Believe In Yourself Collage

I had to find a way to incorporate one of my favorite quotes into a piece of art. So I decided to work it into a mixed media collage that I was working on. It's a simple piece -- acrylics, paper, pages from an old thesaurus, and moulding paste -- but I like the message in the art.

Paper Collage Card

I love pretty papers, well truth is I just love paper... Anyway, I really like these papers and had to use them somewhere, so I made this simple collage with them and added the little bird that I cut out from a scrap piece of painted paper paper that I had used in another project. Once I had it all done I trimmed it out with a coordinating paper and mounted it to the front of a card blank.

Valentine Collage

With the Christmas hustle and bustle gone, now it's time to settle down and focus on what comes next -- Valentine's Day. This collage mixed media layout was a lot of fun to put together. I used some handmade papers, fabric scraps, and printed ribbon. The best part about the whole thing is that it's a collage so there are no specific rules.

Paper Collage

I've been playing with scraps again and working on another collage. I used all kinds of papers to put this piece together -- lots of handmade and painted paper scraps came into play. I chose a lot of bright colors because I wanted a more vibrant piece rather than one with subdued tones and I think that the colorful paper selection helped me to create just that.

Handmade Paper Backgrounds

Working with torn pieces of handmade paper is a great way to create a textured look for the background for a collage or mixed media piece. The process is a little bit more labor intensive than using paint, but the end result is usually a good one that will allow you to set the tone for what you're working on, and if you're trying to add some varying levels of texture, then this is another way to do it.

I used a lot of bright colors on this one, but muted tones will work just as well.

Collaged Valentine

Hearts are in the air with Valentine's Day just around the corner and I've been playing around with a few collaged heart designs.

For this card I used various grades of handmade papers for the layout. I tore the abstract heart out out of the paper that offered the most texture and made it the focal point of the design.

Using Buttons For Cards And Mixed Media Pieces

I know that I've said it before, but buttons are great to use as an embellishment for cards or as a design element in mixed media pieces. They come in so many shapes and sizes and they are decorative elements all on their own. I've used them on cards, and in some mixed media pieces that I've done, but if you're looking for some unique buttons to work with or some neat pieces that use buttons as the basis of the design, you should check out All About The Buttons on Etsy. There are all kinds of button goodies there. You'll be amazed at how buttons, papers, ribbons, and sea glass look when they're collaged together in a shadow box frame. Really neat stuff.

Vintage Cards

Vintage pictures (especially ones with children) are great to use on cards. It's probably best to make copies of the pictures first before you begin working with them, that way you save the original and you'll be able to use it for another project. I often use vintage pictures for cards and collage pieces. If you're looking for a hint of yester-year memories, then vintage photographs are the way to go.

More Ideas For Paper Collage

Sometimes when I'm in the mood to work on a collage and I don't have a long period of time to work, or I just want to work on something quick and simple, I'll end up working on collaged bookmarks. I use handmade and Mullberry papers for the most part, and I just tear and layer until I end up with a 'look' that I like. The best part about these projects is that they are not time consuming and I get instant gratification.

Something Different

So far I've only been talking about different types of handmade cards. Well today will be different.

Did I mention that I just love paper? Well I really do, and working on a paper collage is heavenly to me. There's something about the look and feel of Mulberry and handmade paper that just makes you want to work with them. Who can resit tearing and arranging the paper pieces until you get the look that you're going for? There are times when I have an idea in mind before I start workingbut then there are times when I just let the pieces fall where they may.

Either way I have a whole lot of fun getting to the end result!