A Breezy Tea

August was not as hot as it normally is.

Thank God!

Even if it only lasts for the morning,

I love to open the windows and let

the cool summer breeze in.

There is something mezmerizing

about fluttering lace curtains.

Like watching waves come in on the beach.

Or listening to rain fall.

The time passes too quickly when I'm lost in the moment.

I have to get up and start the day.

See you again next Tuesday for tea...

when it will be September!

For more Tea Tuesday posts, see Kimmie's blog.

Glue Book Fodder

I admire the people who can slosh paint about with wild abandon when they work on a collage or other altered art piece.

I can do that, but naturally default to paper and glue.

Maybe because paint is messy and requires water

and I find that a glue stick is "dry" and so I don't have to be as careful with it

(if you saw the tiny workspaces where I spontaneously choose to do art, you would understand).

I have come to find out that there is a whole crowd of people, just like me,

who "do" simple, straight forward, paper and glue collage.

And they do it in an altered book known as a "gluebook".

No paint, no rubber stamps.

Just layering paper images.

And so to all of your Glue Book-ers out there I say, "stop by my etsy shop, I've got the goods."

The newest items are my bundles of letters that look as good to display as they are to use.

I also slip in something extra with every purchase,

"just because".

Tea and Laundry

The kids are back to school which means I can enjoy complete and utter solitude,

even while doing the most mundane things.

A pot of tea also helps.
And the DVR.

Okay, so the DVR does not contribute to the solitude,

but it does make folding laundry go faster.

So today I am watching "Auction Kings"

(old episodes I missed the first time they aired),

sipping tea,

and folding laundry.

Drinking tea always helps me calm down and make order of the chaos in my life.

Mission accomplished, today!

If only all the messy things in life could be so easily folded and neatly put away!

For more Tea on Tuesday posts, visit our hostess Kimmie!

The Big Picture (Window) or "What Were They Thinking?!"

Last weekend, I boldly tried an artsy experiment on a grand scale. Our 100 year old house has a downstairs bathroom addition (formerly a side porch) with one glaring flaw. It has a huge picture window in it so all the world can see anyone as they shower and use the toilet. Nice! We could install comfortable seating on the deck and sell tickets for the show!
"What were they thinking?!"
When we first moved into the house, there were pretty, but ineffective, lace curtains hanging in the window that takes up the whole outside wall of the room. We hung up heavy, black out curtains which offered a lot of privacy, but completely blocked the beautiful natural light and made the room feel small and, well, we might as well have bricked up the window and been done with it!

So last weekend, my husband took down the curtains without any plan, just because he was tired of the dark dungeon we had on our ground floor. Fortunately I did have a plan.

I saw it in the movie Inception. One of the few non-dream sequences took place in an old warehouse. For privacy, the wall of windows, made up of smaller panes, were blocked out with old, yellowed newspaper glued over the glass.

I LOVED it!

Only my husband wouldn't go for yellowed newspaper.

Our house was not abandoned.

So I scrounged up some white (gift wrap) tissue paper and some that had sheet music printed on it, easily found a sponge brush and my bottle(s) of Mod Podge and attacked the windows.
WooHoo!

Imagine doing your little altered art collage-y thingies on a wall in your house!

I spread Mod Podge with wild abandon on the (cleaned) windows, working quickly so I could stick the tissue paper down while the glue was still wet. The fragile paper tore in places, but I just patched it later. I wasn't worried about neatness. This was not a permanent fix in a room that gets steamy. Mod Podge is water soluable.

BUT, it would work for now.

I glued down two layers of the white paper for better opacity and the sheet music tissue for design and for the fact that I ran out of white tissue.

This was not a completely premeditated project. I made do. We may get etching cream and do something permanent to the windows later. For now, I like the soji screen (spelling?) effect and am inspired to strip the existing "country" wallpaper to expose whatever is underneath. I am envisioning an industrial farmhouse look with a hint of zen.

