Britto Teapots

My friend Lucy from Luluspetals was inquiring about my teapots. These ones are Peppers,  designed by one of my favorite artists, Britto.  I have a Mary Naylor one in the Kitchen. Pepper's the big tea drinker in this house.  Bryan  and I love our coffee, on  occasion we have tea. Mine is always well steeped, almost black. Also  favored by my Scottish buddy Barb. Who says I make the best tea in town. Mom carried on that tradition from my paternal Scottish grandmother. Try leaving that tea bag in a little longer, or using two bags per pot! Make sure the water is bubbley boiling and see if you don't like our way too! 

We did the twelve days of Christmas around here, getting little things daily. Our traditional purdys chocolate ( it's the best, but I'm a chocolate snob). I gave Pepper the heart shaped teapot,  I bought myself a few   tables for the living room, Bryan got some cd's, new boots, a coat,  I got a scrabble card game called slam! Pepper got a huge crib board for four people, which also deviates from the game a bit. I got a requested book which I'll speak about later, some earrings, and other goodies. All in all we never missed the Christmas morning opening....instead we have enjoyed the season with family, friends and laughter! What joyful time it is, I'm still enjoying my ornaments! A releif from the three months of disarray around here!!!

Christmas 2009, Happy Holiday with a HO HO HO!

 

I'm so frustrated with blogger I could scream! I have been trying to share my Christmas

with you for days now. The formatting has changed and is extremely difficult to line up!

Even so I had an amazing Christmas. A luncheon with my brother Christmas eve, Christmas dinner which you see here at with Gypsy goddess and her family, while the kids went to the inlaws.

  

This is my mantle, the  acrylic of houses done months ago....

 will SOON be replaced, by a large scale canvas.

Our Living room tree holds  my special decorations collected over the years, the  family room tree purchased this year, never used at a garage sale, holds all the fun ornaments, many from Peppers childhood!

I cheated by altering  the fireplace with photo shop, I  replaced the  out dated brass slats which will be sprayed black after the holiday, also altered the marble tile which is slated for the new year! The rest is the new funky benjamine moore gypsy pink that was democratically choosen!!! Not for everyone, but a relished change  for  this household of artists!

The wall units against the far wall, plus two in the dining room took months to complete....each piece needed to be sanded, primed,  then coated two or three times with self leveling enamel. There were 35 individual pieces (shelves, drawers, doors), along with five upright large pieces that were done not to mention a large table. A sheet of plastic spread over the whole living room harbored the wet painted  pieces. This was my lovely Christmas present, having the whole thing back together in time to celebrate! We are all shocked that it actually happened. Unfortunately the expresso hardwood floor was not  done as predicted because of a glitch in the store, but is on order!

Sunday Scribblings " Brave"

click on image to read caption

Sunday Scribblings prompt this week is 

"Brave"

Well I missed Christmas so to speak! The first in many years I've not spent with my brother! I'd made the desserts, then found out  his children's mom has H1N1. Not that brave I couldn't risk being around possible carriers with my compromised immune system. My kids are immunized but I'm not, so we stayed home. They were pretty burnt out from a  Christmas party the previous evening, welcoming a quiet evening with  Bryan fighting a cold too.  Instead I continued to work on this card I'd foolishly saved in JPEG form instead of BMP....having to redo the whole thing so I can print it out a hard copy!!! My brother is very similar to Howie Mandel except he gives hugs!!!  For those wondering, we dropped off the desserts. Don't worry we have a few other Christmas dinners in the works!

Thursday Thirteen Random things

Thirteen totally random things 

Peppers former boss announced that she's getting married

at a five course dinner she invited us to last Wednesday.  

An independent business woman it's a  first marriage in her late forties!

We attempted to do a concert with whistles from party crackers, 

while Pepper conducted!

She set an amazing table with different wines for each course.

Sunday my artist friend had a craft party

I made a shrinky dink out from  a character on my 

Christmas cards .

We had our first snow of the season and could watch it as we created. 

 Nikki making a shrinky dink out of one of her characters

 

 It's such a blast getting together with good friends. My friend Violette

is always so supportive and inspires me to try new mediums. 

 Pepper made magnets from pieces of scrapbook paper

then covered glass balls with colored tissue

while Betty Boop looked on!

 Pepper's boss brought  us this cool little  pillow from the Caribbean!

My daughter has only ever worked for powerful strong women!

I find that very interesting!

My son-in law won an  all inclusive trip for two to  Mexico for a week!

 s

Sunday Scribblings "Brave" and Christmas Crafting

Photo credited to Violettes blog

Sunday Pepper and I did some Christmas crafting with our artists friends.

