Embracing the Unexpected

My dear Hubby and I were out and about yesterday, when we saw this little helicopter.... 

When I heard the pilot was offering rides.....my first thought was YES!

Anyone else want to join me? 

Just a tiny little area in front of the seat, all "glass", so up close for sure! 

The day was clear and bright, so we could see quite a distance.

Beautiful North Carolina greenery!

I would love to learn to fly one of these guys!.....if not for learning what all these mean and more!

I imagine it is quite the process to learn to operate a helicopter!

I loved it!....can I go again????

I had no idea when I woke up in the morning I was going to be enjoying my first helicopter ride!

Off to solder some more...I am really enjoying the learning process as well as the creative.

What are you up to this weekend?

Hugs,

Terri

More Charms

I thought I would share with you how my soldering experience is coming along. 

I took Sally Jean's course at Art and Soul last March, and I also signed up for her online class as a refresher. I have also signed up for Terri Brush's soldering classes. All of these have been helpful.

But I find nothing helps as much as hands on practice!

These past three weeks I have had a chance to practice most days. I can see a definite improvement from my very first charms, which is good, because other wise I would loose heart! Lol!

This house shaped charm (the taping is tricky)  is the most recent thing I have done.

I find that I am very interested in the art work to go in the charm,

and I have been playing with watercolors and enjoying that very much. 

I have learned some things already about taping, about burnishing, cleaning, temperatures....so many things, and each of them really make a difference to the outcome.

My favorite flux is a gel named "Classic 100" and Silvergleem is my favorite solder.

Now if I can just get my hands to hold steady! : )

 So I am having fun while I wait for my "style" to reveal itself..lol!

Now about that Downton Abbey ATC Swap.....

(water colored background, tissue paper transfer of castle, vintage flower on her sweet hat!)

So far we have participating.....April 12th last day to sign up....

Terri

Jan

Elaine
Judith

Marilou

Flora

I am so excited about this swap, I am going to show off every one's ATCs on my blog, it should be a hoot!

Ladies, please confirm my e-mailing me at nliten@usa.net and I will e-mail you back my address.

And if you can, when you send me your ATCs, could you send along a dollar to help with shipping?

Thanks

And thank you all for stopping by for a visit.

Hugs,

Terri

Hello All!

Welcome to Tea Cup Tuesday.

Today I am sharing a great thrift store find...

This lovely set of dishes! 

I was delighted to see this set of 40 pieces sitting all alone

on a dusty shelf in the clearance room of a thrift store.

Ten cups and saucers....pretty in Pink!

This set has a sweet pattern on a creamy white background...

A lovely floral spray of roses.....

The Scalloped edges add to the romantic pattern...
She really does set a pretty table!

There is extra texture added along the edge, a frilly relief in white....

 The cup is a simple clean shape with a very plain handle.

When holding it in the hand it feels ever so light and fine!
(and I will tell you I paid a dollar a piece!)

This Bavarian company is like so many British pottery companies, in that two people go into partnership and create beautiful pottery, but they are so unhappy together they split and go their separate ways. Each of them becoming famous for their china. It is also like British companies in that they went through several name and owner changes through the years.

Fritz Thomas left his partner in the late 1800 and began his own company in 1908, with his new partner and with great success. The backstamp on this set varies, some are as above, and some have just the orange number and some do not have "Germany" on them. I could not find these exact stamps in my research, but many similar, and I would guess they were manufactured around 1939-52.

Last year I posted about my trip to the Winchester's Discovery Center's show "Tea Tales" a historical look at Britain's favorite drink. You can read about it HERE.  Well, I forgot to share this tea cozy with you that I saw at the same show. I had meant to, but forgot! So here it is . She is dated between 1920-30. 

Isn't it just lovely?

Downton Abbey ATC Swap!

Only two more days to sign up!

This is a 3/3 ATC swap centered around The fabulous Downton Abbey series.

Due to me by May 12th ( I accidently put April 12 earlier, and Elaine kindly pointed it out to me)
I will swap them up and send them out.

I am very excited to see what the other swappers are creating! 

I am still working on my soldering skills.

Next post I will share my new pieces...I am getting a little better! Yay!

Tiny steps...lol!

Thank you so much for stopping by today!

I appreciate your visits and your lovely comments : )

If you would like to join in with Martha and myself, just create a post with a tea cup in it you would like to share, tell us about it, about how you got it, what you love about it...and we love a picture of the backstamp if you can, thank you : ) Then come back here and link up below with Linky Tools.

Hugs,

Terri

Happy Easter

Joyous Spring!

 

And Happy Easter!

To each and everyone of you!

Hugs,

Terri

Gail Forrest and her whimsical Sentimetals

Hello All!

I am so lucky to have a really fun antique area by my home. I enjoy poking around the shops there, as it is so easy to get to and I can stop in when ever I have a chance.
I always find treasure there!

What I was not expecting to find was friendship. But I did! There are several shop owners there who I have become friends with. They are amazing women. Brave, creative and funny and oh so talented!
I am sharing about one of these lovely women today.
Gail Forrest owns Vignette in Raleigh, NC. A sweet little shop full of all kinds of goodies.

