Perpetua's Finest

I finally received my first batch of teas from my Tea Guy out of India a few weeks back and have come up with my first blend! This is a very fine Ceylon Black Tea, with hints of vanilla warmth and cream, completely wrapped in Orangey Citrus Goodness! It's good with milk, of course, but also just fine by itself. It is on sale on Etsy, so head on over there to check it out.

Also, I am Giving Away Teabags of all my new blends as they happen, with any purchase on my Etsy site. Because I have such a small quantity of each, the supplies are limited. But hopefully I can keep doing this. Blending tea is a lot like baking bread, you take your time with it, going to it, then letting it rest. Scent is a funny thing, after a few minutes you can't find where you are in the blend. You have to step away. Maybe I should have been a perfumier! I think I would have enjoyed it.

Well--more packing happening today. The big countdown has begun!

Perpetua

Working Working

I have had the lovliest weekend! The weather has been quite Agreeable--perfect Fall. My Better Half had the weekend off, so we spent all day yesterday Walking and Talking and enjoying . Stella has said it, and I have said it, but I always forget it---there have to be Dates. If you don't have dates--well--it makes all of it harder. You have to leave the house with lipstick on and see them talking to new people. It's so good.

Today has to be a work day--paperwork. But I DID get a nice bit of designing and sewing in this week. The above is Tiny, Little. It look like a tiny little Russian Tablecloth. I am really liking working small.

This one is small too. It's not as complicated as the other. It reads better from a distance. In my head all my projects have been getting smaller. If I want to analyze it, I would say, I am finally working in a size I can Manage.

I finally seem to have rid myself of the need to Shout from across the Schoolyard. Working the Fine Painstaking detail in 1 inch Ideas.

Today's Tea was Jade Oolong. Quite good! I got myself back to the straight good tea! But I have begun to blend some really good teas---lemongrasses and vanilla, and chocolate. Some are disasterous--but a few have been quite good. I am working up to a Holiday Blend of some sort...

Well that's it for this beautiful Sunday Morning. I must get to work--hope everyone is having a beautiful weekend.

xo

P

The Softer Side of Bling

In Work Department, I have been getting really frustrated with how long everything is taking. Which I know is Crazy and everyone will tell you that it's not about Product, it's about Process. But when I am going crazy getting frustrated, it's not about the Product at all---it's about all the other ideas that float by that I can't catch and start because I am chained to an epic project. In Short: Anne Boleyn's Time Line Project is on hold. And in the meantime--I am making these Embroidered Box Rings!!
I kinda love them. In my early twenties, I was at Parsons School of Design in NYC, and I got fed up with how art school was. I was so disillusioned by what I saw going on with my education. It was a business, and I was sad. So I moved to Cape Cod and got a job at a bakery. And they taught me to decorate Wedding Cakes. These Rings totally remind me of doing that!!! They are like tiny little bitesized wedding cakes!! The one above is still being finished. Anyways. The length of the project allows me to switch gears if I get another idea, or if I get sick of one color combo, it's practically finished and I can go look at Blues or Greens or whatever I need to at the moment.

In a way it's kind of a discovery about my Process, to realize that I feel Trapped when I get involved in a long project.... I have to think about that a bit...... I also tried my hand at dress designing---it isn't that impressive. I really like it, but it was pointed out to me that it looks like a 1940's Jail Uniform for women....but you know, I am okay with that. What I need to understand better is how to deal with that saggy middle part, while still allowing myself to get in and out. Darts, yes, but then you are assuming I can deal with zippers, which I cannot!!!

So today is Bound to be Glorious---off on our bikes to have Brunch with my Love, hit our favorite junk shop, then this afternoon we are going to try to design unusual Sky Lanterns---this is a new obssesion I haven't mentioned to date..... Then tonight I am sleeping over Stella's, and tomorrow we are going to try to go Apple Picking!!! Very exciting Fall Weather kind of stuff.....

Today's Tea was Almond Oolong: So, it was ok. I think I need to get off the flavors though. I am missing straight up good old fashioned tea. A nice Assam. A Ceylon. A proper Oolong. I think when they flavor tea they use a lesser grade tea leaf, they are all short and stubby, and they don't blossom the way good tea does. A good tea leaf is pretty to look at wet or dry. And these are really depressing looking bits of mulch.....

xo

Perpetua

Oh Henry!

OK---I am admitting to my addiction. I know it's already Over, and I know that it was actually, in all Reality, a Soap-Opera----but I am addicted to The Tudors. I just watched all four seasons in like Two weeks. I thought the last two seasons were depressing, so depressing. I guess Mortality was very a very hard Apple to Eat for Henry... and I could not quite get past Jonathan Rhys Meyers take on the aging Henry---He sounded more and more like Marlon Brando's Godfather as time wore on. But that aside---I have suddenly become immersed in Tudorage. I am reading a good bit of English History, and I can't help but think that my World History Teacher from 8th Grade would probably, at long last be able to Breathe a Sigh of Relief for me (I was a Terrible Student--T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E) terrible.

Anyways---I started thinking a lot about time, and then TimeLines---and Voila--suddenly I started embroidering Anne Boelyn's Time Line. I am going to make it into a scarf. And the Irony was actually lost on me for a bit of time. Then I realized I was making a Scarf out of the Timeline of a Woman who Had her Head Cut Off.

I am fascinated by her. Not because she was a bad girl slutty kind of Minx---but because she actually completely altered world history for all time. This one chick was the catalyst for unimaginable change---and she had no idea at all. I'm not waxing poetic here about her---she was living her own brand of Get Rich Quick Schemes---but it is incredible to see how this persons actions changed EVERYTHING.

