Posts Tagged ‘tea’

Conversation Arts week 4

Monday, February 29th, 2016

Conversation Heart art prompts

February is almost over, and these are the last of the conversation heart sketches. I went through and isolated all of the prompts I’d not yet drawn (but still pulled them at random each day), and that took me exactly through the end of the month. Yay!

Conversation Arts 22: Date Night

Conversation Arts 22: Date Night – $45

I get a bit Genghis Khan. Also known as the most adorkable music video ever.

Conversation Arts 23: Sweet Stuff

Conversation Arts 23: Sweet Stuff – $25

This sketchy art is perfect for the Mad Hatter’s sketchy personality – but at least he’s got sweet treats for us.

Conversation Arts 24: Ooh La La

Conversation Arts 24: Ooh La La – sold

I’ve had umbrellas on my mind, and Sherlock wanted to show off his.

Conversation Arts 25: Be Happy

Conversation Arts 25: Be Happy – $45

What better to be happy about than a Pooh Bear and his very best Piglet?

Conversation Arts 26: Real Love

Conversation Arts 26: Real Love – $10

Giving up the last slice of pizza: now that’s real love.

Conversation Arts 27: BFF

Conversation Arts 27: BFF – $10

Getting my obscure fandom on, but my BFF knows the score.

Conversation Arts 28: I Love You

Conversation Arts 28: I Love You – sold

This dragon loooooves tea. Tea is life. Mmmmcaffeine.

Conversation Arts 29: Wicked Cool

Conversation Arts 29: Wicked Cool – $45

Roxy as promised, bringing us the Leap Day goodness in her pinstripe Kingsman suit.

Next month…

I’m going to try a regular Wednesday thing instead of daily art, to see if I can keep from driving myself batty. Come watch me on Periscope!

Categories: Daily Art, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange
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Conversation Arts week 3

Monday, February 22nd, 2016

Conversation Heart art prompts

I have had the flu all week! The blue ones are less awful-tasting when you can’t smell, but still pretty bad. Most of these have no color, because it’s hard to color when you’re coughing and sneezing and pathetic. I’m not dead yet, though! I’m feeling better! Anyway, the whims of fate and candy have brought these seven new sketches.

Conversation Arts 15: Wink Wink

Conversation Arts 15: Wink Wink – $10

I admit, I googled bad Star Trek pick-up lines and picked my favorite for Kirk. Cheeky bugger.

Conversation Arts 16: Melt My <3 2

Conversation Arts 16: Melt My <3 2 – $10

Kitties are the perfect way to melt anyone’s frozen heart, even Anna’s.

Conversation Arts 17: Be Mine 2

Conversation Arts 17: Be Mine 2 – sold

I still haven’t had any proper tea this week. Herbal, yes, but I miss my Earl Grey!

Conversation Arts 18: Hold Hands

Conversation Arts 18: Hold Hands – sold

If you haven’t seen Galavant then I’m very sad for you. But I still super believe in Tad Cooper.

Conversation Arts 19: Sweet Pea

Conversation Arts 19: Sweet Pea – $10

Ahaha I was so sick when I did this, but I still find it hilarious. Especially the judicious use of glitter gel pen.

Thorin + Arkenstone = OTP.

Conversation Arts 20: Sweet Talk

Conversation Arts 20: Sweet Talk – $45 (colored)

It’s up to you who’s on the other end of the comm there. Kingsman is one of those movies I adore despite the parts I hate (ugh FPS violence), and rewatching it while sick totally renewed all my crushes.

Conversation Arts 21: True Blue

Conversation Arts 21: True Blue – $45

Stitch good.

Ohana means family. And family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.

Categories: Daily Art, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange
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Cuppa Calm

Monday, October 5th, 2015

Cuppa Calm by Amy Crook

Cuppa Calm by Amy Crook

This is my favourite cuppa yet! The colours are mostly mineral pigments, softly desaturated and granulating in beautiful ways. There’s a wabi-sabi quality to the cup, with its uneven glaze, that perfectly cradles the beautiful green tea.

You can imagine breathing in the steam, cradling the warmth of the cup, the texture of it against your hands. Taking another deep breath of the subtle aroma before tasting the hot tea, its flavour grassy or nutty or floral. Whatever calms you, that’s what’s waiting in this lovely, earthy cuppa.

Cuppa Calm, 7″x5″ Primatek watercolor on paper.

Cuppa Calm, detail, by Amy Crook

Cuppa Calm, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the echo of the cup’s colors in the mountain scene on the tag. Below, it waits calmly to find its perfect place in life.

Cuppa Calm, framed art by Amy Crook

Cuppa Calm, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange
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Cuppa Gratitude

Tuesday, September 8th, 2015

Cuppa Gratitude by Amy Crook

Cuppa Gratitude by Amy Crook

It’s the last day of September’s Floating Gallery, and I’m grateful to everyone who’s emailed me to comment on a piece, set up a payment plan, or bought art outright. Every one of you is awesome!

The latest Cuppa is charmingly decked out in a warm, cosy piece of knitwear! The bright red cable knit cradles the bright green cup, almost a holiday feel with the gold gilding the edges but also evoking the color of new leaves and green tea.

Hand knits always make me think of gifts created with love, especially one that fits its intended wearer so well. The intricacies of cabling and seed stitch evoke hours of careful attention to detail, and the feeling of warmth seeping through the wool.

What better to be grateful for than a hot cup of tea?

