Tea Cup Tuesday!

Happy Tuesday!

Spring is definitely here now. All the flowering trees have dressed themselves in their finest. Our flowering Cherry looks like heaven to me. By Easter Sunday the dogwood will open its gorgeous flowers and as it sits right outside the large dining room window it will be a beautiful display during our family celebration!

The tea cup I am showing today is from Austria. I bought it when I was up in Canada.
I am fascinated by the history I find when looking up one of my cups. This cup, made by Moritz Zdekauer, seems to have been made in the early years after he bought the china company from someone else in 1884, a new stamp was used in 1891, so it appears that this one was created between those years. Which would make it around 120 years old!

It is a very delicate piece of porcelain, you can see through the cup and saucer if you hold it up to the light. I do love the green and pinks and especially love the intricate gold trim.

I love to look for special cups when I travel and I was lucky to pick this one up when I was in Canada. This cup is perfect for a fine black tea with cream and sugar!

If you want to join in for Tea Cup Tuesday, just fill in the two blanks below and hit enter. You will be automatically joined to the list, and then we can all come and see your lovely china.
Hugs,
Terri

It is time for Tea Cup Tuesday!!!

It is that time of the week again!

I want to thank each one of you for your good wishes from my last post. When I was able to get to the computer again, they really warmed my heart! You are all so dear and kind!

So, what is more helpful than a lovely cup of tea?
Chamomile is my all time favorite tea to drink. If goes perfectly with chocolate and so it suits me just fine. I find the best quality tea tastes far better than cheaper ones. I have had Chamomile in restaurants that tastes like warm dishwater, and if that is the only way you have experienced it then try a really good quality like Traditional Medicinals.



The cup I am showing today is new to me. My dear daughter gave it to me for my recent birthday. I was thrilled to open the box and see it! It is made by a company called Paragon, which was also made in Stoke-On-Trent in England just like my previous two cups. And, the original company was Star China Co. Unfortunately many of their pattern books were lost. Since they were not strict with their backstamps (often using old ones until they ran out), and since they also did not name many of their patterns (they made over 30,000) it is difficult to come to any solid conclusion about many of their cups today. If any of you out there know more about this I would love to hear it.

So as far as I can tell, this cup and saucer could have been made anywhere from 1933-1952. I love the gold pattern over the pale mint color, and the rose is just beautiful! Such a pleasure to drink from!

If you would like to join in with us and have others visit your blog and see your tea and tea cups, just enter your blog name in the first field below and your blog address in the second field, hit enter and you will automatically be put on the list by the magical Mr. Linky!

Hugs to all!
Terri

Thrusday Night and All Is Well

Good evening all!

Today was just pure lovely! The sun was out and the temperature couldn't have been more amiable. Spring flowers have opened up everywhere and birds were sitting on my porch warbling happy tunes! I am so thankful for all the many beautiful things to notice in my day.

I was blessed with spending the afternoon with my dear friend. We picked up groceries for a couple new recipes and then returned to my house to create them. That was fun! And the food ended up tasting very delicious! I am so thankful for my dear friend and the sharing we do!

Having good friends is one of the greatest of treasures! And here in blogland I have met so many wonderful people and become great friends with them too. What? You say..."how can you be such good friends with someone you have never met???" Well, it is interesting, you would think that couldn't be possible, but it is. I have grown close to people here on the net I have never met. I would like to meet them, but even if I never do, I know our friendship is unique and valuable. I treasure them.

In the many swaps that I do, I get to meet beautiful people. I learn so much from them, and from making the swap item. I am often just amazed at what someone creates!
This photo is of a Chatelaine that I am swapping. I had never made one before and I have wanted to make something in all creams and pearls for a while, so this was a great opportunity.

