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Thursday, June 2, 2016

Alabaster lotus bud

 
What happens when you throw your used tea bags into a bin with scrunched up white cotton fabric?

 


To it looks like Alabaster - that white marble looking stuff.

So I decided to make it into an alabaster lotus bud - a symbol of purity and the journey to enlightenment.

 

If I try this again I will soak the fabric first in soda ash. When I rinsed the fabric, a lot of the colt came out. I had some tea bags that left a nice pinkish reddish stain but it all came out. I'm

not a dyer but I think the soda ash makes dyes adhere to the fabric better. You should try this - just throw the fabric in a box or bin and every time you have a cuppa just throw the bag in - what have you got to lose?

I would love to see what you end up with :-)

 

Oh! And I want to wish my parents who are in their 80's and thankfully still going strong -

A happy 60th wedding anniversary!

60 years of marriage - and still in love - WOW!

 

2 comments:

  1. good subject! Your lotus is beautiful. Theraputic, I bet. Never thought about doing that with tea bags. I have dyed with tea and coffee, but did it purposefully.

    congrats to your parents, 60 long years! Impressive. There might be hope for Frank and I........if I don't kill him first.

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  2. Carol, I would have to look into it closer, but adding a smidgen of urea might help your process too. If the fabric is kept wet longer so the tea bags don't dry out, it will help. The urea assists in drawing moisture and keeping it. I use it in my print paste along with soda ash when screening on dyes to fabrics.

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