Weekend Sale at Artfire!

Hello Everyone!

Well, many of the merchants at Artfire are conducting a weekend sale, so I thought I'd join in...

Now through Sunday, January 11th at midnight, receive a FREE box of T-Sacs (100 count, size 2, just right for a cup of tea!) with every 2 tins of tea purchased. On my website, I sold the T-Sacs for $6.00, and if you go and look online, I think you'll probably find that this size is sold for a little more in most places. They are disposable and unbleached, and work perfectly for loose leaf tea.


To receive your free T-Sacs (I won't even charge additional shipping for your T-Sacs, they're absolutely free!), just place an order at my artfire store for 2 or more tins of tea. This offer is limited to stock on hand, so please hurry for your *free* T-Sacs!

~Anne

A new place...

Hello Everyone!

Well, it's been a while, hasn't it?

First of all, I want to update you all on the cupcake contest... we have selected a winner! Before I announce the winner and reveal the recipe here, I want to first get in touch with the winner to let her know... so please be patient until I hear back from her.

Thank you to everyone who submitted recipes!

Second, I have found a new "home" for LiberTEAS! Some of you may have noticed that when you type in www dot liber-teas dot com that you are lead to my etsy store (and for a few more hours, you will continue to be, until the changes update in the server's system), but, I have found a new place to host my teas.

Artfire!

I will still keep a few teas at etsy for the time being, until I see how well I do at Artfire. I wanted a store that could be accessed by my brand name LiberTEAS... rather than use my EccentricPastiche store on etsy, which was intended to be the store where you could buy my artwork and 'zines.

The artfire store will be dedicated only to my teas.

MORE TEA NEWS: I know that some of you have been eagerly awaiting the return of my caramel tea. Well, the wait is nearly over, as the tea is nearly finished with it's blending time. (It does take a little bit of time for the flavors to mingle amongst the tea leaves and create the perfect brewed tea) I expect to have my Caramel tea at my artfire store by the end of this month!

Also... I don't have all my teas posted in either store, there are still a few favorites that are not listed... including Chocolate Rose Romance and Breakfast Blend. These haven't been "shelved" -- so to speak -- I just haven't been able to get photos taken of them so that I could list them properly. However, if you're craving one of my classic flavors... just email me and I'll be happy to set you up!

~Anne

Cupcake Recipe Contest!

Hello Everyone!

I have never been much of a baker. My grandmother was an amazing baker, her pies were so amazing that I've pretty much given up even trying to make pies because they never turn out the way gramma used to bake. And, for the most part, unless I'm really in the mood, or it's the holiday season, I don't really enjoy baking cookies, I find it tremendously tedious.

I used to enjoy making cakes, but, somewhere along the way, I fell out of love with it, perhaps because I could never make them look nearly as lovely as I would like to... I have never felt at ease with a pastry bag in my hands, fumbling nervously with trying to make a simple rosette.

But, I love cupcakes! Even though I still do not feel at ease with the pastry bag, I can use it to pipe a simple spiral of frosting onto the top of a cupcake and make it look nice. Of course, they aren't so fancy that you'd want to put them on the cover of Martha Stewart's magazine or anything, but, they're still attractive enough to entice someone to want to eat one!

Besides, what a great treat to enjoy with a cup of tea?

(Photo Credit: Courtney, from HeyLadyCards. You can purchase her beautiful Cupcake Bath Bombs here.)

A few months ago, I purchased The Cupcake Deck by Elinor Klivans. I've tried a few recipes in the deck, and I've been fairly pleased with the outcome, however, I found the cupcakes to be a bit "lighter" than I wanted them to be. Sure, the light texture does have it's positive aspects, but, I found them to be a bit "too light" in texture to support the creaminess of my buttercream frosting...

Which brings me to the subject of frosting... it took me quite a while to perfect my recipe for buttercream frosting. I wanted something delicious, smooth, creamy, but not too sweet... I still suffer from nightmarish memories of buttercream frostings that was sickeningly sweet, slathered onto a store-bought birthday cake, purchased as an afterthought when my birthday had been forgotten. And the canned frostings... should stay in the can! yuck!

So, after many, many attempts with different buttercream frostings, I learned that it's not only the recipe but the way you process the frosting that is important when making buttercream.


(Photo Credit: Maureen, from ARoseWithoutAThorn. You can purchase these lovely faux cupcakes here.)

So... I'm happy with my buttercream, and I don't want to change that recipe, so now what I need is a cupcake that can stand on it's own with my frosting and not taste like a fluffy cloud of air sitting under my delightful buttercream.

And, since I'm not much of a baker, I am not sure exactly how I would go about adjusting a recipe to create such a masterpiece of a cupcake...

And, well, I have tried mixes. And I DO like cake baked from a mix. However, I prefer to know what I'm putting in to the foods I eat, and I'd really like to find just the right "from scratch" recipe.

So, I'm turning to you, my dear readers, to help me in my endeavor to find the perfect cupcake recipe (or recipes!) -- And the winner of this contest will win a tea time gift from me, complete with a brand new chatsford teapot and 6 tea sampler tins, filled with your choice of teas from my collection.

To enter:

1. Get your recipe! The recipe can be any flavor -- vanilla, chocolate... or anything in between... Just please make sure that the ingredients are easily obtainable. And, since I am a tea fan, it's better if you don't have coffee as one of the ingredients. However, if you have a recipe that uses tea as one of the ingredients... you get extra bonus points!

2. Email it to me by December 10. (Click on the link to get to my email address)

I will be making these recipes and they will be tested by a panel of experts that I assembled myself (my two daughters and myself). The recipe that we like the best will win the tea time gift!

(Photo credit: Roz from RozArt. You can purchase this, or another of her lovely paintings, here.)

Now, there may be more than 1 winner! For example, if we happen to like a vanilla recipe and a chocolate recipe equally... then, I'll award two tea time gifts!

SPECIAL BONUS POINTS: Special bonus points will be awarded for cupcake recipes possessing one of the following qualities:

1. Tea in the recipe. This pretty much speaks for itself. However, one qualifying point, no INSTANT tea... that stuff is just really gross.

2. Butter Pecan recipe. I LOVE the Betty Crocker Butter Pecan cake mix. I add ripe, mashed banana to this recipe and make amazing banana cupcakes that my oldest daughter adores.

OK... so that's it. I don't know when the official winner(s) of this contest will be announced, because it really depends upon how many entries we receive... because, we can't bake all the cupcakes at once, because I'm sure that if I did that, my adoration of cupcakes would quickly fade into... something else.

But, I will keep you updated!!!

So, please... send in your recipes! I look forward to trying your best!

~Anne

What have you been up to?

Hello Everyone!

I've been incredibly busy. Yeah, I know, I say that a lot! It seems like I've been averaging about a journal entry per month, and really, it doesn't seem like it's been that few for me, it seems like I only just charted my last entry a week ago! Time has a way of slipping past you when you're busy doing... whatever it is that I've been doing!

I'm still doing quite a bit of unpacking... well, actually, that's not completely true... I guess it's more accurate to say that I've still quite a bit to do... but I've not spent a lot of time doing it. *sigh* I do need to get busy on it though, in the coming months, it's going to be entirely too cold to be out in the garage doing much of anything, and I can't hardly justify purchasing a space heater for the garage if one can hardly navigate amongst the rubble! So, it's time to get busy.

We also want to plant our fall bulbs for spring blooming! Now that we actually have a yard -- it will be so nice to be able to have some beauty to admire in the garden. It will also be a great opportunity for me to spend some time with my youngest, who wants to help plant her favorite flowers - tulips.

In the midst of all this contemplation of what I should be doing... I have actually been working on tea too... I am still working out the kinks with my Caramel tea. I think I may have found the right combination, but I must wait... I think that's the hardest part of the art of tea flavoring and blending, is the waiting after I've flavored or blended a tea, to see if the flavors are harmonious. It's very important to allow those flavors to mingle and marry... what tastes good now may not be good in three weeks. So, it's an art that requires a great deal of patience.

