Honey Tea

September is National Honey Month …

news to me…

bees (here are some cut from wood) …

honey and beeswax all fascinate me …

honey is an ancient and pure food … a perfect sweetener … also used as medicine

… hail honey and of course … BEES !!!

Happy T Tuesday … I will be a bit scarce in blogland the next couple of weeks … looking forward to catching up with you all after that

Nathalie’s Stitchery

the last round is already here in our Queen Bees stitchery round robin (RR) … Nathalie’s playful stitchery arrived from Carole in New Zealand and looked pretty much complete … leaving me wondering what in the world I might add …

after a little while … I did find a few places for a bit of this and that … here is a peek until our reveal sometime in the next month or so when all of the stitcheries are back where they began their journey’s around the world

* * *

I also wanted to mention another really interesting interview by Lesley Riley on Art and Soul Radio with Stephanie Lee … it is inspiring and reveals a lot of what women artists experience trying to balance family and creating art … well worth the listen!

just because … all the way from the Land of Oz

a surprise arrived in my mailbox from far far away …

the lovely Australian stamp was fresh and uncanceled … I will definitely be soaking these in water as even the Air Mail stamp is special …

I could not believe my eyes when I saw the beautiful vintage pieces of Japanese fabric … I could almost hear the swish of kimonos from long ago … indigo and silks from the 1930′s and 40′s … one piece lovelier than the next … the book pages above certainly are very old world too with a fabulous patina to the delicate time worn papers …

with gorgeous ingredients like these … I could not resist the urge to begin a journal that I have had in mind for some time now…

the first signature pages for my Asian journal are underway … thank you so very much dear Jen … oxo

footnote: Friday has been a frustrating day trying to comment on blogger/blogspot bbb’s (blogblogblogs) … Service Not Available or asking to leave an identity and there is nothing to click …

WS: Steampunk

my creation for this week’s Wednesday Stamper/Mittwoch Stempler “Steampunk“ challenge began with small pieces of cardboard found in the street …

seven rubber stamps  …

some stamped on tissue paper …

*a click on the pic will give you a larger than life view*

it measures about 6.5 x 5 inches … 16.51 x 12.7 centimeters … Happy Last Day of Summer

Peace Tea

21 September … International Day of Peace … instituted by the United Nations in 1981 … first observed in 1982 … the theme this year is “Youth, Peace and Development”…

*I know nothing about the company that put out the above video … I did like the message and wanted to pass that along*

we have a poster at the top of our stairs…

by the amazing  Shepard Fairey … I have often thought … if only more people could get along like we do here in the blogosphere…

a minute of silence at noon in your time zone will help create a wave of contemplation on the possibility/reality of PEACE around the globe…

for another opportunity to get on the Peace train … won’t you consider joining Mimi Lenox for Blogblast for Peace …“Dona Nobis Pacem” – Latin for Grant Us Peace …

this will be the 7th year where bloggers in over 50 countries unite … this year the date is 4 November … details can be found here (there is also a button on my sidebar)…

I am enjoying a cup of Yogi tea and a piece of my Mutti’s scrumptious Zwetschgen kuchen (plum cake) …

Happy T Tuesday Dear Ones … wishing you Peace * Love * Light … today and every day …

quick footnote:  I Loved that poster so much I bought a white T shirt with the same logo and I don’t even wear T shirts

Romeo y Julieta

… cigar boxes …

I have always had a “thing” for boxes of all kinds … pretty wooden cigar boxes with special closures make great storage … and perfect gift boxes too … thank you sweet Jean x two …

Mr Magpie and I hit it lucky recently … we popped into a local cigar/smoke shop to check on boxes …

we arrived just as they were about to throw a nice stack of them away … WHAT … oh MY … time for a rescue mission …

the boxes  made of wood with nice closures on them are my first choice … but often the graphics on the boxes with nails in the lid are very tempting as well … ending up with a bounty of boxes … I had an idea … sometimes those come in a flash … gotta Love it when that happens…

you know how you soak envelopes in water to remove postage stamps … the first time I heard that … I could not believe it … it does work like a charm … well I decided to soak some of the boxes and wouldn’t you know it … the lovely decorative bands … most likely each glued on by hand … got slippery after about thirty minutes (hot or cool water didn’t really seem to make a huge difference) and they pulled right off into nice long strips … ooh la laa…

time to dry on a towel … curling a bit …

when I found myself ironing cigar strips … YES … even I had to shake my head for a moment … but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do…

look at how beautiful they are … instant borders/decorations for collage and more … I was raised to waste not want not … thank you my Mutti … the box parts are waiting for a second life now too!