Hugs to each of you!
Terri

Tea Cup Tuesday

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

This will be our second Tea Cup Tuesday. Martha and I really enjoyed last weeks and we appreciate all of you who joined in. Your tea cups were beautiful as were your posts!
This week we will be trying out Mr. Linky, and his wonderful widgets. See at the end of this post you can automatically join the list for T.T. at any time on Monday or even Tuesday. Just type your name in the first box, and then your blog address with http:// before it.
(ex. http://artfulaffirmations.blogspot.com) then hit enter.
Let us know what you think of this advancement.

For this Tea Cup Tuesday I am sharing a tea cup from England. Again, I believe I purchased it in Ontario, Canada.
I love the print on this cup!

It was made in the same town as my cup last week, Stoke on Trent, in England.
From what I can find out it seems to have been made around 1952, so it is a little younger than my cup last week. Rosina China manufactured it. Rosina China was formerly G. Warrilow and Sons Ltd.

Oddly enough, I found out that the cup and saucer are not original to each other. When I turned them over to photograph the makers mark, I saw that they had different markings! So somewhere during the last 50 years a cup missing a saucer and a saucer missing a cup came together to make this beautiful pair!

And The Winners Are......

Ginger Gift Box and Earrings

Ozstuff Flower Kit

Ann Paper Pack

Congratulations to each of you!

I want to thank everyone for all your good birthday wishes. You are all so SPECIAL to me! I wish I could of had a prize for everyone. I am so thankful for all of you!

Hugs,
Terri

Celebrating Life!

It is spring, I just know it is! The trees are budding, the daffodils are blooming, and bird song is everywhere.
Aaaahhhhh. That feels good!

With all this spring in the air I was moved to create this small assemblage to celebrate this lovely time of year.

I love spring because it just seems to be so full of new beginnings. It brings me a sense of starting fresh, with new thoughts, ideas and desires. What fun!

And tonight I will pick 3 winners!!! I can't wait! You can still enter a comment to win.
Have a glorious Sunday and check back tonight to see if you won!
Hugs to you all,
Terri

Birthday Giveaway!

Hello Everyone and Happy Saturday!!!!!

Yesterday was my 51st birthday. I want to thank you all for your good wishes for the day. I did indeed have a fabulous day! Thank you all so very much.

I went antiquing and found a few treasure, among them, this pair of Vintage "pearl" ear bobs! They have aged beautifully, and the rhinestone rondells are gorgeous! They will be in the flower gift box for the giveaway. I was going to make a pair, but I thought these were precious and a good choice.

Thank you also for all of you who have entered so far in my Giveaway. I will pick the winners on Sunday evening. It is not too late to enter! In the post below you will see I am giving away a paper pack, a flower gift box (earrings inside) and a kit to make 2 crepe paper flowers! So there will be three winners. One winner for each item.

My art room has taken the ususal turn of getting quite messy. So today I am enjoying sorting and organizing....again..... But, I am totally thankful that I have all this "stuff" that I need to take care of. I find "stuff" inspiring...do you?

My Birthday Bash Giveaway!

Happy Thursday!

Tomorrow is my birthday, I will be 51 years of age. I think that is a good age to be.

In celebration of the fact that I am still living (lol!) and that I am feeling good, I am offering up several gifts to give away.

First is my Flower Gift Box with a pair of earrings inside.

Second is a kit to make two of the flowers adorn the gift box, and will be the subject of my new tutorial coming very soon.

Third is a paper package, filled with vintage papers.

I will have better pictures tomorrow as I am traveling today and posting from a hotel!

All you need to do is leave a comment and you will be entered in the draw.

I will choose a winner for each gift, so that means three winners!

Have a great day!

I'd like to thank the Academy...ooops, no, I mean YOU!

Lol!!

I want to thank you all for two reasons (well, I could think of more reasons to thank you, but I will start with the first two).

I want to thank all of you who stopped by for a visit yesterday during Martha's and my first ever Tea Cup Tuesday. We really loved "seeing" you, and hearing about your tea cups and your tea cup memories. Thank you so much for sharing. I know I had fun and I met new people and saw some fab blogs that were new to me!

