‘Tea with Marie’…

my talented friend Susan created her first gorgeous altered book for a round robin in our mixed media art group…

you can stop by her blog to see her interesting post on how her book began here…

working on the plain French-English dictionary pages adding lots of layers and embellishments was such a delight…

I highlighted an old French ledger page from The Graphics Fairy with a piece of pretty German napkin that I rubbed with gold gouache…

tiny flowers from a vintage hat I collected decorate a French cocoa label also from The Graphics Fairy…

some French 7Gypsies tissue paper started the background for this page along with a piece of old blue velvet for the edge…

the oval portrait of Marie was from a free digital collage sheet The Graphics Fairy shared back in 2009…

 one of my golden flimmers and some delicate German scrap helped frame Marie…

white gesso, gold gouache, bits of my favorite gold patterned tissue paper, torn napkin, scraps of embroidered netting, pink silk rose petals (on the left page edge and behind Marie’s head) and a K & Company vellum border at the bottom helped put the finishing touches on my pages…

such a fun theme and a very beautiful book to work in…

I like coffee … I like tea …

 a treat for me on the weekend is a nice cup of half-caff cappuccino…

at home I enjoy hot tea…

this June we are looking forward to sampling lots of real English tea on a trip we have planned to the UK…

here’s wishing you a lovely day just the way you like it…

tea dye

my collection of used tea bags continues to grow…

so it seemed like a good time to give some a last whirl and do a little dyeing…

I like to keep a stash of white fabric pieces, old doilies, ribbons and other fibers at the ready…

because once you get a dye pot going one thing has a way of leading to many others…

now I have lots of great tea papers and tags to play with too…

thanks to Trader Joe’s for a touch of spring on our window sill in the chill of winter here in Northern Virginia…

OXO

Cedric and the Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse…

with special thanks to my friend Linda Yeatman for telling me about this really special spot…

I knew when I looked at her photos that we just had to visit while we were in Colorado…

we arrived at the Denver airport well before breakfast time and hotel check in time so we decided to drive about 25 miles northwest to the cool town of Boulder for some tea…

here is some of what the Teahouse website has to say:

“The Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse is nestled against the Rocky Mountain Foothills in Boulder Colorado. Sitting alongside Boulder Creek in Central Park, the Teahouse is considered one of Boulder’s most attractive and popular tourist attractions, as well as being a local favorite for great food, tea, and atmosphere.

Completely build by hand without the use of any power tools, the Teahouse was constructed in Dushanbe, Tajikistan as a gift to their sister city, Boulder. It was disassembled, crated up, and sent halfway around the world to be rebuilt in Boulder as a symbol of friendship and cultural exploration. The elaborate and creative teahouse now sits as a reminder to the citizens of Boulder to value cultural diversity, global cooperation, and international friendship.”

 Sandy’s Traveling Gnome Cedric who you saw last week in Aspen really enjoyed the tea house…

after the four hour flight from Dulles Airport in Virginia he started with a nice tall drink of water…

the tea menu was extensive…

we decided on chai tea and a lovely lunch which I was too excited to eat much of…

the fountain of the Seven Beauties was so photogenic with koi swimming in the pool around the sculpture with more details about that here if you are interested…

this was definitely the kind of place you wanted to sit and linger for a while to drink it all in…

just outside in Boulder’s Central Park the farmer’s market was in full swing as it was a blue sky sunny really mild day for the end of November…

everyone was out and about…

here is a sampling of some of the street performer’s on popular Pearl Street…

we look forward to visiting again as there is so much to see and do and we will get to see our youngest son again too…

 

Apricot Passionfruit Tea … Oh My

thanks to a dear friend for surprising me recently with some gorgeous exotic fruit tea…

the taste and smell are divine and the color was so lovely too that I didn’t want any of it to go to waste…

it seemed the perfect chance to dip into my stash of white bits of fabric and such…

so I got busy soaking some of the used tea bags squeezing out every drop of color…

you can see how differently each piece took the tea dye…

I will need to try this out on some of my bleached Christmas trees too I think…

good to the last drop…

tea grounds for the garden and tea bag papers and tags for collage…

“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” ~Marcus Aurelius

I am headed out to vote…

rainy day tea…

thank you dear ones for your sweet messages while we were away…

my head is so full of adventures I would like to share with you…

it feels like we were gone for longer than a week…

for now on this lovely rainy day I am enjoying a cup of tea with a grateful heart for family and friends and feeling free…

~* Brightest of Blessings to you *~

Art Things in Annapolis

on a recent day trip to the historic town of Annapolis, Maryland to meet relatives visiting from California

we stumbled upon a wonderful art shop…

Art Things has been in business for at least 40 years but was new to us…

their Mona Lisa sign out front really caught my eye…

these photos show a small part of the fabulous homage to Mona inside…

they have so much good stuff on two floors with something for everyone…

we are happy to have a new “must stop” shop whenever we are in the Annapolis area (no affiliation, just a happy customer that likes to support small businesses)…

today I am drinking a cup of Chocolate Pu-erh …

notice the two tea tags …

each was used in a cup of tea days before and together they made one more cup of tea which is something I frequently do for myself …

then I dry out the bags and use them for art projects