A BeauTiful ThaNk-You & CooKies with TeA !

Awhile back I found a lady online who makes beautiful altered art wonders. Her name is Kecia Deveney and she has a natural talent for creating things out of found objects, turning them into delicious shabby fun elegant ( and even Steampunk ) treasures, from necklaces to paintings to dollies with whimsical dressings !

You must, must, must check out her links - 2 fab. shops and 2 blogs:

-Etsy shop
'Lemoncholy's'
-Lovely blog
Lemoncholy's Flight of Fancy ( she's also posted her Facebook link )
-Her fab. shop of gorgeous eye candy for the body and soul
Lemoncholy's Studio
-Her other blog where you can find out about upcoming flea markets and other fun flea market delights:
Flea Market Junkture ( Kecia LOVES flea markets ! )

Kecia also teaches classes. If I were anywhere near her I would be one of the first to sign up !

We are friends on Facebook and I'm always looking forward to reading up on her latest finds and makings.
She had posted a picture of some found beach glass and so I decided to send her some of the beach glass my birth-grandmother had collected over 30 years ! Of course the parcel ended up getting stuffed with other wee fun finds too, couldn't help myself it was so much fun :)

As a thank-you to me, Kecia created a necklace using one of the pieces of beach glass I sent her. When it arrived I was so excited and thrilled at how lovely it was --and how much it means to me to be wearing something my birth-grandmother found with her hands ( she passed last year. I feel very lucky to have had the chance to meet her, if only twice and for a few short hours ).

The necklace came 'packaged' inside a most unique piece of art. It is so much like a mini quilt with wonderful stitching, lace, various fabrics and a sweet image of a child. I just love it and will proudly hang it in my art room, on the wall by my tv, so every time I look up it will always be in my line of sight :)

Thank-you Kecia for your beautiful treasures and for bringing joy to so many.

Isn't this necklace beautifully elegant ?
The child is part of a pocket sewn onto the 'quilt' piece, inside which was the necklace. Love the thoughtful details, such a delight
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After receiving Kecia's treasures I then popped onto Facebook to see any new updates. Another of my FB friends had spent the day baking a load of mouthwatering goodies.

Since it was raining today I too decided to bake something, something in which I could sprinkle some tea leaves !

I have well over 50 varieties of tea, in fact, I have my very own tea cupboard in the kitchen. It's stocked with boxes and bags of tea and all my tea accoutrements.

So, I decided to make whipped shortbread...an easy dough with few ingredients (butter,flour,icing sugar). I then divided the dough and in one portion I mixed the loose tea from 2 bags of Stash's Double Spice Chai & added a wee bit of cinnamon. In the other batch I added 2 bags of Stash's Earl Grey Green tea, some Formosa Jasmine and a handful of leftover milk chocolate chips. Yeh, I was feeling kindof adventurous lol ! Too impatient to let them sit in the fridge, I chose to make them drop cookies instead....

After approx. 13 minutes in the oven, they came out like this:

And after several bites, we decided the Earl Grey Formosa ones were the better tasting. The chai cookies were okay too but they left a wee bit of a bitter aftertaste. Maybe next time I'll bake some with freshly brewed tea leaves ?

That's it for today. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a lovely new treasure to hang on my art room wall ( I'm wearing the necklace, had to put it on asap ! )...and then I'm grabbing a plate of cookies, some tea and my book for a few good minutes of quiet time.

Tracy ♥

A day in the sun

It's been quite hot here and the last couple of days were spent being rather lazy and useless. So today I had to escape the house !
It took awhile for our son and I to get motivated, the heat really sucks the life out of a person. Even my husband Jacques, who is usually always busy, was stuck to the recliner for a couple of hours.

So we headed to Mystic Vale, a lovely wee sanctuary located next to UVic --University of Victoria. It's also right next to some farm-type land the university uses, and is a fantastic place for bringing dogs ! We had several greetings from quite a variety --boxers, labs, scraggly fluffy ones, a hunting dog. We can't wait for the day when we can finally get a dog !
Then it was on to the vale, a nice place to get away from the heat, even though it was still fairly warm among all the trees.
It wasn't a long walk, enough to get the heart pumping a bit, but we didn't really notice our hearts because we were enjoying the scenery. Here's a small sampling of the place:

Oh, first is a pic. showing what I had for breakfast. Every now and again I like to do some green juicing, today it was a mix of spinach, broccoli coleslaw and a carrot mixed with some apple juice, yum !! Then I had an avacado. Not your typical breakfast but it helped to make me feel more alive.

After our walk we decided to take a drive downtown ( Victoria B.C. ). I took several shots but didn't want to clog up my blog with too many. This shot shows the Empress Hotel , a very popular and well loved hotel looking over the very popular and busy waterfront. Many a busker has entertained many a tourist on that waterfront, it makes for a fun evening wandering the area and taking in all the sounds. Plus there are plenty of wonderful restaurants nearby, along with the wax museum, Parliament buildings ( or legislative buildings is the proper name but has gone by Parliament for so many years ) and Royal B.C. Museum.

