October Tea Swap 2014 - Part 2

Took me a few days to get down to my post box - the weather locally is very grey these days and with short days you need something comforting and what is better than a hot cup of tea with a good book to brighten up a day.

Amazing how this cards reminds one that autumn might be the "stop" before winter and cold air, but yet it is so vibrant with warm colors - just like the card I received from Kim in the October swap.

Thanks Kim.

October Tea Swap 2014 - Part 1

Fran called this tea swap with the following requirements:

Optional Themes:   Thanksgiving or Halloween
Optional Color:  Fall or Halloween colors

 

Sent this card to Kim, and reused the same idea for cards to friends whom I have not communicated with for a while - with MS showing it's ugly face at the moment I have to take some short cuts - hope they understand as they know about my current situation.

Freebie sentiment from TLC creations, some paper, a few brads and a miniature witch punch used on orange and black paper and there is my card Halloween style.

Played with my leaf punches to decorate a mini-box for the tea included in the swap - PICKWICKS Winter Tea one of my favorites with all the flavors of Christmas.

Fall Colors

Fall this year is not was it used to be - seems like we are heading for the 3rd warmest October since they started recording weather temperatures 100+ years ago - in fact I am not yet using my winter coat, which I usually would have been using 2-3 weeks already. Fall colors are everywhere and the days are getting shorter and yet the trees are holding on to more leafs than usual.

CCEE Stampers' challenge theme this week is Fall Colors - CCEE1443- used a freebie digi stamp (deleted it by mistake from my computer so do not remember where it is from) and colored the leafs with COPICs - found some fuzzy yarn in fall colors and crocheted a border..... the fuzzy yarn reminds me of falling leaves in the wind.

The Wishing Thread

It is October and the days are getting shorter - time to lit some candles, cuddle up on the couch with a blanket and read some more books. My ceramic Jack O'Lantern is lit up and reminds me that it is spooky month as Halloween is coming. A book with superstition and knitting, The Wishing Thread by Lisa Van Allen was just what I needed, as my health keeps me at home more than usual at the moment.

There were so many words on every piece of paper, tiny words made of tiny little letters, one running into the other. If she could unwind all the words out into a long, single thread, they would reach arounf the building and back again.  She could knit them into a sweater.

Tarrytown, New York is not the ordinary city. Superstition or magic is afoot - albeit some called it a hoax and others a blessing - but minds are colored by the fact that Sleepy Hollow is the neighboring city and tales about the Headless Horseman are still being passed on to the young generations.

The Stitchery is a yarn shop especially known for the knitted creations that contains knitted wishes, all knitted by the generations of Van Rippers women. When Mariah Van Ripper dies, it is up to her three nieces Aubrey, Bitty and Meggie to continue years of traditions handed down from the family's matriarchs through times. It turns out to be quite a challenge, as they are all different and from the outside only the knitting skills and family name unites them: Aubrey being the shy one who has always stayed in Tarrytown, Bitty the mum of two who wants to away a normal life far away from magic and Meggie, the family's nomad that left the Stitchery in search for their long lost mum.

One can almost smell the autumn in the area along the Hudson River, see the Victorian style old houses - wishing one could find a bench in the city of Tarrytown, sit down with one's knitting and a hot cup of something pumpkin spiced and dressed in a nice, cozy thick knitted sweater.. The knitting magic reminds me a little bit of Sally Owens magic skin creams and the nomad sister of Gillian Owens in the movie Practical Magic - and then again very different from the movie. A good cozy read.

My little heart skipped some beats, when I eyed a reference to a H.C. Anderson fairy tale - I have always loved his fairy tales as they were not only meant for children but a short story with a morale for their parents too. It is not often one spot a reference to his works in non-Danish literature as many finds his tales a little to dark.

September Tea Swap 2014 - Part 2

For the first time in a really long time, the card was finished before I got my swap partner assigned..... the swap partner this month is Josie, the very same person that introduced me to this swap three years ago.

Optional Themes:   Color Blocking (Google "Color Block Cards" for ideas)
Optional Color:  Fall Colors

Using the colors: brown, red, orange and yellow and a maple leaf punch and the card just presented itself within minutes - adding my favorite autumn quote and voila. Tea sent to Josie was Licorice & Cinnamon from PUKKA and Indian Chai from TWININGS VOYAGE line of tea.

