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So I love the look of collage cards. But need help...I cant do them...I am so worried I will put on to much or to little. That your eyes will cross when you see it because it looks like a jumbled mess. Can someone help me??? my upline tried but we were both busy and it amounted to about 30 seconds of large image and then layer around it...I ended up more confused then when I started. So you might have to dummyfie the directions...lol.
I am with you! I would love to do one, but I'm a chicken! Nothing I think of or put down on paper is good enough to actually glue. I think I can do other cards well, but collages turn my brain to Jello. Can anyone help us out?
Perhaps it would help to start with a base of pre-made collage, like patterned collage paper or a background stamp like SU's Office Ephemera. Then you might just add a few 3-D embellishments. Then just set the card on a shelf and let it be for a few days. Really. Just live with it for a few days and see how you feel about it.
I like to stamp my main image, then mask it and add other elements - I mask those, too quite often.... just keep adding things and trying to balance out hard elements, or colors....
I think it really is a "learn as you go" thing.... practicing is fun
To me, collage is a very personal thing. The point is to evoke a feeling or express an idea. Anything that you want to put there that adds to the feeling is a good thing.
Say you want to make a beach-themed collage card. As if you were making a memory of a childhood vacation. What kinds of things would bring back memories? Think of colors....brown or white for sand....blues and grays for water. Think of textures...rough like terry towels...gritty like sand...glassy like water.
Think of things you see...shells, shovel and pail, sun hats.... There are so many things you can pull together that work! They can be accomplished by using decorative paper, rubber stamps, various techniques and 3-D items.
I think if you keep things related in this fashion, then collage is not so scary or difficult to do....if it means something to YOU, then you've succeeded.
There are a couple of rules for collage but it IS a very personal thing...what one person loves can be truly hideous to someone else so it's what YOU like that counts.
The only "rules" (and please remember they really are just guidelines) are to start with a focal point. Whatever it is you want to be seen first or whatever you want to stand out. It can be anywhere in the collage. Start adding things (without permanence) around the focal point but nothing that will overpower it. Move things around until you are satisfied then, as suggested earlier, don't look at it for a day or 2. Then come back and change it or glue it down. Another "rule" is to have some objects that "link" different regions of the collage or a color that "travels" across the work from one section to the next. This is to unify the piece so it doesn't look like lots of mini-collages. Try to add items that will draw you into the focal piece...maybe by shape they would "point" to it...maybe by subtle color changes they draw you in. You'll know it when you see it.
Hope you can share your collage with the rest of us.
Find a collaged image that you like. Could be a card, could be a picture, doesn't matter. You should find the general layout pleasing. Even if the subject matter is not your taste, doesn't matter.
Graph it out by sketching it. What and where is the focal point? How do the other elements compare? Try to just make a very rough sketch and then using your own materials and theme, start arranging your elements in a similar fashion. You probably won't even be able to tell what the inspiration piece was to begin with. I hope this makes sense. I know what I mean !
Try your library -- mine has a great selection of books on collage. Then you just have to relax and play.
__________________ ~ Children nowadays are tyrants. They contradict their parents, gobble their food and tyrannize their teachers ~ (attributed to Socrates 470-399 BC)
Thanks so much for the ideas and help. I am still a little nervious ( I think it is me fear of failing) As soon as I do one I will post it...there is noting posted by me yet because I dont have a digital Camra...but I will have my DH's friend take some picks.
I think your cards reflect your personality. I have a friend who makes cards and they are always collage. She fills every space inside and out and they are all great. When I try to do one it just looks to busy to me. My card style is less and more elegant. I`ve just decided i`ts not my style and I don`t fight it. I stamp with 10 other people and if we each put a card out we could probably guess who had made it. That`s what makes everyones cards so special.
collage cards
