Collage Card Tutorial

Here are the supplies you will need:

Gesso
Paint brush
Water soluble oil pastels
Lead pencil
Water color pencils
Scraps of scrapbook paper, left over bits of paper from other projects, painted papers, fabric scraps, newspaper scraps
glue stick
ruler & craft knife
scissors
Staz On ink - Royal Purple & Pumpkin
Stamps by Jenny Doh, 'authentic party' and 'smitten for hope'
A folded card

Project time: 40 minutes

Level: Intermediate collage skill

Step 1

Get out your supplies. Choose your color scheme. Here I have chosen a soft 'early spring' theme, of green, sky blue, purple, pink and white.

Step 2

Measure your pre-folded card (make one out of cardstock if necessary - you will need a card that will be able to stand without buckling, so paper is not useful here). Trim a piece of paper to the size you need your image to be (mine is 5 1/4 x 3 3/4) to fit neatly on my 6 x 5 1/2 pre-folded card). This paper will be the substrate for your collage.

Step 3

Rummage through your scrap papers and choose pieces that fit with your color scheme. Move them about until you hit on a composition you like. Overlap papers, don't be intimidated by the paper or patterns. Try to cover the whole of the underneath paper with your colored scraps.

Step 4

Glue these pieces down. Try to remember where each piece goes, but don't expect perfection. When you glue the scraps in place they will never be exactly where you planned. One trick for getting the composition as close to your original is to take a quick digital photo of your planned collage before you start to glue it. When gluing remember to always glue the lower pieces first!


Step 5

Turn the collage over and trim the excess paper with a sharp scissors or craft knife.

Step 6

Your collage panel should have smooth edges and be ready for the next step - gessoing!

Step 7

Tone down the collage with a layer of watered down gesso (or white craft paint). Use a bristle or cheap paint brush and scrub the gesso all over the collage. Work fast, use your intuition as you paint. Let this dry.

Step 8

Once the collage is dry stamp some images. I use Staz On ink as it is permanent and like to be able to paint gesso or paint or water-soluble pencils or pastels over the ink without worrying that the ink will smudge. Stamp decorative and 'image' or picture stamps, both will work together to create a 'story'. Choose stamps that are different sizes.

Step 9

Now to make the dress: Stamps the dress image onto a piece of newspaper. I used the newspaper that I was using to protect my work surface.

Step 10

Trim the dress with a sharp pair of scissors.

Step 11

Color the dress with water soluble colored pencils. This will allow you to blend a few colors. Paint the dress with a layer of watered down gesso. Go lightly, remember this is an early spring card, you want to be subtle.



Step 12

Layer the dress onto a piece of soft blue patterned paper. Add some gesso to the paper if it needs to be toned down.

Step 13

Trim around the dress, leaving about 1/4 of an inch of the blue patterned paper showing.

Step 14

Glue the dress onto the collage panel.

Now to add finishing details: Stamp with word stamps. Use color pencils to add details to the stamped images, color the folds of the dress with lead pencil and blend, add more gesso if needed.

Step 15

Stamp a design on the bottom of the dress, color the edges of the card with pastels and blend with your finger, layer the background onto newpaper and tear it out.

Glue this final panel onto the folded card.


Finally: here is what your card could look like. I encourage you to take these steps and use them to follow your own creative path.

Enjoy!


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