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

August 16, 2006; 8:42pm

Hi Everyone!

I've been busy! I've been working on zines mostly, so I don't have a lot to show you, but I did manage to squeeze some time in for a deco!

This deco spread was for Melinda, her deco theme is "mama always said." Since I was never really close to my mother, or my step-mother, I decided to do this spread as a tribute to my beloved Gramma who died in November 2000. I still miss her so much. Here is the spread I did for her:

the right page includes a poem that I wrote called my Gramma. Here it is:

my Gramma

my Gramma always believed in me
even when nobody else did

even when the rest of my family
thought I was a waste

because I didn’t have ambitious
career goals

because I’d find fellowship with a tree
rather than with ‘my own kind’

because I’d rather paint by myself
than be with the family

my Gramma understood this
she understood me
my Gramma loved me
even when I didn’t love myself

a downen
2006

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that's all for now!

~Anne