Making a Journal for Healing

I have had a pleasure creating my own journal this past week!

Yay!

I have always wanted to make one from start to finish!

I began with some scrapes of quilt I had dyed ages ago...lovely colors that make me smile...

My inspiration came from a class  I have been taking with Misty Mawn...

she is a sweet, very creative woman.

I adore her, and her classes. 

I had made a few small bound books before...but had not felt so free to create a journal from scratch!

Misty has a class on creating a journal (as well as many other classes)

And her class really gave me confidence that I could make one!

(and just so you know, the steps I show here are not from her class, just my playing around)

And I will admit, I fudged it, and went along and just made it...

without really thinking or following instructions!!!

( I do think Misty would like that! Lol!)

Gosh it is fun to play!

I painted the two layer piece of fabric with gesso, hoping to toughen up the spine...

I created 4 signatures in hopes that I will have enough pages to express on...

Then I did sewing of sorts to get each signature tight to the spine. 

I am hoping my sewing will hold strong!

Embroidery is not really in my repertoire...but I gave it a go, it looks pretty 60's ish to me...

but hey, that is part of my childhood...I guess it came out here : )

Some projects are just so enJoyable!

Now to be brave and face the first white blank page...take out my gesso, papers,

images, paints and stamps and start my journey : )

How is your creative week end going?

I have had some issues lately getting on to some of your blogs.

Sometimes it says I need to have permission?

I think it may have to do with Google +

Have any of you had this issue?

Hugs,

Terri

Tea Cup Tuesday-Backstamps

Hello All!

Welcome to Tea Cup Tuesday!

Backstamps are a fascinating part of collecting tea cups.

It has taken me a while to figure out how these labels are read and how to research them.
And I still make mistakes! lol!

My favorite place to start is in

Geoffrey A. Godden's Book Encyclopedia of British Pottery and Porcelain Marks,

if the cup is from England. If It is a European cup,

I look for the manufacturer's history on the Internet.

Some backstamps are incised, impressed, printed or painted...

 rare are some marks that were created separately
and then applied to the bottom of the piece.

I have only personally seen Incised, Impressed, Printed and Painted.

I have never seen an Applied Molded Mark.
Have any of you?

This week for a backstamp example, I am beginning with the simplest...

Today's cup is a pretty vintage one.

She has a fall themed floral spray on the front...
(as seen above)

 

On her back side, there is a similar themed sprig of flowers....

When we look at her backstamp, we see she was made in England,
and we even see a pattern number 7208...,
and an artist mark (little gold sideways 3)
and that she is bone china ...

but what we don't see, is a backstamp that shows the manufacturers name!
There are a few backstamps without names, but they use a consistent symbol to identify their wares.

(couldn't fine a better example, sorry!)

Without the name of the manufacturer or even a symbol like a crown or other symbol,
it is very hard to look her up.

So why would the company's name not be on the cup???

I did a quick Internet search with the exact numbers and words on the stamp above,
but as I feared, no information was found.

It is possible that this cup was mass marketed cheaply and therefore not designated.

Lol...like a No Name or Generic brand!

Whatever her origin, she is a pretty cup and a good one for fall....

ooooh, maybe some chai tea?

Saturday is the very first day of fall 2012!!!

I have a basket full of fresh Macintosh Apples that smell divine!

Are you ready?  : )

Next week we'll look at Incised and Impressed backstamps...

Hugs,

Terri

Tea Cup Tuesday-Tea on the Balcony

  Hello All!

Happy Tea Cup Tuesday!

Today I am sharing a simple tea post.

I had the fortunate opportunity to sit on our balcony and enjoy an afternoon of reading.

Sublime would be a word I could use to describe this experience : )

Setting a simple tea tray, (I did not eat all those cookies! lol!).

and choosing relaxing and absorbing entertainment...

(I happen to be in the middle of a good book!)

...is all part of what I call my tea ritual.

pure enjoyment!

I am wishing you beautiful September days...

enjoying the present moment.....

Hugs,

Terri

If you would like to join in this weeks Tea Cup Tuesday that Martha and I are hosting,

just create a post with the tea cup in it you would like to share, then come back here

and link that post to Linky Tools below, so we can come and visit you : )

Awaken

 Awaken

as the filmy veils of sleep drift off.... 

Allowing one's eyes to open...

to the beauty and the opportunity all around!

hugs,

Terri

Mixed Media Faery School Tutorial!

