Mini Book Fun

Hello All!
Happy Friday!
I had an opportunity to work in my art room this week and try a fun project that I saw over at Poetry In A Pot Of Tea, where Shawn posted a video of Tim Holtz creating what he calls a "W" book. She inspired me to create on myself (actually two!). One for my husband to remind us of our trip to Paris last year, and one I made to remind myself that I create my own happiness. Shawn has a lovely blog and she often post great videos, as well as beautiful cards she makes, and other creations. So please visit her, the first link takes you to her home page, the second one will take you to her post of the video.

The book is easy enough to make once you figure out how to fold it! I had to re watch Tim do it several times. But once I got it, I was good to go, and I really did enjoy making and decorating the books. I have even cut one out of a piece of fabric and hope to do some thing special with it.

A little touch of flowers tied with vintage seam binding.

The inside is filled with sweet messages to my dear hubby!

Here is my second book to remind me that I get to choose how I want to feel each day.

The lovely girl is from Paperwhimsy.com. A little vintage lace and heart add real charm.

I used some Cath Kidston papers I bought while in England.

A little silver Stickles and some vintage papers out of an old French medical book about ailments.
This book has many pockets you can slip tags and messages into.

I used this vintage medical book on purpose behind my positive statements, to remind myself that no matter what is going on with me physically, I can still choose to feel JOY at any time....

I just love vintage laces don't you?

The flying bird symbolizes freedom!
The scratched background showing things not perfect.

Creating this book was creating joy for me!

She is so calm and sure. I love that image!

She sees within....she sees beauty...she sees opportunity...

Think on these things...

I love my life.
I am thankful to be here experiencing all that is...

I choose to focus on the good in my life.

All is well.

Thank you so much for stopping by.
May you have a blessed and joyful weekend.
Hugs,
Terri
I will post the winner of my Birthday Gratitude Giveaway Tuesday evening.
Follow the link above to leave a comment to enter.

Tea Cup Tuesday French Cups!

Welcome once again to Tea Cup Tuesday!
Martha and I love to share our china with you all, and we really love seeing your beautiful tea cups. Last week every cup was so stunning! Thank you all for participating.
Make sure you stop by and see Martha's china. She has the most gorgeous cups around!

I was very lucky last week to spy these cups in an antique shop. They were quite dirty and I was trying to decide if they were what I wanted, by trying to rub off the dirt and grime and get a good look. I am so glad I brought them home,
because once I cleaned them up they were gorgeous!

They do seem quite plain, but they feel very fine in the hand. I ended up buying 5 sets of them.

They really do look more elegant and beautiful in "person". The creamy white and the gold are very rich looking. The picture does not do them justice.

Look at the detail on the simple, albeit elegant and large, loop handle! So French!

This pretty leaf design circles the plate as well as the cup edge.

The stamp says this cup was made by Sevres, a company that began in the 1700's in France.
I have read all over the Internet about the Sevres porcelain company, but still do know know very much about where my cups came from. There is also wording scratched in the porcelain, you can just barely see it in the photo.

King Louis IV took great interest in the company during his reign, going as far as to take over the company. He was very involved in the designs and quality of the china. He even had special viewing parties at Versailles where he greatly encouraged his guests to purchase. The earlier backstamp was two Ls known as the Double L for Louis. Above you can see a double L. Many other potters copied the styles and backstamps. Even though there was a law against it. This backstamp is not listed among the known stamps from the 18th century, but I have seen it shown as Sevres Style backstamp and in some places as 19th century Sevres backstamp.

From what I have seen of Sevres, they crafted beautiful and elaborate china pieces. My cups are very simple compared to them, and may be one clue that they are not Sevres.

This emblem on the plate and front of the cup reminds me of the symbol Laduree (a famous Paris restaurant and bakery) uses on their boxes and napkins. That may be why I loved them so much.

So my cups may be old or they may be new...they may be Sevres or they may be a knock off...I don't think I mind either way! I used them for a family tea last Sunday and they were lovely to drink from. That is perfect to me!

If you happen to know about this backstamp I would love to hear from you.

Thank you so much for stopping by and viewing my tea cups! If you would like to play along, just create a post with the tea cup you would like to share, and then come back here and fill in the blanks with Mr. Linky and you will be automatically added to the list. Make sure you check your link to see if it takes you to your site. Once in a while a link will not work and we can not find the participants post.

Thank you all for your lovely birthday wishes! I had a wonderful day!
To celebrate I have a Gratitude Giveaway!
(here is a sneak peek at the tea for one!)

Go HERE to comment and have a chance to win!
Hugs to you All,
Terri

Quilting on the Porch

Hello All!
Happy Monday!
Yesterday was a gorgeous day in our area. It was so lovely, I found myself on my front porch with a cup of tea, quilting in the morning sun!
That was pure pleasure!
I was counting my blessings right along with my stitches!

I am only just learning to quilt, inspired entirely by Frieda Oxenham, and I am totally loving it. Frieda's quilts are like fabric candy!
Check out her blog and see the delicious colors she works with,
she even sews lovely beads on her designs!
When I saw there was a beginners class at a nearby sewing shop, I signed up to make a sampler quilt. I did not pick traditional fabric though, a little more Asian,with some Batik thrown in!

I am loving the reds, pinks, and greens.

