The Toy Society

Drop No. 1~ A Tea Time Teddy

Greetings Friends~
Have you by chance heard of The Toy Society?? I first heard of it from my bloggy buddy Jacquie, otherwise known as MafiosaGrrl. Thanks Jacquie!! Y'all can join in the fun too, just go to the website and sign up!

The Toy Society "is a craft/street art project spreading love through out the streets of the world." You simply make a small hand made, kid friendly toy and plant it somewhere to be found by a child... I love random acts of kindness, something for nothing. People (kiddies with the help of their parents) who find the toys can go to the website, to learn about who made their toy and report where and how they found it if they choose to. Isn't that neato?!?

I've wanted to do this for a while, this is something that I think I'll really enjoy doing more of in the future. Making someone happy right here in my own town. I believe kindness starts in our own back yards.
This was fun for me, I hope the little one who finds my toy gets as much pleasure from having it, as I did making it!

Here she is, my first toy... A Tea Time Teddy!

All dolled up and ready for a tea party!

She's bringing flowers for the table...

...and her own favorite tea cup...

She even wore her best "pearls".

Ready to find a new home!

Bye-bye Tea Teddy! It was fun making you, I hope you have a happy life!

Can you spy her?

This is at Lodi Lake, just a short walk from my house...

I made this drop early this morning, about 7:30am, I zipped in on my Vespa, found a spot, snapped some pictures and zipped right back out again! There were already people at the lake setting up for their summer picnics and bbq's. I'm sure that as I write this (just before noon), she's already been found.

Gosh, I hope they like her... she is a sweet little thing!

Have a great weekend folks!

~oxo~

Lisa

Happy Fathers Day

Well hello there! I don't know how many men read this blog, but hey, if you're here and your a dad, today's your day!

I would say that most of the time, this blog has a more "feminine" feel to it, but I do have a couple of guys that follow (hi Dana, Benoy & Ethan!) so today, it's all about the boys! I'm posting some links to a few of my favorite "guy" sites... enjoy!

Don't know if you (all of you, not just the boys) ever read any of these sites, but I do, kinda helps round out all the estrogen, hehehe... Here are a couple of my favorites.

Cake Wrecks, always good for a laugh, written by a gal, but good for everyone!

Dudecraft, there are some a-mamamazing things featured here! Paul Overton finds the neatest stuff! And he knits too!

Sh*t My Dad Says, (WARNING- this is not for the faint of heart. There is A LOT of cussing, if that's not your thing, don't even bother clicking the link, seriously... it's funny as he-double hockey sticks, but there's a lot of "sailor talk".) Funny, but foul...

Quilt Dad, he is amazing. Until recently, I'd never heard of guys quilting, but apparently, its not all that uncommon. Still, I say bravo!

I hope you'll all get a kick out of a couple of these, different strokes for different folks...

To the dads in my own life, my brother, my cousins, my friends. I think you rock. You're all incredible people and make for some pretty incredible dads. Revel in the love you're given today, but know that your children, your families and your friends carry a part of you with us everyday.

To my own dad... I love you... you're never far from my thoughts, and always in my heart.  

Cheers!

Greggy, Daddy & Me... 1984-ish..

~oxo~

Lisa

Lunchy stitches...

Hello Stitchers~

Just a quick post cause I don't have much time...

I'm stitchin' in the park on my lunch hour... so relaxing.
Except for those bullion knots... darn you bullions!!
Where are you stitching today?

A New Friend & A Fyne Day

Hi All ~ Hi Jill!!

Yesterday I had the coolest opportunity to meet a fellow blogger in real life. This was a first for me, and I couldn't be happier about it. Have y'all met Jill? If not, then you really need to click on over and get to know her. She's a sweetie and a real kick! Jill is from around this neck o' the woods, and I met her through her blog and a stitch-a-long project we both happened to be participating in, 39 Squares. Over the past few months of commenting and emailing back and forth, Jill decided we should meet in real life. I'm so glad!!

Jill and I grew up in the same town (Lodi, CA), know a lot of the same places, and as it turns out, may even know someone in common. Ain't life grand? We decided to meet at a darling little place downtown that Jill had been to before, but that I had not, and had always wanted to try called The Dancing Fox. You guys! If you ever find yourself anywhere near Lodi, California, do yourselves a favor and stop into the Dancing Fox, it's worth the trip and is without a doubt my new favorite place! 

