Thoughtful Friday 152

"Always remember that the future comes 

one day at a time"

Dean G Acheson

Thoughtful Friday 151

"Fear is the thief of dreams"

Anonymous

Thoughtful Friday 150

"Creativity requires the courage to let

go of certainties"

Erich Fromm

Thoughtful Friday 149

"As you walk, eat and travel, be where you are."

Buddha

(zendoodled diary cover by a friend)

Thoughtful Friday 147

"For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. 

But there was always some obstacle in the way, 

something to be gotten through first,

 some unfinished business, time still to be served, 

or a debt to be paid. 

Then life would begin. 

At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life"

Fr Alfred de Souza

Thoughtful Friday 146

"But words are things, and a small drop of ink,

falling like dew, upon a thought, produces that

which makes thousands, perhaps millions think"

Lord Byron

Thoughtful Friday 145

"It is by logic we prove.  It is by intuition we discover"

Henri Poincare

Crafting

Recently I was asked to lead the prayers for a very special friend and former colleague who was leaving the place we both worked together at.  She is actually going into the ministry and has begun her ordination training this month.  It was a joy and a privilege to be at her 'leaving lunch' and as I thought and prepared what I might say, I remembered how helpful I found it to have all the names of those I have said I will pray for regularly easily to hand - I have a basked of stones with names on and from time to time I will take a name out (if someone is going through a turbulent time or if they have asked for special prayer) and it will sit on my desk as a reminder to 'pray often' for that person.

So I decided to make some little cards that people could take away with them to remind them to pray for my dear friend and this is what I came up with.  A crocheted flower (like that of Jenny Doh), some Tim Holtz music Washi tape and then a pink 'A' and pink dyed edge all the way round.  They were fun to do.

Thoughtful Friday 144

 "Curiosity has its own reason for existing.

One cannot help but be in awe when he comtemplates

the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous

structure of reality.  It is enough if one tries merely

to comprehend a little of this mystery every day.

Never lose a holy curiosity."

Albert Einstein

GPP Street Team Crusade no.55

Here was another fun challenge set by Michelle Ward and here I am snucking in at the last minute!  Well I have hardly had a minute to do art with all the comings and goings here but a little bit of time on my own tonight has made it all possible.  I started with some cardstock and a starfish stamp.

Then I chose my colours - my favourite teal and a lovely sunshiney yellow - can you believe we have been having temperatures of 29 degrees (87 F) here in London this week?!!  Hotter than it has been for 100 years and hotter than Mexico apparently!!

So a variety of printing takes place, teal on teal, yellow on teal

yellow and teal make green!

At this point I got a bit bored and decided to add a raspberry to the proceedings!

 And I liked it a lot!

And you can really see the texture of the stamp here

A fun and speedy challenge and a great way to get back into art-making.  Thank you again Michelle - you are amazing!

Arrivals, departures, arrivals!

Yes, it's that time again in the Tea and Toast household where we are off to Heathrow to pick up daughter no.1 who has just spent 3 weeks in Brazil working with street children.  She went there to make a film and to do what she loves to do - art and crafts with the boys and girls.  It was both challenging and rewarding.   How I love standing at the arrivals barrier - the excitement and anticipation is always there for me.  I love watching people reunited with their friends and families after a journey away and then seeing my lovely walk through those doors safe and well!

While she has been gone I have been busy with the quilt I started, dare I say it, last year!  Anyway it is now almost finished apart from a wash and dry and a love lable.  Of course someone had to test it out first!

It's not really clear from these photos but I have hand stitched hearts all the way round the strawberry border

So daughter no. 1 is just here for 3 days before she sets off again for another job in Dubai!   Then a week later we go to pick up daughter no.4 who is finishing her year in Paris and is coming home to complete her degree!

Thoughtful Friday 143

"The greatest investment in a day is

a dangerous unselfishness wrapped

in joy and tied with ribbons of

laughter and learning, understanding 

and compassion."

Mary Anne Radmacher

I love the Lake District!

Last weekend I met daughter's 2 and 3 for a weekend in the Lake District to celebrate daughter no.2"s birthday!  It was fantastic!!  We stayed a lovely B&B where our hosts could not have been friendlier or more hospitable.  We woke up to homemade bread, homemade jam - all organic - scrambled eggs and smoked salmon and plenty of fairtrade tea and coffee.  On the Saturday we took a circular walk around part of Ullswater which was quite spectacular.

We left at 10.30 in the morning and got back at 8.30pm!!  Quite a walk!  But it was huge fun to be together and to see such fantastic scenery.  Just to be in the open, with space all around us and no-one else to be seen was such a tonic for the soul.  We'd love to go back sometime and take the rest of the family with us!!  And no doubt you will see more photos from this lovely time in thoughtful Friday's in the future (yesterday's was one of them!).  I think I might be quite happy to move there with hubby - so that is Devon and Cumbria as contenders for the next phase of life!!!!!!