Hello All!
I wanted to give you all a gift for the new year.
So these past few days I have been working on the first of 3 videos to create a Mixed Media Faery School.

I made one earlier this year and posted about it. You can see it here.

In video #1, I demonstrate how to make the inside and outside of the school from a shoebox. The second video will be making Faeries and the 3rd will be creating the furniture and accessories. This is so much fun! All videos will be done withing 2 weeks, so if you want to make one you will have all 3 videos to watch very soon.

For me, the most exciting part of creating something like this is using my imagination to plan what the school should look like, what the faeries should wear, and what kind of things they would do in school. It is like telling a story, and I love to tell stories!

You can make the exact same one as mine with the notes I have written out. I share everything I used to make it. I did use a number of digi sheets from Paperwhimsy, and a scrapbook sheet from 7gypsies as well. The rest you can pretty much find at your own home. If you click on the link you can download a set of instructions and supplies.

Download Here

A word about PaperWhimsy....I mention them so often, it is because they have the most amazing images available: women, children, faeries, botanical, butterflies, birds, whimsical images, backgrounds, digi images..... They are crisp and clear and the variety is endless. They also are owned and created by absolutely amazing people. Paperwhimsy has an online forum as well, where you can meet other artists and share in swaps and projects. It is a really fun place to be. Paperwhimsy was the first place I found when I got "online" a couple years ago.

You can also, of course, make the school and accessories from papers, images and paints, scrap bits of wood.... you already have.
You could use dictionary or phone book paper, old cards, images from a magazine....photo copies of your own vintage ladies and children....there are no limits here!
Create an entirely different looking school! I would love to see that too.

What a fun project for the faery lover in you, for you and your daughters, and granddaughters....and boys too of course!

If you create one and would like to share, I would love to see what you have created and I will post it on my site to share with my wonderful visitors! Yea!

Thank you so much for stopping by!
Hugs,
Terri

Tea Cup Tuesday-Little Accidents!

Hello All!

Welcome to Tea Cup Tuesday!

I hope you all had a good day : )

My holiday was going along fine until I met with a little snag...

and now I am typing this slowly with one hand!

(and I took the photo above with one hand too!)

Do some of you remember this cup???

I bought it on eBay... 

A lovely yellow and gold Queen Anne, pattern 4751

(still can't find the name of the pattern or a replacement)

And was so excited for it's arrival...

I do believe it arrived at my garage door in tack....

Why the postwoman left it leaning against the garage door i will never know!

And maybe you can guess what happened???

Yep, my husband backed out of the garage in our van and over the box!

Today I realized what a perfect cup it would be 

to use in my jar of Epsom Salts!

These salts are good for sore muscles and sprains.

A cup in your hot water creates a healing and relaxing bath.

Here in America, we can buy these salts in the grocery store in a large box.

When I was in the UK, my friend Cheryl and I found out they kept them 

behind the Pharmacy counter, and I could only get a tiny container!

Curious...still don't know why they think it is dangerous?

Anyone know?

Thank you for stopping by and reading my recycled post! 

If you would like to join in, just add your url to your tea cup post below.

Hugs!

Terri

She dreams of the Theater

Hello All!

Happy September!

I am celebrating with joining in Pink Saturday with Beverly at How Sweet The Sound.

Today I am sharing a sweet doll I had started ages ago,

and just finished today.

Meet Second Hand Rose.

 Rose has loved the theater all her life.

As a little girl, she would go once a month with her father

to see a play.

It was the highlight of her life!

When she grew up,

She found a position sewing costumes for the actors and actresses.

Oh how she envied them!

But she had such stage fright, she never tried out for a role her entire life.

Now that might sound sad...

But it wasn't for Rose. 

She LOVED creating those costumes,

as well as practically living at the theater!

Here she is all ready to go out.

She has long since retired,

but continues to enjoy every play!

Everyone knows and loves Rose,

Her kind heart and generous ways endeared her to each and every person she met.

And she was so integral to the success of the plays because

her costumes were beyond compare!

Rose had a love for fabric and sequins..

she saved bits and pieces over the years.
Rose even has a collection of costumes
she was given, when they were no longer of use.

Creating new outfits from these costumes
brings her Joy!

She spent most of this week creating her own dress...

and here you see she has added one more embellishment to her purse...

at the last minute!

Now she is truly ready to go out and enjoy a pleasurable evening.

Thank you so much for stopping by! 

I truly appreciate your visit and I adore reading your comments!

Hugs,

Terri