TEA BAG ART

TEA BAG ART

Using tea bags for art is a new venture for me.
Read on to see how it worked out.

Note: I am a Design Team member for The Crafter’s Workshop;
however, even though I use and love their products,
all opinions are solely my own. #ad #advertising #sponsor

TCW Supplies
GessosTCW9001 White Gesso, TCW9002 Black Gesso,
TCW9003 Gold Gesso, TCW9010 Silver Gesso,
PaintsTCW9013 Iridescent Gold, TCW9015 Black Licorice,
TCW9020 Raspberry Sorbet, TCW9014 Iridescent Silver,
Modeling PastesTCW9039 Copper Penny, TCW9040 White Pearl,
TCW9041 Platinum, TCW9037 Grecian Gold
StencilsTCW765 Flower Grid, TCW768 Journal Musings,
TCW772 Regal Butterfly, TCW774 Tuscan Floral,
TCW776 Brick Poetry, TCW779 Wild Roses,
TCW780 Botanical Dream, TCW781 Scrollwork,
TCW792 Micro Dots, TCW800 Laurel Wreath

To prep the tea bags, I steeped and dried them, and then removed the dried leaves. I cut and unfolded them so the paper was a single sheet. Next, I gessoed the bags because the tea paper was very delicate and I wasn’t sure how it would hold up to paint and pastes.  (The photo below shows the black gesso, but I did use white, gold, and silver also.)

 

After the gesso dried, I began using the modeling paste and paint. As you can see in the photo, I taped the stencil and also put a small tape roll on the bottom of the tea bag to try to keep it from moving. The application worked better with less paste on my palette knife. When using the paint, I just made sure to use more of a dry brush application. (NOTE: Make sure to clean the paste off your stencil immediately so it doesn’t dry and ruin the stencil.)

In the end, the gesso did help make the paper a little sturdier. The tea bag paper really wasn’t difficult to work with and I liked its texture. You can see my samples below.

Check out the following pictures to see some of the ways I used my tea bags in my art.

I made a couple of ATCs.

 

I used 2 of them on this mixed media page.

And I glued a small one onto this mixed media spread.

So far, I’ve used 6 of my tea bag pieces of art. The others are stashed in a convenient place to be added at a moments notice to something else. Thanks for dropping by The Crafter’s Workshop blog. You can also scoot over to my blog at arteverydaystudio.blogspot.com. Like I always say, “Art in the Studio makes every day a good day.”

Until next time, keep making art, friends!

Patty 😉

13 thoughts on “TEA BAG ART

  1. Those seem really interesting. I was wondering if you used a tea bad brand such as “Lipton”, a nightime tea type or does it really matter which one to use? I would love to try this technique soon and to see what I can come up with. Thank you for the inspiration! ?

  2. I think these are very nice and pretty, and unusual, but you don’t have to use USED teabags. I have done quite a bit of teabag art using clean teabags- just emptying out the cheap tea from the bags and using the bags only with water color, and decorations. I have used stamps, stencils, everything I can think of, and the teabags are really tough- they DO have to hold wet tea after all! Even cutting open the teabags which gives you more space to play on.

    1. 🤦🏻‍♀️I can’t believe I hadn’t considered using them new! Duh moment for me. I guess I started using them recycled….I suppose I could pot the tea in a tea ball🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️😂

    2. I also have a ton of just regular tea bags (aka the cheapie ones) in my pantry. Now I found a use for them. Thanks much!

  3. I just happened on your post when I was searching for uses for iridescent gold gesso. I love your use of black and gold. Thank you for sharing your technique.

  4. loved it and I am working on a few new ideas for myself. I love to paint on anything so far it been great
    looking forward to see your next project.

  5. These are beautiful! I have been drawing and painting on teabags for some time. I love what you have done with gessoand modeling paste! Thanks for the tips!

  6. I love your examples, particularly the black and gold ones. I’ve been working with teabags on and off for years. I have discovered that if you dry the used teabags on watercolour paper, they leave the most gorgeous stains which you can then doodle on. I cut these out and use them in projects. I recently tried this with some fruit “tea” and while the bags themselves remained a very pretty shade of pink, the stains they left were grey. They look really cool with black doodling. I use a sepia pen to doodle on regular ones. I am currently making a series of teabag mini-albums – the covers covered with sheets of teabags glued together and padded underneath with more teabags (they feel lovely), and adding teabags to the pages inside. Full details on my blog shoshiplatypus dot com. I also paint them with bleach and use this as a basis for further embellishment. You can use the dried used tea with gel medium to create interesting texture. The possibilities for using teabags in art are endless.

  7. I’ve been working with teabags on and off for several years. I am currently making some mini-albums featuring them and covered with them – I love the texture. I haven’t coated them with anything prior to working on them. I’ve used bleach and then doodling with archival pens, and also done stencilling on them. One thing I think I invented (never seen anyone else do this!) – I dry the teabags on watercolour paper and they leave fabulous stains which you can then doodle/zentangle and use in projects. You can get interesting stains by scrunching them up a bit before drying. When they are dry you can empty out the tea. I use the actual tea as well – great texture mixed with gel medium. The tea can stain the teabags in interesting ways too, which you can outline or doodle and make a feature of. I have literally thousands of teabags in boxes (most waiting to be emptied!) – so much you can do with them!

    I love what you have done, particularly with the bold black and gold. Most of my teabags are standard UK ones which don’t open flat like yours do – I’m often on the lookout for those, with the strings on them, as you get a bigger surface to work on. Thanks for sharing your beautiful work – I love your mixed media pages!

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