Simple Pleasures

Hello and good morning.

I've been hard at work on projects that will be posted next week for upcoming challenges and as such do not have a brand new card to show you today; however, it's new to you!  It's a card made with a stamp that I just love called "Simple Pleasures" by IO.  It's a breeze to color and is such a dainty image that I felt it needed dainty papers underneath. 

Teacups, specifically antique or vintage teacups, are a personal weakness of mine.  I've been collecting them since 1996 when I spied my first Homer Laughlin Eggshell Nautilus in a local antiques shop.  Ever since then, I've picked them up at flea markets, antiques shops, thrift stores, eBay, wherever I find one that strikes my fancy and is priced right.  My collection finally grew large enough to warrant their own storage space, which I made last summer out of shelves from the hardware store, acrylic paints, and elbow grease.  I painted them in pastel colors and hung them in otherwise wasted space between the kitchen and dining room.  If you look closely, you'll notice the brackets are not placed under the shelves in their corresponding colors as I preferred the "mixed basket" effect.  (Click on the picture to enlarge.)

As you can see, I collect teapots, too.  Chintz, Brown Betties, "Red Betties"...

But I digress. Regarding the card, I had issued a personal color challenge to use the somewhat odd color Summer Starfruit by SU, and turns out I had some papers that went with it perfectly.  I colored it with SU inks and a Blender Pen.  The roses were an experiment - I made them out of vellum that I first colored with chalks.  Makes a nice, crisp flower and the colors come out so soft and rose-like.  The sentiment was also stamped on vellum and I used a pearl to cover the adhesive that shows through underneath.  (I have yet to find an adhesive that doesn't.)

So that, dear friends, is today's card.  Perhaps I will make a pot of tea today instead of my all-too-frequent "bag in a mug" and take a few minutes to enjoy a bit of history in my hands.  Thank you for joining me and I wish you a day of peace and calm too.

Happy crafting!

Supplies:

Stamps: Simple Pleasures (IO)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Various SU inks
Paper: Summer Starfruit, Garden Green (SU), floral scraps, vellum
Extras: Blender Pen (SU), chalks, pearls.