Play Date - Fusible Paper Collage

I spent another lovely Sunday afternoon with my girlfriends creating art.  We copied a project from Cloth Paper Scissors where you use fusible web to create paper collage. 

 First you cut a piece of fusible web, from the fabric store, to size.  Mine were roughly 9 x 11.  Next we used decorative napkins to find elements for collage - carefully removing the two backing layers and cutting or tearing the napkins apart.

 Using freezer paper to protect the surface, and parchment as a release paper - we ironed the collage - so that the fusible web melts into the tissue.  It was a big question whether or not it would "bleed" through the layers.  In some case it would adhere pieces that were overlapping, in some cases not.

 If you needed a little extra "glue" - you could insert some Wonder Under fusing between the layers and iron again.

 A few more layers to add depth to the collage.  Completed image up top shows some painting and staining with tea stain varnish to add some colour.

 Here is S's piece after she added a light wash of colour to the pieced together napkins.

 And she continued with stencilling to add more texture and color.

 Here is D's in process - what a lively assortment of napkins.

 And her perhaps finished collage - with stencilling in metallic paint added.

 Here is K's pretty piece which includes several whimsical napkins plus some die cut butterflies and cheescloth. She added paper borders and cut outs from doilies.

 Here is Z's collage featuring an assortment of napkins that were blended together with paint to harmonize the piece.  She added glitter to the cutlery to make them sparkle.

Here's another one i did - an abstact with assorted papers and napkins.

 I added mesh, stencilling and some paint - which blended into the papers to unify it somewhat.

And here is another with a weird face with fruit for hair.  I added a black and white border, some coloured squares and more random fruits and flowers - all cut from napkins.

 Here is the completed piece - with more layering of napkins and some fibers.  The cool thing about these collages is that after you peel off the paper backing they are super thin and flexible.  They would be fantastic with some machine sewing or even beading added.  They could be framed or used in other art projects.  this could make an intersting book cover!
Thanks as always to our hostess D. 

Altered Book - 1963

For the month of March i had the pleasure of K's book to work on titled 1963.  To make sure the sure the whole book wasn't about JFK, we were asked to create spreads based on events for the month that you had the book.  IE March!  I found a few interesting things to write about, but went with a musical theme - the Billboard charts.

 Here is the cover of K's book - she really went to town - removing the coil binding and adding a clear plastic cover and reattached it with clip rings.  She added ribbons and fibers and little tags with vintage ads.

 Here is my first spread.  The number one hit the first two weeks of March was the Four Seasons, Walk like a Man.  I created a mini album cover along with  record made from a CD and images pulled from google.  Gotta love the google..!!

 You can continue to flip through the record albums and find...the third week of March the #1 hit was The Chiffons - He's So Fine.

 And on to the 4th week, it was Ruby and the Romantics - Our Day Will Come.

 I added the top 15 songs from each week on a little star brad so you can check out the rest of the hits from 1963.  It is really amazing how many good ones there are.  (i was barely 2 - but I love this music!)

 And finally - one sad event in the music world - the plane crash that took the life of Patsy Cline happened in March 1963.  I created a spread in muted tones and added just a touch of western style bling.

In the pocket on the left i added sme newpaper clippings (all from google) that spoke about the tragedy for the country fans in the south, and truly a sad day for the whole country.

Mini Canvas Update

Remember the mini canvases i wrote about here?  Look how fantastic they look all finished by D and S:

 Here is D's set of 9 -2" collaged canvases - she mounted them on cardboard and added some poetic text - her signature style!  then she coated the whole thing with tar gel to make one SOLID tile!  So colourful and fantastic looking in person.

Here's is S's set of 16 textural squares - all mounted on a black painted canvas.  Remember they were white?  She painted them, added some extra embellishment and touched them up with metallic paints.  She pointed out that only a couple of those doodads are actually metal - most were plastic painted to LOOK like metal.

My set of mini birdy canvases are still sitting on the sideboard waiting to be framed. But i think they will look great once they are!