play tea…

have you noticed how it is even more fun to play when you really should be doing something else…

could that be our inner teenager trying to come through…

pack or play…

OK pause for tea…

I certainly did not want to miss wishing you a happy T Tuesday

regali da Italia

…gifts from Italy…

still trying to catch up on thank you’s here in blogland…

the lovely and talented Gio from Roma surprised me recently with some handmade treasures…

I plan to take the gorgeous fabric covered notebook with me on our upcoming trip to California…

I had admired Gio’s delicate domino book (approx 1.5 x .75 inches…3.81 x 1.90 cm) long before I knew it was meant for me…

precious details both front and back…

even a lovely black swan…

she pinned a very fine assortment of charms onto a fancy pin for me to play with too!

***molte molte grazie caro Gio***

local “what do U see” swap for Sandy

this is the last round for our local “what do U see” swap…

Sandy’s acrylic tag  and ingredients gave me pause at first …

as with most any project once you begin things start to fall into place…

each player received a similar array of items to begin with…

I wanted to leave some open space so the acrylic could be seen…

the “fly” text stamp is from Catslife Press…

I added the Italian paper at the bottom along with the Cavallini bird sticker and butterfly postage stamp from my stash because it all just happened to be handy on my work table…

 a torn piece of my Citra Solv treated National Geographic with a wooden dragonfly clip along with another postage stamp…

because parts of things would be seen from both sides it meant lots of flipping and trying on for size before attaching things permanently…

I stamped some random text on the back of the flower too…

it was a fun creative stretch…

“You can’t stop time. You can’t capture light. You can only turn your face up and let it rain down.” ~Kim Edwards “The Memory Keeper’s Daughter”

Pacific Sea Star Tea

 looking back on our trip to California in October of 2010…

this post has been in DRAFT for far too long now…

WHERE in the world has a year gone…

I still remember how entertained we were walking on Goat Rock Beach on the lookout for treasure…

what is it about wet shells and rocks that wink at you in the sand and whisper “take me home with you”…

there was sea glass too if you were very patient…

my great discovery was a brilliant Ochre Sea Star still too freshly gone to take home…

it looked like a Fabergé jewel incrusted ornament shimmering in the sunlight…

and complimented the embroidery on my tunic nicely…

we were warned by friendly locals to never turn our backs on the ocean…

they have signs warning about deadly Sleeper Waves…

a local lady who shared some sea glass with me had some stories to tell about those…

it was a short drive back to the sanctuary of Jenner where we were staying…

a bite to eat and some tea on the Russian River here…

we are excited about our upcoming return visit to a different part of California end of this month to attend our nephew’s wedding…

it was our sweet niece’s wedding that took us to the west coast last year around this time…

here’s wishing you a very happy T Tuesday

… be sure and visit Kimmie…

you never know where the T Tuesday bloggers will take you…

***if you are a Claudine Hellmuth fan her second book is my 10th giveaway over at my Magpie’s Nest Too blog***

Days decrease…

 Dawn’s October Journal Journey challenge theme is “Nature & Autumn”…

she also suggested using a “stencil” somewhere on our pages…

I chose these already paint scraped pages in my “How it Works” Encyclopedia Volume 13 to play with…

happy to finally find a use for the man stencil I’ve had since forever and never ever used…

I also had one of my Citra Solv tissue paper transfers on hand which I really liked for my right hand page…

some stamping with my new juicy VersaFine ink pad…

with a little journaling on the left page…

a piece of open patterned paper used as a stencil helped unify the pages…

“Days decrease, And autumn grows, autumn in everything.” ~Robert Browning

…a thousand different things

my little 1931 Funk & Wagnalls New Standard Encyclopedia art journal has been calling me…

inspiration began with the sweet pouty girl from Land of Nod and a sacred heart image I had on hand…

her hallo is from my sweet friend Trish’s wedding…

her groom’s great grandmother made THE most delicate and delicious wedding cookies that she tucked into silver paper cups at each place setting…

the two photos above were taken indoors…

 notice the difference in the color of the photos below taken out on our back porch where I go for “perfect” light…

torn Citra Solv treated paper along with some special gold patterned paper for the background…

black and white rubons and a white poster pen for some added highlights…

I have a collection of Kim Edwards’ quotes from her moving book “The Memory Keeper’s Daughter”…

that piece of pretty lace has been waiting for some time now…

* * *

the sweet and talented Jean of Bluebirds Living in the Meadow recently sent me some really special treats…

including some magical gompi/gampi tissue paper…

sometimes it takes me awhile to dive into goodies…

I know I will find the right time to make the best use of these gifts…

Jean  even gifted me with copies of her painted swan collage sheet images to use in my artwork…

 swans are just one of the things we each hold dear…

she tucked in one of her wonderful faux wool felted flowers too AND the amazing silver tea strainer…

I had never seen anything quite like it before…

precious gifts from a precious friend who I hope to meet in person some day!!!

