Miss Bunny Christmas Tree Topper

Isn't SHE beautiful?  She's the perfect item for Show n' Tell Friday!

So let me show you my Christmas Bunny Tree Topper up close and personal.  Miss Bunny is a hand-blown glass ornament tree topper from Germany.  My hubby bought a new macro lens for his camera (Canon Rebel EOS xsi) and I am trying it out.  So bear with me as I learn how to use this lens.  I first blogged about Miss Bunny (here) and wasn't happy because the photo was fuzzy.   So here are some new photos using our new macro lens.

Another view of this sweetie...

All of the above photos were taken without a flash.

This shot was taken with a flash.  I think I like the ones taken without the flash better.  

Thanks for joining me for Cindy's @ My Romanic Home Show n' Tell Friday.  Miss Bunny says to hop over to Cindy's blog (here) to see other great Show n' Tells.

Love of Reading

Another favorite past time of mine is reading.  Hubby and I both love to read so we have lots of books.  Everywhere...in our house...you will find books.  

We dedicated a bedroom upstairs as a library and it is filled with mostly our paperback pocket books.  Another bedroom has a sofa sleeper in it and we called it the "Teddy Bear" room because it holds my teddy bear collection on book shelves.  It's also where I have many of my books stored (...that my hubby isn't interested in).  We have a Danish solid teak 3 unit bookcase in our living room that is completely filled with books.  There is no room to put any decorating items on it (as designers love to do).  And we have two Danish teak book units in our family room that store books and other things.  The last place to find books is in our finished basement.  

We don't know how many books we have altogether but we have a hand held scanner and inventory computer program that we bought a few years ago and of the books bought since then we currently have 700 books in inventory.   My goal is to scan all of our books someday.  We are in the process of de-cluttering our basement and we are going through one book wall unit down there to see what books we can throw out and/or donate to Good Will.   

The books above (except for the Blogging book) have been purchased to read on our upcoming RV trip to Alaska this summer.  These aren't hubby's selection they're mine.   We do overlap on some books that we both enjoy reading.   I've started to read Blogging for Bliss by Tara Frey and like it very much.  Hopefully I will learn something to help my blogging out.  

Are any of you book worms too?     

Red Rooster Day

I love RED - always have and always will!

I decided to join Sue at It's a Very Cherry World's "Today is Rednesday".  I gathered a few things from around the house to put together this little RED grouping.

My inspiration is the two RED embroidered vintage dish towels - one with little red spoons and the other with a cute red clock and sugar n' creamer with the cutest faces.  I found this small rooster themed tray in beautiful reds, whites and greens - it usually sits above my stove.  And I threw in the little red rooster pie steamer and my red rose crocheted potholder.  It's been so rainy here and cloudy I set this scene up out on my screened in porch yesterday hoping for better lighting.

I hope you enjoy my touches of RED this Wednesday!  Check out more lovers of RED at Sue's It's A Very Cherry World blog (here).

My First Tea Time Tuesday!

I'm joining Sandi @ Rose Chinz Cottage" - she is the host for Tea Time Tuesday.   This is my first time joining this party. 

This is a mosaic of teacups I have blogged about in previous posts.  To see all of my teacups I have shared so far click on "teacups" under labels and scroll through  a few from my collection.  

To see more Tea Time Tuesday drop over to Sandi's blog (here) you won't be disappointed.  Have a lovely cup of tea to start your day!  

It's Raining Cats & Dogs!

Good Morning!  It's Mosaic Monday!

I couldn't resist showing some of my favorite doggies and kitty photos from Flickr.  Many of you probably know these famous sweeties.  The most photogenic doggies Ms. Maggie and Marley whose Mummy is Kim @ Dear Daisy Cottage and cutie pie kitty Chelsea whose Mummy is Lallee @ Lallee's Cottage.   

Aren't they just adorable!

Please drop in to see other wonderful Mosaic Mondays at Mary's Little Red House!  

My New Cute Signs!

Aren't these signs adorable!

I'm so excited to show my new signs I ordered from Dee @ Farmhouse Mercantile.   Dee makes the most beautiful signs and I love mine.   Here's where I hung them.

