Tea Cup Tuesday-Favorite Blue

Hello All!

Time once again to reach in our cupboards and pull out our china...

It is time for Tea Cup Tuesday!

Get nice and comfy with your tea

And enjoy the lovely tea parties today!

  I began this morning slowly with a pot of aromatic Chamomile tea.....mmmmmmmmmm

 

My cup of choice today, a pretty blue one....

It was a cold and chilly day, with the sun peeking out as a treat now and then : )

This lovely English bone china tea cup has a fancy  gold gilded handle.

What a spray of beautiful spring flowers!

With a bouquet of flowers gracing the center of the gold trimmed saucer.

Blue is my favorite color, 

Aqua blue, robin egg blue,

Turquoise, sea blue/green colors...

Tiffany blue...

Martha Stewart blues...

My heart skipped a beat when I saw this cup sitting in a shop!

The day grew darker as the afternoon passed,

And a fresh cup of Assam tea was needed to perk me up!

This beauty was manufactured by E.B. Foley. 

One of my favorite companies.

E.Brain and Co. began in 1903, in the Staffordshire Potteries.  In 1953 they took control

of Coalport (another of my favorite china companies).

They ended the production of the Foley mark and focused 

only on Coalport from the early 60s on. 

This backstamp here was the last one they used after 1943.

 Recently I participated in Viki of Two Bags Full's Grow Your Blog party.
(Go Here to see)

It really was a great party and is still going on. 

Since the party began I have met many new bloggers.

It is just fascinating why people begin to blog,

and what they blog about. 

The poem above was written by one of the bloggers I just met...

Bugeteer at Heart for Homemaking.

I thought I would share it with YOU 

as it is so very sweet!
(thank you for sharing Bugeteer!)

Hugs,

Terri

I really have been enjoying visiting all your tea cup posts.

Each week I get to greet each one of you! Yay!

Thank you all so much for participating and for visiting!

 If you would like to join in and share your tea cups with us,

just link your tea cup post up below.

Tea Cup Tuesday-Pink and Cream

 Hello All!

Welcome to Tea Cup Tuesday!

Martha and I am glad you are here today to share in our fun!
We have been seeing so many gorgeous tea cups,
and enjoying lovely inviting teas with dear bloggy friends!

If you are stopping by for my Grow Your Blog party post just scroll down to the previous post : )
or click HERE

Late this afternoon I made my self a pot of tea and sat down for a nice cup of quiet.

It was a truly lovely day, blue sky, crisp air
and the sun casting a warm glow over everything.

This pretty in pink tea cup had her debut today...
I found her on my Christmas Holiday travels.

Decaf Assam was my choice, from Tin Roof Teas.

A simple, pink, luscious handle.

I baked some gluten free chocolate chip cookies yesterday,
that are perfect for my break.

There are so many lovely flowers in this pretty cup,
I didn't feel I needed fresh flowers.

See the creamy pink lusciousness???

O.k. maybe I need therapy! Lol!

Mmmmm....love to set up tea trays!

Pretty pretty Pretty!

E.B. Foley is the manufacturer of this fine cup.

I think the pattern number is 2468, but I am not sure about the two ticks that follow.

I could only guess at an artists mark.

I do love to collect cream and sugar sets. Especially petite ones.

This cute little couple were sitting in an antique shop somewhere in Virginia.

What a sweetie!

She is only about 2'' tall at the very most.

And this tiny sugar bowl is  plain on the outside and beautiful on the inside!

Yes, those are larger than normal sugar crystals.

They are raw organic Turbinado sugar.

I like to use different types of sweeteners for different teas.

This beautiful tiny set was manufactured by Royal Chelsea.

Another fine British china company.

Thank you so much for stopping by for tea!

These past few years I have been spoiled by all your visits! 

If you would like to join in the tea cup fun,
just list your tea cup post link below with Linky Tools.

Then Martha, myself, and other tea cup enthusiasts can come over and visit you too!

Hugs,

Terri

Looking Back and Grow Your Blog Party

Hello All!

Not long ago I was taking a nostalgic look back at my first days blogging.

I had been inspired by all your amazing blogs and decided to give it a go.
All I  knew in the beginning was that I wanted to be more creative,
and I wanted to create art that felt good, and affirmed my life...
and so I named my blog Artful Affirmations.

It seemed like a big step to take almost 4 years ago,

I had no idea what a "blogger" was, or how to create a template, or add a gadget!

I am no expert now, but boy have I learned a lot!
Thank you dear hubby, daughter and son who helped me out,
they really have made it easier for me to learn.

My Blessings of Blogging...

#1 ...Friends!

Yes, real ones, even though most I have not met in person.
This is really the best part of blogging for me.
What a great way to meet new people of like mind!

April 14th 2009 was my very first blog post...
which means I am coming up to my 4th anniversary! Wow!
I can't believe it has been that long.

Karen from Missy K and Melanie from Artful Interludes were my very first visitors!

Two people I still know today!

In fact Karen just won a prize in my December Giveaway.

I also enjoyed quite a length of time swapping with Melanie over at

Marie Antoinette Mail Art group. 

Thank you two for commenting!

You may not know how much hope you gave me that  some one was listening! 

