"Rituals" Postcard

I have been part of a postcard swap group since 2005 that started as an outgrowth of a workshop at a VCQ meeting (Virginia Consortium of Quilters).  We started with about 15 people making cards 4 times a year and as time has passed, the group has dwindled as well as the swaps per year.   We are now down to 5 people and are sharing cards just twice a year (spring and fall), which really is plenty.  It still provides a challenge but gives us lots of time to contemplate and execute our interpretation of the theme.

The fall swap theme was "rituals".  While the dictionary definition focuses on ritual as a religious rite or ceremony, I went with the interpretation of a routine or repeated action.   Especially since I have retired, I start every day with coffee and the newspaper, so that is what I decided to portray on my card.  I started by taking 2 pictures, one of the Washington Post, the other of my coffee cup. 

With the newspaper photo I made a thermofax screen to print on my background of rust dyed fabric.  For the coffee cup, I used Lesley Riley's Transfer Artist Paper (TAP) to make a transfer. 

I like how the transfer is transparent enough that the newsprint still shows through.  Some simple stitching around the outline of the cup gives it more definition.  After fusing on the back, the edges are finished off with a satin stitch.