A great time was had by all! We enjoyed decorating an ornament, chatting about art,

while munching on goodies with the spirit  of the season abounding!!!

Sunday Scribblings prompt this week is actually "Brave" I know many 

brave women I could write about but  in light of the 

season I'd rather keeps things on the fun side!

Friday  the three of  us trekked to another city to have our hair done. Being  the environmentally green folks that we are,  errands seemed feasible on the way home. With  fear of snow looming, the Friday rush hour just around the corner we drove to our home city to finish up. Stopping here and there for Christmas treats and treasures.  While Pepper was in the mall I asked Bryan if  there were any stops he wanted to make.   Pajama city was the only place he wanted to go. “Pajama city,” I asked quizzically. He was adamant Pajama city was the only stop he wanted to make. He teased me for a bit, then admitted Pajama city was at home where he could put on his PJ’S. We had a laugh over that. When Pepper returned to the car we played the pajama city  game with her,  eventually we had her giggling in compliance.

Soon  daylight had disappeared. I was fishing around my dashboard to turn up the dimly lit board when Pepper asked what I was doing! I explained I was searching for the switch to brighten up the board. Dumbfounded she asked why. I replied that I can hardly see the speedometer. She reminded me that it was bright enough. I waited for a red light, still planning  to  turn up the light. None turned red so I continued to drive struggling to see the dash. There in the mirror, to my horror I saw it! I was still wearing my clip on sunglasses.  I quickly pulled them off and we all laughed hysterically….I was going to Pajama city wearing sunglasses in the dark….. My children  had braved another mental pausal moment with mommy!!! 

Sunday Scribblings "Game"

  Sunday Scribblings prompt this week is "Game" 

this post took maybe five or ten minutes to write.... funny how that works!

So after I posted this I realized this was the prompt from two weeks ago.... 
Oh my, how mental pausal of me!!

Scrabble

I’m contented to play my silly game

Absolutely nothing more sublime

When the mesh of intrinsic letters

Could be connected online

I woke to flick the switch on

An obsession beyond control

When I found the perfect opponent

I‘d be hours on a role

No drink, no food did I need

My drive was so intense

To up my comprehension

A passion so immense

Dusting fell by the wayside

Dinner often too

I despised an interruption

Fingers stuck to keys like glue

Jailed in my compulsion

The phone rang on and on

Then I started blogging  

soon addicted to a new song

Creative dudes havin fun

A Quirky little Video the boys that work with my son-in-law made!

Sunday Scribblings "Weird is Amusing"

 photo take Oct/ 2007

I couldn't resist this weeks topic at Sunday scribblings! "Weird" is my middle name!!! I have never walked the beaten path, naming my daughter Pepper should be a huge clue "I march to a different accordion"..... which,  by the way, is also a bumper sticker I flaunt!

Although   I'm more of a homebody now, I still prefer weird and unusual aspects to life. It's more interesting for me. The human spirit, it's complexities and weirdness intrigue me. Comedians take  human flaws, bizarre behavior and make light of it. I once heard a comedian say that artist and poets are the ones willing to address that which others are unwilling to! That would be me, weird as I am, I'm proud to say I  address  subjects others shun!

Weird

I’ve  never fit in my  family

With my quirky little style

Colorful, brass and brazen

I stayed just a little while

I must have been an Indy kid

Back in the hippy day

Swimming tumultuous waves at home

Just to find my way

Different clothes, shoes and tastes

A philanthropist at best

Misunderstood by many

Neutral with all the rest

Life took a glorious twist

I found my own tribe

People who could appreciated

My unusual vibe

My parents died not knowing

The artist trapped inside

Creating funny little characters  

With a monumental pride

Often an embarrassment

Not willing to conform

I wore Christmas lights at a dance      

Deflecting  the norm

Weird is wonderful I say

Not boring or contrite

It’s the act of artistry

It makes the colors bright!!!

Goddesses Christmas Magic

Happy Houses by Happytiler

   
Goddess night was magical beyond words. Dining on cuisine made with love. Ambiance of peace and harmony. These photos don't do it justice. We all bring a small gift to trade. I used a Starbucks mug template with two pieces of art as my surprise offering.

My caricatures garnered a giggle....nothing makes me happier! Our slight Faery goddess wondered who the one in the red was, boy did she laugh when she realized it was her! I just hope no one was insulted....it was all in fun and not an actual likeness. 
Besides it's  impossible to create the multifaceted perfection these gals possess!

  Faery Goddess as our cute little tree elf