*Gail*

The first time I was in her shop I noticed these whimsical assemblages. Turns out, Gail loves to create art. FAB art! She has kindly allowed me to photograph some of her pieces and share them with you!

Here is some of her art described in Gail's own words:

Miss Needlove

She has her own Night Light : With arms wide open, this Gal indicates she wants to be loved but the zippers around her may suggest she is not as open as she thinks she is!... On her back of her is a button that reads, "I love you".

 

 Two more girls.....

"Strong & Styling Angel"

Who says angel can't stand watch stylishly or wear lipstick for that matter? Her peaceful countenance may derive from the fact that the clock she is standing upon has no hands, suggesting no deadlines, no hurried appointments to keep!

"Angel of Helpless Creatures"

This gal enjoys the sweet company of feathered friends and is prepared to spoil them as she carries the bag of treats wherever she goes!

" Mrs. Masher"

Do not mess with the masher! Made of a vintage potato masher, armed with a sheriff badge, anchored with a lock on a block of grate and cement, wearing a Statue of Liberty for a head ornament...

you get to decide what statement she is making!

"Madame Elegance"

Nicely bejeweled on neck and up -do, Madame E's aloofness keeps her a bit caged in.

A key dangles beneath her solitary perch!

"Little Mr. Erudite"

hopefully inspires us to make a temporary escape into another realm through a good book!

A pair of little birdies are looking on in wonderment.

Gail certainly knows how to express herself artistically.

Her imagination is fascinating and wonderful to see in form!

Thank you Gail for allowing me to share your marvelous creativity!

I am saving a few more to share later on. 

Thank you all for stopping by, I appreciate your visit. 

Hugs,

Terri

Tea Cup Tuesday-Berries and Cream

Hello All!

Welcome once again to Tea Cup Tuesday with Martha (from Martha's Favorite's) and myself.

Martha and I met online and soon discovered that we both loved and collected tea cups.

O.k. Martha collects a few more thing other than tea cups (tongue in cheek...lol!).

Martha really knows her stuff and she has lovely taste.

So we hooked up this party together and have been hosting it for quite some time now.

Martha usually tells us what number the post is, she is good at that too!

Since it has been a glorious spring here and strawberries were ripe for the picking for the first time this year just last Saturday.... I am dedicating this post to a few cups I have that showcase berries and fruits!

Isn;t this cup just darling???

I love the gold design, almost a paisley. 

And the berries, fruits and roses in the cup....so sweet!

The plate has a slight scalloped edge, and the cup itself has a regally  flared sides as well.

Cream and Gold.....***SiGh***

You may or may not have guessed that this cup was a Paragon...I didn't when I first spotted it in an antique shop. I flipped her over to see she was from one of my all time favorite manufacturers. 1957-1963 is an approximate time frame for this cup.

Here is a lovely trio that I was lucky to find in England a couple years ago.

Inside the cup we are treated to a bountiful harvest of a variety of delicious berries!

This trio shows off a beautiful floral gold edge design, it looks like they are apple blossoms.

I do not know the manufacturer of this cup.

There is only a gold crown and Bone China Made in England.

Do any of you know about a mark like this one?

My final cup for today is this very dear sweet cup!

I love the elegant simple split loop handle with what I call a mercury wing top. Just a personal reference. Some are more detailed and look like a wing. 

The plate is well adorned with more flowers, berries and even what looks like an apple.

She is one of my all time favorite cups.

Paragon created her as well. I am thinking this backstamp is from the 60s.

All of these beautiful cups look good together and make me want to create a torte with the freshest berries and fresh cream! 

And serve them with pretty gold plates and hot cups of delicious tea!

Thank you for stopping by to visit today : )

I have loved having you over. 

If you would like to join in and share a tea cup of yours, just go and create a post about your tea cup (we love seeing a pic of the backstamp too!), then come back here and link your post to Linky Tools below.

Martha and I will love to come and visit you!

Two more things!

Downton Abbey ATC swap, sing ups will end April 12th and ATCs will be due to me by May 12th. Then I will swap them all out with you. 

The number of cards to swap may be 3/3, or more if some of us want to do that : )

Players so far:

Terri
Jan

Elaine

Marlilou

Flora

If you wanted to join in and I don't show your name, please e-mail me or comment again below.

And if you just heard and want to join in, leave a comment and a way to reach you.

And lastly...

Here are a few of the soldered pieces I have been learning on....

A tea bracelet, with two of my tea cup images photoshopped to look more like watercolors.

Still a little more to do on this one for better balance.

This is the back side of the little girl image that says TEA

And this is the second tea cup image. I used vintage beads, charms and pearls.

I have learned much already soldering.

Not hard when you are coming up from no idea what so ever! Lol!

My next post I will share about the process I have gone through and the progress I have been making : ) Yay!

I am only practicing my technique, I really don't even have an idea of "my style" yet. 

Here I am tried old post cards, children's books, lace and an old font book. I like using images from vintage books, instead of photocopying them. I think it is a texture thing. 

(ooops, the Eiffel Tower image is not actually vintage) 

Thank you all for your encouragement!!!

Thank you so much once again for stopping by!

Hugs,

Terri