Hello and welcome to another edition of T Stands for Tuesday.
Over the past week or so I’ve been pulling together papers from my stash to begin the process of creating my December Daily journal.
I also dug out a set of book covers I’d been saving for just the right project. I wish that I hadn’t discarded the spine…although it may have been in bad shape. Oh well…I’ll find a way to make it work for me.
Originally I was thinking that I’d use crisp bright colors for my journal, however I discovered that the vast majority of my papers were one sided prints. This is fine in some ways but left A LOT of blank white pages. Yes, I know…journal…but I like having color and pattern to break things up a bit. Besides…plain white pages are intimidating.
I decided while cleaning the coffee pot (because I can’t seem to do just one thing at a time lately) that it would be a good time to do a bit of tea dyeing of some paper. I really wanted to tone down that white and give a more cohesive look to the journal.
After soaking the papers in the tea solution I baked them in the oven. Yep…Mr. G came in from the garage…asked me what I was doing. “I’m baking paper.” He shook his head and told me that he was going to pretend he didn’t hear me. I chuckled to myself thinking about the fact that I’d be ironing them too.
I wasn’t happy with the level of aging from just the tea staining. I added some instant coffee to the mix which definitely did the trick. My papers where a lovely shade of brown…perfectly aged.
Would you like to know the most important thing I learned through this process? Caffeine absorbs through the skin. I spent about an hour with my hands in and out of the tea/coffee water. I didn’t think a thing about it until I realized about 100 pages into the book I was reading in bed that I wasn’t a bit tired.
Not….one….tiny….bit.
Typically I can get through about 10 pages before my eyes start to slam shut and I read the same paragraph over and over. Nope not Saturday night. I read the entire book. Seriously…the whole dang book. Finally I got up and took some Benadryl to make me sleepy…even though I knew I’d have the dreaded brain fog the next morning.
So let this be a public service announcement to all of you…wear water proof gloves of some sort!!
Sticking with my caffeine induced post…Mr. G bought me some coffee beer. 
It was pretty good. Just one though. Definitely not one I could drink more than one in an evening…or even in a week. That 4 pack will last a while.
Love your dyed pages and that sounds like one fab book you are making! I did NOT know about the caffeine absorption-so thanks for that info. I have had a taste of coffee beer and also chocolate beer. Both OK, but I prefer a dry red wine:) Happy T day!
Your dyed papers turned our beautifully! I too have noticed that tea alone does not age quite as well as one would think. Haha, that is funny that you found out about the caffeine absorption the hard way. Although, being able to stay awake to read is something that I wouldn’t really mind.
Happy Tea Day,
Kate
I can’t wait to see what you do with your December daily. I like the idea of dyeing your pages and giving the whole journal a connection, but I didn’t think about absorbing caffeine. I’ve coffee flavored beer which is pretty good, but not as good as a chocolate stout. (smile) Enjoy the rest of the pack. And happy T day. Hugs-Erika
Your tea died papers look great. Have fun making your December journal. Happy T Day, and have a great week, hugs, Valerie
Love your dyed paper and sounds like you will be busy with your pages.
Never heard of coffee beer but it sounds different
A Very Happy T Day to you
Love Chrissie xx
Your dyed paper looks fantastic and I had to smile at what you said about your OH and your crafting experiments. Mine is the same, they just don’y full understand our need to do these thing for our hobby.
Its a good tip and I will remember to wear gloves if I get round to bulk tea dying. I usually would just use a wet bag at a time.
Happy T day wishes.
Yvonne xx
i enjoyed your post very much – and the best part obviously was: “Caffeine absorbs through the skin.” so now i will do that on a low-energy-day, haha, good recipe!!
happy t-day!
Wow, what a great way to create vintage papers – I love them! I hope you enjoyed your yummy beer ?. Thanks for the inspiration and wishing you a Happy T Day! J ? x
Your dyed pages are just lovely, hadn’t heard of caffeine absorbing into the skin like that-but anything is possible lol I do the same thing when I can’t sleep and read allot at night too.
coffee beer wow pretty cool
Happy T Kathy
I have some of those same papers, Halle. Had them for years and always flipped past them because they’re so bland. I love what you did! They look so much better. I’ll be sure to wear gloves ;-)
What a fun (and informative post).
Happy T-day! Hugs, Eileen
I love the look of these pages, and I’m sure they’ll inspire folks, so your coffee experience was not in vain ;)
I can’t imagine trying the journal idea myself, but I do look forward to seeing your work on this. Happy T Tuesday
I love that vintage look you have created with the tea/coffee dye. Yes, I am now warned about the caffeine effect. Thanks for the warning. I would not have thought about that either.
Like Eileen, I recognise some of the paper, that have been in my stash for ages. Now I know what to do with them.
Happy T-Day,
Hugs,
Lisca
I really love the looks of your tea and coffee stained hands and paper. I think they are now aged perfectly. I like that you are making that as a daily Christmas memory.
Never thought my coffee would enter through the skin. That was news to me. Now if I’m tired, I’ll just soak my hands in coffee (grin).
Had to laugh at your coffee beer, although it actually sounded great. Thanks for sharing your dyed papers and your coffee beer with us for T this Tuesday.
I am here to wish you a very belated Happy T day! I love that you got so prepared with your dyed papers but sorry to hear that you couldn’t sleep! I have very few occasions when I can’t sleep but it is so annoying to not be able to get a full night’s rest! Coffee beer should keep you really lively!!! Hugs, Chrisx