Collage papers
Making collage papers is just as much fun for me as coming up a way to put them to use.
(Click on the pic a couple of times - it's quite a big photo, and you can get a close-up view.)
Clockwise from upper left:
1. This one is quite simple, but it turned out to be very pretty. I took a piece of white cardstock and scribble painted in pink and purple acrylic, with a few dashes of metallic silver and gold. Then I dribbled black ink and swept through it with a pipe cleaner. The paper is quite heavy, so maybe it'll end up being the base for something, or it might become a tiny gift box.
2. Bundled newspapers often come wrapped or covered in brown paper, I guess to protect the newspaper from the plastic bundling straps. At any rate, I saved a bunch of them from the time I delivered papers with my son. I dashed on some red acrylic paint, making sure I could still see the paper here and there. Then I took a foam stamper and painted it in gold metallic acrylic and stamped the design. I've been saving red and brown papers, so this paper will go with that stash.
3. This is the kind of collage we all did as kids. I saved some blue papers, including a set of coasters I bought at the aforementioned estate sale. I used matte medium to glue them on. I'm not sure I really like the coaster in the bottom corner. It didn't glue on as well as the other pieces did, but it's a different weight, so maybe that's why. I've got about a dozen more of these coasters, so I'll have to think of something else to do with them. This paper is quite heavy, too, and I'm thinking of cutting it into strips or other geometric shapes.
4. Now, this one was fun. I just kept adding stuff until one of my kids said "hold it!" It's a piece of printer paper scribble-painted in yellow and orange. Then I used Mod Podge to glue in a bright blue string. Believe it or not, the string came from a twisty dog toy that the dog refused to chew on even once. I untwisted the toy and decided I'd keep the fibers. The other ones are red and yellow. Then I got out these way cool cocktail napkins that I bought at an estate sale. They're orange and very filmy, and they came from Norway! The packaging was very '70s. I tore the napkins in pieces and Mod Podged them here and there. I love that I can see the yellow paper beneath them. Once that was dry, I got out some blue paint and made a dot pattern over the whole thing. I'm not sure what I'll do with this paper. I almost don't want to tear it up for something else, so maybe I'll get a cheap frame and hang it in the art space or something.