Deck The Halls Sunday!

December is almost here!

My tree is looking a little less "Charlie Brown" and a little more festive. Yay!

I have quite a ways to go before it is full and truly ready for Christmas.

My theme this year is Jane Austen, and I am really loving it!

 I am working on lights, letters, music, and other adornments....

Here is what I have been working on....

An improved ornament from last week, I am still working out the design on this one.

Here is my latest ornament. I love how this one turned out.

I used two different snow flake punches,

vintage beads and the same image as the other ornament. 

The back of the ornament is a copy of a letter Jane wrote to her brother.

 I am working on holiday ATCs with this image of Jane as well.

I am really enjoying playing with paper, old lace and netting!

I am not making all my holiday items with the same image of Jane LOL!!!

Next up comes an ornament with one of Jane's homes on it.

What are you creating for the holidays? 

Are you having FUN????

If you would like to share what you are doing for the holidays, either decor or gift, just link up below and we will come and see what you are up to in your Santa's workshop!

Hugs,

Terri

Tea Cup Tuesday-Thanksgiving

Hello All!

Welcome to Tea Cup Tuesday once again! Yay!

As you all know, Martha and I get quite thrilled with china, especially tea cups.
So, a couple or more years ago we set up this blog party, and it has been delightful!
I am thankful for Martha, for T.T. and all of you!

This time of year, I find myself getting nostalgic and full of gratitude.
There are just so many things to be thankful for!
It is wonderful that we have a holiday that is about Thank Full Ness.

My cup this week:
Old cup, but one I am so thankful for. It is a corset shaped cup and one of my favorite colors. I have set it by a new vintage sugar caster. I have never owned one of these before.

This sweet cup has such a lovely color of blue.

Sweet roses too.

It has this sweet handle with just a though of gold.

As you can see, it is an Aynsley, made in Stoke on Trent, England. This company is one of my favorites. They often do this corset shaped cup, in fact, I think this cup is from a series.

I have it in rosey pink as well.

This shade of blue can be hard to find. lately though I have been lucky and have found three new tea cups that I adore in similar shades of blue green.....and am saving to share later.

I really adore this caster! I have seen stunning ones in silver,
but this hand painted one really got my attention.
And of course, right now a silver caster would be very pricey!

The backstamp shows that it is made by Noritake, in Japan. This stamp in red was used up until 1938/9.
The M in the wreath is for Maruki. Gosh, it is older than me!

I am so thankful for my family and home, for my husbands work and my kids health.
I am grateful for my country, my friends and my neighbors. 

Words really can not express how full my heart feels today!

I am wishing all of you, the best Thanksgiving possible. May your heart feel full.

Thank you so much for visiting.

Hugs,

Terri

Deck The Halls Sunday-New Tree

Hello All!

Welcome to my newest blog hop, where we get a chance to share our Christmas projects, either for decoration or for gifting. I love making my own decorations and have for many years. I also enjoy creating gifts for my friends and family. So if you would like to share too, just join in below with Linky Tools and we can come visit you and see your holiday crafts. 

Last week I found a silver vintage-ish tree. I loved it right away as the silver color is not shiny bright silver, but a vintage silver color that would do well with silver or gold accents. 

Here it is brand new and bare.

And here she is in her "Charlie Brown" stage...Lol!

My theme for this tree is all things Jane Austen!
The image at the top of my post is the home where Jane spent her first 25years.
I have cherished Jane's works, and became even more interested in her when I visited where she lived her last days. You can see that post here.
She wrote a number of her books there, although they were not published then.

 

Above is the first ornament I made from some old tart tins.

The print behind is from Pride and Prejudice.

(little tree bleached in my newest Video, see below)

This ornament is not quite done.
She needs more sparkly of some kind...

Very simple fanned cardstock, a silver glitter medallion behind an

image that could be Jane....at least I found it under the heading of "Images of Jane Austen"

I want to embellish this more, I just haven't been inspired just yet as to what I want to do.

It is backed with text that is a copy of a letter Jane wrote to her brother.

(see me reflected in the mirror ornament taking the picture???)

I have a long way to go yet with this tree. I am glad it is only November 20th! 

Yay!

Plenty of time for more holiday creating!

Next on my agenda is little vintage looking Christmas stockings.

And just in case you missed it, here is my newest video:
"Bleaching and Dyeing Bottle Brush Trees for Christmas"

(Please excuse this picture of me! It is a very unflattering freeze!)

I also have a Holiday Banner video you might like as well and you can see here

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Hugs,

Terri

Tea Cup Tuesday-Sweet Cup!

 Hello All!

Welcome once again to Tea Cup Tuesday!
Martha and I are delighted to share this party with all of you.
Last week I saw such lovely china!
Thank you all so much for sharing!

Today I am sharing what I think is a very sweet cup. I just found this one when I was away visiting my son and family. I really appreciate the shape of this cup, The details are lovely.