Cuppa Gratitude, 7″x5″ pen & ink, watercolor, and metallic watercolor on paper.

Cuppa Gratitude, detail, by Amy Crook

Cuppa Gratitude, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the slightly mad inking I did on the cable knit design for the cup cosy. Below, the cuppa is tucked into a frame to keep it extra warm.

Cuppa Gratitude, framed art by Amy Crook

Cuppa Gratitude, framed art by Amy Crook

Whether you’re seeing this on the blog or in your email, thank you again for being awesome!

Categories: Floating Gallery, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange
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Cuppa Rage

Monday, August 3rd, 2015

Cuppa Rage by Amy Crook

Cuppa Rage by Amy Crook

Almost half of my July was taken up dealing with a tech snafu, which was covered by my extended warranty but still enough to drive me around the bend.

This sharp-edged, boiling cuppa was inspired by the uniquely enraging experience of dealing with terrible tech support that operates off a script with no room for the actual variation of customer experience. The cup itself is a dull, smoldering burgundy with bright orange in the handle and cut-off plane of the top, and a vibrant red inside with the bubbling tea. I gilded the sharp edges at the top and bottom of the cup and along the saucer, the bright spot of not actually murdering anyone.

My tech woes have been solved, but it’s good I had a cuppa to contain my rage.

Cuppa Rage, 7″x5″ pen & ink, watercolor, and metallic watercolor on paper.

Cuppa Rage, detail, by Amy Crook

Cuppa Rage, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the shine of gold offset by the virulent orange on the sharp-cut edge of the cup, and the roil of tea inside. Below, the rage has been contained in a frame, ready to receive all the frustration of your Mondays to come.

Cuppa Rage, framed art by Amy Crook

Cuppa Rage, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange
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Cuppa Sadness

Monday, July 6th, 2015

Cuppa Sadness by Amy Crook

Cuppa Sadness by Amy Crook

More blue! Yes, it’s been a very blue month, which I didn’t do on purpose — several of these are holdovers from previous months that I started previously and finished recently. It just sort of worked out that way.

This newest cuppa is a soft, greyish blue on a heavy, watery sort of shape, with drops of water falling from above like tears.

Silver paint adds some shimmer to the sadness, in the tag and around the rim, including the droplet-like ends of each little blorp.

Really, the saddest part about this cuppa would be trying to drink your tea out of the weird shape. Oops.

Cuppa Sadness, 7″x5″ pen & ink and watercolor on paper.

Cuppa Sadness, detail, by Amy Crook

Cuppa Sadness, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the shine of silver watercolor delicately gilding the edges of the cup and tag. Below, you can see the cup in a frame, ready to hold your sadness for you in its new home.

Cuppa Sadness, framed art by Amy Crook

Cuppa Sadness, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange
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Random Recipe: Earl Grey Vodka

Monday, June 22nd, 2015

It's Earl Grey vodka! Yum, yum.

It’s Earl Grey vodka! Yum, yum.

In case it wasn’t obvious, I’m in love with Earl Grey tea. I usually have upwards of half a dozen different kinds of Earl Grey in my cupboards, from vanilla to floral to straight-up bergamot. Captain Picard has a special place in my heart for his love of the beverage, as does James Bond’s newest Q.

Earl Grey vodka

  • 1 bottle of decent vodka*
  • 7 bags of Republic of Tea’s Earl Greyer tea, or whatever Earl Grey you like best

Put the teabags into the vodka. Wait overnight, at least 12 hours. Remove teabags. That’s pretty much it!

I found literally dozens of different recipes for this, and so I ended up randomly choosing a method and going for it. I did, of course, choose the laziest version.

By itself, I found the vodka way too harsh for my tastes, which is true of basically all flavored vodkas. It’s beautifully scented of both tea and bergamot, but the vodka and tannins made it too rough on the palate for me, so, I put it in cocktails!

Tea Times Two

  • 1 part Earl Grey vodka
  • 1 part Zen green tea liqueur
  • 1/2 part half & half

Since all of my ingredients were cold (including my glass), I just mixed them up and went with it. Otherwise, I’d serve it on the rocks since it’s basically a modified White Russian. The sweetness of the Zen and cream took away the harshness from the vodka and delivered a gorgeous, fragrant tea flavor that I will definitely enjoy again.

Quartermaster

  • 1 part Earl Grey vodka
  • 1 part Nolet Silver gin
  • 1 part sweet vermouth
  • dash of lemon bitters
  • 2 cherries

I love the idea of martinis, but I don’t actually like the dryness of the usual vermouth. I love sweet alcohol, and the Nolet gin is sweet and very floral, with a delightful rose overtone that follows the juniper when drinking it straight. The lemon bitters help keep the bergamot from drowning in roses, and the cherries are there strictly to allow me to enjoy eating them later.

It’s a nice marriage between a Vesper and my usual “semi-perfect” martini, which is just gin and sweet vermouth with perhaps a dash of bitters.

White Londoner

  • 1 part Earl Grey vodka
  • 1 part simple syrup or vanilla syrup
  • 1 part half and half

Serve this one over ice for a London Fog twist on a White Russian. It’s a lovely sipping drink for those evenings curled up with the cats.

What are you going to make with Earl Grey?

*I used some Crystal Head that was a gift from a friend who knows me far too well. I have named him Dorian. He came with two of the adorable crystal skull shot glasses. It was love at first sight.

PS – If you’re not on my list, you might want to fix that! Bookmark sale starts tomorrow.

Categories: Words Words Words
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