Mr Thornton is a bit of a dreamboat. A man of principle, integrity. And yet, he then reveals so much softness in those final scenes. No wonder he stayed in so many people’s memory!
      And yes, the wrapper had to be somehow immortalised. Such a pretty sparkly blue… and Thornton…

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  29. I love all your shrines! But yes, Thornton forever! ❤️ I haven’t been lucky with your raffles so far but still…just in case…And if it’s not too late 🧐
    ❤️🤗

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  30. These make my heart beat faster! I adore all the scenes/lines you used but ‘look back at me’ will always hold a special place in my heart as when I saw that I knew that I had fallen in love. 🙂
    I love the untie me shrine I already have, so I guess it’s OK that I am late to this party… 😉

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    • I have to say that “look back at me” was heartbreaking. Watching it for the first time, I even thought that it was somehow “unreal” – I just couldn’t imagine that character to say something like that… I changed my mind after the train station scene 😉

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