Well, as the saying goes “The best laid plans…” as it was my foremost intention to be present at this festive fall, tea filled gathering.

Upon hearing that Geoff, Lazy_Literatus would be in attendance along with another “Tea Star” Julia of Jane Austen Tea fame, my anticipation heightened.

 

Oh for naught, I found out that my husband had a great surprise in the making. He had arranged for us to see one of my favorite alternative jazz composers and I would be remiss not spending time with my favorite man* and listening to fabulous music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So to my Tea Tandem group, please accept my apologies whilst I offer this submission as my contribution.

 

I had seen several posts recently by Rachel of I Heart Teas focused on her Holiday line and thought this tea would be right in line for our session.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creamy Pumpkin Spice;  I crave this brew as I sit under the fall sky, enjoying the brisk warm winds of the season and admire the handwork of nature with the advent of the changing leaves?

I took the opportunity to brew some in advance, contributing to the event at hand.

The whiff of vanilla, pumpkin spice, cinnamon, cardamon, ginger and cloves strikes you upon opening the package, the dark leaves of the black tea and marigold flowers encapsulate the beauty of the blend.

I brewed it as a black blend at a commonly suggested 212 degrees for black tea and floral blends and allowed it to rest for 4 minutes.

The hue, reminiscent of pumpkin orange, made it all the more special.

The sip brings me back to Thanksgiving Day when the entire kitchen is filled with the spices of the season and the scent of baking is in the air.

Along with our tea came the makings for creating a holiday card. I had mentioned in our previous session that card crafting is not my forte.

With the encouragement of the Ladies of Tea, and yes, as I was proceeding to begin this serious undertaking, I heard your voices in my head “you are creative, you can do this”.

I know why I have been hesitant to get involved in this aspect of crafting. It takes so much precision and focus, of which I have little.

Give me some clay and the disclaimer “hand sculpted. Imperfections add to the beauty of the piece”,

or creating one of my digital card renditions.

I raise my teacup to you ladies that have added card crafting to your DIY repertoire.

So I began, with my Creamy Pumpkin Spice by my side and was able to put together two cards.

 

 

 

Hope my attempt is satisfactory, as I missed the instruction portion of the tasting session that might of helped in the cutting, pasting and designing portion of the project.

 

Well, my teacup is empty and my thoughts complete.

Sorry I missed this one.

I know you all had a hoot.

Thank you Rachel for the tea and card making start up set and Rachel, Nicole and Darlene for the temerity.

Oh and by the way, I have not forgotten Winter Frost, I will save this for another post.

* Just a short note, hubby got sick and was unable to attend. So I had to represent. The performance was awesome and during the intermission I attempted to log on to say hello although the phone would not cooperate. Missed you all. Talk about making plans, whew!

More Tandem Reading:

Nicole, Tea For Me Please

Rachel, I Heart Teas

Darlene, The Tea Enthusiast Scrapbook

Julia, Tea Temptress

Geoff, Lazy_Literatus