Speaking of "BESPOKE"

As I continue to see this micro business I  have fondly named

Hi Tea Re*Creations

facebook.com/hitearecreations 

 grow steadily,  I am finding more and more that locally at least,  my high tea stand creations are slowly gaining recognition for both their uniqueness and practicality.

One of my creations used as a fruit stand

I am now finding as well that many people have very stylised and individual takes on what they would like  created for themselves. So after seeing what I am designing I feel privileged when asked by a client to create a gorgeous one off design . These designs I refer to as  BESPOKE.  

Bespoke according to Wikipedia means;

" Bespoke is an English word meaning made to a buyer's specification (personalized or tailored)"

This is a fitting description for  all the creations pictured below.

ENJOY  :)

'PINKIE'
   This stand was created specifically for a work colleague currently living with cancer. Pink was the inspiration for this bespoke piece to honor the very deserving recipient.  Everybody in the unit where I work contributed to the amazing array of pic-me-ups filling the cottage style high tea stand .

'Pure White Baby Bundle'

Pure White 3 Tiered stand

Completed Baby Bundle 

This pure white and gold stand with baby bundle was created especially  for a  baby shower held recently.  I used paper doilies instead of the cup cake  papers to sit the goodies in the baby bundle on. 

 A lovely story attached to this particular creation is that the mum-to-be was so delighted with the high tea stand that she is intending to use it for the Christening Cake/Cupcake  at the new arrival's  Christening later in the year. 

'Port Meirion Botanic Gardens/Roses'

 

 Created by request  for a colleague of  my daughter-in-law. 
This lady was able to give me a detailed description of the style of plates she was hoping that I could source for this beautiful stand.  As many collectors of Port Meirion would know,  these plates can be rather expensive, so I did my best to source plates from their starting point (England) which would keep costs down for the client.   I was delighted to hear that  my client was very very happy with the results  as she was giving it as a gift to her mother-in-law. I am sure that the recipient will also be thrilled when she receives it. 



'Regency' from British Anchor ENGLAND c1930

Sometimes a Bespoke piece is created  especially for a client who's personality is a true  reflection of  the timeless elegance that only comes from vintage chinaware.  I am personally very drawn to plates just  like the ones I used in this very classic vintage  high tea stand  for a client's friend recently.  

  People ask me if I get scared drilling into such old pieces of chinaware or if  have I ever broken any  vintage pieces as they appear so fragile and can be up to 80 years young.  The simple answer to that is no!! In fact I find these pieces are far more durable and easier to work with than the newer retro and contemporary plates that I create high tea stands from.




'Jessie'

'Jessie' was my first BESPOKE creation.  It seems such a long time ago now but is only a few months back when it all began.  I was asked to create this again for a baby shower.  The colour scheme was mint, lemon and mauve.  I already had the centre tier in my sights and so it began.  This photo does not really do the colours in this piece justice.  It really came up well and I heard that the mum-to-be was thrilled with her special gift.

SPRING is in the air . . . . . . . . . . .

Do you have a special occasion coming up ?

Perhaps I can create a BESPOKE piece for you

I love a challenge and I get a buzz from sourcing particular chinaware to co-ordinate or enhance a theme or colour scheme. The possibilities are endless.

 For those who would like a stand made for a gift or occasion where travel is necessary  postage and packaging are a breeze too as all stands can be packed un assembled and  very easily assembled when they safely arrive at their destination.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT ME
By leaving a message in the comments  box provided at the bottom of this blog entry
or
 facebook.com/hitearecreations


Happy Days :)

Loose Change . . . . . . . . . . .

Yesterday .  . . . . . . . .

   Yesterday many people would have ended the sort of  day I had, reflecting on it and wondering why the hell they gave  up the first day of Spring (and a beauty at that)  to stand in a  cold old shed in a country town, on sub zero uneven flooring, smiling wistfully at passers by  all the while trying to spread the joy and sell  my little   Hi Tea Re*Creations .  Many people may have . . . . . . . . . .but I didn't and this is why  . . . . . .

Hi Tea Re*Creations Stall at Deloraine Market

My faithful man and I started our Saturday morning together  a lot like a work day morning, buzzing around the kitchen together and taking far  too long to get ready to leave the house together at an ungodly hour, .
We were off to MARKET DAY!!!  My little lovelies  were  tucked away in their travel bags safely clinking away in the back of the car.  I was going to sell heaps today, definitely!!

