Tea Bags: Not Just for Tea

I do love a good cup of tea around 3 o'clock in the afternoon. There are many varieties that I like; peppermint tea, Earl Grey, Orange Pekoe, Raspberry Thriller, Sleepy Time Tea and a few more. At that time of day, I'm getting a little hungry and I'm usually on my computer and getting a little tired of staring into that glowing light. So a cup of tea just gives me a lift and a little more energy to finish off the last of my work before I begin to make dinner.

But there is another reason I like tea. Once I'm finished with the tea bag, I don't throw it in the green bin. Oh no! I will let it cool off and then carefully open it up and rinse all the tea leaves out of it. I get really excited if the tea leaves have actually dyed the bag slightly. Some of you know that I like to use tea bags in my art. I am always looking for ways to use them because I love the delicateness of the bag when it is dry.

I have been using paint on them or fabric dye. When the paint or the dye is dry there appear gradations of colour on the bag and that give it such interest. Due to the delicate nature of these bags, they are wonderful to use for depicting flowers. They mimic the delicate petals and when you overlap pieces of the bag you can see through it to the shape beneath it.

Once I have dyed or painted a few bags, I'll iron some "Heat n Bond" to the backs of them and this makes it easier to form them into shapes and adhere them to another piece of fabric. Last week I used some pink dyed tea bags to make a card with tree blossoms on it.

Because the day lilies are out at the moment, this morning I dyed a few bags yellow orange and orange hoping to make a card with day lilies on it.

Above is the neighbourhood sketch for this week, although I didn't have to walk far to capture these beautiful blooms. Perhaps I'll use the day lilies here to make my tea bag card. Keep those tea bags coming! I have ideas percolating in my head of doing a large tea bag art quilt of a flower garden.