Since my blog has a wide focus of interest, I have met those who love mixed media art, who love jewelry making, who love to knit and crochet, or to journal, and many who love tea cups!

I have enjoyed meeting each and every one of you!
You have all taught me so much in many different ways.

Just reading your comments and e-mails warms my heart!

2... Blogging has helped me get to know myself better,

Posting and sharing has helped me grow in confidence.
I really didn't know how important creating was to me until I began to blog.
Watching others creatively express themselves
gave me courage to try many new things.

Supportive blog friend's kind words
have given me hope and courage to grow as an artist.
I still love to try new things...and I call myself "Jack of all trades and Mater of fun!"
and my motto is
"If your having fun your doing it right!"

 I love paint, pencils, paper, fabric, glue, vintage beads and paper.....so much!!!

3... Hosting Tea Cup Tuesday made me to learn new things about the computer and tea cups! Lol!!! 

Now I do know how to "add a gadget" or "link up" a blog hop!
I have had to learn many things to keep it going.

Martha of Martha's Favorites and I thought how much we would love
to share our tea cups

with each other...and Tea Cup Tuesday was born!

We have known each other online for 3 years at least,
and we just spoke on the telephone

for the first time....this week! That was amazing!

Martha is a gem!

I have many other fellow tea cup enthusiasts who
have taught me a lot about china as well.

You are all fabulous!!! Thank you!

Today I am enjoying blogging more than ever!
I have enjoyed many swaps and hops.

 I began creating video tutorials a couple years ago and now have 8 videos
and a Fairy School tutorial series. All Free! I found out I love sharing this way. 

I don't think I would have found this out if I had not blogged : )

I want to thank Vicki at Two Bags Full for inspiring me to take a look back at my blogging experience and for giving us a chance to meet even more creative bloggers!

which is being sponsored by Vicki at

vicki-2bagsfull.blogspot.com

Yay!

Thank you Vicki!

To whoever invented blogging...

I raise my glass to you!

Thank you!

From my Heart!

And to say "thank you" to all I am offering another giveaway...

Just leave a comment and a way to reach you.

Hugs,
Terri   

Tea Cup Tuesday-Yellow Roses to Brighten the Wintry Day

Hello All!

Welcome to Tea Cup Tuesday!

It was a dull winter day today,

Not cold, but dark and rainy...

Perfect for a cup of TEA!

Here is a cup that I found on my holiday trip.

Isn't she bright and cheery?

She wears a pale pink outer coat,

and lovely yellow roses adorn her within.

Her dainty handle has a lovely leaf relief design.

The simple gold trim adds a little extra elegance.

The roses are a deep yellow, very charming in "person"

and perfect to bring joy to a winter day.

Royal Grafton is the manufacturer, one of my favorite companies.

A.B. Jones and sons began this company in the 1900s,
in Staffordshire Potteries at Longton.

This cup's mark shows us a date of 1957-1961.

Martha and I are really loving visiting all of you!

If you have a tea cup you would like to share, or if you want to share a post
with a tea cup somewhere in it, or a poem about tea,
or anything about tea cups and tea...just link it up below...
and we will stop by for a visit! 

Yay!

I also wanted to let you know that the post office lost two weeks
of our mail while we were away. 

If you sent me a card or box during the holidays, and you have not heard from me,
then it may be that I did not receive it. I am sooooo sorry!
Please let me know so I can thank you. 

 I appreciate you all!

Hugs,

Terri

Today I am joining these tea parties!

Ruth

http://antiquesandteacups.blogspot.ca

Kathy
http://adelightsomelife.com/
*
Sandi
http://sandimyyellowdoor.blogspot.ca/
*
Bernideen
http://bernideensteatimeblog.blogspot.ca/

Creative Play

 Happy New Year All!

January is off to a good start....

Last Christmas my hubby gifted me this unit below...

and by December 1st of the following year I had not yet opened the box...

not wanting another Christmas to go by without it getting prettied up, I jumped in!

Yay! It really was creative play time.

You can find this unit at Artfire Here

First thing I did was to assemble the shelves, easy peasy, and then painted them with

 a base coat of Lucas paints Arctic and Mint. Afterwards I added some Beige just for extra texture.

Next I assembled the boxes.

I painted the insides of the boxes after adding paper to the front.

I wasn't to careful, just brushed it all on quickly.

Once I had all the papers on the fronts, insides and out painted and all distressed,

I began to think about collage and what I wanted to use this unit for...

I began building up some collages on the fronts of all the boxes.

...again not being too careful, but just trying to play.

I started to get the idea that these little boxes could be useful for many of my 

bits and bobs that I use in collage and little book making.

Just playing and getting paint and glitter all over : )

That makes me a happy camper!

This sweet girl is from PaperWhimsy 

Once I finished all the boxes I began to fill them....

I took these images before the holidays, so it is pretty festive looking!

I really didn't want to put my Christmas decorations away this year..

One lace and rhinestone jeweled drawer holds vintage rhinestone pieces....

One holds my tiny bottle brush trees...

This one holds wintery punches of paper... I love to use these in tags.

This one holds different vintage texts....

Texts make great promps for art!

So that was my true playtime in December.

 My intention is to play more : )

How are you doing? 

Hugs,

Terri