And I've been sampling too... I'm currently looking for the right Darjeeling and I've also been sampling Oolongs as well. I have been very fond of my Formosa Choicest, however, my supplier has granted me a nice supply of Oolongs to sample and I might just find another I favor. We shall see.

So, that's what I've been up to.

~Anne

What's in your cup today?

Hello, Everyone!

Well, it looks as though we'll be enjoying some warm weather for the next week or so, or so the weatherman tells us. I'm not sure if I'm pleased or not with that forecast, as I would love to be enjoying the cooler fall weather that I look forward to every year. I love to be able to cozy up to a hot cup of tea. Sure, I love my iced tea, and I've been enjoying quite a bit of iced tea this summer, but, there's nothing quite as satisfying to me as a cup of hot tea.

However, every morning, I do get myself a pot of hot tea... this morning, I enjoyed a pot of my yerba mate blend, Almond Mocha Mate. As I've mentioned before, I can't drink my favorite mocha drinks anymore, because my stomach just can't handle it.

That's why I do love this Mate blend. The Roasted Yerba Mate is somewhat reminiscent of coffee, and the addition of chocolate and almond flavoring brings it to life, and it tastes so much like my favorite mocha drink I used to order every morning... but without the ill after effects.

~Anne

Tea Treat Review!

Hello Everyone!

Well, I guess it's no secret that I love my tea, and sometimes it's nice to have a little something to go with my tea. Whenever I'm in a tea shop, I eventually check out the tea time treats they offer, and I usually pick something new to try. You never know when you just might stumble upon a favorite!

Recently, I visited a tea bar in Portland, and I found "Choclatea" bars from the chocolate chefs at smilechocolatiers.com. They blend fine chocolate with finely ground tea to create a unique kind of candy bar. They're a bit pricy ($5.95 for a bar!) but, as I was conducting important research, I felt that I should bite the bullet and fork out the 6 bucks for a bar. The tea bar featured several different flavors, but the one that appealed to me most was the Wild Raspberry Tea Milk Chocolate Bar.

Of course, I had to select just the right tea to sip along with my chocolate. Today, I decided to brew my Masterpiece Chai.

The chocolate is very smooth, and the raspberry tea flavor is subtle at first. Then you notice the tangy wild raspberry flavor dancing upon your palette. Very nice, indeed. And while the bar may seem a bit costly, the flavor is very rich, so you don't feel so bad about sharing the bar with a friend or two while sipping tea together. (Or maybe saving a bit for yourself for later!)

As I mentioned, Choclatea bars come in several different flavors. I'm now eager to try a couple of the other intriguing offerings, such as Pomegranate White Tea Very Dark Chocolate, and Coconut Greet Tea Dark Chocolate. And while white chocolate is not my favorite, I might even be enticed to try the Pistachio White Tea White Chocolate. Just for experimentation purposes, you understand!

So, if you happen across Choclatea Bars, I highly recommend picking up a bar for your next sweet tooth craving! If you like tea and you like chocolate... well, you're just going to LOVE these chocolate bars!

~Anne

I'm Back!

Hello everyone!

Well, as some of you probably already know, I've been in the process of moving... I'm not quite finished yet, still have a lot of unpacking and organizing to do (primarily in my garage aka the art studio!) but we are in the new house, out of the old place... it's just a matter of getting everything settled and finding a place for everything. It's a lot of work, and it's a big pain to have to move, but despite that, I'm glad we did, we really have needed a larger space for a long time now. The new house is so nice, and it's just perfect for us.

On to some new tea news!

Momoko Melon: IT'S BACK IN STOCK! This is one of my all time summer teas, it tastes amazing on ice! (It's also delicious served hot) So refreshing!

Sweet Caramel O'Mine: It's coming back! But only for a limited time! Here's the story: my supplier of flavorings discontinued it's caramel flavoring, however, they did have one bottle left of it, and because I had been bugging them they sent it to me. (Squeaky wheel gets the grease?) Anyway... I have one bottle of my special caramel flavoring left, so once it's gone, I don't know if I'll be able to get more!

So, what I'm trying to say, is keep an eye out, in the next couple of weeks, my first batch will be ready... so be sure to get some while you can! This is absolutely my very best seller... so it will sell out fast!

Creamy Irish Breakfast Blend: I have only a small amount of this left. I don't think I will be blending another batch for St. Patrick's day for 2009, so grab what's left while you can! (Oh, and it's clearance priced too!)

My Etsy Store: I haven't loaded any teas up there recently, as some of you may have noticed... well, that's because, as I said before, I've been moving... and the move has taken me from doing the things I need to get done! There are some teas there now... and within the next month, I plan to start uploading more teas... Once I get all my teas loaded to my etsy store, I will have my website automatically forward traffic to the etsy store... so when you head on over to my store sometime in the distant future, you'll be redirected to my etsy store. This change is very much for the better, it will help me streamline everything, and keep better track of my inventory.

That's about all from me for now... I need to make a newsletter soon!

~Anne

Website Changes

Hello Everyone!

I am in the process of changing my website over to be redirected to my etsy store. Currently, I have 2 teas available in my etsy store, my Potpourri Tea, and my new Breakfast in Bed Tea... both in tins. I will be hopefully adding the rest of my teas later this week. By the time I'm finished, you'll be able to buy your favorite LiberTEAS tea in reusable tins or in the refill bags.

Potpourri Tea

Breakfast in Bed Tea

In the meantime, if you experience any problems with the website and would like to place an order of a tea that is not yet available on etsy, please email me and I'll be happy to take your order via email.

Thanks to everyone for your support! I appreciate it!

~Anne

New Teas!

Hello Everyone:

Well, for a couple of months now, I've been telling you about my two new teas that I've added to my collection... and now, they're both finally available for sale!

The first tea is Green Apple Tea. I really love this tea, and it's delicious served both hot and iced! When I was younger, I remember a soda called "Aspen" -- it was an apple flavored soda, crisp and refreshing. I don't drink a lot of soda (usually only when I'm out to eat, as I usually do not care for the teas served at restaurants), but, if this soda was still available, I'd drink it. It was uncommonly delicious, and unlike anything that's out on the market today.

While my tea is quite obviously not a soda pop, the light, crisp flavor of green apples reminds me a lot of that flavor I miss so much from my childhood. It's also 100% organic! An absolute MUST try tea!

The second tea is Breakfast in Bed Tea, so named because it's a tea you want to linger over, just like a delightful, relaxing breakfast served to you in bed. It has a luxurious flavor and an amazing fragrance. Delicate Rose scented tea, with a creamy vanilla flavor and a subtle touch of cinnamon! This tea was inspired by a good friend and fellow tea lover.

~Anne

I'm the Mad Hatter!

What Alice in Wonderland Character Are You?

You are The Mad Hatter

One thing is for sure- you're as mad as a hatter. You have an obsession with time and if tea time were to ever cease, you would probably be even more confused.
Take this quiz!








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But then, the result of this quiz should come as no surprise!

Just a quick update...

Green Apple Tea will be arriving later this week... please watch this blog for updates, or better yet, you can click here to subscribe to my newsletter!

Also... my new Rose/Vanilla/Cinnamon tea flavor will be ready for sale soon! This flavor is OH SO YUMMY!

~Anne

Spring is in the Air!

And... whoa... can my sinuses and eyes feel it! UGH! This is absolutely my least favorite time of year. I know a lot of people love Spring -- as the world re-awakens after it's cold winter's rest... the vibrant colors of the daffodils and crocus begin to bloom and the beauty of the cherry blossoms delight... I love these things too, don't get me wrong. As an artist, how could one not just love the bustling colors of spring?

But, as an allergy sufferer, I detest the coming of Spring! The itchy, watery eyes, the coughing, sneezing and the runny nose! The stuffy sinuses that constantly drain yet never seem to be clear! The effects of the over-the-counter options are so undesirable too. Of course, yes, the products WORK to clear up the symptoms, but, they leave behind side effects of their own -- one leaving me feeling so groggy that I can't function, and the other leaving me so dry that I can drink a gallon of water and not begin to quench the desert that my tongue and throat becomes.

