Artist Share -The delightful Art of Flora!

Hello All!

What a week of heat...I hope you are all keeping cool.

 Today I am delighted to share with you the art of Flora, from
"La casa delle bambole di Flora"!

I was super lucky to win a giveaway on Flora's blog.....and it arrived last week!

She created this mini version of an old stove, just for me!

It is so very well constructed, it has many little details that thrill me,
like all the doors open!

She even included a pan of fresh gingerbread men and a kitchen towel!

Every centimeter of this creation is amazing.

I am excited to dust off my doll house and give this stove a new home. 

I think my kitchen window will need a new curtain to match the blue towel.

As soon as I get it installed I will share a picture.

I don't know if I have ever shared with you all that I have created two dollhouses.

So much fun!

Flora also sent along a Downton Abbey ATC for me!

It is very romantic, with the lovely pink, the pretty lace and all the roses!

I grabbed this image off of Flora's blog (I hope that is o.k.!)

Just to share with you a little of her artistry with cloth as well. 

She creates the most amazing little tiny things, that look so real!

A doll house will become a home with this kind of addition.

All the little details really give the doll house a special homeyness.

And Flora's minis are truly realistic looking!

You can visit her blog and see oh so much more at....

"La casa delle bambole di Flora"

Thank you so very much Flora!

I am delighted with your giveaway!

And just as a reminder, I too am having a Giveaway, my...

Joyful July Giveaway!

Just click on the words above to see the post so you can enter to win

A beautiful Tea cup

Pineapple Quartz earrings crafted by yours truly...

and a Free Altered Domino Book class!

Hugs,

Terri

Tea Cup Tuesday-Giveaway!

Hello All!
Welcome to the first Tea Cup Tuesday of July!

Today's cup is very special to me as it is one of the gifts in my 
Joyful July Giveaway!

We are all so busy in the summer that I thought July would be a great month to do this.
And I love a giveaway!

I just found this tea cup last week.
It was the prettiest cup I had seen that day.
The beautiful blue and pink roses and sweet birdie speak of summer...
Perfect to share with one lucky person!

Such a lovely shaped cup with roses inside as well.

A very pretty detail on the top of the  elegant handle.

 This cup is in the Montrose shape and has a pretty gold trim around the plate edge

as well as around the modest footing.

A sweetly fluted plate edge adds a little elegnace too.

This delightful cup was manufactured by Royal Albert.

As the bottom says...it is part of the Woodland Series, called "Humming Bird"!

This cup is about 30 years old.

There are other gifts in my Joyful July Giveaway as well. 

To enter to have a chance to win this lovely cup or one of the other gifts,

just click on the link above (Joyful July Giveaway) and it will take you to 

the post where you can leave a comment. Just be a follower and let me know 

which gift you would love to win.

Easy peasy!

Thank you for coming over to visit!

It took me a while to catch up with you all last week as I was away for a few days.

I truly enjoyed all your posts!

If you would like to join in, just go and create a post with your tea cup in it and then come back here and link up below with Linky Tools.

Martha and I love to come over and visit you!

Hugs,

Terri

Joyful July Giveaway!

Hello All!

Happy July!

It is my intention to have a very Joy full July... 

And one of the things that brings me joy is a giveaway! Yay!

Since I have blogging friends who enjoy different things, I have chosen three gifts in hopes that each of you has at least one favorite to *wish* for.

A sweet cup to enjoy!

This lovely tea cup is waiting for one lucky winner to welcome home!

I will share all about this cup at this weeks Tea Cup Tuesday.

Pineapple Quartz earrings!
Creating jewelry always brings me joy...I would love to send these off to one of you!
They will arrive in little hand made bag too.

(They were hard to get a clear image and correct coloring,

I think it is the opal like quality of the stone)

They would make a great accessory for a night out this summer!

A FREE DOMINO BOOK CLASS TO ONE LUCKY WINNER! 
This is an online class and anyone, anywhere in the world can take it : )

...and in celebration of July, my Altered Domino Book class at Creative Workshops is on sale for everyone!

Linda of Blue Eyed Girl, was the first winner in my last giveaway to win a free class...Click here and see the gorgeous totally amazing domino book she created!

(The above image is a domino book I made for fun..
to honor one of my favorite people...