Deloraine is a pleasant 30 minute drive from home and being the first day of spring, everything looked a little bit brighter and maybe even a little bit  warmer. (This last statement is a lie). Upon our arrival I put on my cheery stall holder face and headed off to find the organisers and to see what "wonderful position" I had been given to set up. it's usually average if your a newbie stall holder but happily I was near the door to the shed, which on a typical Tassie Winter's morning would have been , well, to put it mildly- CRAP-, but not today.  Today the sun was shining in onto my stall and this really did show off  the "high tea stands" as they sat gleaming on the crisp latte coloured linen , covered in heavy white lace.Good spot for optimum sales!!

 My first "customer" was a lady who had  been given the task of gathering   as many cups and saucers and high tea stands as she could , rapidly.   Her daughter is getting married and the affair will be vintage .  This lady  stood patting the stands and wishing I'm sure,  that the price tags would say 'free to all mother's of the bride'.  She started to share her story with me about how tricky it is to find  good quality  vintage chinaware, . We chatted  away for several moments about my  

*********************HI TEA FOR HIRE SERVICE*****************

 and through our conversation, I do believe that I could  be seeing my hire high tea sets heading off to their first Wedding very soon!!!

See my page on FACEBOOK

facebook.com/hitearecreations

My second 'customer' was a  willowy much older man, with snowy white hair, matching his bushy beard, poking out from under his 'Akubra' who looked like he had just come in from digging spuds. He was striding through the shed at pace  to greet the sunshine outside, UNTIL he spotted my high tea stands glistening in the sunshine.  He stopped and gently touched the one I had placed deliberately on the centre of the stand to show off my work, and as he touched it I could  'see' the thoughts he was having as the emotions played across his face.  "Do you make these all yourself?" he asked.  When I told him that I did and why I did we found ourselves in a long conversation  about the art of making high tea stands and also about the type of 'cafe culture' that he would like to see offered in the area and how he believed a true style 'tea house' was needed locally. "I need your business card "he said.  "High Teas are all the rage in Queensland." "Was up there for a while [over winter]and loved the food they served at the high tea I went to." To which  I thought,  "OK , don't judge this book by it's cover, he looks like "the man from Snowy River, but he clearly knows what a "real" high tea looks like. It turns out, He did.  He had grown up in the Cambridge area of England during the post war era.  His mother, wanting him to experience the little pleasures in life had taken him,  along with his aunties, to 'take high tea' at the Savoy Hotel.  THE SAVOY HOTEL!!!  He took me on a journey with him as he explained  the beauty of such an occasion.  WOW!!

How unbelievable would that have been to experience The King of all high teas during a time when the pace was slower and etiquette was so articulate.  Not to mention the beautiful  pieces of chinaware that would have been laid on the table.  The same pieces that I now source which are clearly wearing the test of time like a badge of honor with their 'crazing and 'flea bites' but still after decades of use, manage to catch the eye as they glisten in the day light. The pieces that I lovingly redesign into my                   Hi Tea Re*Creations.

Savoy Hotel  London circa 1950

Customers 3 through 7 
were never going to buy with currency, any thing that I had to offer on the stall,  because they have  already given me something  that makes me far richer than money ever could. They have given me a family. So as my darling granddaughter ran around the back of the stand calling "Mam Ma uppie,  Mam Ma uppie pleeese, my stall holder face turned in to a grandmother's face full of  joy and I just enjoyed being the mum , mum-in-law and grandmother.

Esther "straightening" my business cards.

The stories continued all day.  The lady with pink hair who wished  her life was like the scene from the Royal Albert Kentish Rockery  chinaware.  The lady with rainbow coloured dreaddies who walked by several times ,  giving the stands a glance each time.  The grandmother who almost too  cheerily told me she "had plates" just like these and none of her kid's wanted them so they got "chucked on the tip"  (breathe, breathe).  :(    Or the lady who said  "I already have 3 of them plate thingy's at home and there is only so much room to put them isn't there?"  Well,  I don't know about that?   I currently have about 3 DOZEN of them at my place!!  LOL

As the day started to wind down with only 2 teacup candles and 1 base screw (any sale is a sale I suppose), sold, I wandered around to chat with other stall holders who were all very disappointed that the customers wallets were not being emptied into the stall holder's pockets this market day.  While doing this I picked up dates for 2 more market days that I knew nothing about before hand.  Networking is so worthwhile 

 So- this had been a market day where plenty customers flowed through but none had been prepared to buy.   Perhaps it's the current  financial climate or the fact that school holidays are just one week away. Or maybe it was simply because we were in a place where high tea just doesn't  rate a mention. Yet.    What ever the reason at the end of the day, absolutely none of this actually mattered to me.   I had spent a  perfectly lovely first day of spring in the company of my family and  many new acquaintances and prospective future customers and I could not have been HAPPIER!!!