A special swap

A little while ago when I first signed up to the Cloth Paper Scissors UK network of lovely people, I had contact with someone called Frances.  She and I emailed one another several times and she warmly welcomed me as a newbie and I felt I had already made a friend.  CPS UK produce a newsletter every couple of months and I did a little piece siting some things I was happy to swap with someone.  You've guessed it!  I had a Danny Gregory book which was a duplicate in my library of crafts books and Frances was keen to swap it so we did a little exchange.  My little parcel went off with the Danny Gregory book inside and a little junk journal I had made especially for Frances (I didn't take a photo of this one unfortunately.  Then on Friday I had a wonderful surprise because the postman brought these wonderful things:

This book is amazing with so many exciting projects to do with many requiring only household items

A little sample of momigami paper - (kneaded paper using oil)

And a special sample of what Frances loves to create - this lovely pendant has a piece of lavender in it!!

A closer look!

and it was beautifully wrapped and inside this amazing paper bag!!

How lucky am I!!!!  Frances doesn't have a blog (yet!) and I have yet to meet her at one of our CPS UK events but I feel we know one another a little already.  There is something about the hearts of artists and crafters that seems to connect at a deeper level!!  Thank you Frances so much.

Thoughtful Friday 142

"....with an eye made quiet by the power

of harmony and the deep power of joy,

we see into the life of things."

William Wordsworth

Thoughtful Friday 141

"The challenge before us is to savor the unknown

and delight in the taste of possibility"

Mary Anne Radmacher

Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap

It has been really busy here at Tea and Toast as we have been away for a week in Devon (which was lovely despite the rain!) and then lots of comings and goings of daughters here, there and everywhere!  More of that another time but before any more time passes I want to show you my lovely stitched postcard that arrived some weeks ago now from Germany!

On a painted background of blue, purple and white there is red stitching in diamonds and then lovely felt hearts all stitched carefully around and onto the card.  What a treat to get this in the post!  This came from the lovely TJ who was in Germany but is heading back to the US after 9 years out there.  She can be found at www.studiomailbox.com so do take a look as there is some lovely artwork on there.  Thank you so much TJ!

Thoughtful Friday 140

"Life is curly.  Don't try to straighten it out."

Susan Scott

Thoughtful Friday 139

"Memory is a child walking along a seashore.  

You never can tell what small pebble it

will pick up and store away among

its treasured things."

Pierce Harris

Stitched Postcard Swap

Yes, I have been stitching away for this little postcard swap organised by Beth Nicholls at Do What You Love. I had the idea to use some hessian from a garden sack which I bought for a £1 in the £1 shop a while back and to use some quilt wadding and calico as a topping.  I also thought I would like to needle punch a design on there and so we have it: hearts of course, and some needle punching round the edge using the wonderful 'Phantasmagorical' (love that name) wool roving from GillianGladRag plus some stamping and a little pearl, a stitched word (create) and a tiny stitched heart ribbon.

of course it couldn't really go just like that could it?  I had to prepare a little bag to put it in

I love these wax bags and just used a scrap piece of fabric and stitched some paper with script on top and then stuck it on the bag.  It has gone off to my swap partner in the US and I really hope she likes it.

I have received my stitched postcard already and I will show you that tomorrow!!

Latest Index card a day

Top left is a patchwork paper hankie heart and some hessian and a little label with a quote on the back.

Bottom left was using a Daisy yellow prompt - a colour I usually use (turquoise/teal) and one I don't usually use - black

Top right, some acrylic paint sponge rollered on in dots with buttons stuck and edged in chalk pastel

Bottom right a little watercolour scene from a card I have on my desk.

Top left is a collage using painted paper from a previous creative endeavour!

Bottom left acrylic paint with Tim Holtz music tape

Top right is experimenting with a new(very cheap) italic pen

Bottom right is a very random piece of sewing using my machine!

Top left is using a Daisy Yellow prompt and the words of a song I love at the moment called "Just the way you are" by Bruno Mars and if you don't know it, here is the link - just terrific words

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjhCEhWiKXk&ob=av2e

Bottom left is a picture of some cinnamon bun flavoured coffee mate which I am absolutely certain I would love to bits only they don't sell it here in the UK!!!  boo hoo!

Top right is some stamping with a ticket stamp 

Bottom right is a Paris stamp, some coloured pencil and chalk pastel to edge

And finally, top is some writing with gelly roll metalic pens given to me by my US friend when she came over last year to stay with us and on the bottom is a very random acrylic sponge rollered piece with chalk pastel edging (really loving the chalk pastels at the moment!)

Thoughtful Friday 138

"A five-to-one ratio of appreciation to criticism helps

people think for themselves"

Nancy Kline