Teacup Tuesday

Teacup Tuesday is hosted each week by Martha and Teri.

Please visit to see all the tea parties and teacups on parade!

I think I'm the only woman in America who hasn't read Eat, Pray, Love.

I went to Cost Plus World Bazaar to look at some handmade wrapping paper I read about on one of my Yahoo Groups.

When I walked in the door I found these.

The book, the tea and the tea pot.

Now I ask you.

How was I going to pass on the adorable elephant tea pot?

Me, who loves the zoo, who went to the elephant open house and had her picture taken with a very pregnant elephant.

There was just no way.

So, I picked up the book and the tea and the teapot.

(I also got the handmade wrapping paper.)

I wish we had smell-a-blog abilities.

The tea smells heavenly: Blood Orange Cinnamon Black Tea from The Republic of Tea

"Italy brings us succulent crimson-flashed blood oranges which are praised for their luscious juice.

India brings us smooth black tea leaves which are grown in the beautiful, tranquil hillsides of Southern India.

Indonesia brings us heartwarming cinnamon, known as "sweet wood" for a spicy, fingering finish."

In case you didn't know, Eat, Pray, Love the movie opens in theaters August 13.

We have a girl day planned.

(I'll read the book someday, too!)

Enjoy your tea!

Wishing you well.

This and That

What did you do this weekend?

It was too hot to do much of anything at Twisty Lane except for relaxing,

reading, doing some art, playing with some paint,

and loving on the furbabies.

This is Mr. Dragon's first art piece since his cancer diagnosis.

I'm so happy he is getting back into the swing of things.

The oriole was done from a photograph and is color pencil.

He's working on one now in watercolor.

I've finally returned to the journal, mushing paint around.

My journal is a standard composition book and I use it to try new techniques

and write down any wild hairs (ideas) I might have!

I want to use my photographs in my art work and printed out a photo of a buddha in

black and white (in draft on scrap paper -- the final will be done on photo matte paper and not in draft.)

Then I added part of a photo of our garden kitty to the Buddha --

now known as Karma Kitty.

I think I'm going to add a bird photo or a fish (I have lots of clip art fish).

Then I'll start on the color part -- adding color pencil.

At least, that is the plan!

And, "what might this be?", you ask!

It's three standard envelopes pasted together to make a book.

Really!!!

Here's the link to the instructions on You Tube.

Here it is all folded.

Yes, I think I know how I'm going to decorate.

I started pasting papers on the envelopes and decided I really needed to beef up

the envelopes (for the plans I have) and went back and gessoed all the pages.

Thankfully, I remembered to place freezer paper between the pages and in the pockets so that they didn't stick together.

Practice makes perfect!!!

Wishing you well!

Sunday Morning

Blooming in Musashi's Garden

To forget how to dig the earth

and to tend the soil

is to forget ourselves.

~ M. K. Gandhi

Postcard Friendship Friday

Postcard Friendship Friday is hosted each week by the lovely Beth.

Each week you can see a variety of postcards from the old to the new, the comic to the serious, a true variety. Be sure to visit!

Did you know that today was Wiggle Your Toes Day?

Beth did and posted an appropriate postcard in celebration!

This postcard is from a book of postcards called Gal Pals: Women's friendship and association.
This is another of the Pomegranate Postcard Artbooks.

No wiggling toes, but I love the old shoes and the idea that these good ladies are barefoot.

Church members at a Sunday baptism near Mechanicsville, Maryland, c.1942
Photograph by Marjory Collins
Print and Photographs Division, Library of Congress

"From schoolgirls on monkey bars to grandmas at a fair, from best-friends forever to confidantes at work, this book of postcards presents thirty vintage portraits of everyday women and girls in the company of one another. Women everywhere will recognize their moms, their sisters, their friends, and themselves in these evocative images captured by a variety of photographers, including such renowned masters as Marion Post Wolcott, Dorothea Lange, and Russell Lee - a visual celebration of the pleasures, complexities, and abiding comforts of female friendship."

This collection of 30 vintage images is quickly becoming one of my favorites.

Happy PFF!

Joy to You!

Good Morning!