all in the golden afternoon…

Hurricane Irene downgraded to a tropical storm turned into mostly a rainmaker in our neck of the woods…

sadly there were lives lost along the east coast with a fair number of people still without power and wide spread property damage…the far reaching extent of the damage remains to be seen…

very much like our earthquake last Tuesday everyone seemed to have very different experiences with this storm that was likened to the size of Texas as it moved north and east…

thank you all very much for your prayers and good wishes…

the weather has turned a bit cooler and less humid here…

just right for spending some time outdoors again…

my mother had given me this Bavarian Hutschenreuther cup and saucer with a matching cake plate some time ago…

she was more of a mug user than fancy china lady…

although she did have some pretty china…

I enjoy both mugs and china tea cups…

I have wanted to clip some of my handkerchief collection onto a string for a long time and finally came across the one inch wooden clothespins I bought with that in mind…

they helped brighten this garden corner while I sipped some delicious golden Mystic Mango Kombucha…

the song All in the Golden Afternoon from Disney’s Alice in Wonderland inspired the title of my post today…

it was a favorite tune of mine when I was a young girl and brings with it special memories of me helping my Mutti make up the beds each morning while she and I sang like little songbirds…

she was a war bride far far away from her native Munich Germany…

when I was much older she shared just how homesick she was back then…

Snow White’s Someday My Prince Will Come was right up there as a favorite too…

you can click on each underlined song title above if you have time for a listen…

I played my little red and yellow vinyl records on my child’s suitcase style record player over and over and over again…

music has always been an important and inspiring part of my life…

wishing you and yours a happy last Tuesday in August…

stop by Kimmie’s Art in Red Wagons for more tea links

Goodnight Irene

this soon to be altered metal recipe box has been kicking around for awhile now…

it is perfect for holding my 3×5″ index cards…

my attempt at creating an earthquake card did not work out…

 but I did want to share some of the other cards I created recently…

with a short description of what went into each…

I so enjoy putting bits of this and that together…

playing with scissors and glue never gets old…

it seems my blog has turned into part of my memory…

you may notice that there are underlined words in most of my posts…

I try to add links to provide further info and of course give credit where credit is due…

there is a handy tool on my sidebar marked “Looking for Something” … typing in a word or two oftentimes takes me where I need to go…

for a clearer view you can click on the pictures…it helps sharpen them…I should really take the time to get out the tripod…

here goes…

Citra Solv background…scraps of paper doily and graph paper…copy of a TAP transfer piece I made with beaded and stitched silk frame…Goddess stamp …

Citra Solv background…stamping…gold Krylon pen…scrap paper from garden catalog…faux leaves and flower colored with Sharpie…center brad…gold napkin for bottom trim…the image was in a cigar box with some pages I cut up for text…not certain where she is from…

mini me…age two in Germany on a paint scraped and doily gesso background…German book text (thank you Margaret I finally got brave enough to rip those nice pages) …text washi tape…and rubber stamps from Catslife Press…really Loving the “Remember to Play Everyday” freebie stamp from them…

another Citra Solv background…some you hardly want to cover up they have such great colors and design…the Polish postage stamps really inspired me on this one…a Debbie Warren free microscope size image trimmed down with a little more graph paper at the bottom…

I had scanned a piece of green and black collaged background paper that I created some time ago added a little gesso stenciling with a plastic doily…along with my favorite Paper Whimsy sun face…dotted piece from a recycled envelope…black rubons and the word “luminous” cut from a paint sample…

another piece of my scanned background glued onto my pink index card…I decided to print it larger which made it a little different and interesting…my favorite “Art Helps Me Breathe” stamp again from Catslife Press and the fan stamp enhanced a bit with my white Signo gel pen…

our house is on high ground here in Northern Virginia…

still not sure what to expect with Hurricane Irene…

they are throwing the “historic” word around again…

we are hoping for just a tropical storm here in the Washington DC area…

it will be nice to say “Goodnight Irene“ after this weekend…

sending best wishes for everyone’s safety…

may each of you stay out of harm’s way…

OXO

once in a century …

a moderate earthquake of 5.8 magnitude hit the east coast of the United States reaching up into Canada …

they are calling it significant…

historic…

a once in a lifetime earthquake event …

approximately 800 of this size earthquake occur around the world each year…

but NEVER on the east coast of the United States…

the 23rd of August here in Northern Virginia was a beautiful clear blue sky day with very low humidity and temperatures comfortable enough to have the windows open…

a bit unusual and certainly nothing like our recent heat wave or our typical dog days of August…

