tea and lace...

i finally finished the tea-dyed lace book.  i've been working on it on and off for a few months.   it is fat with gorgeous, beautiful lace and tea-dyed goodness.

i actually got the idea for it on a cold, rainy day in february, whilst drinking a cup of hot tea in my studio.  my eyes landed on a pile of lace that i was sorting on my table  and right then, inspiration took hold.  ideas are funny like that sometimes.

all of the paper and most of the lace was tea-dyed over several afternoons and then dried on my kitchen floor.  my curious little corgi wanted to investigate in case there might be some sort of food involved, but i kept shooing him out.  i didn't want any dog hair mixed in there.  he was quite confused.

 i truly enjoy making these books.  i like to take my time with them, going back over each page many times adding details until i have it just how i want it.

when i am working on a big project like this i sometimes dream about it in my sleep.  i should keep some paper and a pencil by my bed to keep any good ideas from slipping away by morning.

i like pockets.  this one is one of the teabags that i used for dyeing.  i sewed it on to the page and tucked in a very old envelope with a nice stamp and beautiful handwriting.

lots of vintage mother of pearl buttons.  and pearls, of course.  i chose a strand with darker pearls to go with my tea theme.  and bits of silk, burlap and lace, lace, lace.

 lots of stitching on the pages.  a crochet flower with some golden color.  it fit in nicely.

vintage book pages - whole pages and interesting snippets of pages. 

there are a few fabric pages and a few pages of gorgeous handmade papers from my collection.  i am loving handmade paper lately.  i've always wanted to try making it myself, but for now i find it at our local art store and from various etsy people.

this lace doily was too beautiful to cut, so i used the whole thing.  also, you can barely see it, but there's a little round brass locket tied to this page.  for a romantic picture perhaps.  oh, and a silk bookmark with a very pretty teardrop pearl sewn to the end.  love that.

 i try to make the inside of the covers as lovely as the outside, to cover up the stitching.

and that's it.  the end.

if you are interested, you can find it here.