Lovely Lady-Like Coffee Service

This is a gorgeous 19 piece Formal Coffee Service of ceramic ware, made by my aunt, L.L.Liles in 1962. That means in two years the set will be 50 years old. Amazing how it made it into 2010 with no dings, breaks, cracks, or stains. Only the lid to the teapot has crazing. It was obviously well cared for and she would be proud that it was still in such great condition.

Let's begin with the large Coffee Pot. It measures almost a foot high and is 12 3/4" across from handle to the spout! The Pot is accented in gold and has those exceptional little feet on the bottom. All the pieces have these features. It's big party size! I would guess it holds about a gallon of coffee!

Because of the lighting they all look creamy white, however, in daylight they are really white. The huge teapot measures 9" tall with the bulging bottom 6" in diameter. It's 12" from handle to spout. I photographed it next to the EAPG regular sized salt and pepper shakers for a size reference.

I guess you can get an idea of size for the lidded Sugar Bowl and fancy creamer by the EAPG platter the pots were on and again the salt and pepper shakers. I love the lids on this set because they are so easy to handle. I guess that made it much easier to survive the years. See, they have the little feet too.
A Cup & Saucer together stands a whopping 4.5" tall. The diameter of the cups is 4" across. It's in the diameter that you can tell they were handmade. Not that it is ready visible but if you look down on them all you can see they are a little bit unevenly round. I guess where she held them to paint the gold accents on.
There are six Cups & Saucers. The cups as well as the saucers have those cute little feet! (Easier to see in the previous picture) The gold accents really show up on the saucers and the handles have plenty of room to get your finger inside. The cups are very thin and lightweight. I like that feature as well.
Certainly a lot of work went into this set, but I know Sister had a wonderful time making it and caring for it to hand it down. Little did she know that times would change and women wouldn't be so involved with high tea and fancy things after fast food took over! She would flip to know that you can buy a whole Thanksgiving meal at the grocery store with beautiful disposable servingware to accompany it.

Creative Spring Genes

In the next few posts I will be laying groundwork to familiarize you with a few of the creative people in my family, and the heirlooms I've aquired. Am filled with lovely childhood memories surrounded by all of the gorgeous things my mother and aunts gathered, collected, meticulously cared for, and creatively made by hand. However, I have no room for them all... i.e., they literally cannot be contained!

Before many of these heirlooms are sold and pass to other owners, I want to make a photographic journal of their careful collections, and creative exploits; to record for myself and remaining family a virtual scrapbook of sorts. If we can't keep all of the items, at least we will have stories and photos that accompany some of them. "Ah...lest we forget."

In doing this... I hope you, the reader, will better understand some of the items I'm listing at AngeeArt on Etsy which now contains a gallery of vintage and antique. If you find anything you have an affinity for within these photos, (not listed there)...let me know and I'll make a listing there especially for you.

SISTER...
LUCILLE
LeMASTER LILES
My Aunt Lucy (we called her Sister) loved creating anything ceramic. She gave us all ceramic gifts as they formed from her hands, and sprouted from her kiln. I've consumed many a cup of coffee from mugs with her stamp on the bottom. But this was not her only passion, she also collected antiques, was a recorded country song writer, sang harmony with my mother and me, published a book of poetry, and crocheted up a storm in her off time.

After "Sister" retired from Kraft Foods, (she was a nutritionist in the cafeteria at the plant in Atlanta) she moved from Georgia to Florida to be close to my mom and our family. My mother's oldest sister, she was 23 and married, when my mother the baby of the family was born. Mama always called her Sister. Unable to have her own children, Lucy (as her friends called her) sorta "adopted" and raised my mom. After my brothers and I were born, she pretty much functioned all of our lives, as grandmother. My youngest brother was the only one who didn't call her Sister... he called her "Grammy." (my grandmother died when mom was 18)

So, in 1974, Sister brought all of her entire household of antiques from Atlanta, rented a little house in a non-residential area, and sold them all, except those rare, unusual wonders she loved. When she died in 1985 at the age of 84, all of her unfinished ceramics, crochet booties, extensive antique collections, old china, and remaining antique furniture... passed to my mother.

Keep watch! There are many more things to come, some of which I will need the world's help to identify and establish value. I'd hate to sell something for $5 that's worth $5,000.