We met at noon for some lunch, I was a little nervous, maybe she was too... Jill? Anyway, I don't know what either of us were worried about, he hit it right off! No kidding, the first thing we established was that we were both starving, but then continued to chit chat for at least an hour before we walked up and ordered some lunch!! (I told you guys I was a jabberjaw.) Anyhoo, lunch came, I devoured, we talked, we talked more... then we decided to go down to a favorite little place up the street, Secondhand Rose. Cute collectibles, shabby refurbs, and loads of buried treasure. I found a whole bag of jadeite marbles for... are you ready for this??? $1.63!!!! Deal of the day for sure!

We also perused another little shop up the street with antiques and collectibles mixed in with new boutiquey items. I don't recall the name, but it's fab I tell you, fab! Ah, I remember now, The Antiquarium!  The ladies who run this store have an AMAZING eye for design. Every square inch = eye candy!

At Antiquaruim, I also found two little tea spoons that needed to come home with me. These little cuties were only $3!! Score!

Look how cute the tops are!

After such exhausting exploits we decided it was back to The Dancing Fox for coffee and something sweet! Steady yourselves...

Ooooh, ahhhh! This was my desert, a Champagne Tea Cake!!

This was Jill's... Black Forest Tea Cake!

Crikey, these were good! I think they're called "tea" cakes because of the size. We behaved ourselves and only ate 1/2 of each. Deeeelish! Truth be told: I polished mine off for breakfast this morning, teehee!

I think we'd both agree that we visited far longer than either of us had probably anticipated. There was much laughter, sharing, and even a tear or two. This is how friendships are forged. We chatted long into the evening, and literally "shut down the place". It was a great day and I can't wait to get together and visit again with my new friend soon. Next time there will be tea involved!!

Thank you Jill for a lovely day, I'm so happy we did this!

oxo,

Lisa

p.s. OMGosh! I almost forgot! Jill brought me a gift (I told ya she was sweet!), how nice is that?!?

A little bluebird of friendliness!

  

It's like it was meant to be... he joined his long lost buddy on the windowsill next to my sewing desk...

They look happy don't they?

Now I'll aways think of friendship when I see these two.

Construction completed... maybe

Helleeew!

Notice anything different? Heh? Heh? After several days torturing myself, I've finally found a new blog background that I think I like, and one that kind of compliments my new header! Stunning isn't it? Heehee...

What do you guys think, you like? I'm really in need of some honest feedback here because I've literally tried on about a hundred different backgrounds the last couple of evenings, enough to give myself a headache. If' you've visited me within the last few nights, you may have seen any number of backgrounds whilst I've been twirling in a virtual dressing room. It's a little overwhelming. How do you guys choose your backgrounds?

So today on my lunch hour, I dashed over to the park and took some photos of my freshly stitched header for A Cuppa Tea With Me, I really like the way the stitching came out, if I do say so myself. But I think people might have thought I was a nutter this afternoon. Broad daylight in a park, sitting alone on the grass, taking a trillion pictures of  a few inanimate objects. In the sun, in the shade, on a table, on the grass, a nudge here, a slight shift there.

I really wanted to make the header a vignette, but I've come to the conclusion that, 1. I need a new camera, and 2. I am no photographer and vignettes are really hard to do... I think I need to buy and learn to use photo shoppe.

Here are a few other snap shots that were contenders for the blog header. This kind of gives more of a feel of what I was trying to accomplish. Again... tips, advice, feedback... all welcome!

Gah! This is hard... I think I need professional help.

I think I'll try again tomorrow with soft morning sunlight. That's when I've had my best results. These were taken at high noon and the light felt harsh and bleachy... does that make sense?

Anyhoo, I've missed you guys! Talk again soon! And thank you so much for all your kind comments and well wishes for Ana!! She's in Texas now, spending the summer with her sister who's in the US Army and stationed at Goodfellow AFB. She'll be back just in time to start college... I sure do miss her.

oxo,

Lisa

p.s. SO excited about tomorrow! I get to meet my first bloggy friend in person! Can't wait!!