Tea Staining Techniques

Welcome to Papertrey Ink's Stamp-A-Faire 2013! We've got so much planned for you today that your head might spin. In a good way, of course.

Let's start out this morning with a little caffeine. This hour's feature is on tea staining. I thought I'd put just a wee spin on it by swapping out the tea for coffee. You might have a little bit left over in your coffee pot at this very moment. Go ahead and get it! Oh-so-thrifty. Pretty much works the same as tea, but with some more color intensity. 

You can use a paintbrush or a waterbrush like I did to get the coffee from your mug to your paper. I preferred the waterbrush for this technique because I could just fill up the barrel with the coffee and squeeze. Easy application.

Don't be afraid to apply heavily. Capillary action will keep it from spreading out too much and those fat droplets will add some dark variation when this dries. 

In my project, I created a crosshatch design on Lemon Tart cardstock.

Let dry. This happens pretty quick. But you can speed up the process by placing it in the heat/sun. Depending on how much liquid you have on your paper, you might not want to use a heat embosser. I'm afraid it would blow things around to much, distorting your design. While it is drying, get all your other elements together and assembled. 

Here's my finished project. Naturally, I thought the perfect compliment to a coffee/tea staining project would be Tea for Two and Tea for Two Additions. Floral Folk Art accented my porcelain and was carried over into the background to tie it all together.

Love how the Dark Chocolate ink used on the sentiment matches the edges of the coffee stained lines. Rich and detailed.

Hope you enjoyed this little tutorial. Go get your coffee and get to work. :) I'll be back by 10 with another project. 

Supplies:

Stamps: Tea for Two, Tea for Two Additions, Floral Folk Art, Fancy Flourishes

Cardstock: Fine Linen, Spring Rain, Lemon Tart, Stamper's Select White

Ink: Dark Chocolate, Kraft, Harvest Gold

Patterned Paper: Spring Rain Bitty Polka Dot

Vintage Cream/White Buttons

Dies: Fabulous Frames, Tea for Two and Tea for Two Additions, Filigree Border