T Stands For a Wintertime Cruise

I want to begin by apologizing for the length of this post.  I also want to tell you I have received even MORE gifts this week.  They have been photographed and are ready to be shown, but due to the length of this post, I will share them next Tuesday for T.  I apologize if you thought your gift would be shown today, dear friends.

I got a little carried away sewing these pieces together.  When I began assembling them, I realized I had far too many for one page.  Then two pages weren't enough.  Finally, after some juggling, I managed FIVE pages for honoring T Stands For Tuesday and my final Art Journal Journey entry as host this month. 

Let's get rid of the winter doldrums and take a river or ocean cruise where the weather is sunny and bright.

I have learned a few things that I have suspected in the past about sewing paper to paper.  Some of these pages were incredibly thin, while others were almost card stock weight.  When I backed them with either a used tea bag or sheet music, then sewed them to 110 lb card stock, the thin pages buckled and wouldn't sew flat, no matter how hard I tried to "stretch" them.  You can tell the images that buckled, no matter what I tried.

We'll begin in our staterooms, where breakfast and coffee were delivered to us.  Later, at lunch, we enjoyed a cup of tea and water.

For dinner, we had a glass of wine with our meal.

Of course, in between we shared high tea with friends we met on the cruise.

The spread was served by our attentive waiter

who wore the whitest gloves you have ever seen.

On day two, we took advantage of the ship and its amenities.

The first thing we did was head to the spa, then took advantage of the healthy juice and infused water bar.

However, we were in need of caffeine and this was in the form of a cappuccino.

A champagne brunch can't be beat.

Next, it's time to welcome in the new year.

We are "toasting the new year with a special drink." 

Tea, soft drinks, and coffee make the mid-morning treats delightful and special.

At midnight, we toasted in the new year with a bottle of wonderful champagne.

Coffee and cappuccinos, along with a few cookies served in our stateroom were just what we needed if we were to stay up all night.

Breakfast was never overlooked, either.   Our favorite hot drink, along with a buffet of fruit, jam, and scone were served in one of the restaurants while others read their morning news via their phones or tablets.

Of course, we could always have champagne served in our stateroom as we gazed out on the scenery or the calming water.

No amenity was overlooked.

Whether we chose

to relax alone watching the scenery, or to share time with a loved one while reading a favorite book as we sail the sea,

there was always time for afternoon tea.

Of course, as evening set in, we gathered in the main dining hall.

A glass of our favorite wine,

or a spot of tea,

or food and drinks served in our stateroom,

or being greeted by our chef,

all led to a very fulfilling experience on this cruise. 

About three years ago, I decided to send for information from several different cruise lines.  Little did I know I would be inundated with these little travel magazines that have become the basis for many of my 7-Continents art pages.  In the past, I have pitched the information on the individual ships and the pages on the food and drink that are offered on each cruise.  Not so this time.

I actually got the idea from Kate who used tea bags with her postcards.  I thought this would be a great idea, but decided most of the images didn't fit the size of the tea bags I have, so Plan B was to use vintage sheet music left over from my Christmas cards and my previous T Tuesday post.  Whether backed with tea bags or sheet music, I used variegated thread on all assemblies.

This spread took three days to complete.  I first stamped the tea set image on two pages, then five pages.  This tea set was a gift from a British company called Toodles and Binks.  When I looked for their blog, http://www.toodlesandbinks.blogspot.com/, I found it had been removed.  However I found a YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch6hMdUEllU that showed a WOYWW post by Kay, the original owner.  SO sad that another red rubber site had gone under.

Again, I apologize for the length of this post.  To make a long post even longer, it's time to share your own drink related post.  It can be photos, a place you visited, movies, postcards, books, sketches, mixed media, drawings, paintings, tags, scrapbooking, or other art that is digital, hybrid, or traditional, as long as it in some way relates back to a drink, any drink.  Regardless, please share below and Bleubeard and I, along with the rest of the T gang will be by to visit.   Please link only your T post and not your blog in general.  Old photos are acceptable because they may be taken any time, not just on Tuesday.  Tomorrow I will also be able to say "and not even this year!" which also means you should be looking for a Second on the 2nd post. 



Have a joyous, safe, and peaceful new year's eve and day, dear friends, followers, lurkers, and readers.  And now a look back at My Favorite Season(s).

The journal pages I created this month while Bleubeard supervised.