After our drive we headed to Dragon Alley in Chinatown for a bubble tea, and then off home. I ended up with a bit of a headache, too much sun maybe ? But right now it's almost 10 p.m. and I'm feeling fine and very relaxed.

Looking forward to tomorrow evening ! We live about a 5 minute drive from the popular Butchart Gardens , and every Sat. eve. in July they put on a fabulous fireworks display with music. Our area is close enough that we will be able to hear the music and possibly see the higher fireworks, woohoo ! It will be our first time enjoying this. Wish I could take pics. for you, I'll try to catch one of the fireworks.

Tracy ♥

1980's Punk Rocker with Humbum & Other Delights...

Today I'm visiting with my birthmom again & meeting with her aunt and uncle Renee & George. Looking forward to it and hearing about a supposed pirate in the family :)

But first I wanted to add a post, you know, trying to keep the ol' bloggola busy. So I start with this pair of old boots and pants...they were mine back in the mid-1980's. I've held onto them all these years too !
The boots were kept as a reminder of those years, when dancing almost everynight was normal for me, and my deep love for 'new wave' music ( I was a big fan of Gary Numan & Japan/David Sylvian, oh yes also The Cure, Cocteau Twins and many more ). The boots have rather large holes in the soles, maybe one day I might get them fixed ? Probably not...I tried them on and they don't 'look' the same anymore. As much as I still love seeing people with their dyed hair, piercings and gothic look, it just doesn't look the same on me nowadays. Oh well, prob. all for the better anyway, I prefer to wear minimum makeup these days & just too lazy to be bothered with all that black eyeliner lol ! The pants are another reminder of my crazy dressing days --but I do hope to get back into these ! I can get them up, just can't do them up at all, my tum area has changed quite a bit since then. Some of my friends have seen these and rolled their eyes lol ! --but I refuse to give up entirely my weird dressing ways :D Look out, one day I'll be one of those old ladies with the purple hair !


Upcoming 'Punk Rocker' felt brooch, woohoo ! This dude is being created from a drawing I did in the 1980's in high school. He's going to be a wee bit smaller than my other large brooches, so the facial features will prove challenging when doing the blanket stitching. He's going to be finished off with a cigarette and facial rings ( as in the drawing. I know smoking is horrid, but I'm making the brooch to look just like my drawing )

Here is a hum bum !

So, this is what i work with when making my brooches, a bag of snarled up floss ! It was given to me by one of my past paper clients ( when I delivered the local news ). At first I was just going to toss it but something told me to hold onto it, good thing I did .

Will soon need to restock on black floss.


Finally, some gorgeous fabric I purchased the other day. It's called Spring Sakura by Michael Miller. Of course it's much more stunning in person, really beautiful ! I'll be using some of it in my brooches.

Well there you go. And now I have to go and finish getting ready.....have a fulfilling day all :)♥

The Happy House and a Peanut Stealer !

Forgot to post yesterday :P Well here is my latest brooch: The Happy House on Candy Hill :)

I will be making more of these fun colorful brooches. I love how this one simply looks happy, and it's already sold ! My dear birthmother Judy phoned to ask if she could buy it, I was very happy that she too loves cheerful things. So next week I'll meet up with her & then she's taking me to visit her aunt & uncle for lunch, looking forward to it.

I've nicknamed this crow 'Peanut Stealer'. A couple of days ago I went to fill the squirrel nut feeder ( a wooden base with covered 'house' into which a large jar is placed. Nuts are put into jar & squirrel can get them without getting wet ). I tossed a couple onto the lawn to encourage the squirrel to "come and get 'em !". Well the next day they were gone, of course thinking it was the squirrel. Nope ! I tossed a couple more and a crow swoops down and takes them ! So now I think the crow thinks it's going to get nuts everyday lol ! It sits in a nearby tree and gives 3 "caws" as if it's saying "want, more, nuts !" --and I oblige of course :) It's found the peanuts on our balcony railing too, and because I love crows and ravens, I think this is a very special treat for me and the crow. The nut shells are salted, which makes me wonder if the crow gets thirsty. Perhaps a wee birdbath nearby might encourage it to stay a bit longer.
Sorry about the pic. quality, this crow is fast ! It swoops in, takes 2 peanuts and off it goes.

That's it for today folks ! Friday I may pop out for breakfast at 'The Roost', a place where the free roaming chickens roam around your feet ! Starting another brooch too tho not yet sure exactly what I'm going for.

Show & Tell: Another brooch on the way, & one already done...

