Hello friends!

Happy Tuesday!  Hope your Tuesday is going well.  We had a long weekend – a local holiday, Friday and Monday, and an event on the horse racing calendar (Ayr Gold Cup).  It was dry and sunny at the weekend though it was really cold overnight – 4C !!!  I had to rescue this little guy…

So we already had Monday off but now everyone was given Monday off for the Queen’s funeral.  I did not watch it, since I have been to enough funerals without watching more of them on TV.

Stamps . . .

A few weeks ago I ordered some stamps from the Royal Mail Philatelic shop, and this is how they were received!  I whole sheet of damaged stamps because they used no protective packaging at all. The package included a with compliments slip that read “packed with care by …XXXX”  Clearly XXXX needs better training if they think that the flimsy envelope it was put in was “packed with care”.  I was very unhappy and they have agreed to replace the order so we will see how well packed the replacement order is when it arrives.

All of our definitive stamps are being replaced by these new stamps with barcodes on them so we have to use up all the other everyday stamps before the end of January and if we can’t then we can swap them out before that date.  All the pretty commemorative stamps are unaffected and can still be used.  This was announced in July and nothing to do with the death of the Queen, though obviously now we will also need new stamps with King Charles on them, new banknotes etc (though not in Scotland as we don’t have the Queen on ours).  Fun fact:  did you know that the regular stamp with the Queen’s profile on it is the most reproduced artwork in the world?  All those stamps for all those years…

Currently Reading . . .

The bullet that missed

I am on my seventh book for September and enjoying it immensely!  This is the third book in the Thursday Murder Club series and if you haven’t read them, I thoroughly recommend them. This might just be the best one yet, but then I also said that about the second book in the series – they just keep getting better and better!

Here’s some info about the first book, rather than giving away the plot of the third book!

About The Thursday Murder Club

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders.

But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case.

Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it’s too late?

The Times Crime Book of the Month
Guardian Best Crime and Thrillers

Today’s Art . . .

Today’s art is something I made for Neet’s theme this month on Art Journal Journey.  It’s a Cheshire Cat / Alice in Wonderland inspired page, which also makes it perfect for Tea – just look at all those teapots!  If you are curious, there are 49 of them stamped around the page!  So two cats for Neet and 49 teapots for T.

I had this paper lying around in my stash for a while.  I had planned to use it ages ago and had ripped it in two but then never did use it so the two pieces just hung around in danger of getting even more damaged so last week, I thought I would piece them back together and paste them onto a page so at least they were getting used.  I used matte medium to get them on the page as the paper was quite thin.  Then I drew in the disappearing Cheshire Cat on the right side and wrote the quote with black pen.   The quote is actually on the Alice page too, as it is part of her conversation with the Cheshire Cat, so I underlined it on the page too.

T Stands For . . .

I received my package of napkins in last Tuesday’s mail but too late to add to my post for that day, so here’s a look at them today. What a great collection, thank you all so much!  I also love the two ATCs I received from Elizabeth and Jo.


And here’s a look at the envelope with all the stamps I received.


And here’s a reminder of the napkins that I sent out:

And the two ATCs I sent in the package for Elizabeth – these were from my Harris Tweed collection for the #100dayproject. I’d love to know who received them and the napkins!

Let me know what you think in the comments.   As always, thanks for reading and have a fabulous day!

Challenges

Altered Book Lover – T Stands for
Art Journal JourneyFur/Feathers

 

27 Awesome Comments (btw comment moderation is on)
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Jo - Let's Art Journal
September 22, 2022 1:39 pm

Hi Elle, got your email thank you. So please that you can Guest Design for us and like the theme. I hope your having a great week, we have rain today so I’m hibernating …lol ?. Happy wishes! Hugs Jo x

Nancy W.
September 21, 2022 6:14 pm

Love your Alice and Wonderland page – that is my favorite page in the pack and you did a fab job with your cat too. Fun art, Elle!

Love all your hauls and glad you could get new stamps. The postal service and delivery services here are doing a lot of pour packing trying to cut down on costs. I have had several damaged boxes and items lately. Luckily they have all replaced them.

