Decor-a-Tea

Today I decided to play along with Alice and all the others over at Tea in My Cup. She has a lovely blog Please have a look at all the pretty teacups and pots and, oh,... and don't forget ...she has the best recipes too! Gracious hospitality...

These are two of my pictures that I love with teapots...























Here is my fav little tea pot... a Japanese shape and motif...















It really is quite little too...with matching cream and sugar..and four dainty little cups. Have you ever bought a gift for somebody, and then... because you loved it so much while carefully wrapping it...that you have gone back to the shop and bought the same for yourself? This was that gift.

And, here is my personal favourite tea cup. I am not nearly the lady that Alice is.... I hardly ever use my dainty cups even if I do have some. I look at them from time to time..and, honestly, I love how pretty they are...but rarely drink from them. I just seem to use my white, slim-line tall china cups or a pretty mug. When my Mom used to visit, we would always take out the ladylike cups and use them....but...now.... well, they are hidden away. So... today, I took out this beauty and used it instead. Thanks Alice for reminding me not to hide the beautiful tea cups. I am using it ...just because. Ooops... and I'm being really cheeky; I set it on the brocade to photograph it! Just happens to have some of the same lovely pink in it doesn't it? Think I'll just leave it out and use it .....

Real bunnies multiply much quicker ...

.........than my bunnies. I began a third and decided to use a lovely pink brocade for her inner ears and foot pads. Brocade? Am I nuts? Guess so.......but..I have worked with it a bit before on the Song of the Lotus doll outfit.... not that I knew much about sewing at all when I did that one...but learned a lot. And, my friend Maggi has been struggling to teach me more since then ... I still notice her rolling her eyes every so often when I do my usual and just sit there, hesitating, or if I am stitching so slowly that I can count the ups and downs... poor Maggi. Good thing she is patient.










This is the sleeve cuff I did way back... so I sort of knew I was in trouble right at the outset. Especially for small foot pads. But, I've had this fabric sitting around for years now..just bought it because I love it... long before I got a sewing machine. So, I asked my friends who sew if they had advice or tricks to offer and at least began armed with those tips. Still, it was slow going and I was being ultra careful with each stitch because I hate to "pick" any of the good side and ruin it. Every mark is magnified and so noticeable on that fabric. Then, my buddy Richy, a bear maker in England, suggested backing the brocade with tissue paper while stitching. Never heard that one before...but I tried it and wow!.. so much easier. I didn't have to position each stitch nearly as carefully ... it seemed to help the needle to slide through the fabric easier.. don't ask me how. I think he actually wanted me to use it on both sides...but I couldn't really make it work on the foot pads with both sides covered in tissue. Too awkward for me to get around all my clips that I use to hold things in position and also..I felt that I couldn't really see well enough how I was placing my stitches. Just felt I had to see the fabric.










Tada! tissue still on the one...peeled off the other foot pad....ooooh...love it. I laughed when I turned it and saw this, becasue it seemed like I had ordered it from the store or something.....just had to unwrap it. Voila....










need some daylight for the proper colours of the foot pads... but here is the ear from earlier.













Oh... and... in other news, we had about 4 inches of new snow overnight. Look how light and fluffy it is. It was warm enough that it was melting quickly. I went out to shovel anyway... just in case...and thought it would be heavy, but not at all. It was airy and as soft and fluffy as it looked.


A perfect bread making weekend.... and I am now moving on to making slashes ... had to give it a try right? Think I will stick to plain round top for the crust.. but, found some great multi grain flour... making it more of what I want in a bread.










Yummmmmmm

ABC Wednesday

A new logo for Mrs. Nesbitt's group of shutter bugs.

Today the letter is J .....













for Jester......

According to Wik.... a jester, joker, fool, or buffoon are names of a profession that came into popularity in the Middle Ages. Jesters are always thought to have typically worn brightly colored clothing in a motley pattern. Their hats, sometimes called the cap ’n bells, cockscomb (obsolete coxcomb), were especially distinctive; made of cloth, they were floppy with three points (liliripes) each of which had a jingle bell at the end. The three points of the hat represent the ass's ears and tail worn by jesters in earlier times. Other things distinctive about the jester were his incessant laughter and his mock scepter, known as a bauble or maharoof.













Hahahah.... mine seems to be "laughed out" !













