It's looking like Christmas tea

This has not been a very good day. I just hope the rest of the day is better. Early this morning, I made some hot chocolate to drink with Kimmie and the gals who are listed on her sidebar,
then went to open my Day 2 package and it is NO WHERE to be found. It was from Jan at
Dandelion and Daisy, and if the art square (5 X 5) was as lovely as the sneak peek I got of the packaging, I am kicking myself all over the place for not counting and making sure I had all of mine. And my cocoa is getting cold and the tree mug is looking grungy from cold chocolate, but thankfully, Jan sent me photos of her art.


See what I mean about the packaging? If the art square is as great as the packaging, I'm in for a real treat. (Above photo courtesy of Jan at Dandelion and Daisy. Please do not copy.)


And Jan did NOT disappoint. Her lovely art square is even more beautiful (if that is possible) than the packaging. This is Jan's first swap ever, and I would say she hit a home run, a touchdown, scored extra points, and any other metaphor I can think of. This is STUNNING, and I'm so missing out on it. (Above photo courtesy of Jan at Dandelion and Daisy. Please do not copy.)



I got all my Christmas dishes out this morning and, since several people wanted to see all the designs, I started to photograph them. I swear, I had the hardest time, because I thought I would use my camera with the flash. Well, the flash washed everything out, and I had a dark mess otherwise. I lightened in PS, then decided, after taking over 200 photos, I would get out my Zi6, the one I normally use that has no flash, and


look at the difference. No touch-up, no nothing. Just straight off the camera. And I even noticed the eye glasses in this photo. This is a large bowl, but because it has a crack, I can't use it. I usually wrap rolls in a towel and place them in this one.


This even larger bowl I broke a couple of years ago, but repaired it, knowing I wouldn't use it, but still enjoyed the image.

Here is a far better shot.


Ye olde Curiosity Shoppe is the picture on the dinner plates.


A snow covered theme is on the meat platter.


Don't you love that bay window and the carriage in the background?


This is the salad bowl. It's quite small, and I'm not sure you could get much salad in it.


Believe it or not, this is the saucer. Not sure you can tell, but there is a slight dip in the center circle to hold the cup in place.


After standing on my head, doing a jig, and holding my mouth just right, I still never got a good photo of these (creamer and sugar bowl) until I switched cameras. And this was from the overhead and natural light.


Of course, by this time, dawn had broken, my hot cocoa was cold, and I noticed I hadn't taken a photo of the dessert/bread/all purpose plate with the grandfather clock on it. It's on the right middle end and I have 36 of these. My grandmother must have decided they were good for just about anything, because she collected so many of them. Now I am ready to see what everyone else is drinking today and get a hot cup of cocoa.

My blog pick of the day belongs to the very talented Jan, who recently joined our Altered Book Club. She has some terrific AB pages, has a keen sense of color and design, and is an all around sweet person. I've only "known" her for a few weeks, but love her blog, love her design style, and totally enjoy reading about her art journey, as well as her decorating skills. I had a laugh at her telling about her lovely china cabinet she finally finished after 12 years and calling herself the Queen of Procrastination. In my books, there is no procrastination, just time spend making a decision. And Bleubeard wants to meet Al, one of her fur babies. In her post today, Jan describes how she made her art square and package, so please stop by and tell Jan hi. I would consider it a personal favor, since she's an excellent altered and collage artist. And have an awesome Tea Tuesday, too.