Took this past weekend off and the family and I played lazy. Oh it was so nice to just sit around being all blobby, playing computer games, drinking tea & eating popcorn. Sometimes it's nice to not feel the need to do something !
A part of me is kinda hoping that when our son and I visit my birth father and his family ( in Ottawa early August )...we'll be able to play lazy & just hang out there too :)

Now for today's show & tell. I've always liked paintings of houses, especially ones that are 'happy', full of sunshine, open spaces, etc...So I decided to make my own 'painting' of a happy house --a handsewn felt brooch I'm calling
'The Happy House on Candy Hill'

Why 'Candy Hill' ? Isn't it obvious ? This is no ordinary house ! The owners of this house are distant relatives of Willy Wonka. They too adore candy and have found a way to grow it on their property. Even the tree sprouts colorful sweets 7 months of the year.
Oh, wait, of course it's not obvious to you just yet, the brooch isn't even finished ha ! Give me a few more hours.......

Planning it out...

Lots of handsewing...
It's coming together nicely...

And here is the brooch I finished a couple of days ago. I've named it

'The Colors of My Heart'.

Each color represents the 4 main emotions we feel: black for anger/dark moments, blues for gentle sadness to depression, pinks for all types of love and yellows for joy :) The large golden beads are for those unforgettable joyful moments. I've added smaller beads including an edging of bugles.

Like the rest of my brooches, this one is also on the large side because they are meant to be seen.

In my Etsy shop :)

I'll be back tomorrow to show off the Happy House brooch :)

Arting Outside

We've been enjoying some pretty warm weather lately. I'm waiting for the day it 'breaks' and the cooler stuff swoops in ! --not that I want cooler stuff, but this warm stuff does affect the desire to cook/garden and clean house.

Anyway, today I chose to take my art outside onto the sundeck and inside the gazebo. The art room is fine but I was in the mood to listen to the music of birds instead of my usual trance music.
First I took a pic. of my dear husband Jacques. He chose to switch to nights for 2 months, so I get to enjoy him daytime now :)


Well here I am all settled in. I'm working on a heart brooch and I've got a Revello ready to eat --choc. covered vanilla ice cream bar.


This is the view from the gazebo. You get to enjoy the flower pots, the bird feeder and the hummingbirds all at the same time :)


My Revello icecream bar already half eaten ( those things have gotten smaller over the years ! )



Here is that heart brooch I was working on earlier. It's called ' The Colours of My Heart'. Each thread colour represents a feeling: black for anger/dark mood, various blues for sadness, pinks for love ( all love such as motherly, spouse,friend and sexual ) and finally, yellows for joy ( joy felt from a child, watching a meteor shower, feeling like running around a field, getting married, etc..). I've completed the thread colours, added a row of red, blue,pink & yellow bugle beads interspersed with pink czech glass beads and a few black beads. I could walk away from it now but I feel there is still something that needs to be added, maybe a small handful of beads among the threads...? I'll figure it out later tonight. Will get listed in my Etsy shop tomorrow.

My next brroch will be a house, something joyful and very colourful.

What a difference making these brooches ! I no longer sit amongst a desk covered with piles of stuff, feeling stress from the need to add tons of detailing and then wondering what the shipping will be. These brooches consist mainly of fabric, floss and maybe the odd broken jewelry piece here and there. The hand stitching is really relaxing too, plus, the shipping is fabulous because most of these brooches can be sent in a bubble mailer without worrying about boxes, woohoo !

So now it is 8:15 p.m., the birds are still chirping away outside, so I'm going to sit on the sundeck for a wee bit and take in the sunset and feeling of solitude that comes over the air at this time of night.

Have a great evening all :)

5th. times a charm ;)

Hello again, here's is charm no.5 from the Heart Collective charm swap :)

I began with decoupaging some lovely paper and then some pink tissue on top. I was trying to go for an 'eye spy' design but just could not find the right images to finish it off.


Here is the back of the charm. Each charm has a wee mirror, for checking out teeth or whatever. Some are outlined in black, others in pink glitter.

A side view of the charm showing the cute fluffy candy-colour puffs...


Finally the pic. of the charm :) The 'happy face' is an advertising image cut from a 1950's Popular Science magazine. Wings and legs come from an ARTCHIX Studio collage. Totally silly and FUN !

Lastly , I thought I'd toss in a pic. of a bumble bee being 'saved'. We erected one of those screened gazebo's on our sundeck, but unfortunately it also seems to attract bees and flies. I love bumble/honey and mason bees and can't sit back and watch them die ! So out comes a glass, flat paper and my desire to save them from the confines of the gazebo.
This wee bumblebee was given a heavenly drink of water mixed with a little bit of honey. After about 1 minutes worth of 'drinking', the bee went from almost dead to an all out jittery mass ! It didn't take too long for it to start beating it's wings and take off ( almost taking me out in the process too lol ! )
Here's a pic. of the b-bee slurping up the nectar.

Well there you go folks :) I have to mail out the charms Sat. morning and then my family and I are off to Coombs, over an hours drive up island ( Vancouver Island ) --a wee 'village of sorts' where the main market area has goats on the roof ! Will take pics. to prove it :)