*footnote: thought I’d share a favorite story with you … at the risk of making this a longer bbb post … when our boys were young I did iron every now and again … but chose to do so after they were tucked in their beds … for safety reasons or more likely that I’d put it off long enough … one Saturday while getting ready for a wedding and being forced to get the iron out in daylight … our middle son, Alex … who was around five years old …  asked “what IS that” when he saw the iron … still makes us chuckle … ironing is never on the top of my to do list … hardly seems necessary … unless it’s cigar papers perhaps …

21 September * International Day of Peace

saw this on our wall calendar and wanted to put it out there to all you dear ones … next Tuesday is a day of Peace … a beginning … not very advertised as far as I can tell …

Peace …  so worth talking about … thinking about … praying about … sharing … each and every day …

a minute of silence around the globe at Noon your time on Tuesday, 21 September 2010 … be the change

… Time of Your Life …

tic toc … time for another Wednesday Stamper challenge … this week it is all about polka dots …

I used a square polka dot block stamp along with a vintage 13 cent stamp … a gift from a good friend …

the “overdue” stamp is an oldie but a goodie …

I am really drawn to the old fashioned wooden handled rubber stamps … they certainly don’t make them like that anymore …

Nathalie has been selling them like hot cakes and may have one batch left at her Ruby Floy etsy shop … be sure and check out her Steampunk Rusty Clips and more while you visit …

my journal pages were inspired by the talented and spirited Marit in The Netherlands … one of my special art sisters … she is guest artist over at Yvonne’s Do More With Less blog … you won’t want to miss her collage building tutorial and a chance to play along in the challenge there …

I started out with scraped paint pages … layering various papers and magazine images … a couple of rubons …

black Sharpie pen …rubber stamps and Pan Pastels for shading and rosy cheeks … I used a doll as a book holder … her feet held the pages back nicely

“It’s something unpredictable, but in the end is right.  I hope you had the time of your life.” ~Green Day (click for a listen)

Spilt Tea

wishing you a happy T Tuesday …

mid September already!

“Perfect and imperfect… have lost their dimensions…here in this cup of tea” ~from Haiku Tea, Lock Seven Books

be sure to visit the other T participants on Kimmie’s Art in Red Wagons sidebar

* should have mentioned … I was having a bit of fun here *

Linda’s five days of giving …

my dear Queen Bee 5 friend Linda was celebrating 500 blog posts recently with different prizes every day …

I was the lucky winner of her Friday loot …

the precious tag has words that really resonate with me …

“so happy she almost cried” … and

“Inspire someone with your smile” …

I smile a lot … even at strangers … my little gesture of PEACE …

so many special treasures and lovely wrapping too … Linda’s photos are really nicely done … we got our first rain in about 19 days … not that much …but cloudy skies … not the best for picture taking …

I believe she may have extra decks of these art cards for sale if you are interested …

it is a really special and inspirational deck and so professionally done too … you can visit Linda’s blog and check with her

9-11 … 2010

Peace

Love

Light

to

all

oxo

I hadn’t planned on a blog post today … sometimes there are no words … until … we drove past these three flags at half mast … time to make a u turn and take a photo …

and later this video came my way … just by chance …

PRAYER FOR THE FOUR DIRECTIONS … Steve & David Gordon

… take time …

my mermaid slipper

pretty much everything has a story doesn’t it …

this story goes back a year or more …

Mr Magpie … who I must say is SO very supportive and encouraging of my creativity …

was exiting a major highway … he saw this lonely shoe and made a second loop back to the exit about 3-4 miles to rescue it from the side of the road

… imagine my surprise and delight …

kind of felt like Cinderella…except I have never worn a heel like that … ever …

I have altered shoes before with a couple of examples here and here … back in the day I even did dried flower arrangements in little children’s shoes …

the minute I saw this high heeled number … I thought “mermaid slipper” …

maybe it was the cork platform heel …

what is the one thing a mermaid might long for … legs ?