My jester is made from bits of silks that have slightly faded colours. I wanted him to appear a bit worn.... his bells are brown and rusty... he has been around.......













..but, then, so has Mingus.... the traveler carrying him.

I attached my jester onto a stick and he then became a marotte.. which is..

"a prop stick or scepter with a carved head on it. Typically carried by a Jester, the miniature head will often reflect the costume of the jester who carries it." But... this time it is the jester.

They were made for a challenge called the Dungeon Master.

woof, woof...

This is the next in my needle felting attempts. Most of my felting is tiny bears... although I have done some hippos, a mouse and now..trying a little hound type of doggie. Two other ideas percolating in my head at the moment also...but for now.. just this sneak peek of half done.
The eyes and nose are just stick pins called "test eyes" that come in little boxes of various sizes. They are great to test for position and also for size prior to putting in the real thing. I will embroider a nose either that size or larger.

He is a combination of Alpaca and Merino wool... very soft and felts down to nothing so keep adding more wool as I continue to needle it in. Even though I do like the look of some of the firmly felteds, I like making medium to softly felted. I prefer the fuzzy or hairy or softer look, I guess. I even tend to needle in extra tufts of other fur, like bits from mohair or yarns, to give them hair on their heads..or needle in beads or other things....

Happy Easter !!

The polls are now open over at Lisa's blog.... so head over to the Easter Parade when you have some time... check out all the great entries and vote for your favourites. There are plenty of bunnies, (three days worth) ...and so many great ones~! There are chicks, Easter bonnets and even some Irish themes... seeing as Easter was hard on the heels of St. Patrick's day...

I am making a little stuffed chicken for supper.....working on a needle felted dog... and perhaps even sculpting some eyes on a new doll that I began yesterday.... a lovely relaxing day. Of course, in between that I may be called upon to help hold wires, lift some ceiling molding... balance drywall...etc.... not out of the ordinary around here. This is our 20+ year reno project.

Cheeky blue boy....

The second white wool bunny has more interesting inner ears and foot pads... and ....










an attitude too.. he refused to hold the carrot... said she could do it if she wanted.......but he wasn't having carrot if there was chocolate....














But,... geez..... I made that carrot just for you guys! Even little Rufus II was shocked by his attitude.....


The bunnies are on parade over at Lisa's blog.... only the first page as there were quite a few...

ABC Wednesday

Today is ABC Wednesday over at Mrs. Nesbitt's... and I had absolutely no Inspiration ...
AT all.
"I" was tough!
I was not even going to post this week, but then, I decided ... even my lack of Inspiration could be considered an "I". Whew, enough with the "I" s already... and should it have an apostrophe "s" in this instance? probably not..but how to signify the plural...?? hmmm.... I'm sure I will get some info from my teacher bloggers...

Yesterday was a pretty special day. The postal truck screeched around the corner and ...hey...trucks!..yet again! They do play a huge part in my little life don't they? Anyway, out jumped the uniformed driver and delivered this. The "IT" in a Pay It Forward that was happening at some food blogs that I frequent. What a gift from Lewis at Table Bread. He said he wanted us to have something related to bread making as that was what we were blogging about at the time. I have just begun to bake my own bread and Lewis was definitely my inspiration for that. I never in a million years expected anything as generous as this! Thank you so much Lewis. I have yet to send my gifts to the people who offered to play when I tried to do the same. There is a year in which to do so. For some reason...I struggled to find people who wanted to play a "pay". I thought the crafters would jump at the chance...but, nope. Once again I misread things. Anyway, my gift will not be anything bread related people, so relax... I know many of you don't cook, much less bake. ... ..but something more along the lines of my other interests... crafting..... etc.....









Look, the first page opened to Italian bread ! How perfect. Lewis is en route even as type..to Italy. How perfect and how unusual ....






















This is just something I tossed in ....

Turned around while making coffee this morning and look what I saw on the wall. The sun was coming up behind neighbouring houses.. all pinkish...making a beautiful shadow picture of a small orchid on the kitchen wall. Grabbed the camera and just in time... (things don't stay long when you rely on moving objects).... it was only there for a brief moment or two..and then ... the mullion of the window was in the path of the shifting sunlight.... after that, the sunlight had nothing to show me... well, with the exception of beautiful, golden rays of sun.....a lovely warm and brilliant day here.

