Tea Journal

Tea Journal

A little canvas tea journal that I made earlier. I didn't share it sooner because I don't really like how it came out. But since then, I realize how much I've learned from it.


I really enjoyed the process of making this journal all about tea time. Paint, ink writing, machine stitching, stamping, and some paper collage, buttons, hand stitches, paint pens, on heavy canvas.





I picked a pale color palette, so if I were to do this project over, I would choose richer colors and more variety. It's too pale, lacking depth. I also happened to use cheaper, thinner paints. Now, I prefer to mix these with heavier body paints with more pigment. About 4 hours total to create this little book.

Back cover

Coffee Cozies are Out of This WORLD!!!!

Need a little rocket fuel in your cup? Coffee cozy fans, strap on your seat belts for this journey into bliss space!

You know me, I love to make coffee cozies because I am an art quilter at heart, and I love using those skills to create art for every day objects. Combining my adoration of art quilts and coffee, and my current playful mind space, I bring you space themed coffee cozy series. They make great gifts for those coffee, tea, cocoa drinking friends of yours.

Above: Milky Way Macchiato coffee cozy, named by Facebook fans. Join in the fun at Bliss Monkey Studio fan page on facebook.

Mocha on Mars coffee cozy. Laid flat, you can see more of the quilting, amount of stitch work, and raw edge applique style. Cheers!

Interplanet Janet coffee cozy. Did you grow up with school house rock? If you are like me, you remember those little learning lessons between cartoons on Saturday mornings. In fact, you remember the lovely jingles all TOO well, thus your brain is now full and unable to store anything new.

Cozies currently available in Bliss Monkey Studio shop on Etsy!

Helping Haiti

Ooo, my art quilt, "Tea Time" is up on Craft Hope for Haiti etsy shop. Have a look at the listing. I appreciate that the money goes directly to Drs Without Borders.

This piece is going to be part of the Pretty Little Quilts by Lark books, due out next month. I have just supplied them with more info to help with the selling, for example, the tea cups button off to be reversed to a different color and rearranged! Interactive art quilt. :-)

English Tea and Viking Chain

English Tea Set is my latest design. I like the off-set feature, so they are different on each side.
Flower Tea Cup, Flower Tea Pot. I was tempted to sell them as a set......


I would like charm lovers to be able to wear their charms on a necklace. The one necklace I had in the shop was rather dear, so I've been searching for something more affordable. I bought one of these handmade Viking style chains for myself and just love it. It's made by basically hand knitting the wire, then drawing it down through wooden "drawplates" with a smaller and smaller diameter, until the little loops of wire are fine and smooth.

I've been wearing mine for three months now and adore it. I can wear pendants as well as my charm beads! 15" which is about collar bone length. If you are interested in a longer style, let me know.

I'm also going to carry a really simple silicone rubber necklace. It's fun and inexpensive. May also be a nice accompaniment to a gift bead.

These will all be in the shop in the next few days.

Wake Up

Green Dots cup Wrist Warmers found here.
I'm So Green coffee cozy found here. Get green here.


I woke up to the sound of doves outside my bedroom window accompanied by the sound of my Grandmother snoring in the twin bed next to me. The sun would be streaming in around the edges of the pulled shades. I'd lay in bed, smiling to myself, for a few moments before getting up. If I woke early enough, my Papa would still be eating breakfast in the kitchen. I'd slide into the green vinyl seat silently, and he'd look up, pretending to be surprised and say, "THERE's my Leesie!" He always had a cup of coffee, small bowl of cereal and an egg on a muffin. He's fix me whatever I was in the mood for. We'd chat while he read the paper, then off he'd launch into his day of joyfully working outside and in the garage.

And I would start MY day! It was summer in Southern California. The birds were chattering in the side yard, and chirping in the palm tree, the scent of flowers heavy in the morning air. If Iwas able to get dressed without waking Grandma, I could slip outside without wearing sandals. Bare feet on grass, before it got hot out was delicious. I loved being outside while air was still cool in the morning and the ever-present California sun was just rising.

My friends weren't out yet so I had time just to be quiet. I'd walk along the yard, looking at the Bird of Paradise and Lily blooms, and check the Guava plant for fruit big enough to eat. I'd walk through the tunnel of Bougainvillea, touching the thick leaves of the money plant. Maybe Papa would be out back picking oranges to make juice.

I would feel quietly excited that it was summer, that the whole day was laid out before me to be enjoyed, that I had so many fun things to do, that the world was beautiful, that Grandma would soon be up and available to chat with inside, that Papa would be doing many interesting things I could tag along with outside, that I could play with friends. It was summer and the day would be mine!