Fortunately, I do have Allergi-TEA! It works wonders! I love that after I've consumed a cup (or, in my case, mug!) my symptoms begin to disappear. During this time of year, I drink at least 1 pot of Allergi-TEA each day... my one big problem is that I NEED that pot first thing in the morning... and that's the hardest time for me... my sinuses have made my head feel like it's a bowling ball set upon my shoulders -- it feels so heavy and clumsy that I just don't feel like making tea! ha!

Ah well, I do hope that this season passes by as quickly as it seems the Fall (my favorite season!) did last year... it seems like I hardly had time to enjoy the brilliant colors of Autumn before the leaves fell and winter took hold! Although, I must admit, I do love winter too. Especially here in the Pacific Northwest, where the skies are multiple shades of gray and the bare branches of the trees are dancing among the dark clouds... it's so breathtaking.

And... of course, it is so comforting to curl up with that hot mug of tea!!!

Happy sipping!
~Anne

A New Rose Tea Blend!

Hello Everyone:

a good friend of mine offered a new flavor idea to try... so I did. She wanted a rose tea with a touch of vanilla and cinnamon. As I'm not particularly fond of most rose teas -- I find them to be too floral for my taste -- I wasn't too positive about the outcome, but I still decided to give it a try.

Well, I'm happy to say that the flavor combination definitely works! The rose is prominent, but, not overpowering. The vanilla softens the sharp rose flavor, and the cinnamon is a subtle undertone. The fragrance of this tea is outstanding, and the flavor is divine! A very delightful tea.

Since my friend suggested the flavor, I'm going to wait until she tries it and names it, before I go ahead and start blending it in large quantities. But, I'm excited about this new flavor!

I am also expecting to have my new green apple flavor available soon, as well as the Sikkim tea! I hope that you enjoy these teas as much as I do! These will be delightful additions to my collection for the coming of spring! Both should make delightful teas to serve hot on those crisp spring mornings, and iced on those warmer spring afternoons!

Now, for a bit of bad news... I've decided to scrap the warm cookie flavor. I just can't seem to get the right balance of flavors that I have envisioned. I am still working on my winter wonderland flavor... and hopefully that will be ready for next winter!

Well, that's all for now.
~Anne

Tea Excitement!

Hello Everyone!

Well, I have some exciting news to share...

A few weeks ago, I received a sample from one of my vendors, and I tried it a few days ago. It's amazing! Usually, when I try a new flavor from one of my vendors, I experiment a little bit with it, try to see how I might improve upon it, see if I can "alter" the flavor a bit -- jazz it up, and make it uniquely "mine."

But not this time. This is one of only a handful of times that I've sampled a tea and have found it to be PERFECT just the way it is. The first time I experienced this sensation was when I first sampled Formosa Oolong - Choicest... it just tasted remarkable! Of course, since then, I've experimented a little with it, and found that the natural peach-like flavor of the Oolong pairs well with summer melon flavors, and hence, my Momoko Melon Oolong was born!

Most of the time though, I'll try something, and look for ways to improve upon it... and in doing so I'll create a blend of tea that is uniquely my own. I think that this is what differentiates me from many other tea vendors... I mean, if I'm selling all "stock" teas, and nothing uniquely my own, what's the point? Most tea vendors have their own retail business as well as wholesale, so why try to compete with that?

This is how my unique tea blends, such as Liberteas Breakfast Blend and Masterpiece Chai came to be. I'm very proud of these blends, as well as my other unique blends, because they're truly unique, my own recipes, and something that nobody else can duplicate.

However, every once in a while, a tea comes in to my radar... like my Formosa Oolong, that I just fall in love with and I must add to my collection! Green Apple is just such a tea! This is a flavored green tea blend... 100% organic, that is absolutely amazing! This tea will come available in my store sometime in March -- just in time for St. Patrick's day, I should think!

In addition, I will be adding my Creamy Irish Breakfast blend back to my collection -- it's nearly ready to be added to my shelves! Watch for it in another week or two!

I am so excited about these two teas -- one, making it's annual, seasonal return, and the other, making it's grand debut to my collection!

~Anne

January 31, 2008

Good afternoon, and I hope that this new year has been treating everyone quite well!

It's been a while since I've updated my blog on my tea happenings, so I thought it was high time I did so!

What I've been blending:

I have a new batch of my Almond Mocha Mate that will be ready to roll in about a week. I'm looking forward to this batch, because I've missed my mocha flavored fix! As much as I do adore tea, sometimes, I want something with the edge and bite that coffee can deliver, but, unfortunately, coffee and coffee products (like mochas) just do not agree with me! My Almond Mocha Mate is the perfect answer! I get all the flavor and enjoyment that I miss from my favorite mocha flavor from the local coffeehouse, but none of the disagreeable ill-after-effects. I can have my cake and eat it too!

My Red Velvet Tisane should be ready around February 11. This blend combines the flavors of pear and blood oranges to create a sweet, invigorating beverage! I just love it!

Do you suffer from seasonal allergy symptoms, but hate to take the OTC medications that leave you feeling groggy and just... out of it? I developed my Allergi-TEA for people like me, who wanted something to help alleviate those symptoms but didn't leave me feeling half asleep all day! My newest batch will be in stock in about a week.

Other happenings: I have 2 chatsford teapots (6 cup size) available! I will be posting them to the website soon...

That's about it!
~Anne

Be good to your tea kettle...

And with a little luck, it will reward you.

Don't ever attempt to heat milk in your electric tea kettle. (Don't ask me how I know this, just rest assured, I know...)

*sigh*

I'm finally getting myself caught up after the artisan fair from last weekend. Preparing for this and my tea for soap trade with Rebecca pretty much wiped my inventory out of teas... so I had to do a bit more blending!

My Earl Grey Creme IS back, and on sale!

My Starry Night is BACK too!

~Anne

The Return of T-Sacs and Earl Grey!

Happy Autumn, everyone! To be truthful, it's beginning to feel a bit more like Winter than Autumn here in the Pacific Northwest... we've been experiencing some rather chilly weather indeed! Most of the leaves have fallen, although there are a few trees till holding on to their lovely Autumn display for a bit longer... and they're still quite breathtaking!


I do love the "nude" winter look of most trees too, I must admit. I do love to see the line, the curve, the movement of the branches... it's very inspiring to me artistically.


I recently got more T-Sacs in stock! I know that one or two customers were asking about them, I'm going to have to review my archived emails to see who so that I can notify you!


Earl Grey Creme tea will be back in stock within 10 days too!

On a more downbeat note, I've had to take the 3 mini-tin samplers off the website for the time being... Not only will I be offering my sampler tins along side my full size tins at the Artisan's Fair in December, but I am also sending a large quantity of full sampler tins to Rebecca of Rebecca's Soap Delicatessen to offer at her own similar type craft fair. We traded equal amounts of tea to soap... so I'll be selling some of her delicious smelling soaps, and she'll be selling some of my delicious teas! It's a very wonderful arrangement, one I'm very excited about!

But not to worry, sampler fans, I will have the 3 tin sampler back up after the holiday season, if not before! I just need as many tins as I can get my hands on at this point!

Special Requests? Office Gift Giving? I am doing a couple of special requests from customers who want to give their co-workers the gift of tea this Holiday season. I put together little samplers -- like the samples you get with every order -- in a little package, and it makes a wonderful little gift. Pair it with a tea mug from the dollar store and you have a great gift that will remind them of you throughout the year!

Interested? Just email me at anneliberteas@yahoo.com and I'll work with you to put together something that will knock their socks off!

The Winter Wonderland tea may be put on haitus for the time being, as I mentioned before. I just can't get the flavor I was hoping for with it... so I'm going to need to work on the recipes a bit more. I did, however, get some pleasing ideas for an Autumn Harvest tea... which with a bit more tweaking of the recipe, I may just have a seasonal offering for Autumn next year!

