Teacup Tuesday

Hello everyone,

The wind has shifted and it has started raining. The weatherman tell us that the snow is not far behind.

Great weather to sit inside and celebrate Teacup Tuesday With Martha and Terri.

Today I wanted to show off this cup.

It is a Vintage Regency English Bone China cup and saucer. Made in England. Circa 1950'S from the little I have been able to learn of this company. Like most of my cups, however, I loved the bright floral design and cared very little if it came from a famous China maker.

The cup measures 3" high and the saucer is 5 1/2" in diameter. It's in excellent condition; and was a real auction score for only $1.00.

"There is a great deal of poetry and fine sentiment in a chest of tea." Ralph Waldo Emmerson

"If you are cold tea will warm you- -
If you are heated, it will cool you- -

If you are depressed, it will cheer you- -

If you are excited, it will calm you."
William E. Gladstone

Well I know you have to run and check out all the beautiful teacups. Thanks for stopping by.


Hugs,
Penny

Mancat Monday

Hello evfurryone,
I devoured my share of turkey and giblets and enjoyed visiting with all the grandbeans on Thanksgiving for a little while anyway - did some heavy snoozing on Black Friday; - but after that it has been busy, busy, busy around here. Pellie and Sir Knight have been busy making all kinds of stuff - so of course I have to snoopervise the two of them. Yesterday they were making candles and some stick Christmas trees and they even made some old lady faces out of clay ( I have no idea what these face things are for - they are kind of spooky - heads on wires - so I tried batting one around and got in trouble big time). I will try to keep you informed on what an old lady has to do with Christmas as time goes on and they do more work on these disembodied heads.

They brought home this tree from an auction and set it up here in mine and Pellie's craft room.
I don't mind it too much but as you can see I wasn't too interested in the tree - I just wanted to check out that they didn't lose any of my twisty ties I store in that little basket.

Well the two of them have finished their coffee and are starting to get going on a few projects - so I guess I better cut my post sort and get busy snoopervising.

Purrs,
Genghis

The Christmas Season Has Offically Started.

Hello everyone,

Last Tuesday a girlfriend and I headed to The Quad Cities -Festival of Trees. The tree and room displays were wonderful. I thought I'd share just a few of those trees with you today.


Thanksgiving is just a fond memory for this year and today Black Friday, is the unofficial, Official start of the Christmas season, for Christmas 2010.


Did you start shopping at midnight?


Not me.


This year, after many years of standing in cold lines in the wee hours of the morning,


I decided that I was not going to join in the frenzy and insanity of Black Friday Shopping.


Late in the morning,


I did head over to my local fabric store and picked up some real bargains on fabric -


for items I want to make for Christmas.


That was the extent of my shopping, The rest of the time was spent with Sir Knight -planning projects and sitting in our library watching a movie together.

My kind of day. (stress free)

Hugs,
Penny

Happy Thanksgiving

Hello everyone,

Genghis Khat, Sir Knight and I wish each and everyone of you - a most Blessed and Happy Thanksgiving.

It is such a blessing for us to count all of you among our dearest friends and for this we are very Thankful.


Hugs,
Penny & Sir Knight

Purrs,
Genghis

Wordless Wednesday

Mancat Monday

Hello evffurryone,

We had such a busy weekend here at my house. Trimming all the bushes - raking leaves and in general getting the front of the house ready for the Christmas lights. Today as soon as it drys up a bit - Sir Knight and I will get to work stringing all those pretty lights on the bushes. We try to get it done early, just in case it snows - we don't have to clean all the snow off the bushes to get them on.
Just because they are on the bushes however, does not mean we light them yet. Oh no -
Sir Knight & Pellie don't think they should be lit till two weeks before Christmas, and the two weeks after.

So have I got you wondering what I am trying to check out so stealthily? No easy matter -with all my favorite bushes cut down to the nubs.



There he is. Mr. Gray Squirrel I found up our tree. See him shaking in fear? MOL


Purrs,

Genghis

November ATC Swap

Hello everyone,

I now know that my November Swap partner from Blissful ATC Swap has received her card so I am now able to share the cards with all of you.

This month I had Polly over at Angels in My Garden and Back Porch Graphics . Both are wonderful blogs so make sure you head over and check them out.


Above you see the card I received from Polly. Isn't it beautiful. I love it. Thank you so much Polly.


The theme for this month was no theme, or anything we wanted to do. - Well sometimes what I like other people look at in disbelief and wonder where my mind was - so I was in a real tither over what I would make. Heading over to Polly's blog - I wandered around and dug into her archives - and if my memory serves me - I thought I saw she liked the color purple. (With three granddaughters that are purple fans) - I kind of figured I could do something with that.