I was tending to my son’s window full of houseplants…

one plant was very leggy and falling over…

I found a plastic covered wire stem for it to hang on to and was just about to put the two together…

*photo of TV screen soon after the tremor…they were calling it 5.9 at that time*

at 1:51pm…

in the kitchen…

I found myself hanging on for dear life to the handle of our stove…

I watched as our quarry tile floor seemed to roll and undulate under my bare feet…

there was an eerie roaring sound…

the open windows reflected light as they buckled in and out…

a bookshelf shuttered fluttered and rattled …

I cringed wondering what would hit the floor …

and what was coming next…

one little plastic doll was the only thing I heard drop …

as quickly as it came…

it ended…

lasting just under a minute where I was…

as soon as I could get my fingers steady enough to push buttons I called Mr Magpie who was working in College Park, Maryland where they felt about 10 seconds of the same quaking …

after that brief phone call the lines were clogged for awhile…

it certainly was a surreal experience leaving me shaken and teary eyed thinking of those in recent REAL earthquakes …

wondering after just a minute of quaking here how they could survive the terror of something much more violent and devastating…

there are no signs of damage at our home…

many people will forever remember where they were when this earthquake hit…

a couple things I learned and am reminded of:   our two story wooden house with vinyl siding on a concrete slab is much more elastic than I could have ever imagined …

everything can change in the blink of an eye…

Mother Nature can be fierce…

there is so much to be grateful for…

* * * * *

many thanks to all of you sweet friends who checked in to see how we are doing…

it was comforting having the computer still working …

we did not lose power at all …

hoping each of you are safe and well … OXOXO

p.s. with reports of devastating earthquakes around the world  this year … I found myself at a loss for words to express what was in my heart…reminded that people deal with things on a daily basis that we might never be able to fully comprehend

… even my quote is on the long side today…

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”  ~Leo Buscaglia

Berry Pickin Tea…

Judy’s round robin traveling teacup began its journey back in May of this year leaving Mississippi … first stop Minnesota … on to Louisiana … next stop Nebraska … then heading west to Washington state … back east to Virginia … on to Tennessee … back to Washington state and arriving here in Virginia again … quite a trip…

Mr Magpie and I headed out the other day with the tea cup tucked safely in bubble wrap…

our original mission was to pick up home grown tomatoes to go with some fresh mozzarella we had waiting at home…

when we saw the pick your own blackberry sign at a favorite roadside garden stand …

well you can guess what happened…

that pretty tea cup filled up in no time…

Potomac Vegetable Farms has been supplying the community with fresh dynamic produce … flowers and more with no sprays for many many years now…

all natural…wholesome and delicious…

I made a nice caprese salad with a little fresh snipped basil from our garden…

a drizzle of balsamic vinegar made the perfect dressing…

for dessert I made a peach blackberry crisp that we served warm over a little vanilla ice cream…

thanks to Big Huge Labs for the free mosaic making…

very soon the traveling tea cup will be making its way back home to Judy in Mississippi…

glad you stopped by today…

be sure and join Kimmie for more T Tuesday links

“keeping it real, keeping it local” ~Potomac Vegetable Farms

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

also wanted to point you in the direction of the very talented and generous Linda in Norway…she is having a super giveaway that you will not want to miss…

AND

if you’re looking for a new and exciting online class…check out Carole’s latest class offering here…it looks REALLY wonderful

local “what do U see” swap: cheery mariners

Lisa Murphy really charmed me this month by her use of lots of the ingredients I provided below…

each package came with a different boy image…

Lisa made the little sailor a sailboat using the teabag as a sail…her use of the swirls in the lace for waves is really inspired too…

the tiny words at the top of the tin are cut from a Yogi tea tag…a different one provided for each package:

“We can keep peace of mind from the steady shining sun”…

her perfect poem by Park Benjamin helped set the scene for my kipper tin so sweetly…

my local artsy friends in this swap like to wait for the boys in the images I provided to speak to them…

I certainly am enjoying what they have to say!

back to school days …

got a kick out of this commercial …

and just for the record I usually tune out commercials…

hip hip hooray for all of you artists who will have some extra art time…

and a special blessing to the devoted teachers out there…

you know who you are…

gesso play and sweet surprises

Gesso is one of my favorite art ingredients…

it is really more like a tool …

such a tool…

looking at a stack of book pages that I paint scraped some time ago I realized they could use a little something more…

the perfect chance to play with plastic doilies …

paintbrush …

and gesso…

with endless possibilities…

as I got lost in play I was a bit shocked to see how much gesso and paint my left hand caught…

my jar of gesso above is ancient…

I have added water to it several times to extend its life…

a nice bit of color and decoration for envelopes and finally a use for my very thick dauber paints…

