Friday, May 16, 2008

ATC cards and collage

There is a particular joy unique to creating art and I am a complete junkie! I have this crazy craving all the time and when I have a chance to feed the hunger, I'm super greedy about it because the high I get from making something that I think is beautiful is incredible (and somewhat rare). I generate a lot of art whether it be scrapbooking, jewelry, drawings or altered items, and a percentage feel like a disaster, a percentage of them feel "OK" to me, and some even feel "pretty good." But every so often, I exceed my own expectations and I feel talented, capable and even gifted. Ironically, many of these projects are not as appealing to others which goes to show how subjective art can be. At any rate, I had one of those experiences last night (the second time in a month - Yea!!!)We are in the midst of a heat wave in the SF Bay Area and we do not have central air so our house was HOT (and still is). The kids were fussy, Tim was exhausted and I had a very short fuse. I had cleaned the house and the backyard, done a heap of laundry, cooked and cleaned up dinner but I was determined to finish my ATC cards for the UGRA swap. This project had been a little stressful because I felt I had to do something amazing to keep up with the accomplished artists in the group. My first set (we were to create 2 sets of 8) were not all what I hoped for so I had been avoiding working on the second set. I guess the sun and the moon were aligned because some how the design came alive and I am so delighted with the end result.

I'm very new to collage so this was a total stretch for me. Here is how I did it:

The standard size for ATC cards is 3 1/2" x 2 1/2". I used acrylic paper as my foundation. I stained the cards with a mixture of water and ginger alcohol ink by mixing the two (3/4 ink, 1/4 water) in a mister and spraying my craft mat. I dabbed up the puddle with the ATC card and then set it aside to dry.

Then I selected the images I wanted to include in the collage. Here is a list of everything I used and how I prepared it
  • I tore up some vintage theater tickets
  • I cut and inked pieces of a vintage sheet of music and a magazine article.
  • I distressed measuring tape ribbon bits with ink and the above spray mixture
  • I used stickers of vintage postage stamps
  • I cut up several sheets of "Graphic 45" scrapbook paper - the Times Nouveau collection - which provided me with the women I used as the focal point, the shoe images and the crossword puzzles
  • I used pieces of K and Co. paper lace adhesive tape (Saffron collection)
  • I stamped and embossed with Hampton Art "Paris Memories", then added color with water color pencils and a water brush and finally cut up the images into smaller pieces
  • I printed a Tessha Moore Image onto transparencies (1" x 2")
I adhered all of these items accept the women with modge podge. I then went over the collage with more modge podge to keep the corners from curling. Once the collages were dry, I adhered the women using American Craft's foam squares. They tend to be thinner than Zots or 3-D glue dots and I didn't want the focal point to be too separate from the rest of the collage. I really enjoyed making these and feel so good about the end result. I'm flying high today and like a good junkie, I can't wait for more!

6 comments:

  1. Jill,

    I love your collage, esp. the classy ladies! I missed you on National Scrapbook Day, call me and lets craft!! Lisa M.

    PS I think my emails still go into your spam folder

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  2. Hi Jill!
    I love when you do this. Send me "check out my blog"
    emails all the time so that I can see what you are up
    to.
    I'm so proud of you Jill. You seriously blow my mind
    with the art and love you create with your hands. What
    an amazing "flow" to read about for you. My heart is
    overflowing with gratitude that you have this gift
    that feeds your soul. I support you in that 100%.
    love you,
    Andrea

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  3. Beautiful collages Jillene!!!! Oh, and no central air...Good god woman, that is a must here in Florida!

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  4. Jillene- I adore these. Art. And you SHOULD be on a creative high from these. They are marvelous. I love collage so much and mod podge too:) Fabulous Job:)

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  5. I LOVE THESE! Go You!! These are really good...I miss the Emily Falconbridge Art Deck Journal from last year...these card size pieces are fun. Thanks for sharing!

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  6. these are great. I love the feel. I think I would have been a flapper if I had the chance.

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