Jul 30, 2012

SUMMER FUN WITH TEA CUPS!




Hello Ladies: Welcome to Tea Cup Tuesday No. 124! Hope you are all have a wonderful summer. Can you believe we are almost in August? Where does our time go? I had a virus this past week that left me very dizzy. Thank God I am feeling better. I have had the two visitors for Japan here and I have had to keep going. The little girl, Ericka, and Noah get along very well. Noah tells me he can speak Japanese now. He babbles away to Ericka, she smiles or laughs and he thinks he is talking Japanese. It is so cute to watch.





I have some fun cups to share with you this week. I know everyone is very busy and I appreciate you sharing our party during the summer. My first cup is a Royal Albert. It is called "Somerset" it is part of the Country Fayre Series. Love the vivid colors of the fruit on this cup. The tea pot is a vintage, Lefton, Hand Painted, Pink Roses. I have the whole set of this pattern.



Cup No. 2 is a R.K.W. Bavaria, Germany. They are know to have made some of the finest Porcelain pieces during the time period. It has beautiful details with gold accents. Both the handle and rim are gold trimmed. The demitasse cup is very well made with a quality that surpasses anything that is made today. I have the regular size tea cup to match this set. I don't think the pictures do this one justice.






This last cup is a Florentine, Made in England. This cup is very full with crazing, however, I just love the dainty look of this fine cup.

Here is Mr. Linky for this week. Thank you for joining Terri and I this summer.



Have a wonderful week! Hugs, Martha :)

Jul 23, 2012

FOR THE LOVE OF FAMILY & TEA CUPS!


Hello Ladies: Welcome to Tea Cup Tuesday No. 123! It almost does not seem right to talk about tea cups today. My heart has been broken because of what has happened in Colorado this weekend

My son, Kyle, went to Batman on Saturday. It made me nervous. Can you just imagine sending your children to a fun time at the movies and your life changes forever? Feeling helpless, all I can do is pray for the families and pray for our Country. We need to turn our hearts to God.




I had the Princess Maya this week again and we went to see the Cleopatra Exhibit. Before we left we had a little bet about whom was the most beautiful, Cleopatra or Maya. She was very worried and looked very hard to see if we could compare. She was unaware that there are no pictures or statues of her. They were all destroyed. So we compared her to this statue and voted, Princess Maya had to be the fairest, after all, Maya still has a head. It was so much fun playing with her. The Exhibit might have been a little over her head, but it was a fun time with her anyway.


I will continue to share green cups with you today. There is something so soothing about the color green. It has been in the 80's here, that is hot for Los Angeles, so it also helps keep things feeling cool. The first cup I am sharing today is a Mustache Cup. It reads "Think of me", it is Bavarian. The cup is also Lusterware, however some of the Luster is gone. It still is a favorite just the same.



Cup No. 2 is a Paragon, remember the one I told you I purchased this last week? It is was purchase at a Thrift Store for $6.00. I love the golden color on this one.





I do not think I have ever shared a picture of my dining room. So I thought I would do that this week. Since, I am feeling unsure that tea cups are appropriate today. I hope you don't mind. If you think of it, please pray for me, I guess I am not coping with this as well as I should be. (I never do!) I think I just need a good hug too! Anyway, I don't think I have shown you my dining room since Christmas.


I am currently hosting two Japanese visitors in my home. They speak very little English and I speak no Japanese. So it is interesting, they will be here two weeks. They seem so sweet to me, Ayako and the little girl is Ericka. We spend a lot of time smiling. She has a great smile, it blesses my heart.

Here is Mr. Linky for this week. Sorry for the melancholy post. I will do better next week, I promise.



Have a wonderful week. Hugs your family just a little extra today. Here are my hugs to you! Martha

Jul 16, 2012

TEA CUPS AND SOME NEW CONFESSIONS!



Hello Ladies: Welcome to Tea Cup Tuesday No. 122. I hope you have had a change to visit some of the ladies that were involved in Karen Valentine's party, Where Women Create! There are some amazing craft rooms to see. I seriously did some coveting this weekend, and I am just in the "C's". I am going to have to do some serious repenting before this is all over. It will probably take me all week to see it all.





This weekend I did a yard sale with my daughter. I do not like doing them because it is so much work getting ready. However, since I need to prove that I am not a hoarder (to myself at least), I spent the week getting ready for the big event. I decided to just work on one room, thinking I have enough in any room to avoid making a mess in the entire house. Much to my dismay, I found collections I had forgotten about! (Don't say a word, I know!) I am just going to tell you about one, as I begin to cope with the new found treasures. I collect(ed) vintage salt & pepper shakers, lots of them. You really need to pray for me. I am not a Hoarder! Some of them are very cute and others, who knows what I was thinking. I will be selling them on my website, if you are a collector. I also found a huge amount of antique post cards. (Why, Martha, why?) It was so hot this weekend, I made more work than money.





My cups this week are in the green colors. This first one is an Aynsley. It was a gift from my sister-in-law. One of the most favorites gifts she has ever given me. Love the daisies, they are her favorite flower. It has a corset body with hand painted pedals all over it. Just stunning!