  

 This door is in our kitchen leading to our finished basement.  I've never hanged anything on a door before because I didn't want to make a nail hole.  So you ask "How did I hang this?"  I used those neat 3M Command Wall Mounting Strips.  If you haven't used these already they are mounting strips that can be applied and removed without leaving any marks or holes.  They were so easy to mount.  I just snapped them together, peeled off both sticky sides and stuck the mounting strips on the sign back and placed the sign on my door with a little pressure for about 30 seconds.  Then I carefully pulled out on the sign to remove it from the mounting strips left on the door.  I just waited an hour to allow the glue to set and stuck the sign back up.  These strips will hold up to a pound but you can buy the strips based upon the weigh of the object you are hanging. 

  

The other sign I mounted the same way in my sewing/craft room in our finished basement.   

I'm so happy with my new signs.  Hop on over to Dee's blog (here) to see more of her beautiful signs.  I'm so glad I did and you will be too. 

Bird and Flowers

I'm joining Cindy @ My Romantic Home for Show & Tell Friday.   

I fell in love with this bird and flower picture and purchased it to give to my MIL years ago.  And now it hangs in our powder room.  I love the pinks and greens in it.  Look at lovely hand painted roses around the frame.  Isn't that unusual?  

If you look closely you can see where I added a second wall color by adding stripes to the bathroom wall.  I love the look.  After I painted it and asked hubby if he liked it he said it looked like a circus tent.  LOL!  I bet he was just kidding.  

The stripe I added is a very light, creamy color with a tinge of yellow (not bright yellow at all) - it's a Benjamin Moore paint called "Oriental Silk".   We have this shade painted in all of our bedrooms and our family room and kitchen.   Actually we like it so much we have used it in all of our homes over the years. 

Don't forget to hop on over to Cindy's blog (here) to see other bloggers' Show and Tell Friday.

Violet Flowers Teascape

Another favorite teacup and saucer of mine...I just love the pretty violet flowers.  I think I see hearts in the gold leaf flower design?  This teacup belonged to my MIL's sister.  I feel so fortunate to have it and it brings such sweet memories of two very lovely ladies to mind every time I look at it. 

My dear MIL embroidered this lovely green and violet flowerscape many years ago.  I hope to have it framed this year.  Doesn't it go just beautifully with this teacup/saucer?

Backstamp:    

                             

Phoenix Bone China

T.F. & S. LTD

Made in England

Who doesn't love violets?  Have a wonderful Spring day!

Two Mugs

Hi, I'm Yellow Ducky...

And I'm Pinkie...

Who could resist buying these two mugs?

I sure couldn't...even though Easter has come and gone... I was a sucker for these.

Two Hundred and Twenty Five Granny Squares

The start...My COLORS!

First round of granny squares - one set of fifteen for each of the 15 colors...

This should equal 225 granny squares when I am done.  This is the number I plan to use for my throw.

Second round of granny square...each color set in first round has different color added in the second round so all fifteen colors are used.

Third round of granny squares - a white round is added around each set of colors...

The last round (4th) of the granny square will be a band of black for each set.

  I plan to add a border of some or maybe even all of the colors.  It should be a very colorful throw by the time I am done.  It may take me all of summer to finish this one.   I'm thinking of trying the "join as you go" stitch when I do the last round of black.  


Wish me luck!  

I'm Blooming Snowballs!

It's Mosaic Monday!
Take a look at this beautiful blooming shrub in our back yard.  It must have millions of flowers!

WOW...

Look at the blue sky and the sun is shining today!

Ta..da....our Snowball Viburum shrub in all it's glory!

Check out more Mosaic Monday posts at Mary's Little Red House (here).

Trial and Error

Trial and Error...  
This project started out as two crocheted diagonal squares...

And became a pair of crocheted hand warmers...

I loved this soft acrylic yarn and its variation of green and violet colors.  However, this pattern was a challenge for me because it was double crocheted on the diagonal - I had to make increases (...uh..ok) and decreases (...ugh..not ok).  I liked the look and feel of the thumb opening.   However, I'm not sure if I made the decreases correctly - some of these spaces seemed awkward looking.  Or is that how they are suppose to look?  I don't know.  

I decided that the hand warmers aren't perfect but I was satisfied with the end result enough to not frog them and start over. I'll have to try this pattern again someday.   Maybe with practice they will turn out better next time.  Keep on crocheting! 

My Blog Banner

It's Show n' Tell Friday!