I am a bit behind in thanking so many thoughtful and generous people here in blogland…you know who you are … thank you dear ones      OXO

Wordless Wednesday: Brightest of Blessings XOXO

little tea

what is it about little things that speak to some of us…

I could not believe my good fortune when I came across a plastic bag full of this very fine array of miniature books for a song at an antique shop…

the little Haiku with Birds below measures about 1.75 x 2.75 inches (4.445 x 6.985 cm)…

new or old…

ragged…

wrecked…

big or small…

books carry a mysterious kind of magnetism for me…

I was recently charmed by Dymphie’s amazing mini book earring creations here and Cynnie’s super mini book post here…

those little’s made me think of some small tea cups I have…

lined up in a row they are sized just right for Goldilocks and The Three Bears …

the Red Riding Hood Bavarian china pieces were a gift I bought with birthday money when I was very young living in Germany…

it is a bit of an odd feeling to know that any questions I have about details surrounding the tea set are not likely to be answered now that my father and mother have both passed on…

there is more I would like to know about the set…

clearly I liked the little dishes very much and did actually play with them…

I wonder how many cups came in the set …

and what happened to the creamer …

my Dad was a master fix it guy and very patient when it came to puttering…

looks like the glue just didn’t want to hold on the sugar bowl handle…I still have the pieces…

“On autumn-crisp nights …

Against harvest-moon background–

Wavering geese-lines” ~Haiku with Birds by Pall W. Bohne, 1967, Book #190 out of 250 printed

today I am enjoying a cup of homemade Yogi Tea and does the house ever smell good too…

whether your tea is little or big…I hope you enjoy your day…

Kimmie’s Art in Red Wagons has more bloggers to visit here…

angels and demons…

a handful of my index cards so far for the changing season …

best viewed by clicking each for the closeup …

feeling autumnal and

a little Béla Lugosi …

thanks to some Recollections Lenticular Stickers…

other ingredients are pieces of my Citra Solv treated Nat’l Geographic magazine pages … tea cup from Dover … Black Cat firecracker label … assorted rubber stamps and the perfect freebie word sheet from Pennywise Arts…

and to balance things out a bit here is October’s quote from my “Angel Spirits” The Art of Sulamith Wulfing 2011 Calendar:

“I have been with you from the moment of your birth, precious child, and I will be with you to your journey’s end – and beyond.  Close your eyes and feel my presence, strong and sure and eternal.  Know that I keep you safe and whole, every day and every night, now and forever.” ~Guardian Angel, October 2011

I would also like to share these three angels as FREE DOWNLOADs from my photo collection

taken at the Washington DC Congressional Cemetery…

these are for your personal use only…

not intended to be made into collage sheets or sold…

Enjoy OXO

prizes all the way from Australia…

it was my lucky day recently to be the winner of Jo Murray’s 100 blog post celebration giveaway…

I am not certain how Jo and I originally ‘met’ here in blogland…

life moves so fast …

I do know what a pleasure it is to enjoy her creativity and kindness…

it is quite amazing to be able to trade emails from across the globe …

instant pen pals …

blogging really is a beautiful thing…

and speaking of beautiful things…

here is Jo’s brilliant “3 Blooms” acrylic painting that I won…

a perfectly matted ready to frame 4×5″ creation…

Jo said she couldn’t find a Magpie card so she went with the Black Swan….

hello…

absolutely perfect for me…

thank you SO much Jo…

here’s to lots more blog posts and friendship…

along with a quote from Don Miguel Ruiz that I find very uplifting as well:

“The best moments of your life are when you are being your authentic self. When you are in your creation and doing what you love to do, you become what you really are again. You are not thinking in that moment; you are expressing. Your emotions are coming out, and you feel great.” ~Don Miguel Ruiz

***there are a couple of giveaways open on my Magpie’s Nest Too Blog…

with two winners being announced on 7 October

and one on 11 October…

pop on by and see if there is anything you might be interested in…

I also offer free downloads of vintage postcards there now and again***

Nice Light Tea

a cup of something soothing with the recent nip in the air…

the young girls black patent leather shoe that I planted and have had out in the garden for a few years is showing some wear…

which is normal with the passing of time…

now for something very exciting…

if you enjoy tea AND music you will want to pop over and visit 

Tea and Sympathy

“…an English Tea Shop in New York City” …

they recently put out a request for favorite “tea” tunes…

I joined in and was honored to make their list with my Stevie Wonder song selection…

“Come Back as a Flower” reminds me of sipping tea out in the garden…

you will not want to miss the brilliant and varied selection of great tunes offered here…

 Happy T Tuesday one and all…

button cuff completa…

after a lovely visit to the country with my friend Dot and seeing her cuff below I was inspired all over again by buttons …

she kindly sent me home with a blank black elastic cuff stitched and ready to be decorated …

I finally got busy yesterday while watching a little Doc Martin on tv…

it really IS fun to pick through buttons…

I like keeping mine in jars …

they look like candy…

I have two weddings to go to this month…

my new button cuff may be just the thing to go with my little black dress…

if I made another one I would sew each button on and knot it individually…

I bet that’s what Dot did…

there are about 40+ buttons on my cuff…

a very Happy Birthday to my sister and to my sweet Onkel Sepp (both do not read my blog) AND also to Marit my special bloggie art sister who has some really exciting news to share here…

it is Gandhi’s birthday too…

“Honest differences are often a healthy sign of progress” ~Mahatma Gandhi, 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948