I also wanted to share a sweet surprise that arrived in my mailbox earlier this week….

the lovely and talented Dymphie in The Netherlands generously gifted me with some wonderful postcards that she made…

Love those great heart world postage stamps too…

I had commented on a blog post of hers saying how I am crazy about all things medieval…

so generous of her to think of me…

just because…

she also included a couple of her folded corner bookmarks…

one is already in use …

blog friends sure can make opening the mailbox fun!

index card swap with Sandy

the lovely and talented Sandy is back in blogland after a bit of a break…

both she and her creativity were greatly missed…

Sandy got excited when she saw some of the index cards on my blog recently…

so we decided to swap a couple of cards…

here is what I took to the post office yesterday…

be sure and visit Sandy here to see the beauties she made for me…

some fun mail on its way back and forth across the ocean

tea and he …

our youngest magpie and I headed to a favorite garden spot of mine recently and I thought it would be fun to take our traveling teacup along…

with thoughts of each of you…

Oatlands Plantation is a National Trust Historic Site with a grand restored 1811 Greek Revival style house …

it is the 200 year old walled garden which includes 4 acres of terraced and formal gardens that always calls to me …

I’ve only gone into the house once for a lovely December candlelight tour as a birthday treat from Mr Magpie…

their greenhouse is the second oldest propagating greenhouse in the United States and just celebrated its 200th birthday this year…

the two Japanese Threadleaf Maples are a wonder to behold in any season…

click here for some photos of them in their Fall splendor…

I would Love to see them in the snow sometime…

because of the greenhouse we can enjoy exotic plants like this Duranta…

thank you Google for helping identify the plant…

I bet my friends in the Southern Hemisphere have it growing in mass quantities…

we were absolutely charmed to discover a pair of bushes doing their thing  in the garden…

the volunteer gardeners paused from their work to tell us about an interesting plant with long stems and pretty pink blooms with no leaves …

they were scattered everywhere…

“Common Name: Naked Ladies
Scientific Name: Lycoris squamigera
Blooming Dates: Summer
Comments: Scattered throughout the garden, this fragrant lady flaunts herself without wearing any foliage.” *taken from the Oatlands website*

Elizabeth and Bleubeard just happen to have a wonderful BED of naked ladies in their garden…

if you haven’t already you’ll want to visit Elizabeth’s recent post about them here …

getting out in nature is always a delight…

taking time to enjoy a refreshing pause…

with the chatter of birds …

and a cooling breeze …

time spent with my man child…

all priceless…

with just a click you can visit Kimmie for lots of fun stops around the globe…

for anyone living in Northern Virginia I cannot recommend a visit to these gardens highly enough…

they have a nice little gift shop in the carriage house with very friendly and helpful staff…

you can even make reservations for traditional afternoon tea while you are there…

wishing each of you a very happy T Tuesday..

August local “what do U see”: Limonata

Leiann’s goodie envelopes were each color themed with a different image included…

we did a group photo with each person’s packets…so the above doesn’t totally match what I brought home to play with but gives the general idea…

my packet had the dragonfly instead of a butterfly girl shown above and was all about yellow…

the bird landed on the roof of the house in the exact right spot as luck would have it when I attached the piece of scrapbook paper Leiann included…

I cannot seem to use the shredded text nest idea from Linda often enough…

I had the perfect little red flower to add too…

I Love playing with paper parasols and managed to use an entire one split on the front and back…

I used gesso here and there to tie things together…

attached a lady to peek out of the copper keyhole that I distressed and just happened to have some yellow brads handy…

my favorite number “13″ torn from a Bingo sheet…

the ‘family stamps’ are from my collection too…

not sure which side I like best…

house shapes are great fun…

this one measures about 9″ tall x 6 ” wide…22.86cm x 15.24 …

I cannot wait to show you the latest smooshed kipper tin that Lisa Murphy made for me…it’s a beauty

index cards keep happening…

not tired yet of making 3 x 5 inch collage cards…

in fact some days it is easy to make four…

they make nice greeting/note cards…

one of the sunshine girls jumped into two photos … two of the cards above have National Geographic CitraSolv backgrounds…

the Paper Whimsy sunshine face helps make any body look better I think…

it can mean lots of fussy cutting…

but I enjoy that…

the little “houseguest” above is holding a 3D vintage flower…

the word was cut from a large print book

…all of my photos are better clicked for a closeup…

some new unmounted stamps I ordered from Catslife Press arrived and I couldn’t wait to play…

