tea and thee…

Needle Thread Cloth‘s August challenge is Tea Time Stem Stitch…

I have been having lots of fun lately spreading plaster on linens and laces and distressing mirrors (thanks to special friends again and again)…

a bit of layering and machine stitching along with touches of hand embroidery (stem stitch and french knots) on vintage map and book papers (thank you Carmen Dyson)…

you have all month to stretch your creative muscles and join in the fun over at Needle Thread Cloth…

“I carry you with me into the world, into the smell of rain & the words that dance between people & for me, it will always be this way, walking in the light, remembering being alive together.”   ~ Brian Andreas … StoryPeople

Elderflower Lemonade…

a break in the humidity and very hot temperatures lately had me out back pounding the pavement (so to speak)…

I have tried flower pounding before with paper but was never very thrilled with the results…

using some cotton this time with green leaves and two kinds of hammers I was happier…

all that pounding made me thirsty so I stopped to enjoy a drink I first tried at a sweet spot called the Cachepot when we visited my friend Linda in Breaston, Derby, UK…

she whisked us away from the train station and we stopped at the Cachepot for tea and conversation (I was floating on a cloud pinching myself again and again that there we were meeting in real life ♥)

so imagine my delight when we came home from our travels and the Elderflower Lemonade jumped off the shelf at me at our local Whole Foods Market…

I had just been lamenting that I might never see a drink like that here in Virginia…

some Borage blossoms from our garden were a fresh and tasty compliment to the lemonade…

 

thought you might like to read the bottom of the tea pot I am using for the potted rose plant I picked up at Trader Joe’s a bit ago (I am watering the plant through the tea spout being careful to not over water it and I am often curious about the underside of china so I thought I would share)…

Needle Thread Cloth has issued their August challenge of TEA TIME with wonderful inspiration and a short video on how to do the Stem Stitch…

everyone is most welcome to join along and if you haven’t seen the recent works of stitched art by Theresa Martin…be sure and pop over here to feast your eyes and be inspired…

I was thinking my mashed leaves on cotton could use some embroidery…

joining Elizabeth for T stands for Tuesday…

 

Needle Felting Love…

normally I am fairly low tech but after my friend Susan and I got together to try our hands at some wet felting (which was great hands on fun) I also had the opportunity to use her Embellishing machine…

I tried to tell myself I could live without one as I do enjoy needle felting by hand but it kept creeping back into my mind (you can see some of my hand felted work here)…

imagine no thread…no bobbin…just twelve barbed needles that mesh fabrics and fibers together magically (oh the possibilities!) and oddly enough I feel safer with the machine than I do when I am hand felting as there are many opportunities to stick yourself if you’re not careful (focus…focus…focus)…

you can visit the talented Jane LaFazio for a wonderful needle felting tutorial here (you’ll note by the date that she’s been there and done that three years ago 😉 )…

the machine needle felting is a wonderful beginning for adding additional hand felted touches along with embroidery which brings me to share some exciting news with you about a new challenge blog sweet friends Theresa and Jan have started called needle thread cloth…

this month’s focus happens to be one of my all time favorite stitches the French knot…

be sure and stop by as all are welcome to join along…

meanwhile some new shimmery paints jumped into my shopping basket recently and I do not know what to play with first * paper * fibers * paint * scissors * glue * …

lots of works in progress here…

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.”  ~Ferris Bueller