Paper Collage Tutorial

Paper Collage Tutorial

 

 

 

I like to work with thin layers as I tend to stitch through my collages. I back them with iron on vylene or bondaweb and fabric for stability. I make large sheets which can be cut down and used for a variety of projects.

 

Requirements

 

Plastic sheet that the collage can be left on overnight (bin bag is fine)

Collage papers - anything goes, music, book pages, letters, envelopes and printed papers.

Backing paper - brown paper or brown envelopes

Paper napkins with an assortment of designs

Printed tissue paper  (optional) use the non glossy side.

Matt Medium or wallpaper paste

Large paintbrush

 

 

About the adhesive - If you use Matt Medium I tend to dilute it half and half so it is like milk. Wallpaper paste can be made up in a jar to a normal consistency. Don't be tempted to use PVA glue, it is too shiny and the collage will crack and flake.

 

 

 

About the papers - choose papers which are lightweight and not glossy, collect tickets, receipts, memorabilia and use all your patterned paper offcuts.

 

 

 

About the napkins - there are hundreds of paper napkin designs to choose from and also the little packets of printed tissues often have the same designs on a smaller scale. Napkins need to be spit down to the thinnest layer. Most napkins are three ply (three layers) this information will be on the packet. The two layers you remove can be stamped on with a permanent ink( script, swirls, flowers, music etc) and added to your collage

 

Always glue down your napkins with the wrong side uppermost as the print will be more subtle this way.

1. Scrunch and unfold your brown paper sheet several times until you have broken down the fibres. Spread the paper onto your plastic sheet.

 

2. Lay down torn scraps of printed papers and other collage papers, try to have torn edges on all sides of your scraps for a softer look. Apply generous amounts of glue below the scraps on over the top to secure. Try not to over think the layer as the next layer will cover large areas.

 

 

 

3. Next add the layer of napkin scraps. You can select areas of the napkin for your design or go for a more random look. Be careful when you glue these down, add plenty of glue and dab into place with the brush. Remember the napkins should be used with the print side down.

 

 

 

4. Allow the collage to dry overnight, it will dry lighter. Iron flat.
 

5. You can add colour to the dry collage with pencils to highlight areas. I give my collages a coat of acrylic wax to take away the dusky appearance. You can also coat with olive oil and allow to dry for a few days. Then iron over sheets of kitchen towel until there is no more surplus oil transferred.

Acrylic wax is available from Art Van Go

 

Gelli Cards

 Here are some cards I made today using gelli prints. The flower was made by punching heart shapes and arranging them around a centre circle.

 

 

 

Birdy Prints

Here are some collograph prints I made on a workshop during the winter.

 I thought they would be the perfect images to use for scrabble tile jewellery, I re sized the image to fit and glues to the tile, I glues a Tim Holtz clear fragment to the front as the 'glass' layer for speed but this could be done with ultra thick embossing. Instructions for resizing can be found here.

Poppies to brighten the day!

No chance to be creative yesterday so I am sharing one of my favourite journal pages to brighten up a rainy day!

Sunday Stamper- Week 254

The challenge  theme for Sunday Stamper with Hels Sheridan is PAPER. Perhaps I should just take a photo of my paper scraps mountain that I am trying to reduce! I have many projects on the go that are not quite ready for photography yet, so today I am sharing a journal page.

This page was made from collage paper layers, the stamping was done onto tissue paper and incorporated in the collage.

A Memory Book

What to do with my Gelli Prints?

A book cover?

I had prepared the pages for this little memory book so long ago I can't remember....so it was my mission to finish the cover with one of my prints. This print made me think of Roman Tiles and peeled Fresco Paintings. I glued the print to the book covers and added some stamping with Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks. Some die cuts and ribbons complete the look!

What's on your workdesk Wednesday? 203

Wednesday again?....it can't be!

There has not been major activity on my desk this week, but I am pleased to say the house is clean, ironing  and gardening done. ( just a mo while I polish my halo!!)

Here is my desk today

 

now I had a little tidy up to make space and to fit in a pretty cake stand and glass dish I bought at a Vintage Fair. I am collecting China for a Vintage Tea party later in the year ( you know, special birthday and all that!) I will be making lots of lovely vintage decorations as we go along. On my desk are some scrabble tiles to make a sign for the toilet door and some die cuts in cello bags. For the eagle eyed who spotted the Washi Tape, near the sweet tin, this is my bargain of the week from Tesco, three rolls for £2.99!!

 

Now here are the die cuts stitched together to make bunting!

 

 

This is easy to do and you can use any shape. Just set the sewing machine to a long stitch and stitch in a continuous line gradually feeding the next shape under the foot.

 

If you are wondering why I am showing my desk, click on the link to WOYWW button in the left sidebar which will take you on a journey to Stamping Ground and around the world.

 

A light bulb moment!

It is very rare for me to have a light bulb moment but today for a very short while the the lights came on, so I thought I would share with you all. I am sorry if this is obvious to everyone, I have been doing this the hard way for years!

I wanted some tags of a certain size and none of my dies or punches were the right one. So I thought I would cut some out later while watching TV. So I set about (as I had done many times before) drawing round them ready for later.

 

We have all done this...right??

 

Then I thought why not use my paper trimmer?

So I drew round one for size and cut my card into strips. I have shaded the tag area to make it easier for you to see.

 

 

 

When you have a pile of card the right size you just need to use the original tag to mark the tops, or you could use a corner rounder.

 

 

 

Simples!!

 

Scrappage Scheme!

