Tea Cup Tuesday-Tea Tales

(Tea cozy, beaded over cross stitch...1880-1900)

Welcome to Tea Cup Tuesday!
Martha and I loved last weeks hop. We saw so many wonderful posts with gorgeous tea cups in them! Yay! We loved visiting each and everyone of you.

This week I am sharing about the Winchester Discovery Center's exhibit called "Tea Tales" and it showcases Britain's history with it's favorite hot drink...TEA! It is a small center, but they packed in a wonderful display about tea.

I was lucky to get to visit this show with my dear friend Cheryl. It was certainly interesting!

Delivery of Tea!
Wouldn't that be something to see a vehicle like this one taking tea orders to it's customers?

A tea grinder, a tea storage crate and another tea chest, that might have held tea's mixed by the shopkeeper. The merchant would order tea in bulk, then grind it and mix his own blends to offer to his customers.

Books were rare in the early days of tea. Women created their own receipt (as it would have been called back then) or recipe books. There is a recipe for tea balls in the book, but this page tells how to Ice a Great Cake. This book is not dated, although notes in the back cover are dated 1759. I feel quite sure that if I had lived during this time, I would have created my own books too! Maybe even with drawings and watercolors? Definitely!

This is a gorgeous tea caddy with tortoise shell and mother of pearl.

Another beautiful elaborately decorated tea chest.

This one isn't so pretty is it???
It is an electric automatic tea maker. I think it was from the 50's.

Here is a gorgeous tea dress!

I find the details so very romantic looking!

I was sure I took a photo of the information, but alas, I can not find it. So I will have to guess that this dress was worn in the 1800s. Anyone have an idea?

I wish I had taken more photos! But I hope you enjoyed this little trip to Winchester!
The show is on until September 10th, so if you live nearby it is still open.

The same day I went to the Tea show, it was market day. I found this beautiful trio at a stall there. It seemed the perfect finish to the day! It is my first Royal Crown Derby!
(I have already shared this cup in another post, but I thought it was fitting to put it also in this one)

Thank you all so much for your very fun comments to my previous post about meeting my favorite British actor over the summer! I was so surprised how many of you know and love Martin Clunes too and his character Doc Martin!

Thank you all for stopping by to visit me today.
I will be out and about all day visiting your tea cup posts!

If you want to join in Tea Cup Tuesday, remember, it is about TEA CUPS : )
Please create a post with the tea cup you want to share with us, tell us about it, how did you get it, who is the manufacturer....show us the backstamp (oooooh....aaaahhhhhhhh). Martha and I love backstamps! We love seeing companies we don't know or own any of their china.

But most of all, have a beautiful and creative week.
Hugs,
Terri

My Big Summer Surprise!

O.k. I realize most of you are not going to know who this is in the photo with me....but a few of you are going to know, and maybe even scream!
(He put on his best "Doc Martin" look for the photo!)

While we were in England for July, we went to Port Isaac because we love the show Doc Martin so much. I posted photos of this trip earlier, below is a photo of the fishing village where the entire show is filmed. We thought the show was over, no more seasons (boo hoo). We stayed in a B&B that is used for the school house in the show. It was originally a church.

Well, when we arrived at the B&B we had no idea that we were going to find the Doc Martin group filming in the parking lot!!! I almost swooned! I quickly grabbed my camera, and when I got back, Marin was coming out to the small crowd watching (remember it is a tiny little fishing village so not many people there)the filming to say hello. When I spoke to him, he was very kind, very interested and funny! It took many tries for the person who was taking the photo to have success, and all the while he was hugging me with his arm and cracking jokes like "well, if this fails...can you draw?" LOL!

See the village? The boats are anchored with enormous chains embedded in the sand because of the tide. This beach and the tide play a big role in one of the funniest episodes.

"Louisa" signing autographs.

The end of a scene. This one is in the finale. If you look in the background, you will see Doc Martin in a suit (of course!) about to climb up the ladder. He was on that ladder all day for countless takes. Over and over and over. He must have been so tired of that ladder!

It was so strange to stand outside of the Doc's house and surgery!

I love Martin Clune's character, he plays it so well! Now that I have met him, I see how entirely different he is from the doc! I am so thrilled that I was able to meet him. And I am totally thrilled there will be another season! Yay!

He was so friendly, that once an older couple, suitcases in hand, crossed right in front of him as he was just starting a scene. They recognized him and stopped him to shake hands! He took it all in stride, broke character and was very kind to them and then started the scene over. I was so impressed!

Port Issac is such a gorgeous place to visit. Truly a tiny village, with all the quaintness. But seeing my favorite actor? Priceless!

Thank you so much for stopping by!
I have been super busy this summer, but promise to catch up with all of you soon.
More art and videos to come!
Hugs,
Terri

Tea Cup Tuesday-Gift Cup!