Catslife Press is the creator of one of my all time favorite rubber stamps: “Art Helps Me Breathe”…

the card below was made with the surprise freebie stamps included in my recent order…

“REMEMBER TO PLAY EVERYDAY” is a brilliant motto and something I do actually try and live by…

I used some of my paint scraped book pages for backgrounds with some of the other new stamps I ordered…

delivery certainly was speedy and the postage was very reasonable…

it is also nice having the choice of wood mounted or unmounted stamps…

I have no affiliation with Catslife Press…

just a very happy customer…

hope you get some time to PLAY

Morning Glory Tea

out early in the garden enjoying some morning sun before the day heats up again…

a wild morning glory vine running in the grass whispers to me…

‘come sit on the parched August lawn and enjoy a cup of tea‘

our traveling tea cup hasn’t been out and about since June…

no milk for tea today…

it tasted just fine without it…

“A moment might be a thousand different things.”
  ~Kim Edwards (The Memory Keeper’s Daughter)

it is always lovely when you stop by and visit …

thank you for being here…

come join in Kimmie’s Tea Tuesday over at her Art in Red Wagons…

August daze…

not flaming with creativity at the moment…

*lady and moon from The Graphics Fairy … always a brilliant and generous source of free images*

feeling a little betwixt and between…

I do keep making 3 x 5″ index card collages…working quickly…not thinking too much…

also getting a little reading in…

here is this month’s quote from my “Angel Spirits” The Art of Sulamith Wulfing 2011 Calendar:

“You came into this life with a sacred purpose, entering into the stream of your destiny as a boat is launched trustfully upon a great river.  Attune yourself to that divinely guided flow, and all will be well.  Follow your heart and offer yourself as a vessel of goodness.” ~Spirit of Purpose, August 2011

~* OXO *~

guerilla knitting…

my first in person encounter with guerilla knitting…

also called yarn bombing or graffiti knitting…

was on a trip last October to Santa Rosa, California …

I was totally charmed by the lamp posts and bike racks covered in knit goodness…

last month there was an article in the Washington Post about a knit in at Jimmy Valentine’s Lonely Hearts Club in NE Washington DC…

they called it a “yarn bombing with heart”…

101 hearts…

it was fun to see in person…

something I enjoy again and again in the blogosphere…

especially in the special mixed media corner that I get to visit and enjoy so often…

is CONNECTION…

if you haven’t already…

you will want to see what Hermine in The Netherlands did to the downspout of her home…what a great conversation starter and wouldn’t that be fabulous to see in person too…

she also makes THE most incredible felted wool purses…amazing hearts and more…

even though I am not a knitter…I still drool over yarn and needles and appreciate the magic and creativity of it all…

making things is powerful medicine the world over…

footnote: and another great connection with Jill Zaheer of Jazworks you’ll want to check out too…notice the date this was done…Love it!

More Over a Teacup

last Tuesday I shared some photos from three friend’s and I having a special tea prepared by the talented Julie and Susan of Julieanna Over a Teacup  in Broadway, Virginia…

as that post got a little long…I thought I’d save some to share with you again today…

this vintage cup and saucer winked at me the moment I walked into the shoppe…

after tea I tried the cup on for size…

I like to be able to put my finger through the handle…

it was a perfect fit…

I have already enjoyed several delicious cups of my favorite Harney & Sons Earl Grey Supreme in it…

there is so much to catch the eye and delight the senses at Julieanna’s including special touches like their hand painted bags and ribbon wrapping…

along with our tea and conversation there were gifts…

Judy made everyone really special fabric covered tea journals…and she knows I enjoy postage stamps from around the globe too…

a yummy and delicate treat from Lennie … along with a tea pot spout drip catcher (say that five times quickly) that she bought for me at Julieanna’s as a thank you for driving…

a pretty bag full of gifts from Pat which included one of her “fairy umbrella” photo cards … her hand crafted heart scissor keeper … and two very special India inspired gifts…she knows me well..

some time ago I had found a bag of vintage sewing-needle books …

what to my surprise when I opened the bag to find that there was one to fit each of these gals perfectly…

a horse theme for Pat McNally...

“Broadway” brand needles for Judy Post who has a Broadway address…

and a gardening theme with a Maryland Bank logo for Lennie Stimpson who used to work in a bank…

certainly the best gift of all was time spent together…

we survived THE hottest July on record here in the Washington DC Metropolitan area…

wishing you and yours a very happy August…

you can visit Kimmie for more T Tuesday stops and loads of inspiration…