Tea this morning: Grapefruit Oolong (I will admit to anyone that it is blasphemous to add flavoring to Oolong, but this is gooooooooooooooooo-oood!)

Number of minutes late to bus this morning: 20

Willingness to go to Work this morning on a scale of 1-10 1 being lowest: 0000000.0005

Saturday Musings

You are pretty much looking at my day Right There--- Glass, Pins, and Tea. And I am not complaining. I have been doing a ton of freelance work this week, and although I am Lucky enough to have jobs that are flexible and artistic and fun, I am glad to be home in my studio today.

When I Slump down in my Chair and Look up, this is my view. These Windows are completely ineffective against Heat, Cold and Mosquitos, but Boy are they Pretty. The Building Owners were going to replace them this summer and I was so sad, but Financing fell through and Voila! We get to keep these windows. Remind me how much I love them when my Tea is Icing Over in the Pot this Winter. You think I'm Kidding---

This is the Thread side of Work today. This guy is an exploration in White---It's all shades of cream and white and ivories. I may put a little color in, Just a Blush though. As for the Glass, I am going into the Shop on Tuesday, doing a line of Terrariums for a Client, odd sized things, so we will do a bit of Experimentation, which is costly and Ridiculous but Oh-so-Fun!

I don't know if I miss Glass very much, I have really been enjoying working with softer more forgiving materials recently. And I am working on a film, which is a whole other Brain Space to be in. But I think I am A Phaseual Artist---Phasing from one Medium to another, depending on the project. I see so many artists try to make every project out of the material they are the most familiar with---and it's incredibly limiting in my view. A project will tell you what it needs to be made out of. Metal or Glass of Chiffon or Film. It just lets you know. And ignoring it Kind of Stunts You, and The Project, No? And I think it happens because of Ego. When you have spent so much time learning a medium, it takes guts to start at the beginning of another Medium---or to do it badly. But I think great discoveries and connections are made in that Head Space.

Woah---I got heavy. Sorry.

Saturday Morning.

Have some Tea---Enjoy the last warm Days.

Perpetua

TEA --- for the most part....

Another day in the studio! And the Weather is fine, and I even put on lipstick. My windows are open and the breeze is so nice. The sun will swing around at 2 and it will be unbearable to sit at my worktable, and I will scurry away to the far corners of my studio to sew in the dark.

I am all about the Bullion Stitch today. I think I will attempt to figure out how many coils I make in an hour. I want to branch out, but piling them on top of each other is so satisfying--I cannot stop doing it!

Today I am drinking Coconut Tea. I discovered a wonderful online store called Adagio. I am pretty careful about where I buy my Tea from---I cannot bear bad tea. Most people don't realize this, but the bags that you buy in the supermarket are actually just "Tea Dust"---that is, the Bottom of the Barrel--The Floor Sweepings. Good tea will look like a Leaf when it unfurls in hot water---just like a wet leaf you see on the sidewalk after a Rain Storm.

I used to work in Tea Houses in NYC, and I learned a lot and really refined my tastes. But I never really had to pay for the habit, because the tea was free to drink during work hours. So when I just got back into it---I was appalled at the prices!! But this Adagio place is Awesome because you can buy samples---and it's an ample amount---like 10 cups worth.( I should note in a day of "social networking"--- They aren't paying me anything to say this--I'm just passing on a good thing). And the average price of the sample is $2.00!! I mean--if you start getting fancy (which I did in some cases) a beautiful Yunnan Gold Sample will go for $10 or so---but most of the teas are really inexpensive to try.

If anyone reads this and would like a $5 gift certificate--please feel free to drop your email to me---after you start buying they give you unlimited $5 gift certificates to hand out. And if anyone wants a recommendation for a good starter Tea ---do not hesitate to ask!!! Tea--and especially Green Tea----really makes ones Life Better. It sounds ridiculous, yes it does, but it makes you feel better, and it's the Treat that can take the place of brownies (well Almost...).

Ok---my Sermon is done---

I am starting my day and hope to have a nice bit to show for it at 5 tonight!

Perpetua

Glorious Weather

Glorious Fall! I am in the studio again today. So many distractions recently--I have many unfinished projects Mewling like Unfed babies all around me. I barely know where to begin. There is a fair amount of shipping to do. I have just armed myself with an entire pot of Lapsang Souchong ( mixed with Vanilla and lavender) so I feel I will make it through. Today I will show you a few pictures, starting with Stella Below(the Bike, not my Friend!).

Isn't she a Beauty? Oh how I love her. I have to admit her seat needs some work. I don't think it was the original and it has a Mind Of it's Own. It's something of a swivel--great when you are visiting the Soda Jerk, not so great when you are navigating Pothole Laden Streets.

I want Giant Pincushions in my studio so I have been finding old frames and mirrors and filling the frames with Giant Pincushions. Eventually I want all my threads hanging on the Hat Pins. I will do it by color and it will look yummy and it will be Oh-so-User Friendly!

As for glass---we are coming up on the Holidays---Yup---time to break out the Blowpipes and get into the shop. I'm actually dying to get in there---I have not blown any glass in months, and there is always the fear that you'll lose your skill. Although in Reality I have found that for some reason my skills get better when I take a long break---I don't understand these Hands of Mine sometimes... So I have to think of beautiful color combinations for the Holidays. Not such a bad job, thinking about color all day.....suggestions are welcome---think of solids with a swirled striped--transparent? Opaque?

That's it from me--

Hope everyone has a Wonderful day---remember to drink your Tea--

Perpetua