Tea For Me

Evening friends, 

It's so chilly and feels like rain tonight. We need the rain here in Northern California, it's been so dry this winter, and I like rainy evenings so I won't complain if it starts to pour. I'm snug as a bug in a rug with my tea & my kindle. Happy, happy.

Tea... boy howdy, do I love ya. And tea things, I love tea things! Pretty pots and teacups and little spoons. Delicate plates and cozies and creamers and sugar bowls. Vintage linens and embroidered napkins, ooh I'm getting fluttery! I love it all, and have a lot of it. I need a hutch or china cabinet, like this one, or this one, something with some storage and a gang of display space. I miss the glass front cabinet I had in the kitchen of my last house. Since we moved here I have no place for my tea things or my Jadeite collection and most everything has been packed up in the garage. How sad, right? 

 Normally in the evenings I have a big cuppa tea, a giant mug (this one is my favorite) and hang out with my hubby & the dogs. He watches TV and I stitch or surf the web. But tonight I decided to have myself a proper little tea and read for a bit, I'm way behind on my book club reading and I need to catch up. Right now I'm finishing up The Distant Hours, and about to start The Fault In Our Stars. Also, I'm listening to a book on my commute to/from work everyday, or rather a series of books that one of my best friends turned me on to, and to which I'm now helplessly addicted, it's the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. I just started Drums of Autumn yesterday, Jamie Fraser. Unf... So many books, so little time.

Anyhoo... this is kind of a rambly post, isn't it? 

I think I'm going to have a tea party soon, I haven't had one in ages and spring is the perfect time. I wish you all lived close enough to come, wouldn't it be great to hang out and have tea? I would love, love, love that.

Ok, I better hit the book, erm, kindle! Times a'wasting.

oxo,

Lisa

Creativi-Tea

Hi All!

As promised here are a few snaps of the Creativi-Tea I hosted recently. We had a great time, so great in fact, that I didn't take as many pictures as I thought I did... you know how that goes, right?

I really enjoyed pulling out my teapots and tea cups, I haven't seen my little beauties since before we moved, almost a year ago.

My food coloring Modge Podge jars came out really cute, thanks again for the tute, Pam!

Jill brought cookies!

(Photo courtesy of Little Nest Studio)

We ate yummy food, too but you'll have to take my word for it, because I forgot to take pictures, d'oh! After we had lunchies and talkies, we got to play.

Jo & Lorna

I see stitching, beading, felty owl construction, and sketching. This makes me happy!

This is the necklace that Lorna made this afternoon, isn't it beautiful?

Mom was feeling stabby, woohoo needle felting!

And some more tea of course, always more tea.

We had a really nice afternoon, I'm looking forward to doing this again, maybe even semi-regularly, I love hosting tea parties, and I love being creative, so this is like heaven for me.

♥♥♥

I hope you enjoyed this small peek, I'm a little bummed that I didn't get better pictures, ah well, next time!

Have a great weekend, sweeties!

oxo,

Lisa

Christmas Tea At The Crown & Cumpet

Ho, ho ho y'all!

Jill and I snuck off to San Francisco yesterday. Ah, the city at Christmas... I love San Francisco always, but at Christmas, I think I love it even more, if that's possible. Everything was merry & bright and we had a grand ol time first at the Ferry Building, then wandering at Ghiradelli Square, then taking tea at The Crown & Crumpet, and afterwards, meandering around SF enjoying the scenery. It was a great day, I thought I'd share some pictures with you.

The Crown & Crumpet is starting to feel like our little hiding place in SF, this was our third trip to the C&C, but our first at Christmas and to our delight the C&C was dressed for a party and full of holiday merriment. It is really such a special place, we love, love, love it.

A holiday tea! Those words alone make me all kinds of happy.

Look at all these sweets!

And these sweets, too.

This fabulous red Christmas tree grabs your attention as soon as you walk into the Crown & Crumpet.

A cheery fireplace mantle. Love those fabulous, pink feather trees!

The tea, service and food were as fabulous as always. That's one thing about the Crown & Crumpet that I especially love, the consistency of the product. Each time we've been there, we feel like "friends" of the shop, like they've been waiting for us to arrive. It's awesome, and not stuffy. Such a joy!

Of course no trip is complete without a memento, or three. I bought this happy, little soldier at the Crown & Crumpet's gift shop, so sweet.

He went straight onto the tree in our family room.

And my happiest purchase of the day, this lovely little broach! I've loved the work of the maker, Lorie Marie for some time and she has a terrific blog which I follow (it's over there on my side bar too, have a look!) as well. I knew that she sells some of her wares at the Crown & Crumpets gift shop, and I was excited to see them in person. When I did, I HAD to have one of these pins. It's everything I love, felt, happy colors, flowers, stitching, in a word; perfect. I really wanted one of these, but it's just not in the budget at the mo... maybe for my birthday.   

Oh, and then there's this! Couldn't leave Ghiradelli Square at Christmas without some, it's my favorite.

