May 13, 2005 ~ 10:25 am

Wow! It's Friday the 13th!

I made some changes recently to my website. In particular, quite a few changes to my art page, and I've included links to my group, Eccentric Pastiche, as well as a few art supply business links. I will probably add a few more to this list, right now, it includes a couple of sites that I've conducted trades with, that I'm extraordinarily impressed with both their customer service and their products and like my teas, I feel proud to stand behind them.

I have yet another busy day ahead of me, although not as busy as the past few days have been. I've made most of the major overhauls to my website, now there is a little bit of fine tuning to do, as well as work on the tea of the month club.

I'm going to keep it short and sweet today, so that I can really focus on the things I need to get done! Thanks for reading, and keep drinking tea!

~Anne

May 12, 2005 ~ 9:17 am

Good morning everyone!

Wow... it's early! For me it is, anyway... I had a late night last night -- when I'm working on art, the time seems to fly by and before I know it, it's the wee hours of the morning. And when you have a young one... you have to get up when they do! (otherwise, wake up to a house in ruins!)

Oh well, the tea I'm drinking this morning seems to help me shake off the drowsy feeling... I'm drinking LaVert Pear! Yum! I love the fragrance of this tea. It really helps those sleepy eyes pop open and bring a smile on my face!

This morning, in one of my yahoo groups, I found someone asking me what a "tea artist" is. Well, I recently started calling myself a tea artist, and it wasn't actually me who started calling me the tea artist, but someone I correspond with via email (and a very good customer!) who started calling me a tea artist. I think she decided I was a tea artist based on the fact that I am an artist, and also that I blend teas... and I strive to make my teas as visually exciting as they are to taste, and from that, she started calling me a tea artist.

Basically, tea artist is just a fancy title for someone who blends teas! I make my own blends, and even from the blends that I buy already "blended" from my suppliers, I tend to embellish to enhance flavors or appearance. There are very few blends that I get direct from my suppliers that I do not further embellish.

Anyway... I have a lot of orders to fill today! Yay! So, I better get busy on them!!! (enough chit chat!

Thanks for reading along!
~Anne

PS: Oh... for my Rockin' Rooibos Chai fans... It's back in stock! The blend has "mingled" long enough for the right flavor, so those of you that have ordered it while it was on backorder, will be getting your shipments very soon! (Note: The website will read "temporarily out of stock" for a few more days, I have a few more changes to the website before I can publish the changes!)

May 11, 2005 ~ 9:38 am

Good Morning!

This morning, I pulled out an "old friend" - my Cherry Almond Tea! I "found" this tea because I received a customer request to locate a "cherry almond" black tea. She told me that her local tea shop used to carry the Cherry Almond tea that she loved, and then they discontinued it. Another local tea merchant had tried to imitate the flavor by blending cherry teas and almond teas, but the flavor was lacking. I contacted my merchants and found the flavor for her.

I love this tea too! I'm so glad she turned to me to help her find the tea. The flavor has a smooth, silky flavor. The almond flavor is very subtle and adds just a touch of nutty sweetness to the cherry, with just enough of the quality black ceylon tea shining through. When I sip this tea, it makes me think of wrapping myself in satin, it's just so smooth and nice.

Since this is a tea that I've never featured as a tea of the month, I'm thinking that I should do so, probably when the weather is cold once more (the flavors make a better hot tea than an iced, although it is quite palatable iced as well.), perhaps in November.

Yesterday was quite a productive day! I had finally gotten my sample bags in, so I'm busily preparing the orders I have in backlog.

Artistically, I had a great day as well, I didn't finish a lot of projects, but I managed to get myself a little less unorganized. Right now, my art supplies are in our "mud room" on the shelves, in tattered and torn boxes. I'm slowly replacing the cardboard boxes with organizer type bins.

Plus, I managed to get my puzzle pieces set for mailing (I'm in a "puzzle art" group, where we decorate one piece of a puzzle sent out by the host of the puzzle, in the theme they request, and then mail it back to the host, and she puts it together to make a different sort of collage. ) My current puzzle is a Tea puzzle! big surprise? I'd like to hang the finished puzzle in my kitchen, so I can't wait to see what the others come up with.

Anyway, it's a busy morning, with lots to do, so it's time to stop typing and time to get to work!

Thanks for reading along!
~Anne

May 9, 2005 ~ 9:13 am

Good morning everyone!

As I sit here with my tea, (enjoying a cup of English Breakfast this morning), I'm trying to shake off the remnants of my dream last night. I told of this dream in my EccentricPastiche yahoo group too...

My dream is that I visited a relative, and this relative (Name with-held to protect the not-so-innocent), had a "dream" art studio. In the center of the room was the most "pimped out" art table you can imagine! It had everything! It had little drawers and compartments and organizers to keep every gadget, gismo, tool, glean and embellishment that an artist could ever dream of using! It had a place for every thing... it even had a nifty little organizer for fibers (which is the bane of my organization... that and ephemera organization)... It was something that really could only be conceived of in one's dream... because a table like this just simply doesn't exist.

