2018 #15: Teabag Artist Trading Coins with EEG {by Alison Hall}

2018 Topic 15: Artist Trading Coins

Alison has long been using tea bags in her art in numerous ways. Here is another fantastic example! And the colour combination is stunning! Who knew! ~ Leandra

Hi everyone, it's Alison/Craftytrog with you today, and I'd like to share with you some Artist Trading Coins I made with my favourite round teabags. I've been making art with these round Tetley teabags for some time now, and they are almost the perfect 'coin' size. I love using collage materials to decorate them, so this is the technique I've chosen to share with you today, using some lovely new Emma Godfrey stamps.

The teabags first have to be completely dried out. Then I gently pull them apart on the edge to create a small gap, from which I empty out the dried tea. I usually iron the bags before working on them too, as I find it easier to work on a less wrinkly surface.

I began by adding some background details, using Eclectica Emma Godfrey Stamp Set 26, Fresco Acrylic Paint colours Seaglass, Surf's Up and Twilight, Jet Black Archival Ink, and PaperArtsy stencil PS108 by Scrapcosy. 

I thought that Raquel's new stencil worked very well with Emma's Portuguese stamp designs.

Next, I created some collage papers by stamping and stencilling onto gessoed old book and music pages. I also added some splashes of tea to add a bit more interest, and also to tie them in with the tea theme. Contrasting Fresco Acrylic Paint London Bus was thrown into the mix.

I wanted some more stamped elements, so I brayered Twilight, Surf's Up and Seaglass Fresco Acrylic Paints onto a piece of Regular Smoothy White Stamping Card, and stamped some of the images from EEG26 with Jet Black Archival Ink. 

I wanted a variety of textures, so some of my collage elements were torn, some were cut, and I also punched some circles. The circles were inspired by seeing the inner circle design on Emma's tile images. I had a reel of black thread on my work desk, so this also made its way into some of the collages, together with some red pearl and gem brads.

Then I couldn't resist adding some Little Black Dress Fresco Acrylic Paint splatters to some teabags...

and Snowflake Fresco Acrylic Paint splatters to others...

I really hope that you've enjoyed this tutorial, and will give teabag art a try. The decorated teabags make great little pieces of art by themselves, but you can also add them to other projects. I often use them on an art journal page, and I'm thinking of framing some too.

Have fun creating,

Alison xox

Blog: Craftytrog's Arty Adventures
Facebook: Alison Hall
Instagram: @craftytrog

To join our challenge and win a PaperArtsy voucher:

Simply make something arty relevant to the topic, and link your creation from any social URL (eg. Instagram, Pinterest, Blog Post etc) sharing your original make to this challenge page.

The current topic link Topic 15: Artist Trading Coins will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, 16th September 2018, and the winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.

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Good Luck! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!