by Iris Rodriguez

Got tea? I do and I like to make and create with them in new ways such as these collaged garden-themed cards. I find teabags versatile, translucent and luminous. When colored with All-Purpose Inks, the color on the tea bags are intense, yet they maintain their delicate vintage look. I enjoyed making this crafting project—not only are you making cool cards, but you are upcycling your teabags too!

Skill Beginner
Time: 45 minutes

Directions

Step 1

Begin by cleaning out your teabags. Take them apart by removing the tiny staple or string. Rip open the seams. Take out the dried leaves by sloughing it off. Brush on watered-down All-Purpose inks. Allow the bag to dry naturally or use a heat tool to dry.

Step 2

Continue to paint more teabags using the various colors of All-Purpose Ink. Allow the bags to dry naturally or use a heat tool.

Step 3

Now that all the teabags are dry, make your collage pieces onto the main card.

Step 4

Tear pieces of the bags; ensuring to fit the card. Brush on Creative Medium on the backside

Step 5

Adhere teabag pieces onto to the main card continuing to paste with Creative Medium on the top. Use various colors to vary the look. In the above example, I used Rose Gold and Thyme (green).

Step 6

Stamp on the images using the Piano Black StazOn Pigment Ink. StazOn will stamp on top of the dried Creative Medium. Other water-based inks might take a long time to dry and would not stamp well on the Creative Medium (non-porous).

Step 7

Draw in the border with a pencil. Get creative with the border; add asemic writing, squiggly line, circles, or other doodles.

Close up of each card and the All-Purpose inks used with each one.

Supplies

Imagine

• Craft Mat
• All-Purpose Ink – Rose Gold, Thyme, Sky Blue, Wisteria
• Creative Medium – Clear
• StazOn Pigment – Piano Black

Other

• Used tea bags
• Cardstock – white
• Stamps
• Pencil
• Paintbrush
• Palette