One of my favorite techniques when creating some of my handmade made books is to use tea stained paper to give it antique look. Here's a simple how to.....
1. Card stock is the best to use as it holds up well being soaked in water, but i also find that alot of fine art printmaking papers work well to as they are made to withstand soaking as well.
2. Depending on the size of the paper find a large plastic container, I personally use the very large under the bed storage boxes because i do mass quantities all at once.
3. Boil enough water to fill the container so that it is about a centimeter above the top of the paper when you fill the container.
4. I like to use 3 tea bags for every 2 cups of water. I prefer to open the tea bags and let the leaves sit directly in the water. I also have used loose tea leaves, but that can be a little more expensive. The advantage to using loose leaves is that you can press and rub the leaves into the paper for deeper color and can create some great effects.
5. For a light stain just soak the paper in the prepared tea. For a darker effect rub the tea leaves all over.
6. Play around a bit you can really develop some great techniques that work well for your desired effect.
Here are some excellent tea stained items from etsy........
I've also been playing around with using balsamic vinegar that has been reduced as a painting meduim. Once i perfect the technique I'll be posting it here.
When I hit Wisconsin the weather wasn't much better, actually I might characterize the whole trip that way ! I think this painting sums up what i saw through my car window most of the time.