Hello All!
Welcome again to Tea Cup Tuesday with Martha and me! We LOVE hosting this tea cup event and absolutely adore coming over to see your tea cups! Both of us are really crazy about china, and everything tea. So we share this day with each other and all of you who so graciously join in. Last week I was thrilled to see so many different cups!

Today I am sharing a gift cup!

I was so surprised to hear from Katherine at Crafty Dify, saying she had found a tea cup that immediately made her think of me! So she mailed it all the way from Canada! I was really touched that she would do such a thing. The package arrived last week and I was so excited to see what she had sent.

This is a really sweet cup! The roses are a deep purple red, and the leaves a lovely green. There is a pale blue background behind the flowers that looks amazing, but the photo did not capture it. It really makes the cup pretty!

It has the most darling shape, with ripple edges on cup and plate. The edges are all touched with gold. This cup has a good weight and feel great in the hand.

I had poured a cup of tea in it within the hour of unwrapping it!

It is manufactured by Taylor and Kent, my very first cup from this company! Taylor and Kent began in Longton in 1867, and made fine china and earthenware during the Victorian period.
I have seen a rearing horse in their backstamp, but could not find this one with the crown. Anyone out there with a book that might date this cup?

Katherine also sent me some ribbon, a handmade card and tag as well!

This is her tag. Isn't it lovely? The center tag pulls out too! If you have a chance, stop by and visit her lovely blog. Thank you so very much Katherine! I really appreciate your generosity!

I have a another new cup to share that I picked up at GW last week for $1 and I would like to take you to the Winchester Library in England where I visited their little History of Tea exhibit. I think you will like it!

If you would like to join in Tea Cup Tuesday, PLEASE share a tea cup! Most of you do, but we seem to get people linking up without tea cups, and maybe even without anything to do with tea! (GASP!) I remove those links if I see them in time. Martha and I love coming to see your tea cups, so if you have one to share, or a post with a tea cup in part of it please link your post up below and we will come over and visit you.
Hugs,
Terri

Tea Cup Tuesday-August Already!

Hello All!
I am delighted to be here with you all again today for Tea Cup Tuesday! Yay!
(Can you believe it is the middle of August already!)
How fun is this, sharing our beautiful tea cups and sentiments with each other.
Today I am sharing two cups that are very similar in shape, weight and feel.

This first one is what I have been calling my botanical cup, because of the little vignettes of flowers. The flowers are different in each section. I adore the fancy gold trims.

It has a simple loop handle, and as you can see it was well loved and a good amount of the gold has been worn away by loving hands. It is a very fine, and delicate cup.

All the little gold dots were applied by hand, many years ago.

This is a very pretty cup with all the little windows of flowers

A close up of the plates edge.

As you can see, it was created by Limoges. William Guerin began making pottery in Limoges France in 1836. His son joined him much later, around 1903. This mark could have been in use as early as 1891 or as late as 1936.
But as it does not say "made in" I am thinking it would be before 1920.

Here is my second cup to share for today. It is very similar to the first cup, the same cup and plate shape, and the same handle. What is different is the country of origin, and the raised gold design and the hand painted flowers are much simpler in execution than that of the first cup.

It is a very pretty cup, but upon close inspection you can see that the artist did not paint within the lines very well. The entire cup is hand painted.

This cup too, was well loved, as the gold has rubbed off the simple loop handle with repeated use.

But still, it is delicate and very sweet!

The porcelain is very thin and lightweight. So tea tastes quite good in it.

Did you guess? Yes, it is made by Nippon!
Martha, I know you knew that right away!
So, even though the cups were very similar, they were made in two totally different countries.

Here is the other vintage tea cozy I bought in the UK. I love the embroidery!

Such pretty vibrant color. The background is a little grey, so I am thinking of trying some Borax on it to lighten it and banish the dullness. I am just not sure how the colorful threads will do. Anyone know?
Thank you so much for stopping by to visit today! I have loved having you and I enjoy reading your comments. If you would like to play along with Martha and I, just go and create a post with your tea cup in it, tell us about it, show us the backstamp if you can, we love to see that. Last week I saw several cups from companies I had never heard of and that is always a delight!
Once you have your post up, link that specific post to the Linky system below. Then we can come and visit you!

Hugs,
Terri

Having my "Colors" done

(I thought I was a "summer" but now know I am a Light, Soft and Cool girl!)

Hello All!
What a great week we are having!
Hot, but still a good week!

Today I thought I would share with you something I had done in the UK that I found fascinating (and no, it isn't the Indian eyebrow threading I had done, ouch!, but fabulous results!).

