Celebrating the humble British cup of tea

I don't know about you, but I think tea is one of the best inventions in the world.

Apparently we've been drinking it here in Britain for over 350 years. They were a little luckier in China, having enjoyed a cuppa many centuries before us. In the UK we now drink over 165 million cups a day (thank you UK Tea Council) so I think we've just about made up for those years we were deprived of what is now the nation's favourite drink.

I thought it would be nice to celebrate tea in my own little way by making a papercut featuring a tea quote and surrounded by all things related to the delicious leafy infusion.

It was quite nice to spend a couple of hours cutting out teacups, teapots and tea bags while drinking a cup or two of the wet stuff!

Here's what it looks like framed. The quote reads "A cup of tea makes everything better". Which it does!

Would you like to know how I made it? Yes? Ok.

I started by drawing out the design in reverse on the back of the card. I always make sure each element is touching or linked in some way at this point because if not it would all fall to pieces when cut.

Then comes the fun bit, getting the knife involved! (Please excuse the pants picture, it's from my phone and let's just say it's not 'top-of-the-range', but rather 'hand-me-down'!).

So then I cut it all out, which I completely forgot to take photos of, but I think you probably get the idea! I decided that, to make the letters show up better, they needed a different coloured backing. To get the backing the right size and shape I drew through the lacy papercut around the letters, took the papercut away and filled in the gaps. Probably not the most conventional way to do it but it worked.

Here's the letter backing cut out.

 To stick it on I applied PVA with a cotton bud so it didn't all squish out the edges and cause a sticky mess.

Then I had the fiddly task of aligning the backing and gluing it on level.

A little while later, all the letters were backed. The main colour, a dotty green/blue, was easier to stick on as I just dabbed glue on everything, aimed it for the backing and went for it.

And now I'm off to make oaty cookies. And a cup of tea. Mustn't forget that!

I'm sharing today's post on the following lovely blogs: I Gotta Create, Rhinestone Beagle, Domesblissity, Free Pretty Things for You, Manon Popje's Illustrations, Savvy Southern Style and Seasoned Homemaker.