Happy T-day and hugz

Neet Hickson
September 21, 2022 10:01 am

Oh no, I could not pick a spider up like that. I have a thing. to pick them up and put them safely out of doors.
Botheration – the postage stamps, too right they should replace them, interesting to see what the package is like.
Love your napkins, especially the tweed ones
Your Alice page really is lovely. I am an Alice fan and so it appeals to me on two levels – one Alice and one the fur of the Cheshire Cat for the theme at AJJ. Gosh, that’s a lot of teapots! Great page and facing page – what a super idea.
Hugs, Neet xx

Iris Flavia
September 21, 2022 4:24 am

4C?! 05:00 am-ish now and 7, not much better…
XXXX has to learn a lot!
Stamps are a pain in Germany, too. Got some Sesame Street ones, 80c, now the price is 85.

Oh, I have way too many books already! And I wanna start training again next week, I need time, LOL…

Your cat-drawing is beautiful! And great napkins.Beautiful stamps (speaking of, huh).
Oh, naplin bottom-left I found with roses the other day!
Cute ATCs.
Belated happy T-Day, and weeee…. Wednesday already! x

Kate Yetter
September 21, 2022 2:31 am

Your tweed ATC’s are beautiful as well as the napkins you sent!
Loving your Alice page this week. Who doesn’t love Alice?
I skipped over the spider as I don’t really like them.
Happy Tea Day,
Kate

Sharon Madson
Sharon Madson
September 21, 2022 12:00 am

Love your Alice and teapots and cat artwork. Lovely! I think our napkin swap ended up great! It was fun and I already used one of my napkins in a junk journal. I will try to remember to post the page next week. Happy T Day.

Nicole/DVArtist
September 20, 2022 10:51 pm

I am happy you saved the spider. A lot of really beautiful things today. I love your art. Have a nice day.

Jo - Let's Art Journal
September 20, 2022 8:57 pm

Glad you came to the rescue but I skipped past the spider real quick – eek! Your page is so beautiful, loving the Alice image and those cat eyes ar amazing ?. So glad that you got all those napkins ok and I received one of your beautiful Harris Tweed ATCs , thanks so much! It’s now on display in my craft room. Thanks again and Happy T Day wishes! Hugs Jo x

Carola Bartz
September 20, 2022 8:46 pm

That’s annoying that they didn’t take more care in packing the stamps. I don’t like this kind of negligence. So all the money needs to be changed now? Wow, that is quite an endeavour – how long might that take? And what happens with the “old” money – I bet you will still be able to use for a few years, no? I like your Alice page, those tea pots great.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth
September 20, 2022 8:20 pm

Gosh Elle. You have just quashed my idea for a spread I had planned. Not with the Cheshire cat specifically, but with Alice. Enough said! I’m sure you can read between the lines. I really LOVE your spread and how you made it perfect for Neet’s theme at Art Journal Journey, too.

How sad about that postage. At least they are willing to replace it. Although I didn’t know that the Queen’s profile on the postage stamp was the most reproduced, but it sure makes sense. I have some from YEARS and YEARS ago. Now they will need a new profile if Charles decides to be on a postage stamp. I bet you are glad there is no Queen on your currency. Wonder what will happen to all that currency currently in circulation in England.

As for the extra stamps you received. I forgot to remove the one forever stamp from my calculations, so you got $1.40 (USD) extra postage. I caught it after yours, so no one else got extra postage.

You sent two ATCs. One was for Jo, who made an ATC for everyone in the swap, and one was for me. I also made an ATC for everyone in the swap, whether they sent an ATC or not. I hope that explains who got your two fabulous ATCs. I got the beautiful red heather. I think I got one of the bunnies. I love it and hope I did. I am not sure about the others since I have not really gone through most of mine yet. Also, Sharon and I exchanged napkins no one else got, too.

Thanks for sharing your new book you are reading, your art, and your 49 stamped teapots with us for T this Tuesday, dear Elle.

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