The 2nd cup is Paragon. I love the muted, mint green color on this cup. The Paragon has become one of my favorite designers. I found a new Paragon this week that I will share next week with you. They have such stunning designs.




This next cup I purchased this week for $1.49. It reminds me of Rachel Ashwell's taste in tea cups. It is unsigned, very delicate and thin. Love the pretty pink roses. This cup is handpainted. Notice the two lady bugs figurals? I found a whole collection of them this week that I forgot all about. Apparently, I have all kinds of bugs in pins & broochs. I am in so much trouble.

Here is Mr Linky for this week. Terri and I thank you for your faithfulness each week.



I have added a few pictures of my front yard that just looks beautiful right now. Have a wonderful week! Sending lots of hugs, Martha

Jul 14, 2012

WHERE WOMEN CREATE 2012!




Hi Ladies: I have joined the biggest party in blogland all year, "Where Woman Create!". I have been a part of this party since Karin started and I am excited that I did not miss it this year. I had a yard sale today, at my daughter home and it took most of the last few days to get ready for it. The sale is over and it does not it look like I took a flee bit out of my things, oh well. (At least I am not a hoarder!) :)



My craft room has change a great deal since last year. I had a friend who stayed with me while her home got out of probate. It was going to be just a couple of months and it took almost a full year. She is in her new home now and I have my craft room back, only instead of a table I have a bed in there. I moved the table into the master bedroom and I think that is where it will stay for a while. I am expecting guests from Japan next week.






As you can see, I love to fill pretty jars with buttons, glitter and lace.
I also painted the room a very pale pink. I think it is so much easier to create in "pink." My grandchildren, have also taken up a part of the room for their toys. Noah calls it his craft room. As you can see everything is different and yet the same. I have added more collectibles especially hats.




Each drawer if filled with ribbons or jewelry, scrapbook supplies and gadgets. I love "unless pieces of junk you can't live without."




The room has a happy feekm not only because of the color and the endless supplies, but also because my grandson loves to craft in here too. I am never short of projects, always short of time. I love to do craft projects and try at least once a week to have ladies or children over to enjoy this space and create something special. When asked if I have this or that, I love to say "YES!"


I am looking forward to visiting over the wonderful spaces that you share. You can never have enough ideas or creative projects. Thank you Karen for this delightful event!


Happy Creating! Martha

Jul 9, 2012

TEA CUP BARGAINS!



Hi Ladies: Welcome to Tea Cup Tuesday No. 121. Hope everyone had a wonderful week. Many of you received a weird email from me, no worries, I was hacked. Spend an hour this morning trying to change everything. Not sure why I was picked, but oh well. I think it was fixed. I did have a lot of you let me know and I want to thank you for that.


I am feeling so much better this week, compared to last. Thank you for your prayers. Big family news, Sophia has started to crawl. (We are so in trouble!) Anything she finds, goes you know where, straight to the mouth! Life has just changed for us. My son, Kyle, is off to Las Vegas (always scary). It is not easy being a Mom.


Spent some time this weekend changing my home around. Colors this month are green & pink. These colors make my home feel cool. I am so grateful to hear that the weather has cool down for many of my dear friends. It has been a nightmare just to watch the news. I thank God that we have had good weather.


The first tea cup I am sharing today is a Franz Porcelain, Papillon Butterfly. I have the cup and saucer as well as the tea pot. I had the tea spoon too, however it was recently dropped by a friend. She was beside herself. She tried to replace the spoon, but it would have cost more than what I paid for the whole set. This pattern is one of the award-winning, porcelain studio's, most popular lines. I love the delicately glowing hues of celebrated Franz designer Johnny Ho. I was lucky enough to get this set at an antique shop for $35. Not sure if she just did not know what she had or she purchased it for far less, either way, I scored!



My next cup is a vintage, Bavarian demitasse cup and saucer. It is hand painted with cute little pink roses and a handle that looks like it is part of the rose stem. Just love it!



Cup No. 3 is a green depression glass. I think it might be the Madrid pattern, but not sure. I love depression glass, not even sure why. I think it feels like "home" for me. Depression Glass has a comfortable feel about it. It is surprisingly strong and can go right into the dishwasher. Did I ever tell you I collect Depression Glass? I have lots of colors like pink, red, blue, yellow, brown, purple and of course green. I use the Red & Green Depression Glass for my Christmas table. It looks so pretty. I just submitted an article for a magazine on Thanksgiving Decor and the Brown Depression Glass is a big part of that month's decor.





Well, here is Mr. Linky for this week. We had a wonderful turn out last week, with some new ladies joining us. Thank you for your faithfulness. Don't forget Terri is having a give away.



Talking about Depression Glass, I listing some a hard to find piece, American Fostoria pieces. One piece I just listed is an old cigarette box. I have never smoked so I used it to store pretty buttons. I am being so good. In order to avoid a personal appearance on "Hoarders", I am using this summer to thin things out, because, I am not a Hoarder! Have a wonderful week!

Hugs, Martha