So, that's all for now. Thanks for reading along! For those of you who catch my newsletter, I'll be posting one within the next day or so with some intriguing offers!

~Anne

Well........

After testing the first batches of my Winter Wonderland blend, I am not completely happy with either outcomes... so, sadly these will probably not be ready in time for the tea of the month for December, but possibly it will be ready for January's tea...

It's a bit of a disappointment, really, because I had hoped to have the blend ready for the Homecoming Celebration in December, as I will be hosting a table at the artisan's fair. But, oh well, I suppose I will just have to be content to serve the Breakfast Blend and the Candy Shoppe at my table...

I will also be featuring soaps from Rebecca's Soap Delicatessen at my table. I received the box of soaps in the mail yesterday, and let me tell you, if you haven't been to Rebecca's website yet, you should make your way there NOW and try some of her delicious smelling soaps. I strongly recommend the Spiced Cider Soap -- this one reminds me of those cold, wintery nights when I was a kid, and gramma would make a hot, steamy cup of apple cider. Yummy!

I also recommend the Spiced Cranberry Soap & the Peppermint Cocoa Soap. Both of these smell oh soooooo good too! I don't think I could select just one favorite!

In addition, I will have some lovely teapot cozies to sell, and some altered domino ornaments that I've been making. Let's hope we have a successful trip to the artisan's fair!

~Anne

it's been a while!

Well, I'm sorry about that... I have neglected my tea journal once again!

I've been working on several new blends... well, one of them is not so new... It's one that I had been working on for a while a year or so ago, but, I shelved it as I wasn't getting quite the flavor I was looking for... so I thought I'd try again.

That flavor is what I will probably call "fresh cookies" or "warm cookies" ~ a tribute, so to speak, to my gramma... or more specifically, my gramma's kitchen. There are few flavors and scents more comforting than the smell of cookies baking in the oven... nothing transports me back to being a young girl, helping my gramma in the kitchen, than the fragrance of cookies, freshly baked! This blend will probably not be done until around February, because, I have another tea priority at the moment, and that is...

My Winter Wonderland blend. I have a couple of different recipes "brewing" as we speak, and in about a week, I will be sampling them both and seeing which I like best (well, I'm hopeful that I will like at least one!) and it will be my special wintery flavor that I blend only one time a year. I wanted something that was very reminiscent of those flavors that remind one of the holiday season -- cinnamon spice, orange, vanilla, and possibly cranberry. We shall see how the recipes work out... more on that when it's ready for production!

Anyways, so that's what I've been up to. I need to get busy now... and get my daughter off to school! Thanks for reading along!

~Anne

What's new at Liber-TEAS?

Hi Everyone: It's been a while since I've posted an update here, and there have been some changes!

First, my Masterpiece Chai is back in stock! And NOBODY is happier about that than I! I have missed my delightfully spicy Chai tea! I love chai lattes! And it's been quite enjoyable served iced as well as hot!

Second, I finally am offering my tea of the month club memberships once again! I'm so glad that I can offer these again, they've been very popular, and even while I wasn't offering them, I kept my existing memberships active... and have developed quite a following with it!

Speaking of tea of the month, my tea of the month for August is La Vert Pear! My batch of La Vert Pear isn't yet ready for shipment, but you can pre-order it now. It will be ready for shipping just after August 20th! Yum! This is one of my very favorite teas to serve as an iced tea. The flavor profile is absolutely refreshing and stimulating for those hot, lazy days of summer!

Well, that's all for now, thanks for checking in on me!

~Anne

Iced Tea Time!

I have been enjoying a lot of iced tea lately. I still love my hot tea, of course, but, when it gets warmer in the afternoon, the iced tea sure is refreshing! I've been playing a lot with the flavors of my iced teas... in other words, I've been more bold in what I'm willing to try iced! Before, I wouldn't have dared to use my chai teas or my breakfast blends in my iced teas, but, I'm getting more daring!

It kind of happened by 'chance' -- I had made a pot of breakfast blend for my morning hot tea. And I only drank one cup from my 2 cup pot (well, actually, it's a 4 cup pot, but I use larger MUGS for my hot tea most of the time, and my large mug can accomodate the same amount of tea as my smaller tea cups), and rather than wasting my now cold, brewed tea, since I was making a new batch of iced tea, I decided to just add that tea in to my tea pitcher.

And... since I had only brewed those tea leaves once, I decided to go ahead and brew them a second time, and add that freshly brewed tea to the tea pitcher too. Then, I brewed up some fresh strawberry tea (which is now sold out ... sorry!), and filled the same tea pitcher with the strawberry tea. The resulting iced tea was just amazing! The strawberry flavors mingled with the light vanilla flavors from the breakfast blend... lending it a sort of strawberry and cream flavor! So delightful and refreshing!

Since that particular batch was so successful, the next batch I tried was my Masterpiece Chai (I'm blending a new batch and I needed to sample it to make sure I was on the right track!) ... and wow! I love the spicy flavor to the iced tea. I was unsure of this at first, because I LOVE chai, but, my love had been just for the hot tea, blended with milk. But ohhh... the spice in the chai when it's chilled without the milk is very nice too!

So many yummy flavors -- only 2 iced tea pitchers! haha!

~Anne

June 22, 2007

Hello Everyone:

Just a really quick update to let you know what teas are available (and, I guess, more to the point, which ones aren't!)

Red Velvet: (June's tea of the month) I sold out of this delicious tisane this morning, not sure when I'll be restocking it!

Creamy Irish Breakfast Blend: I have one more package of this left! If this is one that you've been wanting, better get yours NOW! I won't be restocking this one until late next February.

Momoko Melon Oolong: This one is IN now, and ready for shipment. It's the PERFECT tea for this hot weather! It's so deliciously refreshing when served over ice! YUM!

Cherry Almond: This is one is so luxuriously smooth and delightful. Only 1 package left!

Formosa Oolong~Choicest: Is still on special... but not for long! I put this on temporary 'clearance' to help clear out some over-stock... and then it will go back to it's regular price.

So that's all of this update for now. Enjoy!

~Anne

June 19, 2007

Hi Everyone! It's been a while since my last post, but now that I've decided to dedicate this blog to my tea blending activities and create a new one for my art, I'm only posting in this one when there are events concerning tea!

And tea blending can take a lot longer than artwork!

But... it's well worth the wait! Case and point: My Momoko Melon Oolong Tea is HERE and ready for shipment now! This is one of my very favorites served iced... and it's rare when I can say this, but, I actually prefer it iced! Most teas are enjoyable served iced, but few are EVEN MORE refreshingly delicious served iced than served hot. My Momoko Melon Oolong is an exception... smooth Oolong flavor blended with the sweetness of summertime melons! So good!

In the Blender:

I'm currently working on my Masterpiece Chai. I expect that it will be ready by mid-July.

Tea of the Month:

June's tea of the month is Red Velvet Tisane! This is a favorite of mine served iced too! Nice and fruity! It's a blend of Pear & Blood Orange ~ sweet and juicy ~ and naturally caffeine free!

July's tea of the month will be my Momoko Melon Oolong.

Other Specials:

I'm having a Clearance Special right now -- 30% off the regular price of the following teas:

Cherry Almond Tea ~ Smooth, Luxurious, and just the right touch of sweetness make this a tea that's difficult to resist! but you better hurry, at the time of writing this, I only have 1 order left!

Creamy Irish Breakfast Blend ~ Creamy Caramel Vanilla Flavor blended with the traditionally bold flavor of Irish Breakfast. It's so good! Hurry -- just 1 left!

Formosa Oolong - Choicest ~ This is the PERFECT Oolong! I have plenty of this available, but only a few packages on sale!

That's all for now! Thanks for reading along!

~Anne

Saturday, April 28

Hello Everyone! I can't believe over a month has passed since my last entry!

