Tea time is for dreaming.

Have a cup of tea, why don't you? I do, quite often. Yesterday, I had Jessie's tea, from David's tea. My sister loves it, while I am more inclined towards Coco Chai Roobios, also from David's Tea. The tea description says it is a spicy adventure. Here's a few spicy adventure locations I would love to go to this week.

This cozy beach house.

This rustic vacation mansion. 

Or, if you can't go, dream in minuscule form.

Where do you want to be today?

Enjoy!

Blooming!

Remember tea? Yep, I still love it.

And look, it doesn't just steep, it blooms into a beautiful flower! This is a jasmine-green tea called 'Eternity'. Thanks Jenni! I am usually not a huge green tea fan, but this one was so good! 

It wasn't just a cup of tea, it was an experience. Does anyone else find blooming tea as fun as I did? 

Enjoy!

A crafty organization trick.

If you were to hear the word autumn, and say a beverage that goes with it, what would you say? I would say apple cider. And secondly, tea! One of my dear friends asked me the other day, when did you start loving tea so much? And I honestly can't remember. I know I took it to school nearly every day of grade eleven, but I don't remember the birth of my tea obsession. Ah well. I must be just getting old (haha). 

As of now, I have a nice collection of loose-leaf teas, as well as a plethora of filterbag options as well. Hosting tea parties here in the dorm is one of my favourite things, because to think I could drink all of that tea myself is a little insane. As much as I love tea. 

Here is my collection as of right now. I just updated it with chalkboard labels! So handy, as my teas in the jars change every so often, so I can just wipe it clean and re-write! The chalkboard paper came in an adhesive roll from Dollarama (one of my favourite, though guilty, indulgences. Who indulges in a dollar store? This lady does). 

Erin, my good friend and world traveller, painted hers with chalkboard paint. She labelled her tea in German, because she is just that exotic. 

Elsie of A Beautiful Mess did something very similar as a party favour idea, and with names of guests. See it here.

What's your favourite beverage of autumn?

Enjoy!

A Collection of Sorts.

Hello friends! And for those who are enjoying the Collections Blog Tour, from Elegant Musings, also welcome!

I think there is something wonderful about having something from another time. No one else can be there again, but yet, YOU have a piece of it! Quite lovely, I'd say.

I have tea cups from another era, but I also have been fortunate enough to find some beautiful new tea cups and tea pots that I hope will become vintage favourites eventually! I collect tea cups and pots, well..because I love tea! I also collect tea, and drink it too of course!

Would you take a browse a bit of my collection with me?

This very unique cup is from Ten Thousand Villages. A fairtrade store that purchases crafts from all around the world, and sells them in North America! Check it out. Isn't that leaf imprint wonderful?

These sunny yellow beauties were brought back from my sister from the East Coast. They're made to look like crushed paper cups. How neat!

The same sister also bought me this set for Christmas. Apparently I am predictable to buy for. This ethic elephant set is not from somewhere ethnic..but pretty just the same! I love the blue-grey shade.

A classic, toffee brown tea pot. But my youngest sister crocheted me a tea-cozy to keep my tea warm! She even added a cute yellow button.

Ah, yellow again. It's actually not my favourite colour, but I think it might become mine! These mustard-hued cups and saucers are just from Ikea, but picked out by my boyfriend. Nicely done.

This one's my favourite! It's from my grandma, and simply beautiful!

Oh, I could show you many more, but I decided to just display a few of my favourites. Are you an avid tea nerd too? What do you sip from?

Enjoy!

Inspiration Overload.

Well, first of all, are looking at blogs taking over my evenings?

Mr. Taylor and His Lady.

Smile and Wave.

Go Home My Dear.

Sally Jane Vintage.

The Adventures of Lillibet.

They might be. But! It causes such inspiration. Oh my...let me tell you! I've been noticing a few things.

One.

I've been thinking about is having more regular features. I already have the 'Lovelies' feature, once a month. (Just look for the tag Lovelies..or, to be simple, click here).

I would really like to create more regular features. Keep things organized, keep me from babbling on. So as soon as I come up with those, I will announce them!

Two.

