Monday, July 30, 2007

Some of my favorite pictures



As most of you know, I love lavender stuff and Tuscany themed items, so here is one of my favorite pictures. I'm sure my husband is getting tired of seeing lavender stuff everywhere!

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Tea Reviews

I have decided to share my love of tea with the world! I have tried a lot of teas, be it loose, bottled or bagged and have compiled a preliminary list of some of the ones I've tried. I will be updating this list as I try new ones, which is often!

Adagio Chamomile Tea (loose)-Fresh, chamomile flowers, great for nighttime. 5 stars

Adagio Citron Green Tea (loose)-This green tea is very fragrant and makes a lovely cup of tea. Brew for 5-10 minutes then strain leaves and add sugar or honey. Contains caffeine. Citrus taste is mild and rounds out the green tea flavor. 5 stars

Adagio Decaf Citron Green Tea (loose)-This tea is very similar to the caffeinated version except the citrus is a little more understated. Great for evenings before bed.5 stars

Adagio Earl Gray Bravo Tea (loose)-Very nice Earl Grey tea, strong delicious flavor. Watch steep time or it will be bitter. 5 stars

Adagio Decaf Earl Grey Bravo (loose)-Wonderful decaf version of their regular Earl Grey, hardly any taste difference, great for late afternoons or evenings when you desire caffeine free. 5 stars

Adagio Fruit Medley (loose)-Nice blend of fruits, raspberry, strawberry, hibiscus flowers, blackberry, apples, rose hips, elderberry and bilberry. Caffeine free and also nice iced. 4 stars

Adagio Peppermint Leaf Tea (loose)-Fresh, dried peppermint leaves, so much better than anything bagged or store bought. Caffeine free. Great blended with chamomile for night time. 5 stars.

Adagio Raspberry Patch (loose)-Strong fruit tea from Adagio. Does not need to be steeped too long or it will get bitter. Very nice iced. 4 stars

Adagio Rooibos (loose)-Very strong, fresh tea. I blend this with other teas as I don't personally like rooibos by itself. Still good tea, makes nice base for blends. 4 stars

Adagio Snow Bud White Tea (loose)-Very nice basic white tea, gets great flavor if allowed to steep for a while. 5 stars

Adagio Silver Needle White Tea (loose)-I have come to the conclusion that several of the white teas taste very similar. Very mild and light. 5 stars

Adagio White Peony Tea (loose)-This white tea is one of the stronger white teas I have tasted. Definite flowery flavor. Nice change from plain old white tea though. 4 stars

Arizona Black & White Tea (bottled)-Very nice mix of white and black tea, makes a mild easy to drink beverage. 4 stars

Arizona Georgia Peach Tea (bottled)-Very nice mild tea with a moderately strong peach taste. Hopefully this tea will stay available. 4 stars

Bigelow Earl Grey (bagged)-Nice strong black tea. Do not brew too long or it will be bitter. 4 stars

Luzianne Decaf Iced Tea Bags-Perfect decaf tea bags to make sweet tea. Use four bags per gallon of tea. Boil 2 quarts of water in a pan, then add 4 tea bags, remove from heat and cover. Let steep for at least 2 hours preferably 6 hours. Remove tea bags, add 1 cup of sugar and water to make a gallon. Enjoy over ice. 5 stars

Lipton Pure Leaf White Tea w/Tangerine (bottled)-This tea is Lipton's attempt to make a more natural white tea. This tea still has green tea in it, but it has more white tea than the regular Lipton white tea. This tea is very mild with a barely there tangerine flavor. Very similar to the Snapple White Tea. Very nice, probably my second choice for bottled tea behind the Snapple. 4 stars

Lipton Pure Leaf Green Tea Honey (bottled)-Contains green tea and caffeine. Very nice bottled mild green tea, very close to the bottled white teas. 3 ½ stars

Lipton White Tea w/Raspberry (bottled)-Contains green tea and white, caffeinated. Stronger than other bottled white teas due to the addition of green tea. Raspberry is also stronger. Okay bottled tea in a pinch but nothing special. 1 ½ stars

Orient Emporium Tea Co. Green Tea w/Pomegranate (bottled)-Very strong caffeinated bottled green tea. Pomegranate flavor is very overpowering. I had to water this drink down 50% to make it palatable. Will not buy it again. 1 star

Snapple White Tea w/Green Apple (bottled)-A nice bottled low calorie tea. It’s really hard in my opinion to make a natural tasting green apple taste, but Snapple has almost succeeded. Certainly the best I have ever tasted in a drink. 4 stars

Snapple White Tea w/Nectarine (bottled)-Very nice, low calorie but not artificial sweetened bottled tea. Mild flavor both the tea flavor and the nectarine. Want a thirst quencher without overpowering fake tea taste? Then this is the tea for you. 5 stars

Teavana Caribbean Breeze (loose)-Contains strawberries, apricots, rosehips, apple, elderberries, citrus peel, and hibiscus pieces, and cornflower petals. Very nice fruity but not overpowering tea. Perfect anytime of day as it is decaf. Great blend of all flavors. 5 stars.

Teavana Mandarin Orange Green Tea (loose)-Very nice strong green tea with a mild mandarin orange flavor. Perfect for times when you want a green tea, but not something plain and boring. 5 stars.

Teavana Rooibos Peach Strawberry Kiwi (loose)-Custom blend I bought one day impulsively at the Teavana store. It tastes better iced and is very nice sweetened. My son and husband love this tea and it is a very strong, rich tea.4 stars.