...bit of snow overnight...

It was kind of wintery looking this morning. All white and glistening.... but the sun made a valiant effort and by noon...the temperature had climbed to a wonderful, warmish -8C degrees from -14C... As I was shoveling, the remaining snow was melting totally.... had to take off my coat, ..and, now, the sidewalks are dry and bare again... strange day....but beautiful....

Little Rufus II was sitting on the basket of chocolate eggs.... checking out the sky.... hoping for a sunny day.
I was working on my second little white bunny...
Lisa has some of the first pics of The 1st Annual Softie Easter Parade up today...the "Hot Chicks"... tomorrow, the bunnies..and so on... check them all out each day.... some really great entries by all of the artists.










UPDATE: poor Lisa... sooo many little bunnies and other critters to marshal for the Parade... it is going to go on for days..... wheeee... no bunnies yet... but..soon......... check them all out if you have a few minutes to look at cuteness.

Heirlooms

One of those words that is pronounced so unlike you might imagine. The French side of my family says (HAIR-loom) .. or even (hair-LOOM)...they never add the "s" to make it plural... you are supposed to guess it is there.... uhm.. I guess. The Brit side gets it more correct...but it still sounds like (err-looms)...or something.. not quite like I would pronounce it... which seems more like ..(Air-looms). Always different strokes for different folks isn't it?

Anyway.... it still means.....
"Possessions handed down from generation to generation"... and, these are mine.













Some of you who have been reading my blog for a bit will have seen these before, but for Mrs. Nesbitt's friends... these are two little vases .. English ... not sure how old, but were carried in hand luggage by an aunt who immigrated to Canada in the 70's.. when she was in her 50's .. originally belonged to my Nan Jackson (her mother) . I have no idea when or where my grandmother would have acquired them. The tall guy has a missing toe. Click to read more about that if you like.










Another of the pieces she passed along to me.. a gift from Whitby it says...I love the open lace work edge..and it is rubbed with what I believe (or even if it is not...I still choose to believe) to be real gold.










The guys love to play in it..and usually there are a few golden/sparkly Christmas decorations in there as well. They are not being disrespectful..they just like it and they do play gently.










This little handkerchief is so dainty ... I am quite sure nobody ever thought to use it ..even to wipe away a single tear.










The open work on the edges is delicate and beautiful. It was kept in a sea farer's chest for many a year. No knowledge of its history.













Uh, oh.... somebody likes to play on that as well.... but...he is just sitting ....and he is behaving.










This spoon is silver... and as you can see...doesn't get polished often.










It is 9 inches long. Again, I don't know much of the history... it also came from England... was my Nan's.... looks to be a casserole or fruit/dessert type serving spoon.











And...last, but not least, .... and where else would a grand old tea pot hail from? England of course! Again...brought by my dear old auntie when she arrived here (although she was not old when she arrived) ... whew... don't want her to think I ever thought that. Of course, she and my Mom are long gone now... but they never, ever seemed old to me. A couple of real pistols in their time together after she moved here... almost til the year they passed away. Separately, they were .. .. erm.. almost reserved and sedate..but get 'em together..and watch out...they were too much fun!

It took about 20 full minutes of polishing to make that one shiny area nice enough to get a photo to show it off at all. It usually sits under my sink... black and blueish.... Silver is so beautiful when it is silver...but it is soooo much work to maintain. I have heard that if you use it regularly it stays shiny.... anybody know if that is true?

I'm a sloth this past few days...

as far as blogging is concerned. Time has slipped past .... I have been having fun baking and playing with bears and thinking about my next doll project. So... dragged out all my lovely magazines too.... then time really speeds by ... just looking at pretty pics and beautiful creative "stuff".











The weather is great right now...the past few days it has been +14C - +16C... better temperatures than it will be on a lot of our summer days. The sun feels so good on my face. I go outside and just stand there...looking around.... looking up. Worse than somebody's grandpa...you know... standing around out there watching the grass grow. It doesn't seem so long ago that I peeked out through somebody's curtains...and remarked on that very thing to Mr. B about his grandad..... now I know exactly what he was up to. ... erm...and it was about 24 years ago.... ackkkk! where did all that time go?

