Tea Time

Hello friends!  Happy November!  

This week our Stamp Simply team is sharing paper-crafting gift ideas for the upcoming holidays.  Mine is born from the idea that we all need to preserve some quiet time within the hustle and bustle of the season.  (This is a photo-heavy post, with some "ambiance" photos and also some "light box" photos so that the details are more clearly visible).  

Already (especially with Halloween now behind us) the rush is on...the inbox is bursting with advertisements, the pressure to find the perfect gift is ever-present (please pardon the pun!), and the rush hour crush is already awful and sure to get worse as the all-important celebrations draw near.  Just thinking about it makes me want a break!  How about you?!  

Just set aside some time to make one of these tea towers for a friend and one for yourself.  Fill it with your favorite flavors...herbal and/or caffeine for when you need it!  Then when the stress closes in, you can just take a deep breath and enjoy a quiet moment with a steaming hot cup of tea...it will work wonders!  (Here's the link to the tutorial for how to trim and score a sheet of 12 x 12 inch card stock to make this project.  I followed the dimensions of the tutorial but simplified the layers on mine).

It's especially nice to settle in with a hot cup of tea next to a twinkling tree and a warm, crackling fire to meditate on the blessings of the season.  A pretty presentation makes a treat taste even better imho!    

I used several sheets of designer paper from Studio Light's "Sending Joy" to decorate this box.  The border at the top looked like cookies and tea spices and had a pretty tartan bow which inspired the tartan plaid embellishments.  The cookie frosting is a beautiful silver-white blue, so I backed the designer paper with shimmery metallic silver card stock and used silver ink for all of the stamping.  I also sponged  silver ink onto all of the edges of the paper and splattered it everywhere.  In real life it is so elegant and beautiful!  

The cups are die cuts that are embellished with stamps or tiny die-cut snowflakes, rhinestones and stamped/die cut tea tags.  

There is a to/from tartan heart on the back.

The top has beautiful sheer silver bow accented with sprigs of Christmas greenery and a sparkly clear button.  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Coffee or Tea? Bundle (tea tags)
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Have a Cup on Us (tea cup/mug)
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Christmas Joy (joy stamped on mug)
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Farmhouse Christmas (to/from, alternate joy)
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Christmas Stockings & Mittens (tiny snowflake die)
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Farmhouse Pierced Nested Hearts
• Tim Holtz thinlet
• Studio Light Sending Joy 6x6 (designer paper)
• Craft Consortium Tartan Plaid 6x6 (mugs, heart)
• Luxury Pearlescent Metallic 105# Cardstock - Silver 6 ct (matting)
• May Arts 1" Sheer - 100 Yard Spool - Silver or May Arts 1" Sheer - 100 Yard Spool - Silver/Blue
• Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Silvery Shimmer
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Two Sprigs
• Kaisercraft Self-Adhesive Round Rhinestones - Light Pink
• Silver string (sub for the natural burlap string shown in the photos)
• sparkly clear button from stash