Sweet Tea

Right after Thanksgiving I stopped by my PO Box and much to my surprise, found a package waiting for me.
Sweet Stacie the Craft Princess had sent me a thank you gift. And a lovely one, it is... So today I'm enjoying a cuppa vanilla bean tea. YUM-O. Super cute card too!
 
You see...a while back Stacie had commented on how much she liked the tissue packs I was making. I decided to make one for her. Of course, in my usual hurry I never took a photo. But she did...here's her post.

I never expected anything back from Stacie but I certainly am appreciative! Thanks Stacie!!

Blogland is such a wonderful place... and speaking of a wonderful place....why don't you stop by Kimmies today and she what my Tea Tuesday friends are all up to today.

Paper Bag Book

I'm in the home stretch from getting all my Holiday fundraiser items ready.

This was my latest project.

Here's a couple of my favorite pages on the inside...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Every day...not just today...I am thankful for the many blessings in my life. Hopefully, I am able to express my gratitude to those around me more often than just this day.

That being said...I wanted to make sure you know...

I am thankful for you, my dear reader... stopping by to see my latest ramblings.  

I am always so appreciative of your comments. 

Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

Picture this...

...my version of a necklace and bracelet organizer. 

I made one for my mom as well. 

Ssshhh...don't tell her...it's a surprise.

Watercolor cartoon

A friend of ours turns 50 today...his party was actually yesterday. We had planned on attending but several circumstances made it impossible. 

The birthday boy is an avid hunter. My hubby came up with the idea and caption then I went for it with 

the drawing and paint. 

Considering my drawing skill or lack there of...

I think it turned out pretty well. 

It's supposed to be kind of cartoon-y in case you were wondering.  :-)

The caption inside the card reads:

"When you're over the hill, catching Z's is easier
than climbing trees"

I'll be mailing this card on Monday.

Snow flakes

This isn't the final placement for my freshly crafted snowflake ornaments...

Our Christmas tree will go up the day after Thanksgiving. It's one of our family traditions.

Soap results

Patty was kind enough to take photos of the freshly unmolded soap we made.  

Here's much anticipated blue marbled soap brick. 

Isn't it pretty!?!?

Next out of the mold was the Oatmeal Shea...

I thought this was a cool photo showing how they slipped it out from the mold.

And now being cut into bars....

Nice of her hubby to lend a hand with the cutting. I'm sure it's not that easy to slice through.

Fun stuff!

Definitely want to try it again soon.

Breakfast tea

...actually coffee. Kimmie is nice that way...she doesn't mind if we join without the proper beverage. Thanks Kimmie!

I have yet another busy Tuesday. Although I feel much better that I have a few things crossed off the list already. 

Tomorrow, I'm sending my oldest off on his 6th grade school trip. They will be gone 3 days and 2 nights.  This is a huge step!! For both of us. :)  

He is super excited. I'm nervous because it's 4 hours away. 

I have the packing list at hand and am checking and rechecking it.

What are you doing today??

Soap Making

So I took a drive today out to my friend Patty's house so she could show me how to make soap. 

I've admired and used her awesome soap for quite a while, 

so when she said she'd show me...

I knew I had to find a time to do it. 

That day was today... 

As I found out later what we made today was cold process soap. It used lye but wasn't cooked on the stove as I thought it would be.

 

She explained that this soap has a "curing time" of about a month which if I'm understanding correctly, hot process soap is ready pretty much

right away.

This photo is showing the mixing process after 

the lye dissolved in water has been added to the oils.  

She is using a deep pot and a stick blender. 

I was really shocked how quickly the saponification

happened.

This was actually the second batch we made but I had forgotten that I had my little pocket camera with me. I was too busy learning.

For this batch, Patty wanted to try out some new pigments she had purchased. We decided on ultramarine blue and titanium white going for a marbled effect. The scent we used was called "rise and shine". It smelled divine!!

Her hubby stepped in to lend an extra hand while filling the mold.

Now I have to wait for a month until I see the finished product!! AHH!! I'm not known for my patience. If it didn't take the better part of an hour to drive to her house, I'd be there on Tuesday when she un-molds it. I'm pretty sure she cuts it at that time as well. Yet another question I'll have to ask.

Bottle cap magnets

After working out and running errands this morning, I spent a good chunk of this afternoon putting together all these bottle cap magnets.  I think I'm a little loopy from the glue...need more ventilation in the basement!

You may remember a long time ago I had them strewn across my work surface.  

I bagged them up and stuck them away...promptly forgetting they existed.

Well, no more. 

They are heading to Texas along with all the other items I've been busy creating plus some oldies but goodies.

I still have a list of things I want to make but am running out of time. 

I hope I remember to take a picture of everything before sending it off.

Christmas tea??

Once again my Christmas cactus is confused 

about the time of year. 

It seems to be more of a Thanksgiving and Easter cactus. 

Sure is pretty regardless of the time of year. 

Won't you stop over at Kimmies to see what my friends are doing today...I'm heading there next.  

And thank you for not noticing the dust on my end table.  

Tea dye

The other day I came across this cool tea tin. Now I'm not a big fan of Jasmine or any floral tea for that matter but I did like the tin. Who knew it would be full of tea. Not wanting to actually drink it I decided to do a little experiment. I had some scraps of muslin so I heated some water and threw the muslin and tea in with it and let it sit all day while I was out and about.

It didn't get as dark as I believe black tea would have but the fabric strips are a nice aged color.

So what did I do with them you ask...  

a little layered fabric hair accessory for my girl.

Light box

I finally made myself a light box for photography!! 

I've seen many tutorials on the web but put it to the back of my to-do list. Well, now it's to-done.  It may not be the prettiest light box but I didn't have to buy a thing.

I have to show you the huge difference that it makes even without adding any additional light from a lamp.

This was a picture I took yesterday on my sofa table. 

I thought the dark wood of the table would really make the vintage ornaments pop. 

And they do...but not in the way I was really looking for.

Now look at this picture taken inside the light box!

What a difference!

I'm definitely going to have much better photos from now on...at least for the small stuff.

Now I just need to figure out where to store it so it doesn't get damaged or dirty but is still very accessible.

Tea with Grandma

I missed tea with Kimmie and friends last week...

I just had to make it for tea today.

About this time of year I start to get very sentimental. I'm sure its because the Holidays are right around the corner and that means family and friends...renewing those connections. 

So...I'm having tea in spirit with my Grandma. I'm using a cup from her china set and thinking about what it would have been like to actually know her.

I've used her image in many pieces of art over the years.  

This one is is quite timely. It is from a set that I sent off for a Somerset Memories challenge. It wasn't one of mine that they actually published but I still really like it!

I think this was the first piece that I used this image on....

I recycled a CD and some denim in this one to make a unique wall hanging or ornament. 

Another fun one....

I used so many techniques on this canvas. It was a great big experiment that turned out pretty well.

Are there times of the year that make you more nostalgic?  Or maybe its a song... a scent... a movie?

I'd love to hear your stories...