Leanne Shawler, Artist

Yesterday: A cup of tea, reading the daily devotion from "Women of Grace" and going through the "Great Courses" catalog for a) great courses I can afford and b) pictures to use in my art journal. Just sitting and watching the lit candle (I can't remember the flavor -- its a New England tradition to hand them out at the end of the year) and, um, leaping up when it spilled onto my new tablecloth.... Yorkshire Blend tea, all the way from the UK. The taste of real tea... The tea service was a gift from my grandmother ... ain't it pretty? And yes, my sugar picker-upper-thingys (still not well, still not queen) are tarnished. I guess a polish of my silver is in order.... but not today.

I still have a cold, and its at the brain-deadedness point, so I apologize in advance for any muddle-headedness. Today, my birthday treat was to go the church's High Tea. I love afternoon teas, the dressing up (I had my outfit all picked out), the fine china, fancy tablecloths, the little nibblies, etc. But I am too sick to go. I could go, but the idea of being "on" when all I want to do is slump mindlessly in front of Facebook games, well, that won't be fun for anyone, including me. And I have a very busy Sunday ahead of me. But I am alternating Facebook with spraying Glimmer Mist on my 25 Birthdays Journal, and maybe I can get that done and get caught up on the first four days. And maybe I'll make myself a nice cup of tea, in a nice tea cup. Yeah, I think I'll do that. *cheers up* Oh, in other news, I think I've figured out the macro function on the camera.... One of the points of this blog was to learn how to improve my photography. Well, I was actual...

Yeah, my posts are lagging behind one day, well, just because. Anywho, I have a cold or something. It's hanging about in my throat which is not pleasant to say the least, especially as I have a busy weekend ahead of me, both birthday- and work-wise. In other news, there's a new shop opening online: Rebecca Ersfeld for Vintage Living . I mention this, because every mention of her new shoppe is an entry in a giveaway for a to-die-for custom fabric collage.

I don't know about you, but I kind of balked at spending more in shipping than what I'm paying for the actual item. So I just skipped ahead to today, Day 2, and Day 1 will just have to slot itself in somewhere or double up somewhere else. So yesterday I signed up for Green Paper's Vintage Gluebook class . I've been admiring her gluebook pages for a while, so I just held off from signing up until my 25 Days began. Actually beginning the class will occur later in my 25 Days. So, okay, Day One didn't quite turn out as planned, but I spent some creative time with Glimmer Mist and did Day 2 stuff and put together most of a spread for the Nostalgic Musings class. Which I guess means that Day 2 will become Day 3 and ... hmm, this could get confusing :) Oh, there's a giveaway (one of many) going on: Vintage Wallpaper Giveaway! I don't have much of that stuff, and so tend to hoard it, but hey, share the possibilities right? Back to 25 Days of Birthday. From the 25 ...

25 days of what? you might ask. 25 Days of Birthday -- and it starts today. My inspiration for this came from Miss Gracie's owner (as soon as I track down that blog, I'll add a link--it's kind of funny that as usual, I can remember the pet's name) and from a co-worker. Miss Gracie's human had a whole month of birthday, and my co-worker had nine days... Well, nine days wasn't enough and a month seemed a bit long, plus, I had this blank Advent calendar which is perfect. (the calendar's not quite done, it needs a little more bling) So the plan is to have a little treat for me each day: it might be something big, or it might be something as simple as walking to the park, or taking a long hot bath, or making time for a creative project I've wanted to get done. (Or finish decorating the calendar) I've also decided that 10% of whatever amount I spend on myself will go to a charity. (Maybe this will help alleviate the guilt of having the privilege of being a...

Last year, I stumbled across this amazing online blog party: Where Bloggers Create. I cannot tell you how many hours I spent going from site to site, looking at beautiful pictures of beautiful spaces and putting together a wishlist to tweak my own space. I still haven't carried out all that I want to with that wishlist, but hey, maybe participating this year will make that happen. I believe my Mum spent hours doing the same once I told her about it, so Ma, please set aside the date for deliciousness (although I think it'll be the day before for you).

I'm not a stranger to the blogging world. I'm still hiding out at LiveJournal (my first foray) at a friends-only space, and as a published author, I joined Blogger to form a group blog (now defunct, alas). But it was sweet Jodie's easy-to-read primer that answered the lingering "wantses" of a blog. I knew it had to have a particular purpose. I won't be talking about my writing life here, for example. And to enable others to share their gifts and talents, I've added a link in the sidebar to Jodie's little tutorial! Check it out!