So today . . . . . . .

Today  I can look back on yesterday and smile.  And that doesn't cost a cent.

Happy Days  :)   Tonia
 

Hi Tea Re*Creations for Hire

It's Time for  . . . . .HI TEA FOR HIRE

.

 

If you Live in or *around Launceston, in Tasmania and you are contemplating a 

High Tea Style

Bridal Shower,  Baby Shower,  Graduation, 

 Happy Birthday , Happy Retirement or just contemplating Spring, I have a suggestion for you.

 

Hire your "High Tea" Crockery and Cutlery from 

 Hi Tea Re*Creations for Hire

  Teacups and saucers. side plates, high tea 3 tiered stands and cutlery *delivered and collected (around Launceston)  at affordable hire prices.

*(Please contact me for delivery destinations)

 I have been a collector of  these gorgeous items  for many years and can offer  two designs

VINTAGE Feminine Florals  and  VINTAGE Pretty Pastels 

  

(currently catering for group up to 30 people  )

SET INCLUSIONS ****************************************************************

-Cup and Saucers

-Plates

-Teaspoons

-Tea Forks
-sugar bowls, milk jugs
-teapots

-Hi Tea Re*Creations tiered cake stands , cake plates  to suit occasion size

-Disposable Napkins

-Earl Grey,  English Breakfast or Green Tea (Teabags or Leaves)

-(Place Cards  also available on request)

*********************************************************************************

Vintage Floral Hire Set

  Consider my  

Hi Tea Re*Creations 

Hire Service 

Vintage Pastel Hire Set

 for your next "Girlie" Celebration or  Gathering.

  HI TEA RE*CREATIONS 

 HIGH TEA HIRE SETS

Giving YOU more  time to arrange your
Special Occasion and less time sourcing   chinaware and cutlery for 
Your High Tea Celebration

Hi Tea Re*Creations 

3 Tiered Vintage high Tea Stands for hire.

For further information  please contact me through the comments box at the bottom of this post or go to :-

facebook.com/hitearecreations

My Little Obsessions

One Man's Trash . . . . . . . .

You really don't have to look very far in this world full of "cyberspace" and "social networking"  to search out precious reminders of your past and reclaim little items for yourself  identical to those which  reconnect you with a time past that was so happy and carefree. That special time when you were growing up.  So if like me, you were raised in a happy supportive family,  you will probably remember a time when decisions were made by dad  while comfortable surroundings and wholesome meals and were prepared by mum.  All the while being taunted and teased by siblings, who were older in my case, but who like me felt  protected in the safety net of our family.  This was my upbringing .  It was warm and safe and easy. Money was tight so the simple things in life were the norm and  special occasions were  planned well in advance while  treats were usually quite inventive. Most of all my thoughts wander back to those intrinsic things that were part of every day life.

These are the fundamental things that my hubby and I have strived to give our 3 boys during their upbringing and, more recently give to their families.  We want for all them, what we had as children and adolescents, growing up during the 60's and 70's.
They may not understand  at this time in their lives why "Oompah" (yep that really is one of the "nicknames they have given me over the years ) is buying  all this "old stuff" for them to use when they come home to spend time with us , but I guarantee in time, that they will.



 Enter- the first  "childhood  memory"
An auction recently won  through a very popular online  auction website:-  SCORE!!! :)

Johnson Australia Sunflower Tea set

With the passing of time and more recently due to my re acquittance with beautiful items of chinaware while sourcing pieces to use for my Hi Tea Re*Creations cake stands,  I have found that I am  generally drawn to certain pieces  for "the feeling I get" the minute I see it, wherever I source it from.

Johnson Australia 3 Tiered Stand For Sale

As well as all of the beautiful plates that I am turning into  

"Hi Tea Re*Creations"

  photobucket/hitearecreations

I have also found replicas of  the contents of my parent's and grandparent's  kitchen cupboards.

Enter my latest obsession:-  Meakin and Grindley  and  Johnson Australia dinnerware.

J&G Meakin, Grindley and Johnson Australia

So,  from what started out as a scavenger hunt for plates to make a high tea stand for myself , simply because I couldn't find one that I particularly liked,  I have created a micro business which is really interesting and enjoyable  and I have also managed along the way to find the chinaware from my own childhood that transports me back to a time that will always warm my heart and put a smile on my face.  So it's true what they say.  One man's trash . . . . . . . .