My husband wants to rip out the whole bathroom and re-do the floor (currently carpeted- ick!) and replace all of the bath fixtures, but that will take some cash. He sees a pedestal sink while I see an antique furniture piece fitted with a sink or large ceramic bowl (think "wash stand").

Right now I'm just happy to see the bathroom glowing with sunlight.
By the way, because I know there will be questions; as I worked on the windows, we kept checking the modesty factor of my improvised frosted windows.
Mod Podged tissue paper over glass offers pretty good privacy.

And installing it is cheap therapy.

:)

Garden Fresh Tomatoes and a Bizarre Break

I am blessed with a generous neighbor across the street from us who put in a garden and has encouraged us to come over any time to pick tomatoes.

The kids and I filled a stainless steel mixing bowl full of cherry tomatoes and within 3 days the bowl was empty. My kids eat cherry tomatoes like grapes- by the handful.

I like snacking on them too.

Fresh from the garden, they are like candy (you can't eat just one!)

The jalapeno peppers were picked for grins.

The kids dared each other to "taste" one, only to spit out their nibble and pant for water.

I think I was the most entertained! ha!

This is the "bizarre" part of my post.

In my haste to grab the afore mentioned stainless steel bowl from a stack of bowls up in the kitchen cabinet, I lost my grip and the bottom bowl took one for the team.

I have broken many dishes, but never in a ying-yang pattern.

Normally they crack right in half.

I hated to stick these pieces in the trash, because they were so unusual,

but a photograph takes up less room.

:)

This has been the perfect summer--

Basil plants (for pesto!) thriving on my back deck

and garden fresh tomatoes, readily available, to go with.

It really doesn't get any better than that!

This was my lunch today.

Tri-colored spaghetti liberally topped with home made pesto,

shredded mozerella cheese and freshly chopped tomato.

I nearly licked the bowl.

What "makes" your summer?

TEA-opoly

I know summer vacation is almost over when my kids are so desperate for something to do, that they pull out the Monopoly game.

We have 4 versions.

The classic original, the Disney version with Mickey and all of his friends, the version using a credit card instead of cash (which I have yet to play, but don't think I would like),

and my personal favorite, the Pixar version.

I, of course, always try to buy Ratatouille (sp?) properties and the mouse if my favorite game piece.

My other favorite investments are the transportation ones.

Instead of railroads, it's the Dinocopter from "Cars", Towmater Towing also from "Cars", The Incredibles' car and one other I can't remember.

We have had the game out for two days now and currently my daughter Victoria is winning since she bought the green properties just pass "Go to Jail" and loaded them with traffic cones (from the movie "Toy Story 2" and replace houses in the orignal Monopoly game).

The game is now tedious as we all just wait to go bankrupt as one person (Victoria) collects ridiculous rents.

The kids go back to school August 17th here.

I am starting to count the days until my vacation starts.

heehee

For more Tea Tuesday posts, visit Kimmie.

How to Alter Yourself Part 2

I'll bet you didn't know that Pottery Barn had free clip art within its catalog pages.

It's true!

I'll also bet that they don't know it either.

Along with their home furnishings and accessories, they also offer clothing. No, really!

It gives

new meaning to the term,

"repurposing" furniture. heehee

What have you repurposed lately?

Tea Colored Self Portrait Or "How To Alter Yourself"

I am pushing the definition of Tea Tuesday to include the Color of Tea.

Humor me.

:)

You might remember this olde tyme photo I posted of myself a few weeks ago. I got inspired to play with a copy of it. I love the warmth of sepia and monochrome is so easy to work with.

First I took a white pen and did some designing on my clothing and edited my waist. :)

Then I tore pieces of images out of the latest Pottery Barn catalog in shades of brown I liked. I let the photographs decide my composition. After the third piece of paper got glued down, I saw first a doorway, then a frame for my face. I went with it. Then I added some rubber stamping in brown ink and an old postage stamp and voila!

Suitable for for framing, I think!

For more Tea on Tuesday posts, visit Kimmie.

You just might get to see some beverages to day!