Nature in Neutral

Hi everyone!

      I was hunting for some inspiration and came across the idea of using old teabags for crafting.
I really liked the rustic look of it so decided to give it a go...

Not sure I can say I mastered it yet!...but it was a lot of fun!

 I got a piece of card and stamped it in several place with a variety of stamps using jet black archival ink. I also glued on some torn bits of french dictionary paper

When this was done I glued on some torn strips of used teabags...I tore random sized pieces and kept the edges of the tea bag on to add more texture.

I then made the mistake of lightly dabbing Decoart Translucent White acrylic paint over it. It had a nice effect, giving a slight chalky finish to it, but it knocked the colour back too much. So I covered the entire thing with some Gathered Twigs Distress ink.

To make the background I brushed mount board with a thick layer of Decoart Gesso - making sure all brushstrokes went in the same direction. Then when dry I covered this with a mix of Raw Umber and Carbon Black Antiquing Cream. When this was dry I wiped it away with a damp cloth and it gives a great wood effect...

I stamped the word 'Nature' onto card with Jet Black Archival ink and then covered it with a piece of tea bag

I made the central panel out of a part of a French botanical book....

I cut out the word 'botanique' to use on the hanging

I used some dried flowers for the decoration...stuck them to the center and added twisted black wire and ivory hemp string tied into a double bow

I dabbed around part of the hanging with Decoart Media Raw Umber paint....

Black metal wire finished off the hanger

So here is my 'Nature in Neutral' hanger! Hope you like it!

Thanks so much for being here today!

Happy Crafting!

Laura

xxxxxxx