I also want to thank all of you who have viewed my Elegant Shoe Tutorial. All of your very kind comments and support are truly appreciated by me!
Because of all your enthusiasm, I am working on more tutorials. My next one will be for Crepe Paper Flowers, and also an earring video. After that I am hoping to do a necklace video with vintage and found objects.

The photos are of two more shoes I have made for a swap at Marie Antoinette Mail Art Ning Group. I am actually hosting this swap, so I have been blessed with getting to see some of the most amazing shoe art work!

Don't forget I am having a Birthday Bash Giveaway this Friday!!! Tomorrow I will showcase what I am giving away. So come by on Friday and leave a comment, you can also leave a comment on the weekend too.

Tea Cup Tuesday Debut!

Welcome to our very first Tea Cup Tuesday!
I have admired tea cups for many years now. Over time I have collected a few that I truly enjoy drinking from.

What I love about Tea Cups is that they make you want to sit down and drink from them.
They ask for you to have a beautiful moment.
Tea Cups are so lovely they make it easy to feel special.
Tea cups are so beautiful, whatever you drink from them tastes even better.

The tea cup I am sharing today, I found in a Canadian town called Sault Ste. Marie.
It was sitting in a little antique store just waiting for me to pick it up!
I love it's soft blue color and the beautiful roses.

From the little I could find through Google, It seems that Adderly was taken over by Ridgeway Potteries in Longton England in 1947. They still used the Adderly name for a while though. I could make a guess and say that this cup may have been made between then and 1960. I would like to learn more about this, so I will keep researching.
Here are the links to other sites that are participating today. Have a good time visiting with these wonderful ladies. (If your name isn't on here and it should be, I am so sorry. Please e-mail me and I will fix it pronto..nliten@usa.net)


Martha's Favorites
Glitter and Roses
Whimsical Notions
Roses Cakes and Pearls
Debbie-Dabble
Oak Rise Cottage
At Home With Elaine
Writing Straight From The Heart
A Journey...
Rhonda Mum
Creative Carmelina
The Thrifty Groove

Hugs to you all,
Terri

Monday Night Musings

I am a little stuck. Yesterday I did a fab workshop with Jodi Ohl and began three canvases about a town I would love to have grown up in. Today I was to finish them, but I didn't. Now why is that??? I found myself doing just about everything else but.
After considering this I realized that I do have a bit of a fear of collage! It seems I am comfortable with starting, but when it gets to all the touches that really make it pop, I freeze. Have you done this? Any of you out there have an area in art where you are unsure?
I am fine with jewelry, I am fine with paper, but collage....
And I do think I know what to do to fix it. I need to just Do It!

I need to let go and just do it, regardless of how it might turn out, cause you see I want it to turn our "right". And I fear if I continue working on them, I will ruin them! Yet the only thing that will help here is me going ahead and working it out and finishing them.

I know it is the experience of doing it and other collages (many) that will help me grow here. I know that the more I do the more I am going to find out what I like to do in a collage. What is my collage style?...I don't know yet! Am I brave enough to find out? Yes, I think I am. (I hear a little voice saying "but what if they turn out awful and you have to throw them away????!!!!!!"). The thought of that makes me cringe.
I bet there are even more interesting things I could find out about myself if I delved more deeply.....sounds like a good thing to journal about.

Well, thanks for listening about that. If any of you want to share about your art experiences I would love to hear.


Tea Cup Tuesday tomorrow! I am so excited about this!!! I did a search on Google for "Beautiful Tea Cups" and I found this lovely photo at a place called Tablescapes. I didn't want to use one of my own just yet...tomorrow I will.
If anyone else wants to play with us tomorrow, just leave a comment and say you want to play. I will add your blogname to our list and that way others can come to your site to see your tea cups. It is a great way to meet new people!