I had already picked up my pretty Art Deco fairy picture at the auction and decided she needed to be used in the ATC - so as soon as I scanned it into the computer I I headed over to my Microsoft Digital Image Editor and got to work - altering the colors - till I was able to make it a lovely shade of purple.
Then I sat and stared at it and the card for a while and the flat image really did nothing for me. So I got out my new best friend -my paper clay and my plaque molds from the
early seventies (when I made cute wall hanging for my son's and niece's rooms) and amid the larger plaques there were a few for smaller ones. One in particular looked like it would be perfect for a cameo look. I wasn't too sure if this would work as my last foray into the paper clay I rolled out thin and hand cut out. The three days waiting for the clay to air dry in the mold had me biting my fingernails almost to the quick. Finally it was dry, and popped out of the mold with no trouble. Just a touch of very light sanding and it was good to go; and so nice and light.
Shrinking the picture down to the size of my plaque was the next step and then I decoupaged it on. To give it a pearlized look I used just a bit of Gleams paint over the tiny plaque - when it was dry I thought it really did looked just like a cameo. With that in mind, I then decided it need a filigree border around it; so I quilled one up in no time. and applied all to my randomly painted purple card. A little bit of doily added to help glam it up a bit and then I glittered the whole card for bling. And wala! My card which I Titled: Fantasy in Purple. Here is my card what do you think?


Of course I made a little card to accompany my ATC on its journey and this time to insure that the quilling did not get crushed I made a box to hold it.


I really do enjoy making these ATC's; as they give you a little chance to showcase different skills - yet are not so large you think you'll never finish it. And are also a great way to meet new friend and find new blogs that I might not have found otherwise.

Hugs,
Penny

The Postman came with gifts.

Hello everyone.

This was one of those days where you have to be flexible - because all plans changed in a blink of an eye. Not that I'm complaining mind you. Just saying - it's a good thing I'm flexible.

Sir Knight and I were suppose to go and do a little Christmas shopping today before he headed off to work. - But the jangling phone call that ripped through our still sleep addled brains - made that impossible. Someone on the day shift failed to report to work and dear Sir Knight would have to work a 12 hour shift - of course he was secretly happy to do so. - He hates shopping. But I always make him help when it comes to the Christmas presents; I mean who would carry all the shopping bags if he wasn't there? Of course I tell him it's because I need him there to keep my spending in check. - Like I need that? - Shop till you drop or run out of checks is my motto.

So I have been busy doing the washing and ironing - as well as straightening up the house a bit.
Not nearly as much fun as shopping, but it is satisfying and I shouldn't have to do too much more before Thanksgiving.

So when the postman rang my doorbell to let me know I had a package. I was thrilled - who could it be from? The label said it traveled all the way from Canada just to get to me.
Lucky me.

Yeah!!! It's my winnings from the final Practical Magic giveaway. This one is some super awesome smelling spray called Circle of Brooms. They must be cinnamon brooms because you can definitely pick out that wonderful scent. The gracious hostess who had been giving this enchanting gift away was Michele over at Seraphim Bears. Besides making these great sprays, Michele also makes the cutest teddy bears - Hang on to your heart when you head over to her blog - these guys are so adorable you might just fall in love with one or two, just like I did.


As you can see the Snooperviser had to come up and check things out as I was taking my pictures.

Well back to the old housework grind. Have a great night.

Hugs,
Penny

Wordless Wednesday

America Recycles Day and so does Pellie.

Hello everyone,
I'm sure no one needs to be told that crafters were recycling when recycling wasn't cool. We always strive to reuse, repurpose and restyle just about any thing we can get our hands on.

So I just wanted to take a few minutes and show you a bit of my current and future Christmas crafting plans - using recycled stuff, of course.

The first picture is that little self I told you about a post or so ago. All painted up - with a burgandy wallpapered back and some lovely paper doilies (courtesy of the Graphics Fairy) which I decoupaged on. I think it came out just super great and I know that my little unicorns are feeling safer already.

These small lap quilts that I picked up at the auction last Saturday, are worn and well loved - with a few stains and even a burn hole or two. But I have plans to turn them into Christmas stockings, with careful placement of the pattern to avoid all its bruised areas. The small pink and white table cloth with the ivy has a stain even I couldn't get out - and I usually can remove most everything. but no matter - I plan on turning that into a sweet landfill saving shopping bag.