September Tea Swap 2013 - Part 1

I can not figure out the way the postal transit routes work between Denmark and North America, as a swap sent weeks ago does not seem to have reached the US - whereas a swap sent this Monday reached Canada yesterday?! 3 days transit time -  surprised when my swap partner Susan emailed me saying, that it has already arrived

 

I already had the general idea wheb Fran assigned the partners to us: fall theme with fall's traditional colors. I did not sign up until the day before the deadline, as I wanted to be sure, that I actually had the time and energy to create it and upcoming months looks hecting when browsing my calendar.

A good friend had tipped me regarding the fall teapot image from KaDoodle Bug Design which I decided with paper pieced orange handmade paper from India, leafs punched with a punch from EasyPunch.

Used the image again on the pouch to contain the swap's 2 teabags - colored with COPICs - one side of the tag to go inside the pouch (when you pull up the tag from the pouch, the teabags will surface) decorated with leafs punched with EachPunch'es.

Opposite side of the tag is a freebie paper pattern from Spyder's Corner

 

Voila the finished teapouch.

 

Ensured just a little extra spark/feel of fall, as I included a lot of leafs in autumn colors. The paper used is recycled paper from paper bags (purchases done in India and China): the brownish and red/brown leafs - and handmade paper from India: the orange leafs.

 

Bon appetite with the tea Susan - hope you enjoy it.

Fall Birthday

I just love fall colours and the leaves welcoming winter with their beautifull colors. Birdie Brown (Torico) has a fall gnome freebie in this month's challenge. One of my friends celebrated her birthday this week so made this card for her using the freebie, as she is fond of autumn leafs too:

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.

Albert Camus

 

Must admit, that I smiled when reading Karen's post earlier this week, as she quoted the same words that I used when creating this card last weekend. But yet again what is more fitting than those words describing the beautiful autumn leafs?

Entering it to:
Live & Love Crafts Challenge #4 Halloween and/or Autumn Colours
Birdie Brown October Freebie Challenge

What Your Mind Tells You....

Our trees does not look like this yet, but soon they will.

My mind always wanders off, when I see a tree like this: What does it look like in spring just before the leafs appear? How much shelter does the green branches provide when it rains? How beautiful is it dressed in autumn colors?

Then my eye spots the bench next to the tree. Like the tree, how many stories can the bench tell about the people who have sat there? Where they alone or did they have company? Were they happy, sad.. or? Did they just stare at the nature and let their mind wander too?

It might be cold and seem colourless - but the wandering mind changes it.

Fall - The Moment

Even though it is October, you might be lucky to catch some rays of sun - albeit it is important to remember a sweater.... it will help recharging the body's batteries much needed for the winter that is knocking on the door.

Maybe this is my UnderTheTuscanSun moment: when Frances Maye (played by Diane Lane) sits in her back yard sipping wine....... :o)

September Tea Swap - Part Two

Saturday, I reveived the September Tea Swap from Mary - always fascinating to se how many different ways a tea inspired card can be created. What she sent me is truly travel memories in a cup - how great is that ?! :o)

Cinnamon Apple *insert friends' and family's laughter here* :o) I eat apples everyday, never get tired of them eventhough I have lived at a former apple plantations (all the trees were still there, but the apples were no longer sold) = eaten lots and lots of apples also in cakes, pies etc. Have previously "only" tried Cinnamon Apple Spice from Celestial Seasonings, so this is a treat.

Pumpkin spice.... wish we could get more things with pumpkins locally.... dried pumpkin seeds for cooking/baking is what we can get, as pumpkin is regarded as something for decoration. This is where the travelmemories from the US kicks in ..yum yum memories...

Thanks Mary!! :o)

More hot beverages please......

It is cold outside, and I have struggled with a cold the past 4 days - grrrr!! That time of the year - the body reacts stronger to weather changes since I was diagnosed with the MS.

But looking on the bright side of it - it is the season where hot beverages becomes "in" again - I have 10-15 different types of tea at home......

...and then there is Whittard's Mulled Wine - I rediscovered it last month in London and instantly bought 3 canisters, one of them already gone. In Canada I discovered Mulled Cranberry - only bought 1 canister which I regretted afterwards.

When I travel, I always look for tea - in this case instant tea drinks for the variety. The mind wanders back to the vacation, when one of these foreign teas is selected.