Here are some updates on what I've been up to in my world of tea:

Red Velvet: My Red Velvet Tisane is back in stock! I apologize for the delay on this one, I was out of one of my ingredients, and it was on back order from my supplier. This is one of my favorite tisanes to enjoy as an iced beverage, so it's perfect with the warm weather that's approaching!

Potpourri: My Potpourri Green tea is also back in stock! This is an amazing tea -- the flavor is just so delightful! Roses, Jasmine, Laurel & Lemon Myrtle are blended with Gunpowder Green tea. These unique flavors blend together so unexpectedly well! The second pot (reusing the leaves) is even more delicious than the first!

I've sold out of a few teas too:

Sweet Caramel O'Mine: Sadly, I don't know if I will be able to restock this one. The company that carried a component of my blend has discontinued it, so I will need to do some additional research to recreate it. With any luck I will have it back in stock by September or October, just in time for a comforting cup of hot tea!

Masterpiece Chai: This one I will not restock until closer to early fall.

Anyway, that's all my updates for now! I hope you are having a tea-lightful day!

~Anne

Creamy Irish Breakfast back in stock!

Well, my stock of Creamy Irish Breakfast is now replenished! I have enough to get me through St. Patrick's Day... at least, I think I do! This will be the last batch that I blend this year though, so you better hurry to get your supply before it sells out!

Now for some bad news... a spammer got ahold of my email address and sent out a mass mailing... I only know this because I got a TON of "undeliverable" emails and spam filter type emails. I hope that this won't last for long... but if you've emailed me recently or sent me a comment, and I've not responded, please PLEASE please resend it. I apologize for the inconvenience, and I did try to filter through the THOUSANDS of spamish emails to find any comments, order or other things pertaining to the business that I could.

It was not pretty!

Anyway... enough of that!

Tea of the Month club members can expect to see their teas arrive sometime this week, the last of the packages will be heading out today and tomorrow.

Some things to look forward to:

March's tea of the month is, not surprisingly, Creamy Irish Breakfast Blend! This is a bold, delightfully creamy and delicious tea... don't miss it, I blend it only one time a year... and this is it! Once this supply is gone, it's gone for another year!

April's tea of the month will be my all new Allergi-TEA! I suffer from terrible allergy symptoms every spring... so I created this new blend with an herbal specialist, and came up with a tisane that tastes great and works WONDERS with allergy symptoms! No more OTC medications that keep me in a state of suspended grogginess!

Well, that's about all of my updates for now... please check back often and see what's happening in my little tea shop!

Almost caught up with orders!

Well, I'm almost all caught up with orders, so if you are waiting on an order, it should arrive by next week, the end of the week, at the very latest.

For my tea of the month customers, I'm sorry, but I did sell out of the Creamy Irish Breakfast Blend, but fear not! I've blended more, and I will have your teas shipped out to you before St. Patrick's Day so that you can celebrate your St. Patty's Day Breakfast in grand style! This will be my last batch of the Creamy Irish Breakfast blend for this year, so if you haven't ordered yours yet, be sure to get it while it's in stock, after this next batch is gone... it's gone for another year!

I've also had a lot of positive feedback regarding the Jasmine Knots! The flavor is just phenomenal! It's been the tea that I've been pouring from my tea pot for several days now, I just can't get enough!

So, that's about it for now. Expect to see the next newsletter right on target, released on the first of March! Have a great afternoon!

~Anne

February 15, 2007

WOW! I've already nearly sold out of the Creamy Irish Breakfast tea! I can't believe how quickly it's sold! Well, gosh, since it's WAYYY before St. Patty's Day, I guess I'm going to have to blend up another batch! One more batch ~ and THAT will be it for the year!

Anyways... I've got several orders to fill, so I better get busy! :)

~Anne

A Whole New Domain ... and Blog!

Hello Everyone!

Earlier this week, I secured the domain for www.eccentricpastiche.com. I hope to eventually start a basic website where I can talk about 'zines & my art... and sell my 'zines & art. But for now, it's just a forwarding URL which will redirect you to my tea website.

To go along with the new domain, I thought that I would secure the blogspot too. So now, the task at hand is to refocus this blog to make it a tea journal -- less about my art and more about my tea... and the new blog will be about my artistic & 'zine-istic endeavors.

So... let's start talking about tea!

Tomorrow, my creamy Irish Breakfast will be ready to roll!

I missed this tea! It's so good!

I will also soon have Jasmine Knots in stock. I am still considering how I might package these... right now I'm thinking I'll just sell them in 1 ounce portions in my small sampler tins. But, that may change!

Anyway, more updates to come!

February 6, 2007

Hi Everyone:

Yep, well, I'm behind on everything right now! I've not worked on a new newsletter (sorry!)... and I really need to. I guess I'll work on that right after I'm finished posting this journal entry. I do have a few tea updates, but first a few words about what I've been up to... in case anyone's interested.

My postage scale died late last week. This makes it very difficult to send out packages, since I need it to be able to actually prepare my packages for mailing. Oh sure, I suppose I could just take them down to the post office the old fashioned way, but, that really leaves much to be desired from my business end of things, since I then loose the ability to track the packages with simplicity. :( So being the stubborn being that I am, I must have another scale.

Fortunately, I do have another scale.... it's just buried amongst my art supply rubble in my studio (aka the garage). So... that's what I've been up to since Friday... I've been working on organizing my studio space so that I can actually move about in there... also, it's a very necessary thing since we're getting a new dryer in next week and we'll need to wheel it in to the garage... which would be absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to do in it's current state.

Anyways, I should be finished with the art supply portion of the garage by Friday, and then the rest of the garage will be finished by Sunday, so that on Monday we can do the dryer thing.

Now... on to the tea time updates!

I'm currently 'sold out' of my T-Sacs, as some of you probably have noticed. I will be getting them back in next week, probably on Wednesday. Sorry for the delay on those, but since I have a minimum order for the supplier on those, I couldn't order them until I needed other things from them and had room to store those other things.

I will also have my storage tins back in stock at the same time.

IN THE BLENDER:

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I've been blending my Creamy Irish Breakfast Blend. This tea will be available for sale in LIMITED quantities beginning February 19th. I only make one batch of this tea every year, and it goes FAST... so if you're wanting it... you better get it while it's here! Once it's gone, it's gone for a whole year!

I've also finally reached a decision about a Jasmine Green tea. I absolutely adore jasmine green teas, especially the pearl type teas. About a year and a half ago, I discovered a fabulous jasmine green tea that was 'knotted' rather than rolled into tiny balls. The jasmine flavor of this knotted tea is far more pronounced than that of the jasmine pearls. Unfortunately, the tea is also quite a bit more costly than the pearls, which are also costly, so that was definitely something I had to take into consideration when making this decision. So... I've decided to carry the Knotty Jasmine tea to see how it sells... if it sells well, I will make it part of my permanent tea line. I will have the Jasmine Knots available for sale late next week, so watch for them!

also... just a little bulletin for my Tea of the Month Club members... I'll be sending you a freebie gifty of the jasmine knots... it's my belated holiday gift to you! :) I was on back order from my supplier for these knotty little knots!

Anyway, that's all for now... thanks for reading along!
~Anne

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Hi Everyone!

I don't have much of an update... but I did want to add a link to the charms swap since with my chosen template I don't have a links section on my blog page. Please visit the charms swap blog for more delightful eye candy!!! The charms that are being submitted are really incredible!

This past week, I also completed a fatbook page for Vickie from B-Muse. As some of you might be aware, she suffered from a brain aneurysm earlier this year. Her Bmuse yahoo! group hosted a special fat book as a get well gift for Vickie. The first picture is the front of the page, the second, the back.

The most recent news is that Vickie is home now and is getting stronger and stronger by the day. I hope that she enjoys her fatbook... and my wish for her is that she recovers from this stronger and more vibrant than she was before (although for those of you who know her, you know she's already an amazing woman!)

So that's all for now... Thanks for checking in and reading along!

~Anne

January 23, 2007 10:41 pm

Hi Everyone!