Thank you so much for listening!
Terri

In The Village

I enjoyed my class with Jodi Ohl today. She has a fab way with mixed media and she shared so much with us as the day progressed. It was pure fun! The village I chose to paint about was my favorite town in England, Glastonbury. I will post pics when I finish them, hopefully tomorrow.
I am only half done with these, so much more to do.
Check out Jodi's site, Sweet Repeats, she has great classes available and lots of great art to see.

New Spring Morning with Emma and Betsy

Good day Everyone! What a perfect spring morning it is here today in North Carolina!
Sitting on the porch in the early sun was glorious, feeling peaceful and thankful.
Emma and Betsy had a good sniff around and seemed to be very interested in the first daffodil of the new year. So we took a picture.

Spring feels so fresh and full of promise! What a delight and blessings to have another day to live and create!
Today I am off to a painting class with Jodi Ohl right here in my home town! I am thrilled to be spending all day painting! Yahooooo!

Have a beautiful creation filled day.
Thank you so very much for stopping by, your comments are precious to me!

Tea Cup Tuesday

If you LOVE Tea Cups, come over and visit on Tuesdays!
Martha, from Martha’s Favorites, and I are starting a new weekly blog event! It is called Tea Cup Tuesday. Since Martha and I share a love of tea cups, we thought we might like to show them off and see what other bloggers have as well.

We will be showcasing one of our favorites from our china cabinets, and along with the photo we will be sharing some of the following:

It’s history or how we came by it our cup.
History you may know about tea cups.
It’s maker, share a photo of it’s mark on the bottom of the plate or cup.
One of our favorite things to drink in our tea cups.
A treat we love to have with our drink.
A musing about teacups or tea.
A poem about teacups or tea.
A quote about teacups or tea.
A cup we don’t have but would like to own one day.

We would love it if some of you collectors out there would join us! We want to see your tea cups too!
Hugs to all
Terri

Playing with Crepe Paper

Wow, it is getting late! I really should be in bed, but I was enjoying some play time with paper again. Here is a little flower I made with crepe paper, German glass glitter and a vintage pearl. Then I added it to a little gift box. This box will hold a gift for my Birthday Giveaway next week, along with other giveaways to celebrate. And if I reach 100 followers too, well then I will have to add even more giveaways! Yea!!!
Now time for bed. Sweet dreams.......

Jewelry is for the birds

Birds and everything about them dominate art. Everywhere I look I see them in collages, paintings, stamps, pretty much in art of all kinds. Have you ever wondered what it is about birds, eggs and nests that have us all swooning with creativity? I do, because I swoon....there is just that indescribable something about a perfectly stamped bird, or an egg image with its speckled beauty...that makes me what to pick up a paintbrush, or choose complimentary paper and fabric. My mind begins to swirl with ideas. Hence, this necklace....

I found beautiful beads in a little shop in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Canada, when I was visiting my new grandson. They reminded me of sweet Robin's eggs, so when I got home I began piecing together this expression of spring, creativity and remembrance.
I have had that watch head for over 25 years. A very dear friend gave it to me. Her name was Hannah, and at the time she was 95 years old. For some reason, when I made this piece, this watch head that has been moving with me from house to house, was finally ready to have it's own home.

I had to think about this. Why this piece of jewelry? I realized that Hannah represented independence and creativity to me. She lived alone, recently learned to play the accordion, gardened, and made maple syrup from a tree in her front yard! I was mesmerized by her and her stories of her childhood. Also, it was when I was living in Sault Ste. Marie that I met and developed a friendship with her. Hannah eventually died around the age of 104. So I dedicate this necklace to her. Thank you Hannah for inspiring and enriching my life.

As for why we connect so sweetly with birds, I still wonder. I have ideas, and maybe in another post I will continue this conversation. If you have any ideas about why, please share your thoughts.
Thank you for listening.
Hugs to you all.
Terri