paperlicious: recycling teabags

(stitched teabag paper, teabag tag, teabag string)

I ran out of the tea stained muslin scraps for my Gulf Spill Quilt

so I reused the teabags themselves

and the tags

and the string

Here is Mr. Brown Pelican:

Today Rebecca @ recuerda mi corazon is hosting a fun papertrail

Paperlicious

reveal your favorite paper art

(your own or someone else's)

paper touches us all

folded

torn

stained

painted

sketched

written

crumpled

decayed

Tea and Butterflies

I'm drinking tea today with 7 butterflies that I made yesterday.

Each butterfly represents one in 1.5 million children that perished in the Holocaust.

I'll be sending them to Two Dresses Studio

in participation with the Butterfly Effect project

at the Houston Holocaust Museum

Click on the butterfly below 

to learn more about how Trudi Sissons at Two Dresses Studio 

is collecting butterflies to send to the museum.

* * *

In honor of our newest Tea on Tuesday blogger, Gayle of Bliss and Gesso, I'm drinking Madura Tea from New South Wales, Down Under.
(Gayle may join us this week or next - it's a little confusing with the nearly 36 hour time difference.)

(It was on Gayle's blog that I first read about "The Butterfly Effect" project.)

I just love how this tea is described as 

"a unique, coloury, flavoursome tea." 

"Flavoursome"

what a fabulous attribute for a tea!

"Coloury"

I like that!

especially for tea dying techniques :)

* * *

I hope your Tuesday is flavoursome and coloury!

Please visit the other tea blogs listed in my sidebar for more

flavour

and

colour!

Cheers!

what "a little talking to" will do

I had lunch with my Dad today.

I wanted to show him my photo transfers - knowing I would get his honest opinion.

I have to say that I've been like a stick in the mud getting my etsy shop back on track

even with this next "big idea" I had (of the photo transfers)

I get an idea and then a little voice says,

sheesh

big deal

that's not going anywhere

what a waste of time

and effort

there's way better stuff

than yours

etsy is big

you are little

no one will see it

no one will want it

no one will buy it

etc

etc

etc

do you know that voice too?

That's when you need to talk to someone like my Dad.

He's like a kick in the butt and a hug all at the same time.

Thanks Dad.

my etsy

oil spill quilt progress

I started with basting the watercolor patches to my muslin:

The watercolors are from my sketchbook over the summer

(posts labeled: oil spill series)

I used a "light fabric transfer paper" (Avery brand) that I just ran through my inkjet.

I scanned all of the original watercolors first 

and flipped them to mirror image before running the transfer paper through the printer.

I must say that I am very pleased with the quality of the transfer ...

... and the ease of the transfer process

- easy peasy -

I dyed the muslin scraps with tea

(green tea, black tea and hibiscus tea to get the different colors)

and have started stitching them between the images

this is where it's really getting fun

it's just so peaceful to do handstitching

very similar to knitting

pick it up

put it down

stitch and think

think and stitch

thanks for looking :)

special tea

One of our stops in Seattle (see yesterday's post)

was The Vital Leaf tea shop

It's a tasting room where you can 

enjoy sampling all sorts of teas that

you might not ordinarily try.

The first question the host will ask is:

"what is your favorite type of tea to drink?"

(I said black)

... and then they proceed to show you the best way to brew it ...

 the idea is to start out with what you already know and like

and learn how to improve it by a better brewing technique.

For instance,

with black tea,

she said that traditionally the hot water is run through the tea first to warm it and wash it,

then it is steeped - only briefly - about 1 minute.

The teas I tasted: 

lychee black, coconut green, dragon well, 

siberian rose and osmanthus, jasmine pearl, and hibiscus.

I think my favorite was the coconut green tea.

Oh my goodness .....

yum!

***

For more yummy tea, please visit the "Tea on Tuesday" blogs listed in my sidebar

pictures from my weekend

These are pictures from Saturday in Seattle

this one is the of the north end of Pike Place Market

(Seattle's Public Market is the oldest and longest running farmer's market in the country)

This sign was made famous in the movie Sleepless in Seattle:

This is the sign at the south end of the market

the one you're more likely to see on a postcard:

All along the way, don't forget to look up:

And of course, inside the market, lots of good food:

Here we are (mom, sister and mom's good friend) enjoying a bite to eat:

(I am 2nd from the right)

Looking up again:

A good day to get married - no rain!

I have no idea who these people are - but isn't a cool place for wedding photos?

Some of those posters are VERY vintage (Rolling Stones for instance)

A back alley behind the Market:

And this is what we found there:

Yup, lot's of germy a.b.c. gum:

I couldn't have said it better myself:

gulf spill project

I'm revisiting this heartache

maybe it's because The Thing will be permanently capped tomorrow

now THAT makes me happy

I've used iron on transfer stuff

and have muslin squares ready to piece together into a quilt (like the Gulf?)

 the muslin pieces that go in between it all (like booms?) 

will be tea stained (like oil?)

and I am inspired by many other fiber artists out there in blogland (like kindred hearts?)

with their magnificent threads and stitches (like the essentials of life?)

