S C O R E !!

Yesterday this arrived in the mail, in a bright orange bubble envelope:


Oh baby! My friend Dephal takes good care of me! Not only does she know of my sincere love for tea, she knows of my sincere need of hand care, and my adoration for Burt and his Bees. Lookit: rum-raisin tea and chocolate-chestnut tea, not to mention some other goodies in the green tea packets. And as someone who used to do an awful lot of packaging design, I have to say that Lupicia has beautiful tea packaging. You can click on the photo to enlarge it if you're as interested in packaging as I am.

Incidentally, my graphic design credits include working on Always (feminine hygiene products) packaging many years ago (fortunately someone else got the Attends job), as well as designing a line of Mexican food packaging for Co-op, tissues boxes, tons of other food packaging, and various other items including yarn bands for Coats-Patons. (take note, knitting fans, although I must say that I don't like their yarn as much as I used to when they still had their factory in Toronto.) I designed their knitting pattern books as well. I must say, working on packaging for feminine hygiene products was not a goal I nurtured as a kid. Illustrating books is much closer to my childhood dreams!

Thank you, Dephal! The tea will help get me through my last snake illustration.

And now, because a day without birds is like a day without sunshine:


This is a male rose-breasted grosbeak, with a goldfinch in the background. The photo doesn't do his beauty true justice. And I didn't use a soft-focus lens; my window just needs cleaning!