Tuesday Tea...

Wow I can actually join Tuesday Tea early enough in the day to have caffeinated tea! I'm enjoying it with the Bird of Paradise flowers I cut from the vacant yard next door...

I'm having my normal morning tea... black! Yes I know it's past morning, but I drink tea all day. This is my green Aladdin pot with gold trim. I got it from an antique store in my parents' home town. I'm drinking from one of my orphans... The flowers are only on the inside to I see them when I take a drink. The glass and silver dish is something I found at a thrift store and it's perfect to hold my Stevia packets.

I completed Jenn's pen
for her guest book.

It's covered in gold tissue paper and I attached some silk hydrangea flowers to the top and adorned it with a gold glittery bow.

Here's a black 8x10 photo frame I converted into a memo frame...

I spotted the raised detail of the frame with robin's egg blue acrylic paint to coordinate with the clothes pins. The paper covered clothes pins are perfect for hanging notes, photos or even fabric swatches in an office or studio. The paper strips are glued on and coated with Modge Podge.

I hope you're enjoying your Tuesday... Please visit Kimmie to see what the other ladies are up to!

Question...

Has anyone out there monetized their blog? Is it worth it?

My Friend's Wedding...

My friend Jenn and I are planning her October wedding! We've gotten our dresses and shoes, serving set, all the silk flowers for bouquets and centerpieces and all the other decorations. I've made her a guest book. I'll be making her a hairpiece with one of these butterflies too...

and her mom's corsage (it's upside down so you can see it better)...

a sample boutonniere...

and the first brush for a centerpiece.

I haven't started on our bouquets yet... but they will be similar to the centerpieces. Her dress has all these colors in it... is tea length, flowing and has a handkerchief hem.

I'm having fun with this and it's keeping me somewhat busy...  I'd really like to do this kind of thing for a living... for small and intimate weddings at least...

Wouldn't that be a wonderful way to keep romance in your life?

Time for Art...

I guess I'm a full time artist now. I was let go from my agency after more than 10 years there, 5 1/2 years with another environmental agency and over 10 years in the field in the private sector. I'm not bitter. I'm stunned and distressed at the moment, but not bitter. I'm proud of my career and accomplishments. Proud of protecting places and the life that fills them, like the rare Pine Lily above on the Myakka River Prairie...

After serving on the Myakka River Council for more than 14 years for 2 different agencies, I feel like an era has come to an end... but now I have more time to focus on creating nature inspired art and prose.

(Photo source: blog.shoemetro.com)

The other shoe dropped today...

Muddling through...

A  friend of mine uses this term... muddling through...
It seems appropriate now... I'm still waiting to find out if I will be "offered" the "separation incentive package" at work. If I'm offered, I'll have to take it or my position will be eliminated. Thanks $#@&*^% Governor Scott! I've been weighing my options and trying to figure out how to reinvent myself if this happens. This is not the best time to lose my job... Is there ever a good time to lose your job? I don't think so.

I've been dreaming about actually being able to support myself with my art... Maybe now is the time to see...

I've been painting some. Both are approximately 5 x 5 inches, oils on gessoed scrapbook paper.

A Funky Wren...

and a Palm Warbler on a flower stem... They are such pretty little birds...

I've also been helping a friend to plan her wedding. We've gotten our dresses and shoes and I'm doing the invitations. I'm also doing the centerpieces and gazebo decorations. It's fun and something I wouldn't mind doing for a living... or at least helping an event planner or something. I think doing weddings would be a great way to keep romance in your life... but I imagine it would be a stressful occupation. Anyway, I'm trying to keep my chin up in the face of so many obstacles in my life.

I have been visiting your blogs dear friends, even though I haven't commented lately. I hope your summer is going wonderfully... It's been soooo hot and humid here...

Friday Haiku...

I'm parched...

(photo source: livedynamite.com)

Prayers grow skyward...
trunk, limb, twig, leaf, flower... then
seeds of zen rain down...
DDD2011

Fill you heart with haiku here:
Haiku my Heart

Tuesday Tea...

I missed last week's tea... but I did get all my pretties into my hutch. Charmaine and I had a great time unpacking and placing... It was like Christmas!  So... as I sit here with my iced blackberry sage tea, I'll show you how it turned out.

Here it is from the other side of the table... Sorry I can't show you the entire hutch... it sits on tapered legs and has 3 drawers under neath.

My grandmother sits proudly on top with a few vintage pieces...

The top shelf holds my McCoy midcentury modern sets an art glass egg and lady's head vases...

my grandmother's silver glazed English pot, souvenir glasses and her cobalt crystal vases... Sorry about the glare... the middle doesn't open and the glass is curved so the glare is unavoidable...

Here are the other McCoy set and lady's head vase... Also throughout the hutch is my mother's Capodimonte porcelain flower collection.

The middle shelf holds various Asian teapots, including my Yixing pots from China and my grandmother's mayonnaise dish. Behind these are my antique dresser trays.  This one my great great aunt painted. Her initials are on the back with the year... S.E.B '93... That would be 1893!

This pot I got on Ebay and then later saw the same pot at a thrift store... before I moved here, Charmaine's friend had bought it for her... so we each have one! More Capodimonte roses... these are candle sticks. This dresser tray was on my grandfather's dresser...

More pots on the middle shelf... my little duck Yixing pot is here, as well as one of my childhood teapots. The painting was done by my late, sweet mother-in-law. It was in my husband's grandparents' house and she gave it to me when they went into the nursing home.

The lower shelf holds some very special stuff.... Here is a very, very delicate bone China tea set. Even the cups have little feet and the fluting on the tops is so pretty... There are no markings on this set, it is obviously hand painted and gold trimmed. It was passed down to my grandmother, who passed it down to me. Her crystal wine glasses are here too.

Here are all the violets! The cigarette case and ash trays, candy dish and coasters were handed down from my grandmother as well... The little round lustre vase is my hubby's and I found the taller one at a thrift store and bought it for him to match the other.

This tea set and fruit compote with saucer was purchased over a number of years from Woolworths by my grandmother. Service for 8 was bought a couple pieces at a time... including dinner, salad, bread and dessert plates, bowls, cups and saucers, fruit compotes and saucers, the tea set, gravy boat, serving bowls and platters... Have I forgotten any??? The labels on the back of these dishes range from "Nippon" to "Made in Occupied Japan" to "Made in Japan." When Charmaine and I had tea and unpacked everything, I used the cup and saucer from this set. Of course... this shelf is rounded out with more Capodimonte flowers... My mother loved them!

I hope you enjoyed your tour of my China hutch! Happy Tea Everyone! Please visit Kimmie to see what everyone else is up to this Tuesday!