I have been most distracted lately by our collection of seashells … it led me to making mandalas the other day and finally!!! … after all this time … I got the clear chaulk out and got busy transforming my special shoe …

almost complete …

I painted the inside of the shoe after I glued on the shells … a little silly … what can I say I got excited …

Lumiere Pearl Turquoise gave a nice shimmer …

I knew it needed words …

mermaid thoughts …

what WOULD a mermaid do with a shoe anyway …

in my excitement I showed Mr M the finished slipper and boy did we have a laugh … when he read the quote out loud …

speaks to the “soul”

it hit us … yes … the SOLE!

the shells were all collected from Florida beaches … Sanibel Island mostly … a small black shark’s tooth from our dear friend Carol’s brother Joe along with some tiny pieces of sponge …

creating my mermaid’s slipper was like a mini vacation …

everything melted away …

I forgot to drink water …

I forgot to … well you know …

it was perfect escape and very satisfying …

wish you could feel the weight of the shoe layered with seashells!

“Come walk with me
Along the sea
Where dusk sits on the land
And search with me
For shells are free,
And treasures hide in the sand.” ~Unknown

sjöjungfru … sirena … zeemeermin … havfrue … syrena … sirène … Meerjungfrau

The Butterfly Effect

blogland is a flutter with news of the Holocaust Museum Houston Butterfly Project … words pretty much fail me …

here is a bit of what the museum has to say …

“In an effort to memorialize the 1.5 million Jewish children who died during the Holocaust, the Holocaust Museum Houston is collecting 1.5 million handmade butterflies for a special exhibit in 2012.”

it brings tears to my eyes to think of all the lives lost …  and the children … so many children … along with the beautiful image of 1,500,000 butterflies …

 

Trudi Sissions of Two Dresses Studio has offered to be a collection zone for butterflies and will be sending them on to Houston … what a special idea and how could I not join in with my mixed media friends here in blogland … you can visit Trudi for all the details … special thanks also to Tara for making the wonderful blinkie button AND to my sweet and talented friend Estivalia in Chile for always helping me with my widgets … she is amazing!  isn’t the butterfly effect button wonderful!!!

here is my offering … not totally flat … but I am hoping still acceptable …

anyone can join in whether you have a blog or not …

mariposa … fjäril … Schmetterling … vlinder … motyl … papillon … farfilla …

The Butterfly Effect = Love + Understanding

WS: Shells

seashells always speak to me … I find it pretty much impossible to walk upright on a beach … with so many tempting treasures waiting to be discovered…

I used parts of these stamps to create my “sea horse” (the real ones are such fascinating creatures) …

this horse cutout from our local craft store helped make this quick and easy …

lots easier than doodling with a pen on the horses … which can take hours and hours …visit Wednesday Stamper to see lots of seashell creativity

I have an altered shoe to show you later this week and yes … you guessed it … seashells are definitely involved

you say potato …

I say butterfly …

Schmetterling … vlinder … motyl … papillon … farfilla … mariposa…

inspired by Nathalie’s perfect heart shaped potato …

and these …

in a nice mesh bag …

one little potato was begging for special attention …

so I gave it wings  and antennae …

flutter … flutter … add some butter

“I still get wildly enthusiastic about little things…I play with leaves.  I skip down the street and run against the wind.” ~Leo F. Buscaglia

finally cool enough to enjoy a nice hot cup of tea … thank you sweet Jean … the Green Tea with Lemon is delightful!

and no … of course we didn’t eat the butterfly

wishing you all a very Happy T Tuesday … won’t you join Kimmie and all of the other tea time participants again this week … blog links can be found on Kimmie’s sidebar

 

Linda’s stitchery

our Queen Bee5 group is in the middle of a stitchery round robin … pieces are winging their way around the globe … from here in Virginia to Missouri … on to Texas then across the ocean to Switzerland … next stop New Zealand … and back again … quite a trip…

hope Linda likes the felted heart “totem” I created on her lovely vintage tulip napkin …using bits from a vintage hat …

Mr Magpie was a big help in giving me the idea for a final touch … he used to freeze up back in the day when I’d ask his opinion on this sort of thing … I remind him to not think too much … just react …

I can hardly wait for our big stitchery reveals in the next month or so …

absolutely delighted to find out I won Linda’s giveaway prizes for the fifth day of her celebration … you can’t say I didn’t tell you about her week of generosity … there were so many super prizes to be had each and every day … thank you Linda!!!