Coffee and chat......

Tried to be fancy with my coffee today and made a clover leaf stencil - just humour me please. Over at Kimmie's place (and Pat and Patty's) its 'Tea on Tuesday', plus a bit of chat.

Well .... did any of you watch the new series on TV last night about the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood? I'm a big fan of the PRB and it encouraged me to get out all my gorgeous books on the subject. Even DH became quite interested.
I have a very old book about Rossetti which I bought about 30 years ago from a junk shop.

I've never really flicked all the way through it before and was rather surprised when this fell out...a postcard dated 1904. Its a picture of Bournemouth (where the book was first purchased).

The book was published in 1906 and the inscription inside is 1908.Here's the man himself...a self-portrait from inside the book (it has tissue papers covering the pictures).
Here are my favourite paintings from this - which is my favourite PRB book.
Just look at those fabric folds in the detail!
Then I began to realise that one of the reasons I'd chosen all those paintings was because of fabric - the velvets, the satin and the embroidered cloth. And the worn and tattered skirt of Millais' 'The Blind Girl'. (Plus the lady in blue reminds me of how I feel in the mornings.)
They were certainly a talented bunch of artists.....if you want to find out more about them look here.
I'm hoping to take DH to see one of the best collections of PRB paintings this Saturday - at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (fabulous place - and its all free!)

Just wanted to thank Tara at www.aquamarineart.blogspot.com (a new friend I met through Suzi's class) for giving info on her blog about Photoscape which you can download for free here. Thats how I've put some of my pictures into groups!!

Tea on Tuesday ..... and a friendly moth!!

I'm actually posting my 'Tea on Tuesday' on the correct day for once! I've been sitting in the garden reading my Victoria Hislop novel with a cup of Redbush (or Rooibos) tea...... gorgeous with or without milk. (Can you see my blue pebble fountain in the background?)
Cheers Kimmie! I shall be over soon to see what you're up to.

Victoria Hislop wrote 'The Island'; one of my all time favourite books which I read by a pool in Crete with Spinalonga Island in my view. I wish I was reading this one in Grenada!
I hope its going to be as good as The Island- I'll let you know.
Yesterday evening we were sitting outside and spotted this moth on the wall....I looked it up on Google and apparently its a Poplar Hawk Moth. Its body was so chubby and furry..... it looked almost cuddly!

It sat very nicely for a photo on my hand......

......and on a leaf. What a cute face!!!!!

(Click for a close-up)

I altered an ATC woodblock today - just because I felt like it. The photo is from our family archives...the gel transfer didn't work quite as well as I'd hoped but I think its ok. All the usual layering took place; torn text, paper napkins, gesso, stencils etc.......

Here's the photo - please feel free to use if you want to.
Hope you're having a lovely day, wherever you are........

Peppermint Tea With Kimmie!

Better late than never.......here's my 'Tea on Tuesday' with Kimmie.
I was inspired by Patty to have some peppermint tea so I picked some leaves from the garden and poured boiling water over.
Such a pretty colour!

My two varieties of mint are thriving this year...along with the parsley, coriander, thyme and chives.Someone else was interested in the mint today ........

The three 'sticks' you can see behind the herb pots are these.

I've forgotten what they're called.........

As for my news.......well, we had a lovely long weekend at my sisters house in Buckinghamshire. Both she and her husband are 50, so we celebrated with a big party on Saturday night. The weather couldn't have been better so we spent most of the time in their lovely garden. Lesley is a great hostess; I hope she likes the surprise present I've sent to thank her.

Well here I am next to my slim and gorgeous baby sister! Doesn't she look good for 50?!!! (She's the one with the necklace...just in case you hadn't worked it out from the other 3 clues!)
Its actually her birthday today so I hope she sees this.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LESLEY!

Matchbook... and Tea on Tuesday

I'm in the middle of making matchbooks for a swap and yesterday found a tutorial by Joanne Wardle here.
I've had a go at the 'tuck under the flap' style plus I've done some other designs ..... but they aren't quite finished yet. Audrey has some lovely examples on her blog and suggests using the Stampington template here.I can't believe its been a week since I last posted ..... (tea with Kimmie).
Well here I am again - this time with a cup of gorgeous orange, mango and cinnamon tea (definitely not dishwater!) in my M&S 'berries and leaves' cup. Not sure why the tea is red (shouldn't it be orange?) Anyway..... I'm sitting here with a TENS machine on my back; I've been working at the Beetroot Tree Gallery all day and now I am suffering with terrible back pain. It was a very busy day because there were events all over the holiday weekend at the gallery ...... which meant there was a lot of tidying up to do today! I must be getting too old for that kind of thing......

Tea on Tuesdays

Kimmie at http://artinredwagons.blogspot.com/ has suggested Tea on Tuesdays ..........

.''.......make yourself a cuppa, post a picture of it on your blog with a little something to say about your day, and then link back to me (Kimmie). We'll all make the rounds to see what's up with our blogging buddies and take a pause for some friendship over a hot cuppa ...... ''

So, here's my tea - it contains lemon, limeflowers, milk thistle and lemon verbena. I think I may throw in a slice of lemon as well to give it some flavour.
I do try to like fruit and herbal teas....but many of them just taste like dishwater to me. (Not that I've ever drunk dishwater...)
As for today - well, I helped my daughter move back home. Not something either of us really want, although we love each other very much (she liked having her independence, I liked having a tidy house and a guest room), but she was made redundant a few weeks ago and is struggling to find another job. Living away from home is not an option for her until she does.
We both hope she finds a job very soon........