I always seem to gather lots of piles of scraps which I can't bear to part with but never seem to get round to using. A little collection had gathered on my desk so I challenged myself to use the bits. The results were fun as I put together elements I might not normally use.

Here are the cards I made.........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Miniature Art

Sharing a little hanging I made using some vintage scraps, lace, fabric and a little stamping.

Sunday Stamper - Week 253- Paint Box

So happy that the Sunday Stamper theme this week  is paint box as I have been up to my elbows in paint all week!

Here is a card I made from one of my gelli prints. I had used some Tim Holtz die cuts as a mask. I stamped some detail onto the bird and branch with some miniature stamps and used some distress ink to add some shading around the edge.

A picture for Spring.

Sharing with you today a little  flower picture using one of my favourite stamps sets, Button Florals by Creative Expressions. I thought I would have a go at making the 3d flowers with one of the smaller stamps in the design and the result was very good. I used some of my collaged papers for the back ground and flowers.

What was an unexpected result was that the collage layers started to separate on the flowers as I shaped them and this made them much fuller.

I am teaching a collage workshop in June so will get on and prepare a tutorial  for my blog very soon!!

Art Journal Cards.

I surfaced from my mountains of Gelli Prints to finish these cards using the lovely new stamps by
 Sam Poole. I love the Art Jounal style and am inspired to play in my journal today....if only I could find it!

 

I used my gelli prints for the back ground, the flowers were stamped, coloured with promarkers and layered for a 3d effect. Some vintage buttons made perfect flower centres.

 

 

 

I just love quirky houses, these were perfect to colour in more muted tones and layer on vintage paper.

 

 

 

What's on your workdesk Wednesday? 202

Here we are back round to Wednesday again and sharing the mess creativity on our desks. So here is a picture of my desk today. WOYWW is a chance to have a nosey inside the workrooms of crafters all over the world, so if you haven't tried it click on the icon on the sidebar and take a journey!!

I am experimenting with two of the lovely new stamp sets from Creative Expressions by Sam Poole. They are quirky houses and flowers which have an Art Journal style to them. I think they will work well with the vibrant prints I made with the Gelli plate. I will show you more of these designs in the next few days. In the background you can see some twinkling H20's which I found hiding in the drawer and I plan to add them to some of the prints.

Here are some of the prints with washes of colour added, the colour pulls the prints together. I have painted half of the purple one in the foreground so you can see the before and after.

Here are two prints which used some Tim Holtz die cuts to create the design on the plate.

 

 

Pretty Papers

Having spent a lovely day printing with my Gelli plate (it is very hard to stop once you get going!) I now have a few prints to work with later today. So with just a few acrylic paints, a brayer and some stencils this is what I made.

 

 

 

 

I love the dimension you get with the prints

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Play time!

Just in case you were wondering where I had got to today, I am playing with my new toy!
Here are my first two prints....so exciting.....

Spot the Dog.

Just a short post to show you what I made in a workshop at Cake International yesterday, meet Spot the Dog.

Off to Ally Pally today for some must have craft supplies!

Heres one I made earlier!

A busy few days, a zoo trip with the little people, Cake International at ExCel and of course Ally Pally over the weekend!

Perhaps I might even get my Gelli Plate on Sunday and will have lots of designs to show next week using that.

 Sharing with you a card I made using washi tape and some stamping.

Sunday Stamper Week 252

Here is my entry for Sunday Stamper Week 252 with Hels Sheridan. The theme this week is Hip to be Square.

I used a grid mask which I inked with versamark and then embossed through the Big Shot onto the card. I added clear embossing powder to the grid and heated, This gave me a resist so that I could add Inks to the background and they would wipe off the grid. I used a combination of Crushed Olive and Worn Lipstick Distress inks and they gave a yellowy peach colour. The Butterflies are from the Button Florals set by Creative Expressions.

What's on your workdesk Wednesday? week 201

I am amazed that we are back to Wednesday again and sharing our creative spaces around the world again. Do pop over to Stamping Ground and take a trip around all the desks (click here).

I had so many comments on my huge box of lace last week (yes, it is one of my many must have collections!) I decided to be brave and unveil some more of my space. Sorry to the messy folk but I do have to keep all my stash organised as I work in the dining room and sometimes the little folk get at things if they are not put away.

Here is my desk this week, I was still working on the Wedding Album until last night and have completed 25 pages. I have now tidied everything away ready for a fresh start and a new project. I have been watching the Sewing Bee on BBC2 and am inspired to get my machine out today.....maybe......or.....

 

You can see the remains of the papers and photographs for the last page. To the left I have lots hidden in here, I do love little drawers!

 

 

 

And behind me all in these boxes

 

 

Finally Sharing with you the last page in the album, Happy Wednesday everyone.

 

 

 

Party Time!!

On the final leg with the Wedding Album now as we reach the evening celebrations and things start to get a little messy!

The pictures are quite dark at times and there were a lot of different ones to fit in. I have worked with a similar layout for all these pages and added in more of the Christmas theme.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just a couple more pages to finish, hopefully today......

Scrapbooking Sunday!

Had a busy day yesterday and completed 8 pages in the Wedding Album!

Here are some of my favourites.........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Printing and Painting

Yesterday at our meeting of  02 Textiles we had a chance to play with some printing using acrylic paints and inks. It was lovely to mess around with paint and use some bright colours. Here are the results.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 And this (below) was my sorry effort!

 

 

 

Do hop over to the website for 02 Textiles, and see some more lovely creations by clicking here.