Tea Time Thursday #77 and a New Craft!

What's this sweet little charm doing hanging around on a lace ribbon? It's part of a new craft and fun adventure I am embarking on! A friend of mine that I first met on ATAA (Afternoon Tea Across America) introduced me to it all! Belinda is also a member of my Tasha Tudor group called Take Peace. She was posting these fun pictures on her FB page and I just had to ask her what she was doing! She very kindly gave me an introduction to POCKET LETTERS and POCKET LETTER PALS. This was all new to me and so fun! This is the finished project below...all rapped up and ready to post.

So, what is a POCKET LETTER?  A POCKET LETTER was created by Janette Lane....a very talented young lady who just took off with this creation. Yes, she has a blog and it is really helpful to pop on over to Janette Lane for more information and instructions. Half of the fun is gathering pretty scrapbook papers, fun embellishments, ephemera, tea...all kinds of fun things that are fairly flat.

You will need to buy baseball card holders...they have 9 pockets and that's where the POCKET LETTER idea comes from. Janette has a plan on her blog that gives you a plan to follow. I didn't follow it that closely as I just got into it and the plan come together! I did use a coordinating little book of scrapbook papers and that made the base very easy for me. I'm a quilter, so it was kind of like putting a paper quilt together....a nine patch! The wording on some of my papers gave me some direction as to what to add to that pocket.

It's not easy to see what I added to my pockets with the shine on the pockets, but I think you can get the idea here. It was fun to use a lot of paper items that I already had in my crafting room...you know, those things that you save (if you're a crafter or a pack rat) that you just might "use" someday! I had the little envelopes for years and they were perfect to hold buttons, vintage stickers, and flowers. The teapot picture in the right hand corner is filled with a tea bag.

This is a better pictures to study the treats in each pocket! I think these would be so very fun to do for the holidays. I'm going to start collecting bits and pieces as I find them. I have 5 snail mail Pen Pals with my ATAA group. This would be great to surprise them with a different type of letter!

I did make one mistake. You are supposed to add a letter in one of the pockets about yourself! I did send Belinda a letter, but I didn't add it to one of my pockets. I guess I know her well enough and I didn't really think I had to introduce myself, as I did with my regular Pen Pals. I am going to meet her in July in Vermont at a Tasha Tudor Gathering. Fun fun fun!I don't think she reads my blog, so I hope she doesn't see this before it arrives in Florida next week.

Oh yes, it is Tea Time Thursday! I thought this new teacup would be a nice one to add with the Pocket Letter. It is so dainty and I love that it has roses AND forget-me-nots. Of course I am going to like it~it has a flower cluster inside the cup.

It is decorated with such pretty flowers and don't you like the footed cup? That's another winner in my book.

I think this would be lovely on a piece of fabric. I would buy it for sure. I live just outside of Portland, Oregon....the City of Roses....so I just love roses, especially pink roses.

The cup is bone china, made in England by Rosina. I didn't use to thing that much about Rosina cup and saucers but I am beginning to really like some of the patterns.

Thank you for sharing my enthusiasm about tea time and crafting. Thank you for your sweet comments on my recent post. I continue to keep these families in my prayers.