Also, I have really appreciated seeing who other bloggers are. It's so nice when they tell where they've been, the things that consume their day-to-day lives. Don't you agree?

I really don't have much about myself in the 'About Me' page. Mostly just things I like to do.

So who is kristen?

Well. I am a Starbucks Barista currently. I have a fantastic family, and a pretty swell boyfriend. I believe God has created a lot of beauty, and blogging is such a fantastic way to share that. I live in the prairies of Canada. Yes, it may be quite flat, but also very beautiful. Hot summers, cold winters. (And no, I don't live in an igloo). I am fairly talkative, extremely optimistic, and a little reserved with non-pleasant emotions. Please email me if you have any burning questions about the oh-so-exciting life of kristen.

Three.

It's really a win-win situation to have beautiful photos. I try, but I don't consider myself gifted in that area, so, if anyone would care to share their photos on my blog, PLEASE let me know! I would be extremely honoured! And hey, become a follower if you like. Or Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Ah. Thanks for listening. Now a treat!

Jenni and I made cute little lace and felt flowers.

I found the idea for the felt flower here.

And I found tea crates at a garage sale!

I did a little research (googled it) on Browne and Ashley Tea Company, not much I could find. One thing I did find was that someone was selling this same shelf on Ebay for $10! 50 cents was my fantastic deal!

Does anyone know who the Browne and Ashley Tea Company is?

I'm going garage sale-ing tomorrow and hope to share some lovely finds! I can't wait! What does your weekend consist of?

Enjoy!

Time for Tea? Always.

I love tea! I have a good collection of loose tea piled up right now, and am slowly making my way through it all. I have made a good dent in my Rooibos teas, but had yet to try one I got for Christmas, a classic black tea, made especially to be iced. And I have been storing it in one of my cute little Dollarama jars. Dollarama! I can't believe that store half the time.

It was a bit of an experiment, but I put about 4 large tablespoons of tea in about 3-4 cups of hot water.

I was going to brew it in one of these loose tea filters, but it didn't seem to be quite big enough. I got it from my Grandma!

Then after about 4-5 minutes (I'm in an 'approximate' mood), i filtered it through a strainer.

Then I added tons of ice cubes! It was pretty good. I had one glass so far, and just added some Starbucks Classic syrup to sweeten it up a bit.

Delicious summer beverage!

And what else defines summer? Garage Sales! I went out for coffee with Jordon, and as we were leaving, we saw a garage sale! And it was a good garage sale! A little pricey, but the area we were in predicted that. The one fantastic find I snagged up were three of these cute little saucers, three for $1!

I love them.

Here's some fun tea links, just for you.

Stoneware is fun. Here's a lovely stoneware mug to sip your tea from.

Here are some Iced tea hints...nope, I didn't look at these hints before I made my iced tea.

And wouldn't you love to have tea here?

Source: brocantehome.tumblr.com via Kristen on Pinterest

Hey, did you know it's summer solstice today? It's the longest day of the year! Summer is setting in, isn't it? (You can laugh. Out of courtesy, if you like).

Enjoy!

Rainy, Rainy Day.

It would have been fantastic to go walking in the rain today! In rain boots and with an umbrella. I love this rain coat! Doesn't look like it would keep off much rain though.

Source: 4.bp.blogspot.com via Maria on Pinterest

I usually don't like rainy days like today, but somehow, making an excessive amount of Chai Tea lattes and Caramel Macchiatos made for a very nice day! That's the one thing I don't like about summer, making ten million Caramel Frappucinos. Yuck.

After work, I enjoyed the rain, Coldplay, and a Soy Chai Tea latte as I drove home. Very pleasant!

I have been wanting to make my own Chai tea for quite some time. If you don't already know, I love tea! I like to buy tea when I travel somewhere..not very many places yet. But I do have tea from Disneyland! I have yet to get around to making Chai tea though. And I mean really making it. I know how to throw a tea bag in some water, thank you very much! This milk-based recipe doesn't look too hard!

-2 cups of milk (or Soy if you can't drink milk like me!)