March to a Different Drummer

March means getting ready for Easter. I'm working on marzipan filled vanilla chicks and sweet chocolate fondant bunnies at Visualicious.

March came in like a cold lion and I hope it goes out like a warm, wooly lamb. I want to plant seeds and see them sprout.

March marks the first birthday I could not give my mother a gift. Her birthday was yesterday. That's a hard thing. But, I still have four close friend's to celebrate b-days with this month. It's a blessing they were born.

March will be the month I add vintage things left by my mother to my AngeeArt shop. My house smells like hers since I brought her things here. Some of the items she made, some I made for her, some things were made by my aunt, others I made for my aunt that mom inherited when she died. Most are vintage handmade and, a good majority are antiques. We were and are a creative family. Just don't have room for everything and... I'm tired of stepping over the memories. I hope to add photos of some of the more unusual things and share their stories here.

Blessings.

Be My Valentine!

Here's a visual pig out for Valentine's Day! Check out this sweet surprise.

It's a little chunk of eye-candy love this Valentine's Day to all my faithful followers.

I made this cute, custom marzipan stuffed fondant pig for a customer on Etsy and thought I would share it with you. My grands so much wanted to eat it, but, I managed to get it mailed out unscathed.

Last week they raided my basket of 25 "ready to sell" candy bracelets and ate all but three. Boy was I upset, and boy were they wired for the day! I didn't realize they had gotten into it until I went into their room and found stickers, little bags and leftover sparkle elastic all over the room. "sigh" :o/ On a positive note, I guess it was proof positive they were delicious!

Hope your day is fiiiillllllled with lots of love.

Ushering in a Creative New Year!

Here's wishing everyone a Prosperous and Creative New Year. May we all enjoy another season of freshly inspired opportunities!

In 2009 I finished developing the illustrations for Helen Barbazon's book. Now its in its final stages and getting ready to print. Might be sharing my drawings in a widget of the book, here on the blog, if I can get it to work. Check back.

I'm excited to begin working something different into my signature line.
So...this first post of 2010 brings a glimpse of what's in store this year.

In 2009 I developed my gourmet candy jewelry, perfected their tangy-sweet deliciousness, and found them to be my biggest and best sellers. I'll be distributing them from several local venues so, photos of the counter displays are soon to come!

Had an offer to dress the front window of a local furniture store with a display of my signature painted furniture, canvas/rock paintings, and sculpture. Working on the pieces that will be included now. Bought several interesting pieces of furniture to paint right before the holidays and am in process. I'll be sharing these pieces as they come along.

2010 BLESSINGS!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Have a delightfully tasty holiday and a happily delicious New Year!

December is here and once again I am no where ready for Christmas. As usual when the holidays roll around I am crazy with orders for other people's gifts and have to neglect my own. "sigh...humbug...haha!"

Pineapple Logs ~ Lime Trees ~ & Raspberry Spacers

!NEW! This year I've made some of the cutest ornate candy bracelets and will be listing them in my Visualicious Shop on Etsy this afternoon in hopes of selling them in time to ship before Christmas. (ok...the photos seem a little blurry but might be my eyes getting worse. They looked clear in the camera)

Sweet Sprinkled Lime Trees, Poinsettias & Gifts

Lime, Lemon, Vanilla & Strawberry Wonders

I'm also offering these cute little bracelets in "non-edible" form. They seem to sell so well as candy that I thought perhaps there were those who would prefer to pay a little more and get the real deal that will last and last.

HAVE A YUMMY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Customer Inspired

I guess October is the perfect month for sweets. I've gotten a bundle of candy orders and that makes me smile.

A chocolate/coconut loving customer inspired my new Coconut Dreams and am now offering these delectable gourmet candies from my Visualicious Shop. Fresh ground coconut, ground so smooth it becomes a candy cream, is covered in a layer of thick creamy fudge and then wrapped in handrolled chocolate fondant.

These have now become my favorites. In fact I've made some coconut converts from quite a few friends who were not fond of coconut at all. They absolutely love these beauties! They're available decorated with fruity bows and stars or simple cocoa balls on top.