I am so excited about this project

this is what I love about creating

... when something just feels right ...

twinchie transfers

Lisa Lee over at Inchie Arts asked me if this technique would work on twinchies

(that got me playing some more ;-)

The Inchie Arts Inchie and Twinchie Squares 

are made from a high quality matte board

... they worked quite nicely in fact!

Thank you Lisa!

Here you can see that I've adhered my Twinchie Squares (dark cream) 

directly onto the images

I used Mod Podge - which is a decoupage medium

If you cannot obtain this, I would suggest Golden Acrylic Medium or white glue

Here they are individually cut out and fully dried

I allow at least half a day drying time

Next I simply wet the paper and gently rub it away leaving the ink jet image

(my original post about this process is HERE)

... and here they are all finished ...

The nice thing about using the Inchie Arts products for this project

was the sturdiness of the material

You definitely want to use something that will stand up to the abuse

(glue, water, rubbing, etc.)

this one is my fav

(these are all pictures of my dear old Dad)

a portrait of tea

 my cuppa today is partly Prince of Wales tea and partly Exotic Fruit Sencha

I didn't have much left of the Prince of Wales tea

so I adulterated it.

Prince of Wales is a royal tea blend typically served in the afternoon with scones. It produces a cup that is mild, but full bodied, with a bright liquor and strong smell. The blend is made from China black teas. The strong earthy scent of Prince of Wales Tea comes from high grade Keemun tea from the Annhui Province. The Keemun is blended with other teas from around China such as Gunpowder, Oolong, and Lucky Dragon for a mild and complex cup. The tea was a personal blend of Edward, Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII.

- wikipedia

Edward VIII was the prince who caused a major scandal by marrying the American socialite, Wallis Simpson.

Sencha Tea is a Japanese green tea

when choosing green tea, you have basically 2 choices:

Matcha

or 

Sencha

Matcha green tea is powdered

Sencha green tea is the whole leaf

"Depending upon the temperature of the water in which it is decocted, the flavor will be different, and this also is the appeal of sencha. With relatively not too hot water, it is relatively mellow; with hot water, it is more astringent."

- wikipedia

maybe Wallis Simpson was "the whole leaf"

with something exotic thrown in there as well

and they both ended up in hot water

poor Edward.

***

for more tea and stories, please visit the tea blogs listed in my sidebar

more photo transfer

today's playtime

this newest batch was on a smoother paper than the watercolor paper in my earlier post

they seemed to transfer more consistently using a paper that didn't have a rough texture

Elizabeth asked, "Is it possible for a non-artist to try this?"

well - if you can frost a cake or bake a cobbler you can do this

(E is a trained pastry chef!)

and Teri said, "I assume that you put the MP (mod podge) on the photo before you put it face down on the paper, right?" 

 IMPORTANT: apply the MP to the receiving paper NOT the photo

- if you do, the ink will dissolve and smear as you brush on the MP

Those were the only things I thought I should clarify :)

***

I think I may put some of these in my etsy shop

what do you think would be a fair price for something like this?

(just the raw print - no mat, frame, etc.)

is $5 too much?

photo transfer

... is something I've been playing with a little bit...

for this example I started with an inkjet image
(my own photo) and some watercolor paper

I tore the edges using a ruler,
and I marked the corner placement with a tiny pencil dot

I adhered the image, face down, using mod podge

when the MP was dry,
I soaked the back of the inkjet image with water
and began rubbing the paper off

what remains is the ink and a very thin layer of the inkjet paper
as you can see, it's an imperfect result

some areas transfer well

some areas - not so well

but this is exactly what I was hoping to achieve
a sort of ghostly and soft image
when I was done, I applied a coat of MP as a clear coat
helping to bring up the color a little bit 

"t" is for thankful

It seems like fall is a good time for feeling cozy and thankful about stuff

(you may still have summer where you live - but there is a definite chill in the air up here)

a good day for snuggling up with some hot cocoa

:)

"snuggle up peppermint" hot cocoa this last day of summer vacation

***

I'm thankful for my T on Tuesday friends ...

Christen sent me this fun package of treasures!

Christen has an amazing gift for precise needlework, beading and art doll creating

 (click here for her blog)

Like this beautiful pansy brooch:

... and Christen must know that I love 

street altered bottle caps

AND

sea turtles

... and that I love a good cuppa ...

Thank you Christen for all the thoughtful gifts and kind wishes!

That was so sweet!

***

I'm also thankful that school starts tomorrow

:)

for some obvious reasons

3 kids and Sweet Husband back to school tomorrow - "ya know I'll miss ya!"

***

I've been thankful for a summer of good reading for all age groups

(check out the titles - there's a couple of funny ones in there)

library books ready to be returned

***

And I'm also thankful that new shoes for 3 kidlets were in the budget

... especially cute ones :)

super cute shoes to be exchanged for a larger size

***

I was even making Halloween and Thanksgiving Day plans with my sister yesterday!

(argh - I know it - who could be planning that far ahead?!?!)

***

I hope your summer has been splendid

I hope the change in seasons is good to you

I hope your days are filled with a sweet kind of fulness

and

thank you for stopping by today!

***

please also visit my other T friends listed in my sidebar

they're a sweet bunch!