-2 cups water

-4 whole cloves

-2 crushed green cardamom pods

-2 crushed peppercorns

-1 cinnamon stick

-1 grape-sized piece peeled, chopped ginger

-2 tbsp. sugar

-2 tbsp. black tea leaves (Assam is the preferred option)

1. Combine everything except the last two ingredients in a saucepan.

2. Let it all simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Add the sugar and tea leaves, Simmer for 5 more minutes.

4. Stir, Strain, Serve!

(recipe found here. With my own twist put on it!)

Pretty easy right? I have good memories of chai tea made exactly like this by a friend of my sisters. I hope I can spend another rainy day making this sometime! What is your favourite thing to do on a rainy day?

I would like to enjoy the rain as this man once did, in a pretty city.

Source: hollyhocksandtulips.tumblr.com via Natasha on Pinterest

Enjoy!

Craft Retreat..at home.

Have you noticed the new banner and background? I thought it was nice and wintery, since winter has set in here! I have had many ask about the name of my blog, and it is NOT because I live in a place where it is summer all the time. definitely not. I actually just happen to enjoy summer, and when I think of summer, I think happy, sunny thoughts. I am an extremely optimistic person, so...

summer=happy=kristen

That, and it's a line from a Feist song, 'Gatekeeper'. I enjoy that song a lot.

Clarified!

Oh, I have missed crafting! During term break, I have been so excited to just craft and listen to Christmas music for the first time of 2010 for four days straight!

Thanks to my sister Jenni, I decided to try a new plant (my strawberry plant wasn't too ecstatic about living indoors), and so:

Presenting, sprouts!

They started out as these, wee little guys:

And thanks to warm water and a Mason Jar with cheesecloth, they're flourishing!

I think they look ravishing! I plan to eat them on a sandwich. When, you ask? No idea, but if you know of anyone who would like to eat a sandwich with sprouts as a vegetable on it, I know a sprout supplier! If you're looking to grow your own, here's some instructions I found helpful.

Onto Project numero Two: (I don't speak any other language than english. i know, i had you convinced for a second...secundo?)

Is it weird or neat? I truly do not know. It's a satchel of some sort. I was thinking of attaching an old leather belt as a long strap to it. Made out of MCC fabric and Wal-Mart fabric. No pattern necessary!

Project Three:

I'm an open book, really. I decided to take an old book a few weeks ago, wanting to create one of those secret compartment books (I was an avid Nancy Drew reader at one point, and I am pretty sure she must have used one of these). It's not finished yet. I'm about two hundred pages in. Here's how to attempt this one.

Project Four:

Just some more wall art for my dorm. I painted an old frame, and really wanted to keep some of my favourite tea boxes. Anyone who remembers Tazo African Red Bush knows what i'm talking about. Three boxes of it stashed away displays my lifelong devotion to this magical tea.

And! I promised I would display some of my tea cups. Here's a few!

Ikea find.

Ten Thousand villages. It's so textured - I love it!

Try having your own craft weekend. It's super fun.

Enjoy!

Cups of Tea.

If I haven't mentioned it already, I really love tea. All kinds. Actually, all kinds excluding green. I have had about 4 people come up to me this week saying, "I started drinking green tea and thought of you."

First of all, I don't think I look a whole lot like green tea, so I hope that's not the only thing associated with me.

And second of all, I really don't like green tea, so that makes things a tad awkward in these kinds of situations.

I like black tea, red tea, white tea...

but not green.

I know green tea is a staple for a lot of tea drinkers, but I can't bring myself to enjoy it. Yes, I have heard it's healthy for you. And yes, I have heard it's soothing and calming and all those feelings in between, but to me, it tastes like hay. or straw. or whatever horses eat.

And what do I drink my tea out of? Tea cups! I have the best tea cups in the world! They are beautiful and so unique!

My crushed paper tea cups (from the East Coast):

My mustard yellow tea cups (from IKEA):

My elephant feet tea cups (that come with an elephant tea pot!):

And there are a few tea cups I think would be lovely to have! Christmas presents anyone?

A beautiful tea cup from Starbucks! The inside is the best part.

I will have a pictures post of the rest of my tea cups soon!

Tea cups are so creative!

Enjoy!