Wow! Did it snow! We don't usually get snow up here... rain... sure, but rarely does it snow. I would say we average maybe one snow per year, and usually it's a light snow that remains a day or two at the most. My kids were out of school all week last week, except for Friday, which was a late start day, because of the snow.

The change in the weather also affected me, leaving me with a cold/flu that just hasn't been much fun to contend with. I think I'm on the mend now though, and able to do a lot more than I was just a couple of days ago.

Which leads me to explain the tardiness in some of the tea of the month packages. I was working on preparation of the tea of the month packages just before the snowstorm hit this way. After that, I wasn't able to trek down to the post office. So, my apologies for the delays, please be assured that your packages WILL be mailed later this week.

On to art related news... I have been working on charm-making as of late. Here are a couple pictures of my first set, which I finished several weeks ago, but only just got around to getting them scanned. I only scanned 3 of the 22 that I made, scanning 22 individual charms just didn't seem like fun to me........

These were all done on guitar picks. I had traded for a bunch of guitar picks about a year and a half ago, but never got around to trying my hand at altering them... so I decided to use them as the base for my charms. The flowers are cut out of German paper scrap, and then I used a gloss lacquer to coat it, and then sealed it with acrylic sealant. Here are a couple more......

As you've probably noticed this one's a bit different. Most of the charms look like this second one, with a flower in the background and a butterfly as the main image, with the word "fly". Only two of them did I make with just a rose.

I'm really happy with the way these turned out. It's funny, when I first started doing these, I thought that they wouldn't be 'enough' with just the rose, that they needed the butterfly and word to complete the collage look... but now that they're all finished, I think I actually prefer the simplicity of the rose picks.

Anyway, so now that they've been 'airing' out for a couple of weeks, I think they're ready to head on out to the swap hostess. I am so looking forward to seeing the rest of the charms sent in from this swap!

So that's all for now!

~Anne

Happy New Year!

Hi Everyone!

How's the new year's resolutions going so far? For me, not so great... but better than most years, I suppose. My #1 resolution is to journal more often (written journal as opposed to blogger journal). While I have been keeping the journal... I've not been keeping it daily, which I'd like to do... but I guess it's probably not too realistic for me... I just don't have the attention span, I guess.

Anyway... here are some photos of what inspired me to begin journaling more... I've altered 3 journal covers -- all three for swaps, and I want to use the books! Here's two of them that I altered...

This first one is an Asian inspired collage... the top is the front, the bottom, the back. I didn't scan the inner covers (which I also altered) because I didn't want to possibly break the binding of the books in the scanner...

I used a pond leaf handmade paper as the base cover... I liked how the pond leaf impressions sort of look like fans, adding to the overall Asain theme.

For the second journal cover, I used a kit that I got from Altered Pages. I don't think she sells these particular kits anymore... but I just loved the colors and the gypsy theme of the collage sheets in the kit, and thought they worked well with the composition book cover.

The colors of the papers included in the kit were so bold and beautiful. I painted a base coat onto the covers using a latex paint I found at my local hardware store, and then added the papers which I tore to give some interest. I added the images & gel medium. On top of the images, I used crackle glaze -- I really liked the effect this created. Then I painted a strip of muslin to cover the spine and used copper tape around the edges. I found an old earring that I used on the end of a piece of ribbon (the ribbon came with the kit) and tied the earring on to it like a bead.

I really enjoyed working on the comp books... Next year, I'll have to secure a bunch of these, alter them and give them out as gifts.

Anyway, that's all for now... thanks for reading along!

~Anne

Happy Holidays!

Wow, another holiday! The years seem to come and go so quickly, it doesn't seem that it's been a whole year since we've had to pack and move, since my hubby was in the hospital. Last year this time was a difficult time for us, to be sure! I'm very glad that we aren't experiencing the same hardships we did last year!

One thing I've learned over the past year, actually, I think I've learned it just recently, is that I need to quit spreading myself so thin. I need to not try to do too much at once. This seems to shut the muse down faster than anything else... I never feel so uncreative as when I have too much that I'm committed to get done. I need to really pace myself better. I guess this is a resolution for the new year perhaps?

I end up committing to more than I can accomplish, and then I let everyone down because the muse then shuts down... and it's as if I can hear her laughing at me! She's a cruel cruel muse, to be sure.

The calendar auction went off well! It got up to 61 dollars! I was shocked and so very pleased that we did so well for Robin's cause! The lady who won the auction seems so very happy with her calendar as well. The yahoo group also seems so happy about the calendars... as I said, I couldn't be happier with them! They are simply gorgeous! I'm gushing again!

So, for the next week, I'm going to try to play CATCH UP and get a few things done that I've needed to get done! I'm nearly there, really. It's just that things are so spread out that I feel like I'm wallowing in chaos. Which is kind of weird because I usually thrive in chaos... but, not lately... it's like there is a big part of me that is just saying HEY... you need to get yourself organized a bit. Until you do you just can't create.

*sigh* -- that muse of mine.

December 12, 2006

It's been kind of a dreary beginning to the week... we've had a lot of very cold, very wet weather, and so I've not had a lot of energy to focus on the things I need to get done! Hopefully that will change soon!

Anyway, this is just a short update, I wanted to post the link to Robin's ebay auctions. Here is where you can find many GORGEOUS pieces of art that have been donated for Robin's cause. You can learn more by visiting the link and clicking on the 'me' page.

I hope to get the extra 2007 EccentricPastiche calendar up for auction there soon as well, so if you're interested in that, please visit the auction site often and look for it!

~Anne

December 7, 2006

Hi Everyone! How is the holiday season treating you?

I've been really busy. Mat & I went out shopping during black friday. ACK! so did everyone else in Southern Washington, and they all went to the store we went to! Every year, after we shop during black friday, we say "we're not doing that again next year!" but when black friday rolls around the following year, we're looking at the ads and plotting our shopping strategy!

We did get some pretty nice deals for our daughters though, and I also got a new toaster oven for my polymer clay for just 15 bucks! So, it was worth the trip!

As I said, I've been busy. I've had my yahoo group swaps to swap out -- we've altered ornaments again this year! Plus I've done a few other outside swaps.

THE CALENDARS ARE FINISHED! Woo hoo! The finished product is SO COOL! 8.5 x 11 calendars, printed in full color. Each month features a unique piece of art from a different artist! S0 I've been busy shipping those out too! I'm nearly finished though!

And it looks like we might have one left over! If so, we may be auctioning it. More details to come.

Some Tea Updates:

My all-new-recipe Chocolate Rose Romance will be on the tea cupboard shelf next week! This is the same great tea you all love, but, I've added even more rich, decadent chocolate flavor! I'll post a link to it as soon as I have it ready to sell!

I will also have my special Allergi-TEA! It's not really a tea, as it has no tea leaves in the blend. It's a very special blend of herbs that have been proven (on humans!) to help alleviate the symptoms of allergies. (In other words, it alleviates MY allergy symptoms!) Every spring my allergies begin acting up, around the end of February, and continue throughout the spring and summer. They lighten up a bit during the winter months, but then start again during the early spring.

I don't know about you, but my allergies make me absolutely miserable! I've been working on this recipe for some time, trying to get just the right balance of herbs that also tasted good... and I think I've finally achieved it!

Monday, November 27 -- 8:38 am

Good morning! I'm not much of a morning person...

Last entry, I posted one of my recent cab cards, I have a few more today...

The above altered cab card I call "garden" -- I wasn't sure exactly what direction I was going to take this one, I was mostly just playing with the root/branch stamp I recently obtained, and then I found some great ephemera -- catalog pages from an farming catalog! So, from that, the whole garden thing started to evolve.

This one I call 'king of paisley' -- I LOVE paisley... I love how the colors blended with the joint compound. I don't usually use such bold coloration on my altered cab cards, but I felt like the image was strong enough to handle the colors. I had fun with this one.

This cab card I call 'secrets'. I really like this one a lot.