I hate those plastic sacks they give out at most stores - they are ugly and a hazard to the environment. - (Why can't the government do away with them.) Anyway I will shop pretty in pink and be environmentally friendly as well.

In the goodies from the prior weekends auction - I found this rolling pin in the $1.00 junk boxes that had my white shelves in it. And while I love vintage kitchen items - this was one more rolling pin than we really needed. Yet I didn't have the heart to pass it on to the Goodwill. Wouldn't you know it, while perusing one of my favorite blogs - I found my inspiration for what you see above. Celeste of Celeste Marie Designs painted her rolling pin with the cutest snowman - that ever could touch your heart. Check it out. Sir Knight is a Santa Collector so I had wanted to make this to be a kitchen appropriate Santa Decoration. - Now understand I am no decorative artist - so the Santa is a rub on - and this is still a work in progress for me.
Sir Knight just drilled the hole into the handle to hang it from - so I have to touch that area up and I still want to paint a few snowflakes or stars around Santa - to help fill some of the void.

Well that's my plans for the near future. What about you? Do you see any recycle Christmas ideas in your future?


Hugs,
Penny

Honoring All Those Who Served

Humpday with a little of this and a little of that.

picture courtesy of Sliekje Digi Stamps

Hello everyone,

Well here it is Wednesday and I have a few thing that I want to share with you - but don’t look for them to be in any kind of order. How I address things is not by any priority scale - just how they pop into my head. So please bear with me.

On Sunday I finished my contribution to The Giant Traveling Post Card that my friend Dana started over at Sinderella Design Studio. The theme of the project was: Make Art, Make Friends; and six artist signed up for the chance to work on a portion of the card and create one awesome piece of work. On Monday I put it in the mail to make its way back to its home base. Yep I was the last one- that is an awesome responsibility and one I hope I met - pretty ballsy for a crazy crafter to be the last. While I can’t share the picture with you till Dana gets things in order and sends all of us our combined journal - with a copy of the finished piece. - I can give you a little peek into my part.

I made an object of nature on which I wanted to showcase - a favorite art quote of mine. To give it texture and depth - I used paper clay.(my new best friend in the craft room). The clay when dry is pretty near as durable as any other clay - but what it has going for it is - it is so light weight.; therefore adds no extra weight when mailing things around the country. It’s sand able, paint able and a lot of fun to play with; I’m hooked.

This morning the UPS guy paid me a visit and I was thrilled to get a wonderful box of goodies. Back during the Practical Magic Party I happened to win a few give a way’s and these awesome soaps and gifties was one of them. Believe me the smell of these soaps is enchanting and so intoxicating. - I love them and wont they look wonderful set in a leaf shaped dish in the bathroom for Thanksgiving. These extraordinary items were from my friend Willow. Please check out her wonderful blog: Wandering in the Woods with the Little Green Witch and her friends etsy store where she purchased the soaps from. etsy store: The Fairy Apothecary.


I’ve been busy rearranging my craft room again. I don’t know about the rest of you - but Mine seems to be a constant work in progress. The more I work in it - the more I think - I need this or that so I can do one thing or the other more efficiently. Or sometimes my ideas spring to mind as my dear Genghis Khat - stretches his legs more and more and starts to play with things he’s not suppose to be playing with.

Last Sat. I went to another Estate Auction and scored a plethora of little shelves that I knew I could make room for in my craft room. (“Yes Sir Knight I realize I don’t have much wall left - but all five of these shelves were only $1.00. How could I pass them up?”) Sometimes I think he goes along with helping me to put them up just to prove to me that I was wrong. - But this time I did good and all the shelves are up and holding some of my treasure which were mixed in with my craft stuff.


I also bought a sturdy cute little knick knack cabinet- that will fit on my shelf and hopefully offer some protection for my unicorns from Genghis’s prying paw. But I have not finished painting it and I want to put some wallpaper on the back - so that will have to wait for another post.


I also bought the cutest picture - it’s frame old and broken up. Not really sure how old it is - I thought maybe from the 1920’s or 1930’s - to me it is kind of Art Deco or Art Nouveau and I fell in love with this fairy as soon as I saw her. The aging picture was torn and wrinkled so she is now resting in my cedar chest - but first, I scanned her into my computer and ran her into my photo restoration software - then feeling a bit in need of some whimsy - I also altered her color and saturation. So my black and white photo is now in shades of teal and white and hangs proudly by my Drayd Tree and all my other fairies.