Beatrix Potter...I will share more about it later on...)

  Any follower (and new follower) can leave a comment, mentioning what you would love to win.

That's all it takes!

Good luck to you all!

Hugs,

Terri

Tea Cup Tuesday-Tips for Collectors

Hello all,
Welcome to Tea Cup Tuesday!

I love to go to the flea market or antique shop and look for tea cups.

When I find one I love, I have a certain way of checking it out before I get too excited about it.

I thought I might share the process I go through for some of you who are new to collecting, just in case it might be helpful and maximize your collecting pleasure! 

 (Here is a pretty Shelley I bought online, only to find it had a hairline crack!)

The first thing I do when a tea cup catches my eye, is to look at the price.

I have a number in my head I am willing to pay for a tea cup, if it is over that,
I put it back down : (   

Unless.....I so totally love it and think I may never ever in a million years see one like it again,
and then I may make an exception : )

Otherwise.....

Before I choose a tea cups for friend, family or personal pleasure....I begin a visual, auditory and tactile inspection of the cup:  

(This apple blossom pattern is by Salisbury...I loved this cup when I saw it, and was happy to bring it home.)

Are there any cracks, chips or blemishes? 

This seems like it would be an easy one to answer.

To check this out I use my index finger to trace the cup all around the rim, the handle, the sides, the foot, and the bottom, and inside with my eyes closed...and see if I feel any chips, cracks, blemishes or???

These two dark marks are raised and a little rough feeling to the finger.

I especially watch out for this kind of mark.These are in the bottom of the cup.

A little nubbly...right where you hold the handle, so you feel it every time!

 Visually inspect the cup for anything obvious...like this dark spot.

(Here is the hairline crack I found when I got home, on the apple blossom cup above...boo hoo!)

Hold it by the handle and ping gently with finger.

If it pings, that is a good sign. If it is a dull sound, maybe not...check for cracks again.

Hold up to the light and look for signs of a crack.

It may look like a slightly darker line, or even a lighter line.

I have seen some that look like someone tried to repair it.

 (Here in the bottom of the pretty Shelley.....is the crack!

Couldn't see it on eBay, but....I should have known as the cup only sold for $15

...this may be one of those "too good to be true" stories!)

Is it balanced?

Some times I will excitedly grab a cup I see, do my check but forget to do this step,

only to find out when I get home it is wobbly. 

Look to see if the cup sits fully on the saucer....does the saucer rock rock on the table surface?

Sometimes I will even see a cup that is crooked. 

Do the backstamps match?

I have ended up surprised after arriving home to see they are not!  

And do you care?

I don't always, but I like it better if they do.

It may indicate that a piece was replaced...or even that the two pieces are not even the same pattern or company, but someone thought they looked really good together.

I bought a demitasse cup set once that was like this, one piece from France and one from Germany.

 See?

 But the set looks lovely together!

 I was so busy looking at the pretty cup....I probably only looked at the one backstamp.

Whoever matched them up did a fine job!

 Now I take my information and I compare my findings to the price, the age of the cup, and the personal value to me as in a special pattern I have been looking for, how rare they may be... and then I decide whether or not to purchase it. And if I am totally in love with it....and the price is good, and I don't think I will be able to sleep that night if I do not bring it home.........I throw out all my investigations and buy it anyways!

Thank you so much for coming by for a visit!
I almost didn't make my post as I have been having computer issues this week...Gak!

Martha and I totally love hosting Tea Cup Tuesday and we love to come by and visit you all.

If you would like to play along, just go and create a post with a tea cup in it, and come back here and link up below with the URL to your post.

Hugs,

Terri

Giveaway JULY coming up soon!

Tea Cup Tuesday-June Cup

Hello All

Welcome to Tea Cup Tuesday!

Time to share a June cup to celebrate the beginning of Summer.

We have had such beautiful weather already, that it has felt like summer.

One more day and it will be official...Yay!

Summer is here....and the living is easy.............

This cup is beautifully adorned with summer roses of the prettiest pinks!

What a lovely handle, sweetly decorated with touches of gold.

I purchased this cup for my daughter as she was a June baby. 

On her birthday this year, she used this cup at her birthday tea.

A Royal Albert Beauty!

On the day of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebration, a package arrived for me from England!

