My Collage how-to
This was my first real attempt at a straight collage 12×12 scrapbook page. I have been reading about collage more and more, and I find them rather intriguing. While, at first glance, it may look like an ‘anything goes’ kind of project, once you try one you realize they’re anything but. There are all sorts of unwritten rules about balance, movement, flow, and color. So, did I hit the mark? Well, that depends. Are we talking ‘Design Team’ mark (no, apparently not) or ‘looks good to me’ mark? You can judge for yourself, but I actually really like the way it turned out. And that may be the only written rule about collage-Like it, or go home.
Layer by layer….
1. This started as purely experimental, as I mentioned. The first thing I put on the page (hardly visible now) is…toothpaste! There is a big, white, chalky stripe down the right side and along the bottom of the page. The toothpaste is highlighted with gold Perfect Pearl luster dust.
2. Another huge inspiration for this page is the dress. The picture was in a magazine, the dress was worn by Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex and the City. I found it pretty, anyway, and saved the picture.
3. Embellishments include a page from an antique Girl Scout manual, a coffee sign and a coffee pot, then arms and legs from a very delicate figure. At this point, the collage started to take on a life of its own-it was becoming a study on Femininity, a blend of traditional and personal interpretations on that theme. I decided to complete the page as an homage to the women who have influenced me over the years.
4. Each of the pictures were cropped in a long, narrow shape, partly to mirror the flow of the arms and rulers, partly to crop out a lot of Men in my Life! (ha, ha.) The edges of each picture were sanded and scratched to age them. I also coated each picture with Matte accents to take away the shine, giving a more antique feel.
5. The title, ‘The Women in my Life- Loving, Supporting, Inspiring’ were both printed and stamped with a label maker. I inked the plastic from the label maker to tone down the yellow, then inked the words again with Pearl ink to highlight them.