At last Something Old, and Something New at CCM&More

Evening Everyone,
So I can finally cross one thing off my ever expanding 'To Do List'.
Who knew that it would take so long to complete my blogged cards picture listing,  or that I had shared so many cards with you guys for that matter, over 1500 since October 2009.
So let me add to that number with my latest offerings.

We start the New Year over at Crafty Cardmakers and More with a lovely new challenge and some new Teamies.
Leslie is our hostess and she would like to see your creations incorporating something old and something 
new. This could be old stash and new stash combined, or perhaps an old technique and a new one.

I have used a combination of stamps old and new, and a very old technique which is bound to be new to some of you.
The background to the card has been made by spritzing white card stock with TEA and COFFEE.

Pour a little hot water on to a teabag and leave to soak.
The longer you leave the bag in the water the darker the colour. Don't add any milk, and transfer the resulting liquid into a spritzing bottle. Hey Presto instant ink.

I also made a similar solution using instant coffee. Melt instant coffee granules in a small amount of hot water. Once again the stronger the coffee solution, the darker the colour.

I stamped and embossed this fabulous, and brand new stamp from Woodware and then painted it using the coffee solution and a paint brush.

I used some old Artemio Hedgerow stamps and blue Distress ink on the background panel as well as some more tea and coffee.
The ribbon across the centre has also been coloured using tea.

As usual I got a little bit carried away and so I thought that I would share a couple more similar cards with you.

The central image has been coloured in the same manner but I added some dry embossing to the background panel using a Vintage embossing folder.

 I also added a punched panel across the centre of the card.

The main stamped image here has been coloured with a wash of coffee which has made it much paler.

The dark splodges in the background on this card are created by sprinkling coffee granules over the wet background and then leaving them to melt and dry.

These splodges can dry with quite a glossy finish.

As you can see I really did get carried away. In fact I have a folder full of pieces of Tea and Coffee background so I'm sure that this won't be the last time that you see this particular technique amongst my cards this year.
I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to share these, but I do hope that you feel that they were worth the wait.
I would like to enter them in to the following challenges.
Fashionable Stamping Challenges  - Something New (Main Stamp)
Crafty Calendar Challenge - What's New (Main Stamp)
A Gem of a Challenge - Something New (Main Stamp)
Cuttin and Stampin Challenges - Coffee
Thanks for stopping by, any comments would be greatly appreciated, and please don't forget to pop over and see what the rest of the team have come up with.
Happy Crafting and Hugs
Kimx