June Mixed Media Card Challenge

Hello!

June's Mixed Media Card Challenge is collage with an optional element of a frame.

My style of creating mixed media collage pieces is very labor intensive.  Mostly because I really enjoy the process of gathering many natural materials and preparing them for use in my art. Since natural elements are often uniquely different from one another and the number of pieces that achieve quality preservation is limited so I always try to preserve more than needed.

In my card today I share some of my personal favorite materials for college work.  I have always loved the feel and look of textured papers. To create the textured background I incorporated cotton string into the handmade paper mix.

I sorted through boxes of natural found objects I have gathered and dried from my garden and land including bark, flowers and ferns.  I tested many combinations until a general idea for my card came together. Finally I painted the background with acrylic paint. Then stenciled the left side and top with embossing paste and added layers of stamping.  All the found elements were encased in matte gel medium as I attached them to the background.

The bird perched on the branch was painted, fussy cut and attached with gel medium. Inka Gold was added as a final layer for accenting the background before some final micro beads were added.  A frame/card base was created by adding shredded bark into the mixture of handmade paper. And the corner cut off to give a peak at what is inside.

I certainly don't often make cards like this that require so much time. But very soon a dear friend of over 20 years is moving out-of-town and she will understand and appreciate such a gift.  

And as I speak about moving on, the year term of the first MMCC  design team comes to to the end this month. A few of us are moving on to new creative adventures but many familiar faces will remain on for another year.  But I would like to say a big thanks for the support that other DT members have provided--you have been wonderful!  Thanks for the fun and see you as our creative paths continue to cross one another!

Hope you visit other DT members blogs to learn of the details that went into the creative inspiration they made to share with you this month! You can click on this link to go back to the MMCC challenge blog.

Remember the door is always open...you are welcome to stop by any time!...Jan

Reference Book:  New Creative Collage Techniques by Nita Leland-this is a great reference book with lots of new collage techniques which can be added into your Mixed Media projects.