I hope you're enjoying March so far...the past two days here have been lovely...50's with a bit of sun and lots of melting snow. The mud isn't much fun but we're on the Indiana Roller Coaster called Spring so we only have to wait a day or so and that'll change.
Actually we don't have to wait long, I just got a weather alert in my inbox...We're under a Winter Storm Warning from 2:00a.m. to 5:00p.m. tomorrow... "HEAVY SNOWFALL RATES IN EXCESS OF A INCH PER HOUR... AND NORTH WINDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 35 TO 40 MPH WILL RESULT IN HAZARDOUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS LATE TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. THE STRONG WINDS MAY ALSO CAUSE TREE BRANCHES TO BE BLOWN DOWN...POSSIBLY RESULTING IN A FEW POWER OUTAGES."
So there you go...fun fun fun. Thursday & Friday it's supposed to be back up to the 40's then more snow on Saturday and Sunday... I wasn't kidding about the roller coaster - LOL!!!
Anyway, on to today's technique. Tea Bag Stamping! I've had these pieces of empty used tea bags on my desk most of the winter just waiting for me to get around to them so I finally decided I was tired of moving them around and it was time to put them to work. This is another fun "green" craft that really adds a great dimension and texture to your projects.
Before I move onto the card I wanted to talk a bit about preparing the tea bags and how it changes to look of the dried tea bag paper. The piece on the left was emptied and rinsed out immediately after use which is why it's a light tea color. The center tea bag was left to dry naturally with the tea still in the bag. The third tea bag was emptied after use but not rinsed yielding a deeper tea color.
Since this is a color heavy technique I'm using the rinsed tea bag. I started off by pouncing a small puddle of Spiced Marmalade Distress Stain in the center of the tea bag. I then used my Niji Waterbrush to push the ink around where desired.
Next I added Mowed Lawn along the bottom edge and right side and Peacock Feathers along the upper portion and left side of the tea bag. You can let this dry naturally or speed up the process by using your heat tool to quickly dry it.
I then stamped the desired images using Black Archival Ink.
The wicked cool thing about using tea bags....the color and images show up on BOTH sides of the tea bag!!! A reverse image without any fancy techniques or additional steps. Way cool in my book!
Stamped Side....
Reverse side
And here's how I finished it off....
Tea bags are so much fun to use!
I have a couple of other fun techniques
that I'd like to share the next couple days,
I hope you'll stop by and check it out.
Love this idea- and the finished card is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteFabulous tutorial!! love the finished card! mo x
ReplyDeleteHi Roni, it's been awhile since my last visit so I must take a look and see what I missed. What a fun project. I have lots of used tea bags. Maybe I should keep a few and try them out. I was laughing cos yesterday I made an ATC from coffee filters http://craftynomad.blogspot.no/2014/03/big-shoes.html. I used new ones but I was wondering today how used ones would look and here you are playing with tea bags. Cool. Hope you are keeping warm and nothing blows in or away in those winds. I was thinking spring was here and then last night was one of the coldest since December!! Go figure. I think everyone is still having a lot of weather. Off to plant some peas as it is sunny at the moment and then I will have a look around to see what you've been doing. Hugs
ReplyDeleteLove the idea of recycling my tea bags in this way. How come I never thought of that! We're under a blizzard watch today and tomorrow--we're on that weather roller coaster, too. Take care! Anne, yourmainestamper
ReplyDeleteI love this idea of using the tea bags that I usually throw out. I am letting a tea bag dry now to try this. I don't own any Distress Ink Stains so I'll have to try an alternative.
ReplyDeleteI love what you came up with and your card is lovely. I think using a stamped background like you did or a pattern paper would be the way to go. Thanks for sharing your fabulous creation and once again clear and concise directions..
Thank you for sharing this inspiring technique. I have been saving my used tea bags for a mixed media project I am working on. I never thought of colouring and stamping them. Now this has given me a new idea and I am going to go with it! I also use used coffee filters as an art supply, they are great for stamping on and die cutting too. I love using items for art supplies that would otherwise end up in the garbage. I often shop from my recycling bin. Thank you for this timely inspiration. I would love to see more used tea bag projects.
ReplyDeleteJacquelene L
Canada