Howdy all! I have made a resolution to finish 20 art projects by 2020 and also to write 20 blog posts by 2020 (among this blog and my others), so here I am, making a blog post about the first art project I have completed. How's that for double-dipping?
This is actually a project that is an outgrowth of a previous project, that of decluttering. I wrote an article , "How to Get Rid of Magazine Clutter" on my other blog, Big Ol' Bucket of Useful. It's a fun read, but if you don't have time, it basically boils down to: Don't save the whole magazine just for a few tips, pictures, or articles. Tear the pages out and put them in a folder and chuck the rest into the recycling bin. I found doing that helps so much with the volume of stuff I have to deal with.
However, quite a few of those pages only had one small item on each that I really wanted, so I resolved to cut down the clutter even more, while making something cute and creative to save the parts I really wanted. So, my first project was to make a collage of beauty tips I'd saved.
**Click on any pic to enlarge**
Step One: Gather Your Supplies
In this picture, I have gotten my beauty tips clipped out of the magazine pages, decided on colors (pink on an orange background) and used paper punches to cut heart and star shapes out of paper and pink foil. These are all things I already had kicking around the studio, so in effect, this is also a good de-cluttering project for art supplies, as well! I used a glue stick to adhere the beauty tips to the pink paper and then scrapbooking shears to cut the pink paper around the tips, creating a decorative backing. I also cut the eye out as a nice decorative element that also plays up the beauty theme.
Step Two: Decide on a Basic Layout
Once I had all my tips glued down and cut out, it was time to decide on a good composition. This layout, pictured, includes a good number of tips, but also leaves room for decorative elements. I have a couple of tips off to the side that didn't fit, but they will find a home eventually. Once you are satisfied with how everything fits on the page, go ahead and glue them all down.
Step Three: Start Adding Decorative Touches, by Size and Color
Step Four: Finish the Basic Embellishments
After gluing down all the foil accents, I followed up with the pink ones. Whereas I created some depth by overlapping some of the bright frames with the pink foil elements, I couldn't do that with the small pink elements, as they'd simply blend in and get lost. So I used some to layer over the pink foil and some to fill in some of the remaining areas. As with the darker pink foil, I spread the bright pink cutouts around to create balance and movement around the piece.
Step Five: Add Creative Details!
To further connect the elements of the picture, fill in more spaces, and create a finished look, I used a Pilot G2 gel pen to add little swirly embellishments that further tie the piece together. Below is a detail. Note that sometimes I drew the swirls behind the picture elements, but sometimes I continued the line right on top of them. Feel free to play and experiment!