So, in my dream, I'm just in awe of this table. Kind of like a mechanic or car nut might be in awe of a vintage auto in cherry condition. Or maybe the way a sports card fanatic might be in awe of some old, rare card.

So, what does my dream mean? Any ideas? Does it mean that I'm overwhelmed in my feelings of guilt over my lack of organization?

Anyway... I thought I'd share that with you, in case you're interested, if you're not... oh well, too late now, huh?

I have so many things I have to get done today, so I really can't sit here and type very much...

To all, keep creating, and don't forget the tea!

~Anne

May 8, 2005 ~ 10:38 pm

Hello Everyone, and good evening! (And Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!)

It's kind of late for me, I'm not usually typing this late... I'm usually busy at work putting away my art supplies about this time!

You ever have one of those days where it feels like you didn't do anything? I mean, I know I was busy at work on my ATCs today, and also a puzzle piece, but, I just don't feel like I accomplished anything with it! I guess it's because I've got one swap kind of looming over my head, that has been extremely challenging for me and the deadline is approaching quickly. I will have these finished tomorrow... I'm nearly finished with them as it is... I just had hoped to have them finished by now, and I guess that's what's plaguing me.

Today I drank several outstanding teas, among them: my Strawberry Tea, my Potpourri Tea and my Honeybush Vanilla. The Strawberry tea is simply amazing. I used to add just a dash of sugar to this tea, but I've found that it's so much better with honey instead. It really adds to the flavor of the strawberry.

Well, it's time to get off to bed now, thanks for reading along! Have a great week!

~Anne

May 8, 2005 ~ 10:38 pm

Hello Everyone, and good evening! (And Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!)

It's kind of late for me, I'm not usually typing this late... I'm usually busy at work putting away my art supplies about this time!

You ever have one of those days where it feels like you didn't do anything? I mean, I know I was busy at work on my ATCs today, and also a puzzle piece, but, I just don't feel like I accomplished anything with it! I guess it's because I've got one swap kind of looming over my head, that has been extremely challenging for me and the deadline is approaching quickly. I will have these finished tomorrow... I'm nearly finished with them as it is... I just had hoped to have them finished by now, and I guess that's what's plaguing me.

Today I drank several outstanding teas, among them: my Strawberry Tea, my Potpourri Tea and my Honeybush Vanilla. The Strawberry tea is simply amazing. I used to add just a dash of sugar to this tea, but I've found that it's so much better with honey instead. It really adds to the flavor of the strawberry.

Well, it's time to get off to bed now, thanks for reading along! Have a great week!

~Anne

May 8, 2005 ~ 10:38 pm

Hello Everyone, and good evening! (And Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!)

It's kind of late for me, I'm not usually typing this late... I'm usually busy at work putting away my art supplies about this time!

You ever have one of those days where it feels like you didn't do anything? I mean, I know I was busy at work on my ATCs today, and also a puzzle piece, but, I just don't feel like I accomplished anything with it! I guess it's because I've got one swap kind of looming over my head, that has been extremely challenging for me and the deadline is approaching quickly. I will have these finished tomorrow... I'm nearly finished with them as it is... I just had hoped to have them finished by now, and I guess that's what's plaguing me.

Today I drank several outstanding teas, among them: my Strawberry Tea, my Potpourri Tea and my Honeybush Vanilla. The Strawberry tea is simply amazing. I used to add just a dash of sugar to this tea, but I've found that it's so much better with honey instead. It really adds to the flavor of the strawberry.

Well, it's time to get off to bed now, thanks for reading along! Have a great week!

~Anne

May 6, 2005 ~ 11:52 am

Well, here I am... wow, I didn't realize how long it had been since my last post!

As most of you are probably very aware, life has a way of taking hold and distracting you from things!!! I've been busily trying to get myself caught up after my illness, which really seemed to throw me for a loop!

I have a few more orders to get completed, and then I'll be all caught up! Yay!

In the meantime, what kind of teas have you been indulging in lately? This morning, I brewed up a pot of Earl Grey Cream. I love how the vanilla blends so nicely with the bergamot, which can be a bit overpowering in traditional Earl Grey (at least, for my palate!)

I've been making some changes (slowly) to my website as well. I'm going to be changing the Tea of the Month Club around a bit, and also adding a more "artsy" look to the page.

Artwise, I've not been too busy, because my muse has been asleep at the helm! Waking her can prove to be difficult at times! I am hosting a couple of ATC swaps... a Map swap for the Outside the Margins group (run by Aileen, of Outside the Margins) I am a member of, and the second is a Time for Tea swap, for the B-Muse group (run by Vickie, of B-Muse) . The artwork that has been filtering in from both these swaps has been phenomenal! I love it all!

And of course, there have been developments with my own group, Eccentric Pastiche. I've gotten new members! Woo Hoo! :) This group is in the very early development stages, but if you join now... you'll be the "proud" recipient of a copy of the mini-trader 'zine-ette which will precede the full sized 'zine-ette that I'm working on.

Anyway, that's all for now, thanks for reading! Hopefully, I'll be able to contribute more to my blog more often!

~Anne