I know I've said it before, but you can be sure I'll say it again, if you're a tea fan, and ever you're in San Francisco, you must find the time to have tea at the Crown & Crumpet, you will love it. I promise.

I know this has already been a picture heavy post, but I'm really enjoying and learning to use my new camera, so I hope you'll forgive my photo indulgence a little more. Here are a few snaps that I think are pretty from the Ferry Building...

Just inside the Ferry Building.

Rose & geranium French macaroons, tasted as pretty as they looked. Miette.

Beautiful shrooms, Far West Fungi.

Gifts from the hive, Bee Kind.

All sorts of wondrous fromage (hot guy not included), Cowgirl Creamery.

Mine! Mine! Mine! This guy crept up on me, good thing Jill was watching.

So that about wraps it up, I hope you've enjoyed another trip to my favorite city by the bay!

More Christmas goodness coming soon, stay tuned!

oxo,

Lisa



Hello Rainbow!

Hi Guys,

Hooboy, where does the time go? Sorry I've been a little MIA lately, I've been slowly working my way through some crafty stuff, but I don't have anything I can share just yet, gotta love the super secret stuff. I wish I could say I've been more productive. Seems lately the more I have to do, the less I'm able to actually do it. I'm in the home stretch on three different projects for three special ladies so I should have something to share soon, promise.

In the meantime, I do have something that I think was so special. I know it's going back a little ways but this deserves its moment in the sun. Many months ago (I think) I may have mentioned to Jill that I'd always wanted a rainbow cake. Just in passing. That lady has the ears of a fox! The weekend after my birthday we'd made plans to go out to San Francisco to the Crown & Crumpet, which we did, it was perfect and lovely of course. But when she showed up at my house the morning we left for the city, she was carrying this...

BEHOLD!!

 Awww yeeeah!

Before we left, I had to have a piece. We took it out on the patio, it was a nice morning.

Dig those lovely colors!

This made me so happy, I can't believe she did this just for me for me!

What a pal!!

Thank you Jill, you are wonderful! Isn't she wonderful?? Yes, she is.

oxo,

Lisa



Aaaand I'm back - with a winner!

Hi All~

My, my... where has the time gone, and where the heck have I been?? Well... I'm not sure to be honest. I admit, it's been a bit hectic around these parts, but geez. I recently started watching Dr. Who (starting with the 2005 season, the 9th Doctor {singing} it's amaaaaaazing!) and it's kinda like that, like I jumped into the Tardis and it seems like I've only been gone a few minutes, but when I come back to check in with y'all, I see that I've been gone for over two weeks, TWO WEEKS!?? How's that even possible? 

Bizzaro.

Anyway, so yeah ~ we have a winner from tea party week, drum roll please.....

Bex!

Yay, Bex! Bex is a fellow stitcher, and all around awesome chickadee. She makes rad stuff, she's a crazy animal lover, a real life, red hot, pin up girl, and she has a wicked sense of humor. I ♥ me some Bex!

Bex, I'll email you to get your mailin' particulars, then I'll be sending you some tea (caffeine free~Spackle~teehee!) and a wee little stitchy goody shortly!

So what've I been working on these last couple of weeks? Well, it's still a secret, but I can tell you it's a Phat Quarter Swap and it's based on a little book that I've loved for many, many years. And that I'm making it for my partner, someone whose work I've admired for a long time. I took some some sneaky, nearly indiscernible pictures to send to my partner, Nicole, as proof that I really am stitching something for her (I'm shamefully late on this swap, like bad.) that I can also share with you guys. I've spent a lot of time unpicking and restitching this piece. I'd really like it to be as perfect as possible. In fact I'm hoping to get in at least an hour of stitching tonight, as soon as I wrap up here.

Mmm, shiny!

I dare not show any more, I want it to be a surprise.

I've already received the piece my partner made for me, and I CAN NOT wait to show it to you guys!! It nearly knocked my socks clean off. I got goosebumps when I pulled it from it's packing. No joke, goosebumps.

Sorry I've been gone so long bloggy friends, I promise to be more mindful of the time next time I take a spin in the Tardis. And oh, hey! I see up there that there are a few new folks following along, wahoo!! I'm really happy to have you here, welcome aboard!!

Talk again soon, pinkie swear!

oxo,

Lisa

Tea Party Week

Hi Everybody~

If you've come over from Wild Olive, welcome!! I'm so glad to have you here.

If you haven't seen all the cuteness happening over at Mollie's blog, Wild Olive, I encourage you to pop over and have a look! Her place is brimming with tea-riffic things this week, and if you like tea parties, boy oh boy, are you in for a treat!

I'm jumping into the tea party action too, because you know I love a tea party! Today I'm going to share a couple of things, one of my favorite tea sandwich recipes, and some Tealightful Treasures tea, that's right it's a giveaway!! 

This recipe is my go-to, never-fail, everyone-loves-it tea sandwich. It's versatile and can be modified to your personal tastes. I've made this with canned chicken, baked chicken, rotisserie chicken (from the grocery store) and even a roasted turkey breast.

