Lately I’ve been intrigued of my ancestry. During my visit home to Nebraska, my grandma sent me home with some books about Finland. I’ve been having fun skimming the glossy pages of pictures and drawing in my sketchbook. My old high school art teacher, Ms. D would be proud of my continuous lines.

Poppy Seed drawing print has a slight new look. It will be released very very soon. To pre-order a 5″x7″ or 8″x10″ print be sure to drop me a line.

I heart buttons. I have so many buttons, it’s ridiculous. I have a vintage Pyrex bowl filled with them. Speaking of items soon to be released, I will be listing little surprises in the shop like button rings. Each ring has a antique brass band and is topped off with eye catching buttons.

I did a print & framing custom order last week. Aren’t they exquisite? I love these 16″ x 20″ frames with their milky white mats. From left to right: Nutmeg, Cinnamon, and Poppy Seed.

My love and I took a bike ride to Mississippi Avenue for the weekend. It’s one of my favorites. There are so many shops and street art.

We were so excited to see that Cup & Saucer opened a location on Mississippi. We couldn’t resist eating there for lunch. If you haven’t ate there I totally recommend it!

Check out the delicious grub we ordered…

Garden Omelet with scone & potatoes
Broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, yellow squash, red pepper, mushroom, spinach and cheddar

Lucky Scramble
Bacon, mushroom, green onion, cheddar cheese scrambled with three eggs on top of potatoes

Lastly, here’s a recent drawing I did when I was visiting Nebraska. I finally snapped a photo for you to see. Enjoy!

My husband, Justin and I drove out to the coast this last Saturday. We finally celebrated his birthday, it was in the beginning of July.
Here are lots of photos! Enjoy! Feel free to leave a comment.

Out on the open road – Hwy 99W

Rectangle shaped stacked hay bales

We are almost to the finish line!

Look! It’s a deer!

Standing on Proposal Rock

Looking up at Proposal Rock

Looking up at Proposal Rock – close up

Crevice in Proposal Rock

Seaweed find

Where’s Proposal Rock?

Close up of the orchids on Neskowin Beach

Looking out Siletz Bay in Lincoln City, OR

Crafting at Siletz Bay in Lincoln City, Oregon

My sandy foot and crafting/drawing tools

Looking out Siletz Bay in Lincoln City, OR

Sea Lions at Siletz Bay in Lincoln City, OR

Good morning to you all! It’s very early for me… 4:00am. Some silly reason I’ve been waking up this time early every day this week. Let me state– THIS NEVER EVER HAPPENS. I heart sleeping. Make that a gigantic heart. Ok, so I’ve been pretty terrible about updating this blog. Eek! Has it really been 3 weeks since my last post? I really need to kick myself in the rear. It even has been perfect blogging weather…rainy. Bleh, I am pretty tired of this stinking hard core rain we have been having in Portland. Well, I don’t hate it completely. I love having my apartment windows open. Hearing the pitter-patter is nice. And so is the smell. Mmmm. But I am yearning for a little Vitamin D and bicycling that doesn’t involve soggy skinny jeans.

For some odd reason the rain has gotten me thinking of “David the Gnome”. If you were a child in the mid to late-80’s like me & you had cable… you probably were a big Nickelodeon fan. I’m curious how many of you out there liked the TV show “David the Gnome”? I had a flash back of being around the age of 5, all curled up on the couch with my mom, watching the show that would eventually be subdued by an afternoon nap. All while it was raining, of course. I wonder what I would think of it, if I watched it today. My mom sure loved it. And I’m pretty sure today I’m the same age as she was then.

Very soon I will be making my first roadtrip of the season out to the coast. And absolutely NO Mr. Rain! You are sooo not invited. Sun? absolutely!

Speaking of roadtrips, remember when I posted on here about my drive out to Mount St Helens? Oh… back in the Spring of last year? Well here’s the post if you would like to read it. With all this H20 jibber-jabber, here are some earrings that I crafted. With Clearwater Lake on the brain, I named them…

“That time my toes met the shoreline”

:: View in Etsy Shop ::

I adore these faceted glass beads. They’re awesome! See how their colors, teal & amber, blend together? It’s especially cool how they hit the light. I really wish I had more of them. Yes, unfortunately I only will be able to make a few more. I guess you can say they are limited edition. He he.

Well you nice folks have an excellent weekend! I will leave you with a sketchbook drawing from yesterday. Enjoy!

Maybe see ya on Monday!

A week or two ago I was pondering the idea of creating a new avatar for my Flickr, Twitter, and every other social networking website that is linked to A Tea Leaf. I mean it’s a new year, that should mean a new avatar, right? I’m a lil’ sad to leave behind the “I Can Has Plum” pic; it sure was a silly one. This year’s avatar includes a pretty sweet coffee mug that was just filled to the brim with Yerba Mate. I love this white glass mug, it’s fantastic. It has a lot of sentimental value to me; it use to be my grandmother’s. I remember when I was a wee one, watching her pour coffee into it and thinking to myself, ‘why would anyone drink coffee’, blergh. Obviously, in present time at the ripe ol’ age of 27, my taste buds have changed. As many of you know, not only am I a bit obsessed with Hello Kitty and Norwich Terriers, but hot beverages as well. Mmm… Yerba Mate.