I am learning to hand applique.....patience is needed!
See the script fabric, it says lovely things about life and friendship.

There are 12 squares in this pattern, so you can try out 12 different block patterns.

"Whirling Geese"

"Four Patch Squares"

In my last post I announced my Birthday Gratitude Giveaway! Follow the link to leave a comment if you would like to enter to win this lovely tea for one!
You only need be a follower to enter!

May you all have a joyful and creative week.
Hugs,
Terri

Birthday Gratitude Giveaway!

Hello All!
Today is my 52nd birthday!
To celebrate, my family and I are
having an English tea.
(the fairy cakes above we made this morning)

To express my Gratitude for 52 years
on this planet,
I am giving away this Tea For One!

This beautiful tea pot and cup are the perfect way for me to say
Thank You to you all

for all your very kind comments, advice, and support!

I love the little gold star on the top of the lid.

And the pretty gold details on the handle.

A beautiful generous cup!
Any follower, or new follower, can leave a comment to enter into this giveaway. It doesn't matter where you live, I am happy to ship anywhere in the world.
Hugs to you all and Happy Saturday!
Terri

Tea Cup Tuesday

Hello All!
Welcome to Tea Cup Tuesday, where Martha and I dig into our china cupboards and bring out one of our china cups to share with you all.
As I have said each week,Martha and I
love doing this.
We love showing you our cups and we really
love coming to see your beautiful china tea cups.

My cup today is a little dramatic, so I have photographed it that way.
This is such a lovely cup for an evening tea.

I find this cup interesting. To me, this cup's decoration has an Asian style to it. Maybe even Chinese looking....do you think? But it was created in England, and as you will see in a photo below, there is an English castle in the lower right of the bottom of the cup.

It is a beautiful peachy pink color with plenty of gorgeous gold filigree.

The outside is white except for the gold ring. The cup sits on a modest pedestal,
also simply ringed with gold.

The handle too is very simple, with just a line of gold to adorn it.

You can see the interesting painting on the inside bottom of the cup better in this photo. Some of the flowers do not look like any in nature I have ever seen. Very fanciful!

A.B. Jones and Sons at Grafton Works was the company that produced this cup. They resided in Longton, Stoke On Trent, in England, where most English pottery was made.
This backstamp was used beginning in 1957. Before 1949 the "Royal" was not used, so you may have a cup that has a backstamp with just the name Grafton, or a backstamp with A. B. Jones on it. There were a number of variations of backstamps during the years they were in business 1900-1972.

Thank you so much for coming by to visit today!
If you would like to play along, create a post with a tea cup of yours and then come back to this site or Martha's and sign up with Mr. Linky below the post.
Tell us about your cup, show us the backstamp. We love seeing backstamps that we have never seen before. We love seeing all the many different tea cups that are out there. Many of you have shown us some absolutely gorgeous cups! Tell us what you love about your cup, how you came to have it, and if you know about the company who made it, share that with us too. We find all of this very interesting.
(Don't forget to check that the link goes to your own post)

Hugs to you All!
Terri

Artist Appreciation

Hearts are everywhere in nature
This beautiful Viola shares her joy with us all!

Today I would love to share about two artists that I have been blessed to meet online. One I have only just met, as she watched my Fairy School video tutorial series and created her own version of a school, just wait till you see this...it is amazing!
The second artist friend I have known for a while now, and we have swapped and traded together before. I am sharing her most recent gift to me, it is just gorgeous!

Brianne, at Wandering Moments has created a Fairy Learning Cooperative! She shared with me that creating it was a respite in a rather hectic time for her. She said "It was a craft piece that required nothing of me but my whimsical nature. It wasn't for money, for someone else's specifications (except the fairies, and they are not, as I found out, that specific about interior decor)." You can see from the photos below that she has an amazing creative imagination. Please visit her blog (which is full of Love and Joy) for more explanation of her school and to see more photos of her incredible work. Brianne, thank you so much for sharing your school with me!

I would love to have been a student here!

Intriguing items on her beautifully crafted bookcase!

Her Fairies are so adorable! Thank you so much Brianne for sharing!

I met Rella online at Paperwhimsy and Marie Antoinette Mail Art Ning group. She is a multi talented artist and a very dear soul. She is also the owner and Queen Bee of MAMA. Her main blog is Faerieluna and she has just created a new blog to share the process of building her new doll house. She sent me a beautiful package wrapped so lovely I didn't want to open it.....but I did! Inside was some chocolate, some ribbon she had beautifully hand dyed, more lovely ribbon, some delicious tea, a little bouquet of pretty flowers, a dear card, some incredible artist fabric and the main item....a brilliantly well crafted heart with a very special sentiment on it.

Don't you love unwrapping such a lovely packaged gift?

Rella created this heart from vintage laces, ribbons and many other fine embellishments.
The sentiment "Let Joy Be Your Compass" is a favorite of mine.

How beautiful when it opens too! *swoon*
There is stamped script underneath some cheesecloth!

Some beautiful roses, buttons and lace.

A perfect feather for healing!

Thank you so much Rella for this precious gift and all the wonderful goodies you sent with it!

That is my sharing for today. I appreciate both these talented ladies.
I appreciate all of you as well.
I am working a little of some new projects I hope to share soon.
Thank you so much for stopping by.
Hugs,
Terri