Since I made this recipe up, I don't have any measurements, it all depends on how much you need, ie. a sammie for yourself, or a platter for a crowd.   

Here's what you'll need:

• Chicken (fresh or canned - if using canned, get the kind packed in WATER)
• Celery
• Green onion (any other onion is too strong and will overwhelm the fruit, if you can't get green onions, skip them)
• Dried Cranberries
• Dried Apricot
• Roasted Almond Slivers
• Mayo (the good stuff! diet won't work here.)
• Celery Salt
• Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
• Loaf of soft white bread
• Loaf of soft wheat bread

Everything should be chopped small (approx 1/4").  Except the almond slivers, just put some of those in a baggie and smash them on the counter. Mix everything together and cover with plastic or in an air tight container until assembly. It's best to make these the night before you need them so that the flavors have time to blend. Right before I make the sandwiches, I add a bit more mayo to moisten up the mix, then I trim the crusts off the bread and assemble the sammies, easy peasy! I like to use a light & dark bread for each sammie, but that's not necessary.  Stack them on a pretty platter, sneak one for yourself, and viola! Tea sandwiches!

Oh, yum. Now I want to make these...

Back to Wild Olive!

Here's another little goodie from Mollie's Tea Party Week, an adorable little embroidery pattern that she made to share with all of us.

You can download the PDF file that Mollie made here.

Ok, giveaway time!

To play along I'd love to share some tea with you, my friends. I wish it could be in person, but since you bloggy pals are all over the world, it'll have to be a virtual tea party. 

I am going to give away a 2oz. bag of loose, Tealightful Treasures tea, and a few stitchy goodies to one person that I'll choose randomly, the evening of Monday May 30th.

**Please make sure that you leave me your email address in the comment if you're a "No-Reply" blogger so that I can get a hold of you if you win... not sure? Click here for details**

 Entering couldn't be easier, just leave me a comment here on this post, and tell me what kind of tea is your favorite, green, black, rooibos, or fruit & herb. This way I can make sure to choose a tea you'll enjoy. I have a wide variety of teas, because I'm a consultant for Tealightful Treasures, betcha didn't know that, aye? 

♥Tea-heehee♥

Can't wait to hear from you!

oxo,

Lisa

p.s. If you're new round these parts, thanks for popping in and I hope you'll come back again soon!



Stitch & Bitch: Tea In The City

Hello~hello!

Come with me to a tea party, won't you?

I finally got a chance to meet some of my favorite California stitchy bloggers and all-around, damn fine chicks this weekend when Katy & Maureen, the fabulous ladies of Sew Lovely Embroidery, graciously hosted a Stitch & Bitch Tea Party in the sunny dining room of their San Francisco home. 

The table was oh, so pretty!

Maureen made cute bunting!

Gorgeous tulips.

Mmmm, cupcakes! Perfectly moist & delish (I had three... oink!!)

The girls also made a variety of scrumptious tea sandwiches and fresh scones, raspberry & white chocolate, yum!

Look at all these teas, I'm in heaven!

Happy, stitching girls!

(made happier with copious amounts of champagne, woop-woop!)

Maureen, Jackson, Jocelyn, Katy & me...

It was SO great to meet all of these gals, but especially Katy & Jackson, we've been commenting on each others blogs, and chatting on facebook for a while now, so to finally get to meet each other *in person* was amazing! Maureen, the artist behind Sew Lovely couldn't have been sweeter! Jacquie (otherwise known as Mafiosagrrl, Mz. Jackson if you're nasty.) is a total sweetheart! I have a whole other post about Jackson coming soon, wait'll you see what she made for little old me! Jocelyn, a pal of Jacquie's came along too, which was great because I got to see knitting, live and in action! I want to knit, it looks cool (but hard)... I must add that to my to-do list. Then there's Katy, dear Katy. Total bombshell and a real fire cracker! I wanted to put her in my pocket and take her home with me.

Katy has an art show coming up, how exciting is this?!? I got an up close & personal look at one of the pieces that she'll be showing, and I only have one word... EPIC!!

 After we got our grub on, we got down to business. Stitchin' & Bitchin'!!

Awesome. The afternoon flew by way too quickly. Before I knew it, it was time to head for home.

Katy & Maureen are so sweet, they even made us goodie bags!

Can you see Katy's amazing embroideries in the background? If they're impressive when you see them online, you should see them in person, they're incredible.

And what a goodie bag it was!!

(ew, bad cell phone picture... sowwy!)

SO much great stuff, thank you, thank you, thank you ladies! I can't wait to do this again.

An extra huge thanks to Katy, who let me steal all these pitcures (except for that last crappy one) from her blog because I'm a dingaling and left my camera at home the day of our party. I think I was too excited to get to San Francisco.

There's nothing like finally getting to meet your bloggy, crafty friends in person. It's such a treat. I hope that all of you get to have this experience too.

Ok, I better wrap this up. As always, I've gone on far too long.

Have a great day!!

oxo,

Lisa