As an adult, I love thinking back to that time of my life. The summers spent at Grandma and Papa's house, feeling so safe and loved and spoiled "rotten". My dreams often take place in that house. I was a kid, totally confident, happy, safe, with the whole day of fun before me. I like to tap into that feeling before I head into the art studio.

When were you so happy, confident, and relaxed about life? Go into that memory, hold that in your heart and restart your day smiling to yourself.






My new garden companion. Maybe he'll ward off real snails since he's so giant!

Here he is on his dirt mound. I'm hoping to get all this earth green with ground cover. This is a view of the fairy/moomintroll garden that I started two years ago. It's been slow going getting the ground cover to stay in this part of the garden. I think I'll try installing an automatic mist watering system this summer.

Santa brought us that "toad bath". It's turned out to be very handy, because, as you know, toads are incredibly filthy.

Coffee House

These are my new art quilts. They are 8" high and stretched on a wooden frame, ready to hang, and feature a free-motion, quilted steaming mug. Coffee? Tea? What's your pleasure?

Back view.

Tea Time Art Quilt

Tea Time is a 20" art quilt on a wood frame- a project I designed for Lark books, "Pretty Little Art Quilts". The cups button off to be changed for seasons or reversed or rearranged (who says art quilts can't be played with?). The tea bag has real tea in it. I had a lot of fun doing this project. The background is four different textures of white fabric, evocative of fresh linen, curtains and crisp cloth napkins.
(click to see an enlarged photo)

Lucky 333

I feel like celebrating the 300's. Etsy sale #333 gets a free coffee cozy! Coming right up.............. will you be the lucky one?

(click here to shop if you like)

The kids are back to school this week and I'm stocking up for the big holiday rush. Coffee cozies: new designs and old favorites back in stock. Wrist warmers: never two exactly alike. Show and tell coming soon.

I'm having some wacky issues with Blogger not publishing so I haven't been able to write as much. Hmmmm

xo
Aly

Hot Woolie Woolie

Oregon finally had it's summer heat wave last week. 100 degree days. That's a big bit of hot for us here, because most Oregonians don't have air conditioning. The heat is miserable but doesn't last long. I've got to add that having a cold at the same time as a heat wave is not something I recommend for anyone.

I did finish my tea serving project design for Lark books. I recycling a plain white sweater into this India inspired colorful set of elephant tea cozy and coasters- all hand sewn. Tomorrow I'll give you my secrets for dying wool with powered drink mix (kool aid).

Coffee Monsters

I'm thrilled to find my work in this collection along with some artists i've marked in MY FAV's list! Thanks so much!

Wednesday - Garden Day

I've decided that Wednesday will be the day to share some garden photos or tell a story. But today, today is weather BLAH in Oregon. We Oregonians have a lot of tolerance for grey skies, but this is seriously damp, chilly, and blahhhhhhh......... So what I have are photos we'll pretend are today- overcast, but not so blah.

This is a feature in the front path garden, next to the Moomintroll Garden. See the mound in the back? That's Singing Rock Mountain. I collect rocks that appear to have open mouths. They gather there, on the mountain to sing. Baby rocks next to mama rock too.



Inspector 86 doing his job in the herb garden. He pronouces the new dirt and "hen proof" fencing satisfactory.


Two weeks later..... herbs getting established, tiny celantros making secondary leaves, alyssums purpling around the place, and pinapple mint getting bushy enough to make a batch of sun tea.




Yesterday, I spent the day with THESE devine creatures. My own Mudslide, and his two delightful classmates. We took a long field trip to the awesome children's museum in Salem. We stayed together and had such a nice time. Hours flew by!

We loved the bubble room, where you can make a bubble form around your whole body! And we liked climbing inside a model stomach. We all agreed that we didn't have enough playground time. Pah!


Finally, one last photo of the day's events. Mudslide and his knightly friend poised for action.

A delightful day to be sure, and I raced home to a hot cup of coffee, and afternoon spent in the studio, making new TEA themed cozies! Oooo, la la!

What is this? A pin cozy??!
Actually it's my studio's coaster. I had just gotten into working with felt, and experimenting with how much stitching to put on it. This is the very first coaster I made. What's funny, is how much I love it. I often come into my studio with a cup of tea and can't set it on the cardboard cutting table and don't want to leave a wet mark anywhere else. It's lovely to have a regular destination for the cup. Wool felt is naturally water proof so I don't need to worry about moisture. Wool felt is wonderful to work with, is all from recycled sweaters (ye haw!), and it turns out to be a GREAT place to temporarily stick my pins as I'm working along. I've heard that the natural lanolin in the wool is good for pins and needles, helping them glide through fabric easier. I like to think that's true.

And the bottom line is this: I love my coffee, love my afternoon tea (two o'clock- time to put the jug on!), having nice accessories, sharing with friends, and the ritual of it all.