August Scrap for Help Reveal: Tea Bags!

Hi everyone, entries are now being accepted for a new challenge at Scrap for Help!  Will you play along with us this month?  All you have to do is use a tea bag in your project.  For my sample, I used herbal tea bags (blackberry flavor) to dye the strips of canvas on my layout, which is called "Medicine Garden."

Supplies: background paper by Lawn Fawn; photo mat paper by Kaiser Craft; quote paper by Graphic 45; die cut tab, journaling card, & alphabet stickers by October Afternoon; canvas strip by Canvas Corp.; word sticker by Lily Bee; puffy sticker by Studio G; thread by DMC; ink by Clearsnap; colored pencils by Faber- Castell; photo collage service by Walgreens.com.

What, you ask, is a medicine garden?  It's a collection of plants that were traditionally used for medicinal purposes.  The garden shown in the photos contains plants traditionally used by the Dakotah Indians of the Twin Cities area.

I like the uneven, muted look that the tea dye created on the canvas strips.

Here is the process that I used for obtaining that tea-dyed effect.  After making myself a cup of tea, I transferred the tea bag to a plastic container, along with the canvas strips and some fresh water.  To get a dark enough color, I ultimately added two more tea bags to the dye bath.  So, if you want to try this method of fabric dyeing, I recommend you choose a day on which you'll want to drink lots of tea!  :)

I hung the strips of canvas out to dry.  As you can see, the color of the canvas when it was still wet is a lot more intense than the final color turned out to be after the strips had dried fully.

I wanted the dyed strips to stand out on this layout, so I kept my embellishments to a minimum.  I did do a lot of subtle work with inks and colored pencils, though.

As usual, I had my photo collage printed at Walgreens.  This time, though, I tried a new feature of their printing service.  Instead of choosing a solid-colored background for my two-photo collage, I used a third photo of the garden as my background.  I love how this turned out, and I'll definitely do it again in the future!

As a final touch, I back-stitched along the borders of the photos.

I hope I've inspired you to get creative with tea bags.  There is plenty more inspiration to be found at the Scrap for Help blog, so do stop by and see us there.  Thanks!