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Wednesday, January 06, 2010

First Collage~WIP

Sorry for the bad photo. Grey days and photo distortion make for bad pictures. My lines are straight!

JoAnn Fabrics opened a huge new store in Petoskey so a friend and I spent almost two hours last Wednesday browsing the place. Talk about creative overload! Crafters/artists alike could easily go broke in a place like that. I've wanted to try my hand at collage art so I picked up a few things. Not knowing what I needed or without any plan whatsoever, I grabbed a stamp, some ink pads and a gold metallic oil based paint marker that promised a heavy pigment load. I hate wimpy metallics and this marker delivered. Unfortunately, because I used it on a porous surface it ran out of paint before I completed the lettering. 140# w/c paper sucked up that paint like crazy. I should've known. Live and learn.


The next task was to come up with a concept. I don't have any crafting supplies other than what I had just purchased but I knew I had some lovely paper samples that I received from Twinrocker. Problem...they're small. This was going to be a creative project in more ways than one. I did find some gold tissue paper left from Xmas but it was too flimsy to work with so I crumpled it , then glued it to tracing paper with good old Elmers. It worked! Next, I found some peacock feathers I've had in a brass vase for years so I grabbed those. That's when my concept was born. I'd make peacock orchids out of real peacock feathers!


Then came lettering. I found a free font site online and copied a few fonts I liked, chose one and traced and transferred it to my paper. I would've loved to have used my own script but my handwriting is awful.:( This project is now on hold until I can get back to JoAnn's and pick up another pen which, after this collage is completed I won't use again on another porous surface. These markers aren't cheap. I vowed to also buy a book on collage art which I'm sure will prove very useful with my next attempt.

9 comments:

Vera Dennen said...

Billie, I like this a lot, very creative in motif as well. Good going.

Billie Crain said...

Thanks, Vera.:) Shame I couldn't get a good photo of this but at least you get the gist. I hope to finish it soon.

Diana said...

Very nice! Too bad on the gold paint. How did you do the white crackle under the lettering. I like that.

I'm glad you gave it a try! I want to try a video course at Creative Workshops. There's a couple I like. Never tried one.

http://creativeworkshops.ning.com/

Good use of the feathers!

Billie Crain said...

Thanks, Diana.:) The crackle effect came from the stamp I bought. I thought it looked pretty cool and could be used in a lot of applications. I did wind up buying the tea stain Distress ink pad and you were right...it's too red but the only other choice was even more red.:(

I will definitely check out your link. Thanks again!

Diana said...

One of the supply lists suggests: Tim Holtz Distress Ink pad (walnut stain color). I'll let you know if I find it. I was looking at those background type stamps too...maybe next shopping visit.

Billie Crain said...

Thanks, Diana.:) I'd much rather had a less reddish ink to work with. It made the paper look kind of pink after I finished stamping.:( I just looked and the distress ink pad I bought IS a Tim Holtz product. I did look for walnut but JoAnn's doesn't carry it apparently.

Janet Belich said...

Great job, Billie ! I Love collages but stay away from them myself 'cause I know I would stash more stuff than I have all ready ! We have a JoAnns near us and I avoid it like crazy but they have wonderful sales esp. on seasonal things. Also have a Michaels within walking distance...sigh, so if there's something you can't find, let me know. Dick Blick puts out a one inch catalog a couple times each year too. Have fun!

Billie Crain said...

Thanks, Janet.:) I already got Blick's latest 'tome'. If I only had a million dollars and a lot more storage space...oh, well. I do wish we had a Michael's nearby but maybe that's a good thing. Not sure. If I continue with collage I'll be needing more supplies, that's for sure. No place to put them unfortuntely.

I'm currently battling with a landscape so I'm not really having much fun at the moment. Nothing worthy of posting these past few weeks but I will perservere!

Bãpp said...

great one Billie,
jan :)