LOL



Nice... this reminds me of an art project we had to do in
college... pulled off another blog, I will let you know
which one when I find it again :o)



Seven Layer ATC



This is my 'Twisted Olive' seven layer ATC. I really love the way that olive trees twist and can become hollow in the center, almost in she shape of a double helix. This ATC was sent to South Africa :o)



Deck the Halls!

Deck the Halls! This is my latest fascination! I do

teas with a woman who is a "Certified Tea Specialist

of the Specialty Tea Institute". She travels the world

(literally) searching for new and exciting teas. She

is a collector of Hall pottery tea pots. Every time she

pulls out an even more intricate tea pot than the one

before, like the 'The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins'.

Well she just got back from one of her tea travels and

she gave me over 2 lbs. of tea from all over. I was so

tickled, but I had no tea pot to steep them in. I have

been using a tea traveler; which is nice to see the tea

brewing but does not make more than one and a half cups.

I have been on the lookout at local Goodwill’s and

thrift stores for a decent tea pot, but I could not find

one that was not made of metal or had a built in

strainer (both of which are a must). But I kept praying.

The next day I visited my mother, telling her about my

tea pot hunt.  She told me she had just found an old tea

pot which she thought was a hall. Sure enough, she pulled

it out of her armoire of goodies and voila! It was a

hall! She said she never used it and that she would love

for me to have it and a prayer was answered. I have

looked this pot up online and I think it is from the

1950's when Hall made their 12 'Gold Line' tea pots. This

is a Hall Star pattern in Cadet Blue with a Hook Cover.

I really love this pot because the handle is so far

away from the actual pot, you have no chance to burn

yourself, and the hook lid saves a lot of worry. A

new heirloom I will treasure, thanks mom :o)

The cute bag filled with wonderful teas
from Angela



Here are all 10 new teas layed out





I was so excited to see what was inside I could hardly drive home without pulling over :o)

Tea Storage

Weddings!

Fresh cut flowers for a wedding shower! Each vase is an antique Ball, Kerr, or Drey mason jar from before the turn of the last century. By request each vase has at least 15 zinnia stems, 5  cosmos, 3 light yellow sunflowers and one hydrangea

My room being set up as a florist shop.
And yes I should have picked up before
I took these pictures :o)



Curious Madison



Flight of the Bumble Bee

Joseph captured these images of a Bumble Bee polinating our plot of 'Datura' or Moon Flowers

Tomato Evolution

Canning season is here! And what a year it has been for
tomatoes! We sell organically grown produce using sustainable
farming techniques. This year we grew over 70 different varieties
of tomatoes. All of what we grow are heirloom varieties that
have been around since 1950 and before. We trellised our tomatoes
with 10 foot high bamboo poles that a good friend let us forage
for in her woods. So far the tomatoes have not grown to the top,
but almost!



Next to our tomatoes are heirloom French
melons 'Prescott Fond Blanc'



Check out that vine!



This is one of my latest ATC
creations... 'Tomato Evolution'.
This was for an ATC swap that
required the ATC to have seven
layers. I painted on overhead
sheets with acryllic paint.The
seventh layer was a cardstock 
background. This is what the card
looked like from the top layer.



Layer #2 the Tomato Flower

Layer #3 the Tomato Sprout 



Layer #4 the Tomato Seed



Layer # 5 the Tomato on the
cellular level

Layer #6 the Tomato on the
molecular level

My creation all layed out before I sent it