Teena Flanner

August is waning too fast!!!

So fast that I can hardly stand it! Unfortunately I did not take full advantage of the overcast freezing days to get ahead of my orders. The very good news is that the July wholesale show was better than expected. Not great, not at all, but better than expected and a few new shops. Now I am very busy with filling orders, going to the farmer markets, having out of town kids and their significant others for overnights. Swimming, picking flowers from my gardens and 2 new babies !!!My niece and her husband had a baby boy in Wisconsin  and my nephew and his wife had a little girl in Washington state!!!

I have given up on the blue hyrangeas, well, not really but I have fallen in love with the annabelles, limelights and the bush similar to limelight with a blush of pink on the tips. They actually seem to love Wisconisn and it is not a constant uphill battle!

confession....true gardeners will know the zinnas on the pedestal are staged, not enough sun but an empty pedestal wouldbe kind of sad.

I have the same situation of 30+ years ago, lots of bees, honeybees, bumble bees and 2 little kids, it always seems to work out. I finished painting my little summer house after 60 years of weathering and had it fixed up first a bit by my handyman. Carpenter ants, snows etc had been pretty hard on it.

lots of photos just kind of here and there....I leave my coneflowers up no matter how sad they get because flocks of little yellow finches feed most of the winter.

Atlanta showroom!

Susannah and I went to Atlanta before the summer show . We cleaned, straightened, brought new pieces and had a lot of fun! We worked together after she graduated from the University of Wisconsin and she moved to Virginia for those few precious years . She lives in Chicago now, it has been 5 years! and I have returned to the Milwaukee area. We used to work hard and go to the beach a lot. The beach in Virginia was where I first saw a mermaid. Okay, I did not see a mermaid but the Cheasapeake Bay and the sea inspired my mermaid collection.

My pieces will be in the Christmas issue of the new Victoria, lovingly brought to its new life by Phyllis Hoffman. In all the time I have done the blog, I have not figured out the placement of photos so this will again be a here and there thing. The children will be my grandbabies, well , 1 toddler, Abbey and 1 boy, Jack. My family has gathered a few times and my 2 youngest have very special new people in their life.

Someday I will take the time to learn about the photos. My washing machine is broken, my old cell phone has died and my printer has forgotten how to "communicate with my computer."Tomorrow!

 Summer has been delightful and Will (my old lab) and I are having a delightful July! I hope that you are too!

April...whatever happened to March!

   pink, tulle, frosting and sweetness...subtle signs of spring!

Just photos of February....

Chris skiing Mammoth! a new prototype for a great American department store!      I am the tall leggy beauty in the light coat! Denver ,Colorado                                                                          

What joy ,$4.99 ,from the thrift store !

everything was wool! wet wool!     

Last week!

   

Atlanta!!!!

I just returned last night, from my tradeshow in Atlanta! Snow awaited me and I am so inspired!Artists, my customers, it was and is all so much fun! I received an unbelieveable welcome home from Jack, Abbey, Katie, Joe  and my sweet black lab, Will. Evidently, the newly crawling Abbey is enchanted by Will. She crawls over to him, he moves 1 foot and re-sits. She then crawls over to him, repeat, about 100 times a day. 85 lb Will makes a big deal about moving, sighing loudly. Jack did not like that I was gone at all and jumped up into my arms and we just danced around the room. I was only gone a week...my cup runneth over...

Just some photos from the show! Michael, my talented friend from Atlanta is the handsome fellow in one photo and the others are from the Bethany Lowe masquerade party! a few are from my showroom.

Happy 2009!         

Teena 

Merry Christmas to All!!!

  I am going to just put up a lot of images. Christmas is so busy for all of us with family and work! I am on facebook which is kind of fun 

OPEN HOUSE

A Saturday in November

I am finishing my last Christmas order today except for a few last minute turkeys. Now I am preparing for my annual Open House ! We...Abbey, Jack, Katie and Katie's husband, Joe  were going to go to an annual holiday open house in our village this morning. We are a sturdy people (not by choice!) but sleet and rain have cancelled our plans...no fun with a baby.I am putting a photo from last year's event with the big white horse.

Last night on my walk with Willie , my senior black lab, he spotted 6 critters in a crabapple tree.    when I returned alone , with r egular camera ,there were only 2 (opossums? raccoons?)

A lady commented on the red santa with a tree from the Jan 2008 blog. If she will email me at teenaflannerstudio@yahoo.com about its availability, I do have it right here in my studio. No shops have ordered it because he has not been in my Atlanta showroom. 

Facebook, Open House and Halloween!!!

I am now on facebook, adding another computer related iten that I barely understand. I  guess if I become really proficient at this it will intensify my tendency to be a hermit!

My annual, 15 + years Open House is coming up...

Friday Dec 5 from 3-6pm and Sat Dec 6 from 10-12  at my home 820 Kurtis Dr

Elm Grove WI 53122

 

and from now on, open by appointment to a collector who may be in the area. My studio is not the cute little studio you see in magazines. It is big and airy with heated floors and lots of light. It is however a mess,  something I guess I need to just get used to as I cannot change. Should you ever be in the area and give me a call beforehand, I can brew some ice tea and have a number of my pieces on display for purchase. I opened up my home this way last week for a delightful couple from California and it was a highlight for me. They thought my space was a safe, warm magical dwelling seemingly away from the world. My grandchildren were here and all bonded and ate the lovely chocloates they brought me!