Inside I found this gorgeous hand made card, and a tea towel featuring the Queen herself! 

Diane, thank you so very much for your very kind and thoughtful gift!

Thank you so much for stopping by for Tea Cup Tuesday with Martha and I.

Do visit Martha as she is a hoot as well as has more tea cups than Imelda had shoes!

Martha is the best!
 

I am planning a Giveaway for July!

Fab goodies are being prepared....

come back and see!

If you would like to join in a share your tea cups, just go and create a post with the tea cup in it, then come back here and link up that post below. 

We would all love to come over and visit you!

Hugs,

Terri

Tea Cup Tuesday-Coalport

(Image taken from "An Illustrated Encyclopedia of British Pottery and Porcelain")

Coalport

Hello All!

Welcome to Tea Cup Tuesday!

Today  I am sharing about one of my favorite make of china....Coalport.

This vibrant floral cup is a beautiful example of Coalports quality.

I received this trio from Martha in our

Easter Basket Tea Cup swap!

Lucky me!

Wonderful design, love the mix of ruffled edges and plain!

This is a truly dainty and feminine set.

Perfect for afternoon tea in the garden.

Here is another gorgeous example given to me by my

younger sister. 

I adore the handle and the scalloped footing.

See what I mean???

 And this incredible art work in stunning blue!

Coalport cups feel so good in the hand and this one is light as a feather.

Here is the backstamp for the blue and white cup.

This portion of a page from Geoffrey A. Godden's book Encyclopedia of British Pottery and Porcelain Marks indicates this cup was manufactured after 1920 but before 1939.

1796-1815 Pottery from Coalport's was not marked, but from 1805-1810 they began to use the simple backstamp of "Coalbrookdale" alone, these were very rare. From then on Coalport's backstamps went from simple letters, to very fancy designs. They even had some that were imitations of Meissen!

Being a company that began with John Rose in the late 1700s, and endured as long as it did with great quality, it is no wonder I find this cup very satisfying : )

 Thank you so much for stopping by! 

If you would like to play along, just create a post with a tea cup in it you would like to share, then come back here and sign up with Linky tools below.

I am truly enjoying visiting you all and seeing your tea cups, and hearing about your life.

Hugs,

Terri

(To see a post about my visit to the Victorian era Gladstone Pottery Museum in Stoke on Trent England....in which you can see the bottle kilns as in the engraved image at the top of this post..... go HERE)

Tea Cup Tuesday-Sunny Yellow

Hello All!

Welcome to Tea Cup Tuesday

Where Martha and I show off our love of tea cups.

 I am glad you are here! 

Here is one of my very favorite tea cups. 

I think what attracts me the most to this cup is the lovely design,

can you see the pattern in the yellow areas?

Looks almost French to me.

And I really do love the coloring of this cup. 

The yellow mixed with the beautiful pinks, blues, lilacs,
yellow and greens complements so well.

I even love the shape of this cup.

It is only slightly footed and has a lovely elegant handle trimmed in gold.

This cup was manufactured by Tuscan China in England.

I know this cup was created before 1967 as Wedgwood bought them out and added "Royal" in front of Tuscan. The Plant family who originated the company seems to go all the way back to 1775. The entire family was involved in the business and they made some important discoveries in manufacturing and designing china before merging with Susie Cooper in the 1950s before Wedgwood came along. 

(the gold numbers are the patten #)

Did I ever mention to you all that I stumbled upon two pottery books

for a buck at a flea market this past spring?

This is one of them, and it was very useful in researching my cup. The book is called "Encyclopedia of British Pottery and Porcelain Marks" and written by Geoffrey A. Godden F. R. S.A.  The Plant family has three pages! Upper left of the page, the middle stamp is the one on the bottom of my cup, and it says...1947+...so I can guess was made between 1947 and 1961. I think it was closer to 1950.

Thank you all so much for stopping by!

I haven't been posting that often in the past few months, you may wonder where all my crafting is???

Me too! Gak! Real life is interfering with my blogging! Has this ever happened to you?

I do hope to be back in the swing of crafting and blogging....and videos soon!

I appreciate every visit you make to my blog!

Hugs,

Terri

If you would like to join in, just create a post with the tea cup in it you would love to share, then come back here and sign up with Linky Tools below. 

Martha and I would love to come and see you too!