The Republic of Tea, Earth Tea, Alpine Flowers (loose)-This tea contains herbs, berries & blossoms. This is the only description I could find online. This is naturally decaf and very pleasant. I have enjoyed it before bed but have found after refrigeration it is even stronger and better. This is going to be a staple in my tea cabinet. 5 stars

Twinings Cranberry, Raspberry & Elderflower Fruit Bliss Tea (bagged)-Decaf tea with a nice flavor, I steeped this for a while and it was very nice iced. 4 stars

Twinings Chamomile & Limeflowers Fruit Bliss Tea (bagged)- Decaf tea with a wonderful flavor. It takes a few sips to get used to the lime, but once you do, it's very nice. 5 stars.

Twinings Darjeeling Tea (bagged)-Very strong rich tea. But perhaps I steeped it too long. I only added sugar and could see how adding some milk would have helped. Still very nice though. 4 stars

Twinings Earl Grey Tea (bagged)-This is a nice, milder version of some of the stronger Earl Grey's. 4 stars

Twinings Lady Grey Tea (bagged)-More like a citrus black tea than a Earl Grey. I think they were trying to get a real mild Earl Grey-type. 3 stars

Twinings Lemon & Ginger Herbal Tea (bagged)-Caffeine free tea, very strong ginger taste. Not my cup of tea. 1 star

Twinings Prince of Wales Tea (bagged)-Steeped this tea for 5 minutes in boiled water, then added sugar. This tea was very pleasant and went nicely with my breakfast. Very mild and smooth. 5 stars

Daily Digest

Today I worked from 5 am-9 am, then went on a job interview at Walgreens Pharmancy. The store manager I met with was very nice and seemed to like me as well, so hopefully I will get this job! I then went and picked up Kyle at my Mom's house. He's now sleeping! So cute. I have been making some bookmarks today along with pondering my next project. Yesterday I made some jewelry while Chris was sleeping on the couch. I made bracelets and they turned out pretty nice. See pictures below.



Thursday, July 19, 2007

Tea Swap #11


Here are the teas I received from msnqb for this swap. We have 3 partners, so I still get to receive 2 more (hopefully).

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Artist Trading Cards





Well it seems like the new "it" thing for crafters are ATC's or artist trading cards. Although I do not consider myself an artist (you should see my stick figure drawings) I thought I would try to whip up a few of these. The first two are made of fabric and the other are made of paper. These cards are also suppose to be labeled on the back and numbered. If anyone has experience making these, feel free to drop me a line.

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Kings Way Christian School 1997 Class Reunion

There has been some talk about getting everyone together at the end of July for a reunion. I haven't heard anything yet, but if anyone knows something please post here. So hard to believe it's been 10 years since we graduated. I feel old now! KWCS Class of 1997-let me see if I can remember everyone's names: Nancy,Jessica, Amber (me), Seth, Shean, Rebekka, Brandy, Bill, Brandon Lacey, Brandon C., Scott, Tiffany, Bethany. I think this was our graduation class. I may have added someone who didn't make it.

Kyle sleeping after eating pizza


Kyle fell asleep after eating pizza in his high chair. It was so cute! We took this picture then cleaned him up and put him in bed. What a sweet boy!

I received a post card today from an online friend who is on vacation in Arizona. It was very sweet of her to send it to me. She is visiting family there and getting to see her first grandbaby.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Nothing much new



Didn't receive a package today, but thought I would post anyways. Was off work yesterday and today and will be off again tomorrow, but have to work Thursday and Friday. Job's not bad when I'm off, but when I have to work 10 days in a row, I start to get tired of it. Get paid tomorrow and that's nice. Been raining here everyday, not enough rain to help our dying grass, but enough to ruin plans to take Kyle swimming. He is on his third bubble bath!

Saturday, July 7, 2007

Loose Tea Swap



This swap was to send at least 4 ounces of loose tea to two partners. My sending partners were Shannon and Beagle mom. Beagle mom sent me 5 different varieties of her favorite teas and Shannon sent me a online gift card to Adagio.com my favorite place to get teas and sent me a package with loose teas in hand decorated tins and flavored honeys. See the pictures.

Friday, July 6, 2007

Cookie Cutter Swap


Here is a picture of the items I received from this swap. The sender (Asmom) used a hands and feet subject. They are very cute

Thursday, July 5, 2007

Your Culture Intrigues Me


Here are my items received in this swap from a lady in England (Snaughty Girl). They are: tin of loose tea, candy, regional post card and handmade glass piece from a local artist and one English coin.

I Love Tea Swap


This lady, kgeslab send me some awesome stuff. They are: a matching tea cup, saucer and plate. She also sent a bee/honey pot loose tea strainer, 5 different types of tea and tea bags.

Flair for Flavor Swap


I received these items from schlabs from a swap titled Flair for Flavor. Apparently she lives in Germany so most of my items are in German. So neat! They are: two containers of lotion, one container of face lotion, one toy for my son, chocolate,
three lip balms, three packs of gun and three different types of tea
She went above and beyond what was required.

I Love Tea Swap-Beagle Mom


I have been really busy at work this week and have been unable to take pictures of any crafts. I do however have some pictures of items I received in various swaps on swap-bot.com. So far I have been really pleased with what I've gotten. This one I received from a lady in Maryland. She sent me a tin of green and black tea mix, a green tea towel, trivet, two spoon rests, a perfect tea spoon, green tea mints, three different tea light candles with tea theme and 2 sets of notepads with my first initial on it. They are so very nice items!