This morning, I go to office depot to pick up the calendars! yay!

Well, that's all for now, I'll post a few more pictures in my next entry.

Nearly a month since my last post!

Wow! I can hardly believe that a month has passed since my last post! Time really has flown by these past few weeks!

Can you believe it's already time to be decorating for the holiday? I'm almost in a state of shock of how quickly it's here again. This year, my tree will be even better than last year, having hosted yet another series of altered holiday ornament swaps this year, we will have a tree filled with artistic ornies... no frosty colored bulbs! woot!

Well, so I have a few updates... first, my tea of the month club members can expect to see their teas arriving this next week. The tea of the month for November is Orange Grove. I felt it was an appropriate tea to enjoy this time of year, when the oranges are ripe and ready to enjoy!

December is quickly approaching, so I thought I'd clue you in to the December tea... for my tea of the month customers, the tea of the month will be 'customer's choice!' -- so they'll get to choose thier favorite tea. What that means for those of you who aren't a tea of the month customer, during the month of December, you can simply key in the code "teamonth" (no quotation marks, no spaces) in the coupon field and receive a 10% discount off your entire tea order.

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Now, how about some artsy updates? I've been pretty busy artistically, because I do have a lot of different projects on the fire at the moment. First, the calendar pages are all in now, and Monday afternoon, I'll be dropping the pages off at the printers! By Friday, I'll have the calendars in, and begin preparing them for shipment! I can hardly wait to see the finished project!

For those of you who might be scratching your head wondering what the heck I'm talking about... I hosted a calendar project this year, where various members of my yahoo group signed up to create the calendar art for a given month. Each sent me their page, and so our unique calendars will feature art each month from a very talented artist! I'm very excited!

You can see my my page for March in the last blog update (October 21).

Other projects that have kept me busy: My ornament swap. I'm in all 4 groups, making 4 sets of 6 ornaments: 1 set is 'something glass' -- where I have altered ordinary glass bulbs, using paints, embossing powder, mirror chips and resin. The result is pretty cool. I'll snap a pic of them before I mail them out, and post it here soon.

1 set is "something polymer clay", another set is "ATCs" and the final set is "found object". I'm particularly thrilled with the found object ornies, I used the hot beverage sleeve from my local coffee house that's right next to the post office. A few days last month it was really cold on the walk up to the post office, so I decided to stop in and enjoy a chai before heading back home. While the chai is not as good as my own Masterpiece Chai, it's still quite good and it was hot, so it did the job of warming me up after being in the cold, wet weather.

Anyway, using these hot beverage sleeves, I cut them in half, and then fashioned a tussy mussy cone. Then I painted the cone gold, being careful not to distort the existing image on the sleeves. (the sleeves have a coffee cup pattern -- which I prefer to think of as a teacup pattern! -- on them), then I outlined the cup pattern with glaze pens to make the image pop. Adding eyelets to loop a ribbon for hanging, and then I filled the tiny cones with burgundy and green flowers... it's really very nice, almost vintage looking, like something you might see on a victorian tree! Anyway, I'll be sure to snap a picture of them also before I ship them out.

In addition to the ornament swaps, I also host a monthly freestyle ATC swap, which I just finished swapping out. WHEW! As I said, I've been busy! Not to mention the 2 charm swaps that are upcoming, as well as fat book pages that I need to get busy on!

Want a pictorial update? Alrighty. I've also signed up recently for an altered cab card swap. It's a 4/3 swap, and here are the first 1 of the 4 cards...

For this first card, while I was altering it, I kept noticing this man's eyes, as they were very dominate in the photograph. I kept hearing that song "Behind Blue Eyes" and so I gave the man blue eyes and went from there.

Well... that's all for the moment... I need to go get busy! Thanks for reading along!

~Anne

Saturday, October 21: 3:13 pm

Hello Everyone!

Well, it's been a couple of weeks since my last update... I've been very consumed with the Gleaner zine swap. Now that all the packages have been mailed off and out of my studio, I can try to get it organized! Ha! Good luck with that right? I should keep it that way, as sort of a horror display since halloween is coming up!

I've also been working on a little art...... here first are a few ATCs I've worked on for my Monthly Freestyle swap. This time around, I decided to go with an Asian Theme. I call them "Asian Serendipity with Bird 1, 2 & 3" (from left to right). Here they are...

I find that I'm a lot happier with my ATCS when I space the time that I work on them... that is... when I work on them frequently, I find that I'm less inspired to do them... but when I work on them on a more occasional basis, I'm a lot happier with them.

Since these are the first I've done in some time, I'm happy! :)

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Another project I'm involved in is with my group is a calendar project. There are 13 artists involved in this project... Each of the artists is to create 1 piece of artwork (8 x 10.5 inches) for a full sized calendar, and mail it to me. Then I'll be taking the finished pages to Office Depot and having them turn the artwork into a printed, 8.5 x 11 calendar!

The artwork that's been submitted thus far has been astounding! I really am proud to be part of this group!

The page that I made changed a bit from the beginning, as I was originally supposed to do the month of May... but then with a couple of people dropping out and a few people joining in to replace them... I now have the month of March. Rather than doing a collage which is what I would have typically turned to... I decided that I'd do something entirely new to me! Needle felting!

WOW! I had so much fun with this project! I really love needle felting... yes, it's takes a lot of time (a little more than 8 hours!) to do a piece (the reason it took me so long is because I don't have one of those nifty needle handles that hold several needles at once... guess what's on my Christmas list now?)... but I SOOOO loved doing it! Here is my finished piece!

What do you think?

Thanks for reading along!

~Anne

Saturday -- in the wee hours of the morn!

Hello Everyone!

Don't ask what I'm doing up this late. Actually, I'm a night owl, which is really quite inconvenient now, because both of my girls are in school. Fortunately, I'm able to go back to bed after I get them both off.

I've been finishing up the Gleaner zine swap... I should have all the boxes out the door by this time next week! At least, I hope so! I have really loved hosting this swap, but, wow, so many awesome 'zines... and it takes up SO MUCH space... of which I really don't have a lot to spare to begin with.

It's really forced me to become a little more organized, and I'm hoping that those new found habits will carry over into my life after the swap is over and done with! *keeping fingers crossed!*

I've also been working busily on my Paris chunky book pages for a swap with another group. Fortunately I'm not hosting that one!

This past week, I did receive some really amazing mail --besides the amazing zines I've been getting -- I recieved my recipe chunky book that was part of a swap for my tea group, Brunch_Scones_Tea -- this is a group I co-own with a fabulous lady named Valerie. We 'inherited' the group from the group's founder, who decided she needed to break away from a few of her groups a couple of years ago.

Anyway, this group had a recipe chunky book swap, and I recently got my book back, and it's simply gorgeous! I was really very pleasantly surprised, for a group that isn't 'art' based, there are some very talented folks in the group!

And here's a pic of my latest deco spread, for Linda's "It's My Year" deco.

This one was a lot of fun... I really enjoyed working with the vivid psychedelic colors for this one, it was almost like I needed an excuse to break away from my tendency to work with muted, vintage-like colors! Not that I dislike working with those colors either. But it was fun to change it up.

Hmmm... wanna see the cover of my zine for the Gleaner 'zine swap?

The spine is covered with a strip of fabric that I tore. I basically did this to cover up the stitching (and also to ensure it will stay in place!). My stitching isn't the greatest on here, but I guess that should come as no surprise, since I'm hardly a seamstress. I was going to make the cover a color copied cover, but, I decided to save the color for some of the pages inside. (Too expensive to color copy these days! Ack!)

Anyway, the 'zine is basically about... err...um tea! Which... kind of leads me to my tea updates. I don't really have a lot of new news about tea... just kind of a reminder that my tea of the month this month is my Masterpiece Chai. There was a little bit of confusion with that, because I had originally thought I'd do my Caramel tea this month... so... if you're a tea of the month customer and would rather have the caramel, I'll do that too!

In addition, since my Almond Mocha Mate took so long to be made available, I am also extending the special pricing of this tea for the full month of October.

