Teabag Paper Samples

Time to grab a coffee again if you are going to read this. *LOL*
This weekend I have been sampling with Jackie’s Teabag paper.
Didn’t quite know what to do at first so started off making some beads. I used half a sheet of the paper and rolled it around a thin stick. The end was glued down with Polymer Medium. Once dry, I cut the tube into smaller pieces. I then dipped them in various Brusho Powder colours and when dry, gave them another coat of Polymer Medium. While some of them were still tacky I sprinkled embossing powder on in Pirates Gold and Bronze then heated with the heat gun and with the others I left them to dry thoroughly then rubbed Treasure Gold and Treasure Brass all over.I dip dyed the paper in some left over Procion dye. Yes I know, same old-same old, when it comes to colours but sometimes this works best for me using the colours I know I like as there is a better chance that I will actually use the samples at a later date.
In these samples I used the pleater to pleat the paper before colouring with Brusho Powder.This piece was folded double before pleating and colouring.This one has also been dipped in left over Procion and was a bit of a disaster. The Teabag paper has been glued to a piece of muslin using Polymer Medium. The colours were really pale so I sprinkled some neat dye powder on. Overall it doesn’t look too good but I may be able to save some of it as it does look a bit ‘rusty’.Thought I would see how the dyed papers came out on the embellisher. This one uses a stretchy velvet base:And this one is embellished on a felt background.
They both have a distressed look to them but wouldn’t stand up to too much handling.Tried organza on top with a felt background. You can just see the different colours of the paper underneath.
On these two samples I have bonded the paper to the stretchy velvet first using Gossamer Fuse from The Thread Studio. The paper doesn’t split quite so easily but it is a lot more stable.And once again with organza over the top.So, a bit of a non-starter really as far as embellishing is concerned.

This next bit is when I really started to get into it.
With these next samples I brushed a coat of Polymer Medium over the top of the paper. I laid it on a sheet of plastic and left it to dry. The first piece I did I painted right to the edges – and it stuck to the plastic too! So with consequent pieces I left a border around the edge. When you take it off the plastic the underneath is very shiny and smooth and the painted top feels grainy. The Teabag paper becomes translucent – almost looks like a sheet of cold water soluble fabric.

I used acrylic paints to paint on the grainy side and the paper remains translucent.Although it’s hard to see in these photographs, the painted sheets seem to act like filters. If you overlay them you get different shades.These are the three pieces each laid on top of a kitchen towel which had been used to soak up some Walnut ink. This shows the different shades you can achieve a bit better. Some of these experiments don’t look much but they are worth making a note of to take a step further.The centre and edges of this piece were burnt using a candle flame (a bit risky, so a large bowl of water was kept close at hand.) It was then coated both sides with Polymer Medium and laid on a wet piece of Tyvek that had been saturated with Walnut Ink. More ink was then painted over the top, but look at how the paper, although coated, seemed to suck up the ink. I shall try a dry piece of paper next and see what effect that has.This time I used my usual acrylic colours, again on the grainy side of another piece that had previously been coated with Polymer Medium.
This was then laid over a piece of copper coloured foil (from Fibre in-Form) that had been bonded to a strip of Pelmet Vilene. This piece needs to be seen in the flesh to appreciate the glow of the foil seen through the paper.Close ups.I then did the same with a larger piece but this time I painted the Bondaweb first and bonded the foil to a medium weight calico.Once I have decided how to decorate further and finish off I plan to create a vessel or two from this fabulous piece of fabric.This is a glimpsing of a small scale mockette I created for something that has been in the back of my mind for a while.As you can see from this close up, the centre is painted, melted Tyvek.While I was melting the Tyvek I came across a piece I had made some time ago. The Tyvek had been painted then a sheet of gold ‘Angel Hair’ (which I think, but am not sure, is Sizoflor) had been fixed to, possibly with Polymer Medium. Should have taken a before photograph so you could have seen that it just looked like a glitzy piece of fabric. Had a ‘what if’ moment and decided to melt this with the iron too.
Although it has made the colour pretty gross it straight away made me think of Val and her tree bark samples.But when you hold it up to the light, the most amazing transformation takes place.
Isn’t this wonderful. You wouldn’t believe it was the same piece.I’m almost finished with the birthday pressie quilt – the rate I am going it will be a Christmas pressie quilt if I don’t hurry up.
I’ve used squares of painted fabric, with painted, melted Tyvek on top. In places I used a soldering iron to burn right through the Tyvek then placed some ‘torched’ (can’t think of the right word – is it annealed?) copper shim underneath.Blogs
I have been given another award – this time from Connie. What pleased me the most is that I haven’t come across Connie before so it gave me the opportunity to discover her blog – and she does some really amazing work, go take a look.

Also wanted to mention Doreen’s blog. She’s made a vessel for her Guild exhibition using the fabric I created for the WOW article ‘An Elizabethan Dressel’. It looks really wonderful.

And take a look at Joanna’s fantastic card for the September Calendar Girls, a brilliant interpretation. We are all struggling a bit with the flowers each month so Joanna worked on the wording this time.

Sharon’s card for August was also terrific. She too used the wording and came up with this absolutely stunning card.
Both of these cards are going to be very hard to beat.

As you know, I don’t normally mention family and stuff on this blog unless it’s relevant but I just had to show you this.
Our middle daughter Chelsey was a Nanny for some 16 years before Charlie and Lottie came along and she often gets asked to make special birthday cakes for some of her previous employers children and friends. She has made some really good ones over the years and this one is no exception.
Goodness knows where she gets this skill from, certainly not me, as unlike Gina who is always showing her delicious creations on her blog, baking and I are definitely not compatible. *LOL*