Have you ever bought a beautiful piece of clothing, that ended up only sitting in your closet for a few years, because when you put it on it just wasn't "right"? I have done this many times. And I don't want to get rid of these clothes because they are so gorgeous. Lately I had been thinking about how I could become more comfortable choosing clothing, because I had become somewhat reluctant only bring home another article of clothing that didn't end up working for me. Now, I do have some colors I positively know are mine, and I have stayed in my comfort zone with these. But the artist in me wants to work with all the colors I can!
Hence, my UK color experience.

(Sylvia)

Many years ago I had my "colors" done, and I found out I was a "Summer" and it did help me choose colors for my clothing. But what I had done by the multi talented and color gifted Sylvia Rattenbury was so much more than that, (and no more seasons)! Sylvia spent a couple hours teaching me about my own colors by carefully draping me in colorful swatches and watching my facial color dull or brighten. It took me a little bit before I could really see it with some colors, while others it was plain to tell. She also talked to me about clothing style and shapes that were best for my body type. By the time she was done showing me my own makeup color, I was thrilled and felt I had the information I needed to choose clothing colors and styles successfully. Yay!

(I love these colors! See the green? I have never worn green at all and I am happy to do so now I know the correct green for me!)

Sylvia put together my own personal booklet filled with my own colors. I have taken this with me every time I shop, and I am pleased to say I have successfully chosen some really lovely articles of clothing that I feel very good in, and in colors I would have never chosen! I can use this book to encourage myself to embrace color combinations I have never done before, with no fear of money wasted. As a person who loves color, this is exciting!

Sylvia lives near Horsham in southern England. She has a gorgeous home with a lovey studio that she does her color work in. I felt very comfortable there, as Sylvia's kind and knowledgeable manner really put me at ease. I highly recommend her!

So, if you live anywhere Sylvia (or are visiting in the area like I was) look her up. You will be so thrilled with the results! She has a beautiful and helpful website where you can find out more...colouryourstlye.co.uk

The clouds are building up outside, and I hear the early rumblings of a thunderstorm.....such a lovely sound. I am thankful for the rain today as it helps keep the temperatures down. I hope that where ever you are you are having a good day and enjoying the summer.
Thank you so very much for stopping by to visit.
Hugs,
Terri

Tea Cup Tuesday-Already!

Hello All!
Is it just me or is the summer flying by???
Whew it is hot here, mid to high nineties every day.
Guess I will have to stay indoors and craft!
Today I am sharing a tea cup trio that I purchased in an antique store while in the UK this summer. I don't usually see trios, so this was a delight.
I adore the roses on this set! I have seen others share it and versions of it, but until now I had not had my own...now I do. Yay!

I love the dainty gold markings on the handle.

This cup is footed with two gold bands as trim.

The rims of the cup and plates are heavily decorated with a gold floral pattern.

These are the sweetest little roses! I also love the shade of green for the leaves.

Gorgeous plate edges! Using this cup makes me feel almost royal!

As you can see by the backstamp, it is created by Royal Albert, and the pattern name is Dimity Rose. Such a sweet name for such a sweet cup!
Here is a dear little vintage tea cozy I found in another little antique shop in the UK this summer. Isn't it sweet too?

It is quite small and would fit a 2 cup tea pot. I think it is adorable. I found another one while there and I will share it next week.

How are you all doing this summer?
Are you having a good one?
Are you having your tea iced???

If you would like to join in for Tea Cup Tuesday with Martha and I, just go and create a post showing us your tea cup(s). Then come back here and link up below. Martha and I love coming to see you and your china!
Hugs,
Terri

Time to Play!

(Best journal I have found for mixed media)

Hello all,
What a summer it has been!
Hot, Hot, and more Hot here in North Carolina. It was wonderful to get a break while in the UK and I just returned from my home state where it was much cooler and such a treat!
My travels are done for a little while so I am now able to get back into the art room and have some fun!

My friend Jan and I are doing the She Had Three Hearts class over at Scarlet Lime. I have been wanting to art journal for ages and now I am getting the opportunity to do so...and, the best part...share it with a friend!
The alphabet stamp set I used here on the cover of my journal is "Artsy Alphabet" by Crafty Secrets. I just received this fab set and I love it!

I am just in the beginning...playing with paints, layers, textures and embellishments....

So far I am having a great time!

Here is the front of a board book I am working on for a friend....it has been such fun to work on as well, lots of paints, stamps, paper and beeswax.

While I was away visiting family, my dear hubby had this wonderful sky light put in my art room, now I have gorgeous light all day long!

While on my way home from my family, I stopped at a antique store and found this old Excelsior sign and price stamp set! What a find!

It is going to be fun to use in my journalling.

I also found this beauty. She is about 6 inches tall, and I am dreaming of what to create with her.
I have also had a chance to catch up with many of your blogs. I am able to comment on most posts, but sometimes I am blocked. Just know I have been by for a visit.
What are you doing this summer?
Hugs,
Terri