My paternal Grandmother set aside this lovely Rose Bud English Bone China tea set for me and I cherish it.  It includes the tea pot, sugar n' creamer and four teacups and saucers.  I was very close to my Dad's mother growing up and I have such wonderful, fond memories of her.   The Hansel doll clothes brush was my dear Mother's and the rose plate belonged to my maternal Grandmother.  I love having these precious items in my blog banner.  

  

Some of you who are followers of my blog probably have guessed why my blog name is Teacup Lane.  I have a small collection of teacups - the majority have been passed down through my paternal Grandmother and Mother, some from my MIL and a few collected by me over the years.   However, that isn't how I came up with my blog name.  When I retired I decided that I didn't want to spend my retirement years cleaning house as I did all through my working years.  So I have a cleaning service  come every other week to give my home a good, through cleaning.  It's so nice to have the full house clean - swept and dusted upstairs and down - all in one day.  One rule I had, though, was that the girls were not to dust my teacups and other collections not behind glass doors.  I didn't want to take any chances something cherished would be broken.  One time after cleaning my home one of the cleaning ladies remarked that I had a lovely "cottage" home.  I must admit I was surprised because I never thought I had a design style.  The lady then said they called me "the Teacup Lady" because of my teacups.  I thought that was funny.  They said it wasn't unusual for them to name their clients and not all names were so nice as mine.  We had a good laugh over this.  So when I was setting up my blog I was scratching my head trying to come up with a decent name.  Then I thought of the cleaning ladies and what they said and decided to use the name Teacup Lane.   

So... that's how my blog name and banner was born.  

Please visit our host for Show n' Tell Friday - Cindy at My Romantic Home (here) - to see other bloggers fantastic posts. 

Butterflies and Flowers

Ahhh...butterflies and flowers...

Isn't this a lovely rose teacup and saucer sitting next to a butterfly pin and vintage embroidered flowers and butterflies hankies?

This beautiful teacup and saucer was handed down from my paternal Grandmother to my Mother and finally to me.  Sitting next to the teacup is a flower painted glass box  filled with vintage custom jewelry pins.  I have lots of pins saved from my own childhood and also passed down from my Mother and MIL.   And what do you think about my Wild Flower tray (made in Italy)?  I don't remember where I bought the tray but it compliments the teacup nicely I think.

Backstamp:

   

Est. 1775

AYNSLEY

Made in England

Fine English

Bone China

The color in this teacup and saucer is a rich, deep, dark, bluish purple - which makes the pinks and reds of the rose even more vibrant.  

This Aynsley teacup and saucer has always been one of my favorites!

Green Spring Is Here!

Green Spring has arrived here.

I'm posting some photos of our back yard taken this week.  Everything is budding out in our yard.  You can see our River Birch (the one with the three white trunks), our Red Maple (out in the yard) and our Serviceberry (at the corner of the deck).  

We planted the River Birch in front of a staggered row of Leyland Cypress evergreens.  The white bark of the River Birch shows off nicely against the dark green of the Leyland Cypress.   The grass is lush and green with all the rain we have had this spring.  The Serviceberry will have berries in the summer that the birds love to eat.  We have a shallow back yard and then the one side of the yard - where the red maple tree is - extends out in a large pie shape.  

One of these days I hope to add some color with flowers around the screened in porch/deck.  I will be filling the flower boxes of the shed soon with bright and colorful flowers. 

Have a Great Day!  

    

My Granny Square Twinkle Star Garland

Doesn't this Granny Square Twinkle Star Garland sparkle in the sunlight hanging outdoors!

I made these stars using the very talented and fantastic Michelle's The Royal Sisters Twinkle Tutorial (posted here).   I posted about making my first star (here).  These are super easy to crochet.  I blocked them with spray starch to give a little body and strung them with pretty ribbons.  Two have vintage red buttons attached to their centers (...because in the middle of project I ran out of red yarn).  LOL!  All made with my favorite yarn - Sugar n' Cream Cotton yarn using a F hook.  

And here are some close ups...

And individual close ups...

I'm looking foward to making more of these garlands - Michelle has Grandma tutorials for several different shapes - Snowflakes, Christmas Trees, All Rounds and of course, the Twinkle (star), and just new All Square.   Please hop on over and visit Michele's blog (here) to see her lovely crochet items and have fun trying her tutorials out.

I'm in love with these RED, WHITE and BLUE stars!