Tea for two: Art and me

So who is Art and why did he get invited to Tuesday Tea, hosted by Kimmie (other participants are listed on her sidebar)? Let's begin with the tea.

Today I'm in the studio,



drinking Red Rose English Breakfast tea, a product that was originally sold only in Canada, although beginning in the 1970s, it became readily available in supermarkets in the US. It is a "fair trade tea." Red rose tea comes in a bag and I fixed two portions. One is in my carafe, the other in a plastic container. Both were sun tea and are now quite dark. You can see the ice cubes are melting, so we had better pour that tea.

I chose this tea for its lovely red color.

I used two tea bags for the carafe, and it made it the perfect strength for my taste. I like really strong tea!

The other tea is for art. This tea is the perfect color to dye paper. You can see how it changes the color of the page, even after only one minute in the tea bath. I left the tea bags in the pitcher, too. When I'm finished dyeing the paper, I will remove the bags, allow them to dry, and remove the spent tea leaves to my compost pile. The tea bag itself has a lovely rose embossed on it. Not sure you can see it, but it will be evident once the bag has dried.

So to make the perfect tea for art, you will need some strong, dark tea. Your reward? Beside having tea with Kimmie and the girls, you will have some beautifully aged paper and tea bags to sew into your art projects.

While visiting the T gals today, be sure to sign up for Patty's 1213th post giveaway. All you have to do is leave a comment, and anyone, anywhere in the world is welcome to put their name in Mr. Magpie's hat. Patty (like I) believes giving is unconditional!

Since some of you may not know much about Red Rose Tea, today's blog is Red Rose Tea's web site. You can learn the history of the tea, tea in general, and the Red Rose Tea company. And it was an easy pick because the blog is quite informative.