I’ve been hyped up this week. It sure has been a productive one. Sometimes I wish I had my own chopper on the roof, though, so I could get to point A to point B uber fast and be so much more productive.  I decided that I’d try something new in the sketchbook. Since I love documenting and all, I doodled Tuesday’s accomplishments. I used one of my favorite mediums too… Gelly Roll Moonlight opaque pens. (Click on image to view larger.)

I had a ball drawing this. I’m definitely up for another one in the next month or two.

My first ever giveaway is getting a lil’ bit sweeter. Now you can win 2 prints of mine– Coriander & Poppy Seed!

I’m also extending it. The winner will be now contacted and announced on Monday, November 9th.

To win all you have to do is write a comment below, along with your name and an email address!

Oh my! I haven’t written a blog post since October 12th! Here’s a quick run-through of the latest.

New Earrings…
October Nights and Black Kitten’s Green Eyes
are available for purchase in my Etsy Shop.

My Dill drawing of my Herb Series is featured in an Etsy Treasury called
Dill or Sweet. They can’t be beat!
Click here to view.

On Sunday, November 8th I will be selling my art and jewelry at Crafty Wonderland.
More info here!

I’m doing my very first give-away on here!
I will be giving away an 8″ x 10″ print of my Poppy Seed drawing!

There are 2 ways to win:

1. Send a tweet on Twitter with the hashtag: #atealeaf. Maybe something like: “Hoping to win this awesome print: http://tinyurl.com/poppyseed! #atealeaf”. I’ll watch the hashtag and automatically register you for the contest.
2. Or register using Facebook. All you have to do is invite 10 friends to become fans of the A Tea Leaf Facebook fanpage here. Once you’ve done that just let me know in the comments below and I’ll register you to win.

The winner will be contacted and announced on Friday, November 6th.

It’s Friday! Woo-hoo!

Well it’s just about over with, isn’t it? I’m staying home this evening due to feeling a bit under the weather. Hopefully things turnaround with the help from hot tea. I mean come on, who wants to be sick over the weekend? Surely not I.

I don’t know if you noticed but 2 new sets of earrings made their way into my Etsy shop yesterday. I’m having so much fun using these little twig beads that I acquired awhile ago.

Float on Clouds – Earrings – View in Etsy Shop

One More Song – Earrings – View in Etsy Shop

Lastly, a new plant is added to my Herb Series!
I’ve been pretty anxious to post this one.

Mint – 8″ x 10″ Print – View in Etsy Shop

Well that’s all for now. I’m gonna kick back with a steamy cup of Chamomile tea, snuggle with my cat, and watch a movie borrowed from a friend. Hope all you lovelies have good weekend and enjoy that crisp Autumn air.

It’s Friday and you know what that means… new arrivals in the ATeaLeaf Etsy shop! And I have a special surprise for you all. You can now choose the artworks you would like for your wearable. It gets a little bit sweeter too: not just one side, but two!

Standard Movement Series Pendants

Choose your favorite front and back and I will personally custom make your new necklace!

Head on over to my Etsy shop and get the ball rollin’. Hope you all have a long and lazy weekend lovelies!

Introducing my 16th piece of my series, Standard Movement.

00016 – Western White Clematis – Click here or image above to purchase a print

To begin with, the oval frame. My thoughtful Godparents found it at an antique store. They are so sweet. As many of you know, I love bubbled glass. Who doesn’t? I love how it enhances my imaginative 2-D world. Next, something new this time around. I usually use vintage paper for the main background, in this case I used fresh, crisp ledger paper. I wanted this work to be much simpler than the last, so I left a lot of white space and added fewer textile pieces which represent orbs. I incorporated a white flowering plant that I discovered on a walk to Portland’s striking St. Johns bridge. The plant caught my eye with it’s showy seedheads.

I searched high and low. Alas I found the name of the white flowering plant, it’s called Western White Clematis. I read that it is a perennial vine and a member of the Buttercup family. It also goes by names such as Virgin’s Bower, Traveler’s Joy, and Leather flower. It sounds like a terrible idea to get in contact with, its oils are extremely irritating to the skin. It can also cause internal bleeding of the digestive tract if digested in large amounts. Eek! However, Native Americans would use it for headaches and nervous disorders, in small doses, of course.

If you would like to purchase a print of this original artwork of mine, they are available in my online shop, here. The prints are a limited edition of 30, printed on a heavy cardstock paper, backed with matboard, and slipped into a cellophane envelope. Whew! Did you get all that? I will also sign each print and ship them in a bendproof mailer. Live near Portland and wanna save on shipping? I will also be selling these guys at Crafty Wonderland and Skating with Scissors Craft Bazaar. I’m so jazzed to participate in my first two craft shows!