My Peter Rabbit Calendar on my desk top tells me it’s only 45 days till Christmas; I need to be getting into the Christmas mood and really get serious about my holiday crafting- I have made a few holiday cards and working on a few presents- but that doesn’t even begin to accomplish all the things I want to do.
How about you? Are you almost ready for the holidays- or are you going into stress mode like me?

Hugs,
Penny

Mancat Monday

Do I look happy to have you pointing that camera thingy in my face. Give me a break I haven't finished my morning coffee.

I said enough. - Don't you get it. Leave me alone.

Whatever. I'm just going to ignore you.

Hey evfurry one,
Well here it is another Monday. I was busy all weekend snoopervising where Pellie and Sir Knight put all the new stuff they bought at the auction on Saturday. That takes a lot out of a guy. They just don't seem to get that - now I need to rest and recuperate.

Purrs,
Genghis

P.S. I hate this time change stuff. It makes me crabby and upsets my natural rhythm.

Winsome Wednesday as I Recover from a Very Romantic Tuesday

Yesterday the weather was fair, the sun was shining, and Sir Knight and I were happily entangled in each others arms, eating chocolate covered stawberries and drinking champagne - celebrating Our Wedding Anniversary.

We had thought about a Halloween wedding - but after mulling over the pro's and con's decided that it was better if we stayed home for the passing out of treats (something we both enjoy so much) and then run off and tie the knot. So that is exactly what we did. When Trick 0r Treat hours were over that cool fall night in October 2001 we headed outside to start putting away all the decorations. When we finished that we packed up the car and ran away for a long weekend and our planned elopement. We drove till we were tired and found ourselves in Missouri., figuring that was as good a place as any - we stopped to get a few hours shuteye - before heading out to the courthouse to apply for our license. And the rest is just a blur of bliss - till we headed home as man and wife.

It continues to be blissful to this day. - I had to kiss a lot of frogs - but it was worth it - because- I have truly found the handsome Prince. I might not always be the fair princess he hoped to marry, but he always treats me like one.


Speaking of treats - just look at what he gifted me with. (Picture me here doing the happy dance.) The first three seasons of "The Tudors" ( he didn't realize there was a fourth or I would have had that also - he said we'd pick it up next time we are out.) He also got me the Video game "The Tudors" which is full of many of the characters from the show and I love it - hoping it provides me with ideas for the class on Renaissance, England; I teach at the High School each spring.

Teacup Tuesday

Hello Everyone,

Once again I am posting with Martha & Terri for Teacup Tuesday.

The cup I have chosen to share with you today is this pretty little Bone China cup made in England by Hammersley & Co


Hammmersley and Co. began in 1862 as a china manufacturer at Longton, Stoke-on-Trent by Adams, Scrivener & Co. It went through several name changes, was purchased by Carborundum Ltd. in 1966, merged with Royal Worcester Spode Ltd. in 1976, and was then taken over by Palissy Pottery Ltd., which closed Hammersley's Works in 1982. The Hammersley name was sold to Aynsley in 1989.


From what I can figure out from the makers mark is that my cup is from 1939. Making it a wonderful Vintage treasure.

What I like best about the cup are the wonderful lily of the valley strewn around both the cup and saucer. The meaning of this flower: means return of happiness, purity of heart, sweetness, tears of the Virgin Mary, you've made my life complete, humility, happiness, love's good fortune. The legend of the lily of the valley is that it sprang from Eve's tears when she was kicked out of the Garden of Eden. It is also believed that this flower protects gardens from evil spirits.

A Wee Irish Legend on how the Lily of the Valley came to be ... supplied by Plant-Care.com

"Once upon a time when the world was young, five little fairy sisters were sent on an errand one night, They were each given a tiny white cup and told to fill it with dew for the Queens breakfast.
They had lots of time so they hung their cups on a blade of grass to get them out of the way and danced and danced, They frolicked, as all little girls will until the last minute. Before they knew it, the eastern sky was flushed with rose. The sun was about to rise!
No fairy must be caught away from home when the sun comes up. They were very young and very frightened and ran in great alarm to get their cups. All five tugged and tugged but couldn't loosen their cups, The handles had grown fast to the blade of grass and though they pulled with all their might they couldn't free the cups.
Just as their fright became great, their godmother appeared. She was a kind lady and to protect the little girls from the Queen's wrath, she tied a big green leaf on either side of the cups to hide them."


I know you have other blogs to visit - So I will try not to detain you any longer.
I leave you with this final thought.

"The mere chink of cup and saucers tunes the mind to happy repose." George Gissing

Hope you have a great day.

Hugs,
Penny