OK... so that will about do it for me this evening... thanks for reading along!

~Anne

Just a quick art update!

Hello Everyone!

I just want to take a minute to post a couple of pictures... I've been working on decos lately (in addition to the 'zines!) and I have one spread to share with you... this spread is from the Merry Mermaid's deco (Betsey's deco). The top is the left side, and the bottom is the right side. The shiny thing in the upper right corner of the top picture is a shell with a mermaid charm... it looks a lot better in person than the scan shows because of the reflection...

This was a really fun deco to work in.

thanks for checking it out!

~Anne

Friday, September 22

Hello Everyone!

Let's start out with a tea update! Well, without further delay, my Breakfast Blend will be ready for shipment on Monday! Sorry for the many delays on this one, but unfortunately, the estate Yunnans I obtain for this blend were on backorder, so I had to wait. . . I'm glad to have it back in stock though... I've missed it! If you've been meaning to get yourself some of this blend, I recommend ordering right away, because it sells out quick!

Secondly, my Almond Mocha Mate is ready for shipment! This is my tea of the month for September. Although it's a little late ... it's well worth the wait! I'm sure you'll agree when you try it!

Next, my Honeybush with Vanilla is back in stock! This is my absolute favorite way to enjoy honeybush, with just a gentle touch of vanilla. It's smooth, slightly sweet, and oh-so-good! Plus, it's so good for you!

Finally, my Shangri-La is back! It was sold out for a brief time, but I'm happy to report that it's back in stock. This is a delicious blend of high quality Assam Black tea & Green teas from China, flavored with exotic tropical flavors! A uniquely delightful flavor that will excite your tastebuds!

And now for my sold-out list... I'm currently sold out of:

Chocolate Rose Romance -- I hope to have this one back in stock by November, as it's one of my favorite cooler weather teas. When it is back in stock, it will be a whole new sensation, as the flavor is even richer and more delicious than before!

Momoko Melon -- This one went fast! I will have it back by early spring to enjoy for iced tea season!

Now, how about an ART update? I haven't been as productive as I'd like to have been over the past few days, I've been working a lot on the 'zines but not much on anything else. I have, however, completed a monthly challenge for a yahoo group in which I'm a member. This month's challenge: we were sent small drawstring bags made of muslin (these are the same bags that I sold at one time -- they're reusable tea bags made from unbleached cotton), and we were to do something with it!

Every member of the group did something a little different with their tiny bag... one person used it as a binding for a journal, one used their bag as an embellishment for an altered bottle... these are just two of the many examples! I love these kinds of challenges because everyone starts out with the same thing but each interprets it in their own way and makes something unique! Here's what I made:






A mini-purse/tote bag. I used alcohol inks, fabric paints, india inks, and a couple of different fibers on the bag, then I strung beads onto a small gauge wire and attached it to the bag.











Here's the other side of the bag:








I have a few projects on the 'to do' list... including several decos that are waiting for my attention, and I need to finish up my altered rolodex cards for this month's swap.

Hey, speaking of yahoo groups, have you joined mine? Here's the link.

It's a fun, art-filled, tea-inspired group with a relaxed atmosphere -- the objective of our group is to help foster and nurture the creative spirit! If you're an artist looking for a home, consider joining us!

Thanks for reading along!
~Anne

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Hello Everyone!

First, let's start with an art update... I've been busy at work on my 'zine... a one-shot, swapper mini-zine for the Gleaner zine swap that's due at the beginning of October, as well as issue #2 (at long last!) A lot of exciting new developments have occurred on that front, but I'm not going to reveal all just yet.

Aside from my 'zine, I've also recently worked on a canvas, this one is a mini-canvas, just 4" x 5", and I call it Tea and Roses.

This one was a lot of fun, and I haven't worked on a canvas in some time, so it really felt good, kind of like an escape!

Now, how about a tea update?

My tea of the month for September is my Almond Mocha Mate. It will be available by Monday, September 25th. Sorry about the delays on this one, they were unavoidable.

My Breakfast blend will also be ready for shipments on that date.

Well, that's all for now, I'll update you more later! Thanks for catching up with me.

~Anne

September 8, 2006

Hello Everyone!

Just a quick update... here's a deco layout I made for Catherine. Her deco theme was "I'm Getting Married in the Morning."

I was really unsure what I was going to do with this theme, I mean, yeah, I had lots of really wonderful vintage & antique lace, and even the beaded rose from some wedding dress fabric, and the neat "cherish" ephemera. But, I didn't really have a 'subject' for the deco... until I found this great image on a greeting card that I had in my stash! I love the 'art deco' style of it, and it played nicely with the embossed texture of the background paper I chose. Although it doesn't show up here, I painted the embossed paper with pink twinkling H20, so it has a nice shimmer to it. The background on the other page is made with tissue paper that I painted with the same twinkling H20 paint. The tissue paper absorbs a lot more of the pigment of the paint, so it gives the paper a whole new texture... something I'm going to have to explore with more!

I hope Catherine likes it!

~Anne

September 4, 2006: 2:43 pm

Hello Everyone!

I hope everyone is doing well. Me... well, I've been caring for a young one who has a touch of the flu... so that hasn't been a lot of fun. As a mother, I always tend to 'over worry' about my little ones, even when they get bigger... but especially when they're young. My youngest (the sick one) is 5 years old, and she has been so very healthy over the past couple of years that it really throws me for a loop when she comes down with something.

Anyway, I think I shall start with an artistic update since most of my 'spare' time has been devoted to some artistic endeavors. I've been working on decos mostly, I've signed up for quite a few, and it would seem that no sooner do I finish a deco that I get a envie in the mail that has another deco in it (or 2 or 3 more decos!)... so I do have a bit of catching up to do as far as decos go... so I've been trying to do that.

Recently, I've sent off 2 decos, one that was called "Land of Make Believe." I really enjoyed working in this deco, because it allowed me to go back in time a little bit and reminisce about my childhood. I was pretty much a loner while growing up -- in the words of my father "I was a very unhappy child." -- I think it had less to do with unhappiness and more about my mood disorders, but, that's a different story all together. But one of the things that my father based that synopsis upon was the fact that I had very few friends growing up. I preferred to be alone... I would spend countless hours playing alone and would grow impatient when I was cast into a situation where I would need to play with someone else. I guess I just felt like nobody really 'got' me... I felt alone, even when I was with others.

I don't have a picture of this deco to show you, because it was in a round accordian style deco, and I felt it would be difficult to scan. Basically, though, I explained a story about one of my favorite childhood past-times -- I pretended to be "mother nature". Remember those old margarine commercials that would say "It's not nice to fool mother nature?" -- well, that was me. However, in my gameplay, I didn't eat margarine, instead, I would play in a woodsy kind of area (when I was staying with my mother at this time, she lived in a very rural community, and it was easy to find a place to be mother nature. Later, when living with my father in an apartment complex, it was more difficult, so I would pretend to be mother nature behind a flowered bush!) and pretend to be mother nature, waving a magic wand and casting spells onto bugs, leaves, trees, whatever. It was silly, but then, most child-play is, isn't it?

The second deco that I recently sent out was a deco that celebrated the artwork of John William Waterhouse. Here is the layout that I worked on:

It was a beautiful and fun little deco made of dark red paper bags. I used dyed and painted napkins to accent the background, which allowed me to utilize the beauty of the burgandy color already present on the bags. Because it was made of a bag, I also made a little tag to slip inside of the bag opening. Here is side one of the tag:

Here is side 2:

The next deco I've worked on is one for me... my Paris deco. I have always been intrigued by the beauty of Paris...

The above pic is the cover of my Paris deco.... below is my spread for the deco...

Now, how about some tea updates? My breakfast blend should be ready to go around the 20th of this month. Same for my tea of the month... this month will be my Yerba Mate Blend called Almond Mocha Mate. I look forward to being able to enjoy both of these again!!!

Thanks for reading along!

~Anne