                                                      

                                          . . . . . .is another man's treasure

Happy Days :)  Tonia

Olympic Dreams

Olympic Dreams

THE OLYMPIC COLLECTION 2012

With the London Olympics 2012 now in full swing

I have had plenty of inspiration (especially from the opening ceremony) to create some

bright, patriotic pieces to sell.

Being not  particularly sporty by nature I have decided t name the newest editions after "famous women" or songs rather than athletes  from countries represented in London.

Enjoy these latest Hi Tea Re*Creations. 

Don't forget to make contact  in the first instance,  through the comments box at the bottom of this post, if you wish to purchase one of the stands via this page.

I will then contact you privately to keep personal information and conversations private.

 

'WALTZING MATILDA'

'YOKO'

All of the above Hi Tea Re*Creations are 

FOR SALE  

$40 

per stand.

I look forward to assisting you.

FOR MORE STANDS CURRENTLY FOR SALE

GO TO
photobucket/hitearecreations 

To finish this post I have to share a pic with you of my delightful  granddaughter "assisting" me to "assemble" the stands that you see on this page.  

This little ray of sunshine just loves to sit near me and watch me at work. She and her new little cousin are a constant  reminder to my hubby and I of how precious the gift of our family is and how wonderful life can be when it is shared with those we love.

HAPPY DAYS  :)          Tonia

Bundles of Joy

Bundles of Joy

                        

With "The  Baby Shower" becoming an increasingly popular way to celebrate and  to support

  relatives or friends who are preparing to WELCOME  a newborn into their lives, I also create

"Hi Tea Re*Creations Baby Bundles" 

This  unique gift doubles as a present for  mum, who receives a beautiful 3 tiered high tea stand which I have made, filled with a "Baby Bundle" (See below for details of baby bundle contents)
The baby bundles contents are displayed on the stand.  It is designed to look like a high tea stand full of cupcakes and yummy treats.

 THE BABY BUNDLE  includes  :- approximately 1 dozen newborn nappies, 2 bibs, 1 pair of mittens, 1 pair of socks and when available, one gorgeous pair of  baby booties, lovingly hand knitted especially for the baby bundles,  by my daughter-in law's mum.  (if booties are not available, I include a second pair of socks.)

All of this is beautifully gift wrapped and also includes a gift tag.

"Sugar & Spice"  FOR SALE

"Little Boy Blue" FOR SALE

?? Price ??
Currently
Hi Tea Re*Creations
Completed
Stand and Baby Bundle
(as seen here)
  $60
 This includes everything I have mentioned including all gift wrap, ribbons, gift card etc.






For  New
        Mums and Bubs  
I am  more than happy to deliver to my local hospitals.

 LAUNCESTON, TAS  - ONLY

I can create the Baby Bundle on any of the stands I currently have for Sale.
(You may only want a 2 tier stand for example )

 (  The cost for a baby bundle , excluding cake stand ,  is $25 approx. This price  includes preparing items and gift wrapping)
Contact me for further details.

I am also happy to design  a BESPOKE  High Tea Stand to complement a  baby shower theme or kitchen colour scheme to suit the new owner of the stand. ( as seen below)

Bespoke 3 Tiered Vintage Stand
Mint, mauve and lemon
SOLD

to see other stands I currently have for sale please click the links below

photobucket.com/hitearecreations

or

facebook.com/hitearecreations

 Bundles of Joy

For a

Girl or a Boy

HAPPY DAYS  :)

What's in a Name??

What's in a name?

Well, if you are already a "Hi Tea ReCreations" follower via my Facebook page you will know that I give each of my latest little "lovelies" a name.  Predominantly a female name, but not always.

There are two particular reasons that I chose to do this when I entered the world of high tea stand creations.

1. when I am working with the plates, cleaning , drilling or assembling them, I am more often than not  transported to another time, another place and so the "name" for that stand is born,(so to speak). 

2. I have found that naming each piece helps those who decide to purchase online through the FB page can quickly identify the stand they are interested in by using the name and I remember immediately (well, nearly almost immediately), which one that is being spoken about.  It's a nice way to do business and I love that the plate takes an identity that will be carried on when it is out and about , being seen and being loved by the new owner.

See the link below which will take you to some of my little wonders.

photobucket.com/hitearecreations

Enjoy 

Miss Tivoli

currently 

FOR SALE

Granny Smith

Currently 

FOR SALE

 Isla

currently 

FOR SALE 

For more like these don't forget to check out my

Hi Tea Recreations 

 Facebook or Photobucket page

At this stage I post within 

AUSTRALIA ONLY

please contact me though this page or at

facebook.com/hitearecreations