I wanted to move my motorcycle out of the corner of the garage yesterday so I could get at the battery and take it out. I was bad... didn't ride last summer because of my broken foot... and really didn't even bother doing that which should be done. The battery should have been out of the bike all winter in case of freezing temps... luckily it was not overly cold this winter...and I doubt the garage got below freezing. Whew. Don't want anything cracking or getting wrecked just because I was ticked and ignored my bike. It really needs a complete service this spring before I do any riding... but still needs to be ridden over to the dealer to get it done. So... battery will need charging up first....











I've been reading a few biker chick blogs..... sigh.... lots of them are riding already .. some even get to ride all year round. I can't even imagine that. Needless to say they don't live in Canada. We just had a new skiff of snow last week...and although it is now gone...we will be getting more. It is pretty much a guarantee. It can't possibly be spring here yet. Be several weeks to a few months before it is regular riding weather ... I prefer to wait until the street sweepers pick up plenty of the sand and gravel. If you happen to be on the crud...it is like riding on marbles. When I come to a stop, I like firm footing when I plant a boot on the ground. Not much happens as it should when you are sliding around on that stuff. I want to know what my bike is going to do next.

It's +11C right now... a few more great days...but.......by Friday.... wet flurries....... hmmmmm...

Tomorrow it will be another great day...

it should have been glasses...

Honestly, on Monday I thought it was going to be glasses for the ABC post at MrsNesbitt's... but that was on Monday.










Then, yesterday, while standing in the kitchen, I heard a big truck..no, not a fire truck, but the next best thing. A garbage truck! Bing, bing, bing..... A big "G" !!! Now, before you all think I truly am an ambulance or fire truck chaser...hear me out! I'm not. I started to laugh and thought...hey! maybe I can redeem myself here.










Grabbed my camera and got a quick shot just as he sped by the window. Even with the slight zoom on... not close enough. Darn it.
Okay... that does it! All I could hear in my head was the voice of Stanley Tucci in Devil Wears Prada.... "Gird your loins" !!.......and that did it.

Out I went. Today I mustered some nerve for all of us who can't do it every day... today.... I was determined to take one for the team and just do it!
The truck had turned down the alley before I got outside...so I waited. Wandered up and down on the lawn..checking to see if anything in the garden was looking un-dead......nope. Nothing worth a pic.... checked down the alley... he was coming. I was giggling to myself by then... a nervous giggle it was and I was sweating already.... NOT going in the house!
Finally it was really loud... all of a sudden, there he was at the neighbour's and then roaring past the shed..I got him.













Even at the speed with which it all happened, the driver had the presence of mind to wave ... probably thought.. what a silly woman.. taking a picture of a blinking garbage truck.













The guy on the back leaped off and I snapped a couple more... he was laughing, but I started thinking that I was probably making him nervous too......













Surely, he would be wondering what the heck was going on. Somebody mentioned in a comment that all we have to do is mention our blogs if we need some explanation and nothing comes to mind. Well, I couldn't resist...had to yell at him over the noise of the truck..."you're going on my blog!" He hollered back at me .. "If I had known I would have fixed my hair!" ... ahahhaha.... we both laughed ...he hopped on the truck and gave a huge grin and wave as they sped away.










These guys are my new firemen! What great sports!! I took my camera in the house, then went back out for the can;...carried it almost inside the back door before I realized I usually leave our garbage can outside...uhm...I knew that. Stupid nerves anyway!!

Mmmmmm ....chocolate.........................

Mr. Bumblevee thought I had splurged and treated him to Easter "chockies" early. With a smile, he reached for one and the whole basket lifted....hahahhah..... Not dark chocolate! Plastic! From Michael's. Sure does look like the real thing though...and...is perfect for a little something for bunny to ride in the parade.













I bought a little stagecoach... ripped off its wheels...stuck them on the basket, and, voila...my Easter Parade float was ready to roll.













She, (who as yet has no name), is made from a white wool ... almost like a boucle, with a bit of stretch. First time I have used buttons for jointing and I love it. So quick and easy too.













Her whiskers are broom bristles and she has black glass eyes.
With bent legs she can sit on something.....or, anything ....













uhm......I don't think those will hatch sweetie...













This is my attempt at a second Rufus...not quite the same..but close..... and he is looking a bit worried at the size of this bunny even if she is only 6.5 inches tall. I think she may have been squeezing him a bit tight too.