Wednesday, September 6, 2023

A Cup of Tea on a Cool Morning

 Hi everyone.  It's the middle of the week, and I'm back with  a page for Elle's  Books, Cats and Tea challenge at Art Journal Journey

Today my page is about having a cup of tea which is always nice in the morning, but even better on a cool one.  However, it's not  a very cool morning in my neck of the woods as we're having some summer-like heat and humidity back this week. Usually this summer-like weather  doesn't last very long in September though.  At least I hope so.


I'm trying out a new journal with this page. A few weeks back I had some time to kill before my allergy shots appointment, so I went into Ocean State Job Lot. Ocean State Job Lot is one of those stores where you'll never know exactly what you'll find as they are  basically an overstock/markdown store. However, I had seen an ad where they had Strathmore art paper, and I wanted to go check it out. One of the things they had were  small spiral bound mixed media journals. I decided to try one, and that is the journal I made this page in.


This photo is of the larger version. I went with the smaller 5.5x8 inch version,   but this large version was  the only photo I managed to find online where I could save and repost the image. Have you ever used these journals before? 


I started by stamping the berries several times around the background. Then I colored in my stamping. After that I inked my background with 2 shades of brown to give my page more of an autumn look.  I stamped the tea cup and highlighted it a bit with a black marker, and after fussing cutting the cup out,  I added the top and the tea tag from an actual infusion. I stamped the blackberries again on inked paper, and then I colored and fuzzy cut them before adding  them next to the tea cup. I also added some metallic stickers of leaves, as well as adding the stamped quote and some white paint pen dots.

I was happy to see the paper in my new journal held up really well. Whether I'll get to check if they have any more of these journals left at ocean State Job Lot, I'm not sure. Right now Miss Maddie's hospital bills are going to put some of life's little pleasures on hold for a month or two, especially little art pleasures that are not really necessary, like more journals to add to the pile I already have. Grin.

Hope you're having a great middle of your week.

15 comments:

David M. Gascoigne, said...

Looks like a great store to visit, with a little too much temptation perhaps, but what’s life without a little temptation?I know that pets can be expensive. A friend of ours spent almost $9,000 on her dog in a vain attempt to prolong its life. You do what you feel you need to do, I suppose! Hugs - David

Valerie-Jael said...

I would have spent a lot there. I have had those journals and they are good. Love your new header and your gorgeous journal page. It's hot and sunny here, too. Hugs, Valerie

Tom said...

...my best to Miss Maddie.

Hels said...

I don't like enormous heat, and I loathe high humidity even more. But fruit tea is very refreshing:)

sirkkis said...

A nice cup of tea and a perfect quote for it, indeed 🧡
We have summer back, too. A weather man has promised it for rest of the week 😀
Have a perfect week 😘

craftytrog said...

A beautiful page, and I love that quote Erika.
I haven't used that journal before, my favourite are Seawhite wire bound sketchbooks. They are quite cheap here, but the paper is a reasonable weight.
Very hot here this week, I'm hoping it cools a bit for our holiday.
Alison

Dixie @ Arranged Words said...

Pretty journal page.
I love the quote.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I've heard of that mixed media paper, but have never been able to afford it. Michael's has it, but it is never on sale and costs a fortune.

You have a lovely entry for Elle's theme. I like how you used the actual tea bag with the tea still in it. Makes it so very realistic. Thanks for this entry for AJJ, dear Erika. BTW, your new banner is very different this month.

Divers and Sundry said...

Pretty cup. The tea sounds tasty.

August is the hottest month, so that heat'll be moderating.

Angie's Recipes said...

A cup of hot tea in the cold days is amazing! Love the page, Erika. The summer has returned this week and I hope it stays for a little while :-))

Neet said...

How I miss the stores like this one in America. It was the highlight of muy trips to visit and buy from all the great stores that sold things much cheaper than at home. Don't know of this one but am sure I would have enjoyed it. That's a great buy.
A great page too. I do like the colours you have used, reminds me of the colour that particular tea might brew up as, sort of reddish purple. Great idea to use a real tea bag.
Hugs - have a lovely weekend
Neet xx

Jeanie said...

So glad the paper held up well in the journal. They will be around long after Maddie's bills have been paid -- I'm sure they will be plenty but well worth it

Aimeslee Winans said...

Oooh, I love this page and how well your background goes with your berries! Kudos! And YES, I have that same journal and same size. In fact, it's the one I did my recent Let's Be Pirates in. And before that the Paradise one where I made a sunset on water over an ugly watercolor background. I like the paper. I've done some pages in it I haven't shown, just playing around with abstract art. I haven't looked at bleed-thru because I 've only been working on one side because I've been working landscape.
I saw on the weather there's a Canadian High and hotter weather for y'all. We're 103F today, ugh. They keep telling us cooler weather is coming but I've kind of quit listening. The other day when we got rain, the power went out for everyone else for 3 hours, so we were almost giddy we have the whole house generator, it worked flawlessly.
Continuing prayers for Miss Maddie, xoxo

Elina said...

Loved how you used the tea bag in your page. beautiful page.

Empire of the Cat said...

Hi Erika, love your cup of tea, that flavour sounds lovely - could be nice hot or cold. Our weather too has heated up though no humidity, so I'm enjoying being warm. I've seen those journals but since they are a US brand they are stupidly expensive over here so I've never used one. Good to know they hold up well. Thanks for joining me for the Books, Cats & Tea September theme at Art Journal Journey this month Happy Journalling! Elle/Empire of the Cat xx