It has a very interesting handle, seen straight on as well as the side view.

Such pretty sponged gold around the rim and plate edge!

Would you like a cup of tea?

I have used this cup several times already and it is a pleasure to hold in the hand.

 

Here you can easily see the "7" handle. 

The plate is scalloped beautifully.

This set is from a company named Victoria.
This is the back of the cup, and it has two markings for who worked on this piece.

The 492 is the pattern number. The other mark is the artists mark. Which is not the same as the cup. So the plate and the cup were worked on by different artists. Maybe not even made the same day. 

Thank you so much for stopping by to visit!

BTW...I have a new video tutorial...

"Bleaching and Dyeing Bottle Brush Christmas Trees"

you can see here

As well as a new blog hop:

Deck The Halls Sunday!

(same link as above)

Where we can all share our holiday decor and handmade gifts!

If you would like to join in Tea Cup Tuesday, remember it is about Tea Cups : )

Please have a tea cup in your post. Tell us a little about it. Martha and I have a great appreciation for these beauties from the past and present. After you have created your post, come back here to sign up below using the URL of the post itself and not just your blog. That way, even if you make another post, visitors looking for your tea cup post will be able to go right to it.

Martha has her blog all decked out for Christmas, so you don't want to miss that, or her website where she sells some of her gorgeous china! Pretty Vintage Things! I am heading over there to have a "look see" now. Lol!

Hugs to you all!

Terri

Deck the Halls Sunday!

Hello Everyone,

It is that time of year again...time to turn our crafting to Christmas decor and gift!

This is a very creative time of year and I thought I might give us an opportunity to share what we are creating for holiday season. Today I am beginning Deck The Halls Sundays blog hop that will continue until Christmas with a new "how to" video on bleaching and dyeing your own bottle brush trees.

Bleaching and Dyeing Bottle Brush Christmas Trees

Next week I will have some ornaments created using some of the trees I have bleached and dyed. Also, I recently found a beautiful Vintage feather style tree, and you will see me start from scratch to create ornaments and decorations to fill it up! Yay!

Next week I will post Saturday evening for Sundays so we can get an early start. So if you would like to join in with any posts sharing home made Christmas decorations or gifts, then stop by and link up (today if you are ready as I will keep toady's open all week) next Saturday and Sunday.

Happy Holiday Crafting!
Hugs,
Terri

Tea Cup Tuesday-Friends

She looks a little plain doesn't she? 

This new cup has a lovely gold design, but in this photo she does not show her beauty.

See her tall footing?
Her stance brings a regal feel,
and her true colors show up on the inside.

 

 Perfect for fall, peaches, berries, roses and leaves tinged with color.

 The plate has similar florals and fruit in vibrant colors.

The gold design reminds me of Pennsylvania Dutch patterns.

And here too you get a peek at the inside. 

 The split loop handle has a unadorned thumb spur, and a little gold detailing.
You know how sometimes a gorgeous cup will have the most uncomfortable handle? Well, luckily this one has a good handle. I don't think any cup I own is as comfortable to hold than this one. The loop is just the right size, shape and position on the cup.

 I was surprised to turn the cup over and find out it is made by my favorite company.
Paragon makes such fine tea cups. I have not had one like this before, the shape is unusual to me.
This backstamp is similar but not exactly the same as ones used during the late 50s and early 60s. Paragon sometimes used stamps, as many companies did, out of sequence. If they had some left over, they would use them, even if they were also using a newer stamp. Here is the page I found the stamp examples:
http://www.btinternet.com/~paragoncollector/backstamps/backstamps.html

I found this tea ad in an old French book.

This weekend I was lucky to meet a Blogger friend in person!
Marlynn and I met through Paperwhimsy about three years ago and this past Saturday we spent the day together. We had been swapping art and e-mails for quite some time now, and it was a pleasure to meet this wonderful woman in person! French food, tea, shopping and art!
A perfectly fabulous day!
Marlynn has a gift for collage and her books are amazing. You can see what I mean by visiting her lovely blog Honeysuckle Breeze.

Thank you so much for coming by for a visit! If you would like to join in T.T. with Martha and I just go and create a post with a tea cup in it, and share with us about it, then come back here and link up below. We love coming to visit you, and we get much pleasure from seeing all your tea cups!

I love Creating Art More Than Vacuuming!

Do you?

How do you fit art time in to your busy life?

Do you ever feel guilty for creating instead of cooking or cleaning?

This year has been an exceptionally busy year for me. I thought I was already busy, until August when "busy" took on a whole new meaning! Lol!

My muse is brimming with ideas, she is constantly coaxing me to go to my art room (very supportive I must say!). I have some plans for my holiday posts which should begin very soon, as well as a Holiday Giveaway. You know how I love a giveaway!

Here is a video by andyraydorfman of YouTube that I always find helpful when I am missing my art time. I have shared it before and think it is time to do so again. I hope you like it too.

Hugs,

Terri