I worked to perfect the tangy fruity flavors for my "Fruity Cuties" candy bracelets. Each little candy fruit tastes as flavorful as it looks. (i.e. strawberries taste very strawberry, blue is very blueberry, etc.) They're better than ever now!

Have a sweet Halloween everyone!

I'm Back!

Seems like forever since I posted! Great to be here again. I appreciate the new followers and the great uplifting comments while I was away.

Spent the last couple of months moving to the NW Florida panhandle area to be closer to my family. Talk about creative. Moving in itself is a major project, but these days its harder and costlier. I had gathered way more "things" in my work room than realized, including loads of art & craft supplies. I might be opening another store on Etsy filled with vintage and overstock to lighten that load.

I'm still not settled in completely which makes it difficult to find things. I sold a bundle of candy bracelets & "treasures" from my Visualicious shop right after I got here. This makes crafting more stressful. I was comfortably set up to do business in Ocala with the postal service, supply chains and internet. Now everything changes. The post office here doesn't stock the boxes I used there, so I have to order online. None of the grocery chains carry what I need to make bonbons... Ugh! Even though I was only transferring my internet account, it took two weeks to move email addresses and get all my websites to recognize a new IP address. To top it all off...everyone wants a piece of my pie...money here, money there.

I hope to soon be working some new things for the upcoming holiday season quickly approaching. Hopefully now I can get back on track and get some new things up. Of course this means I'll have to tear myself away from grandchildren who take turns sneaking my candies and have taken over my lap! Wish me luck.

U N V E I L I N G ... PENS

You... dear friends and followers, are the first to see
my new line of one-of-a-kind pens.

Weighty and unique they fit wonderfully in your hand, write smoothly, and protect clothing with a simple twist to retract the pen tip.


Each one is different from the others so...no one else will have a pen like yours. I can also make customs with your symbol or name pressed in.


In the next few days, I'll be listing them for sale in my AngeeArt shop. If you want one, then you better run on over right away and scoop up your favorite. I may make similar ones in the future but most likely no others will be exactly like these.

Finally being creative again while I wait on my nail license so, I hope you like them. Let me know what you think.

Certified Nail Specialist

Okay... I'M A SHOW OFF!
I decided to earn consistent pay for doing the tiny art I love to do so much. On June 9, 2009, after 240 hours of specialized secondary technical study, I became a certified nail specialist! I'm so excited because there's repeat demand for this kind of art. Can't wait to begin building my business!

I needed some way of showing off my skills and work; something easy to take with me... beautiful, lightweight, and impressive, to show salon owners with prospective rental space. To display my nail art and nail enhancement skills, I came up with a memorable "portfolio." Creating this necklace turned out to be a super fun project in and of itself although a little on the gaudy side. It certainly serves its purpose.

Various types of artificial nail enhancements, polish, paint, and original nail art designs were applied to professional tips of all sizes. I made holes in them, added links, and spaced them all out on a copper chain. It's easy to get on and off for viewing and hands-on inspection. The necklace looks pretty good when I wear it with all black. Can't wear formal to an interview though!
From left to right, this photo shows the variety of enhancements
and the whole necklace:
1. Tiny blue nail, painted leaves, embellished 3D flower and
metallic blue french edge
2. White tip with silver glitter french manicure, tiny clay
flowers, and sparkling gems
3. Rainbow colored metallic paint drips down and tiny pearl
dots climb up
4. Gloss black tip with dichroic slides and an embedded copper
glass bead
5. Hot pink gloss polish base with hand painted white bow,
flowers, stickers and gems
6. Natural tip with applied acrylic pink and white is painted
with black, white and metallic gold in a jewel tone design
7. Dichroic slide embedded in clear and white acrylic on a
clear tip. Tiny rhinestones buttoned down the center, finish
the look
8. Totally painted fine art, this tip has a gloss black polished
background night sky with metallic blue water, green palm
tree and golden moon
9. Pink and white application on a white nail with a 3-D gem
and embellished white motif
10. Vivid red high gloss nail with white flower and green leaf
embedded nail polish creates an enameled cloisonne effect
11. Ahhh Mardigras! Clear acrylic on a clear tip with glitzy
paints of all colors, very hot pink french manicure tip, and
sparse clear gold glitter topcoat
12. Shiny gloss black formal pinky nail with metallic gold
dots and tiny heart outline