A Little Quirky Fun with an AP Collage Sheet!

Hi there! 

Becky Voth here today to share this quirky collage I did using the "Laying Down on the Job" collage sheet from Altered Pages! 

{Beware, images contain some nudity!}

I started off w/an 9x12 piece of hardboard (like masonite). You can get these at hobby stores & art stores pre-cut in various sizes or even go to the hardware store & have them cut a sheet down for you!

The hardboard I bought was not primed, so I gesso'd & messed up the background with a little blue, black & white acrylic paints once the gesso dried. The key here it so just be free & messy with your paints until you achieve the look you want. The greatest thing about acrylic paints is that if you don't like it, simply paint over it!

 

 Then I sketched the poppy shapes onto some acrylic paper (you can buy pads at the hobby stores, but really any mixed media, heavy paper will do.) & painted them with a mixture of red, orange & peach acrylic paints. In hindsight, I wish I would have just painted the entire page & then sketched the shapes onto the back. Would have been easier than trying to stay in the lines! HA! If you are not a sketcher, find an image online to trace or use one of the many fabulous flower collage sheets at AP! There are some STUNNING photographed sheets in the floral collection!

 

Then I fussy-cut the ladies from my collage sheet...

I didn't take pictures as I went along here, but next I cut out my flowers when they were dry. For the larger flowers, I cut the "petals" in half so that I could place the ladies inside the flowers. I adhered the girls into the flowers first & then to my board with Mod Podge - remember, it dries clear, so don't worry if you put too much outside the edges of the flowers because you want to be sure they are really stuck on there! From there I painted the stems on.
When it was all dry, I used a black Sharpie to draw in the details & a warm grey pen to do some shadowing here & there. Lastly, I used a white Sharpie paint pen to add some highlights.

When all that fussy work was done, I REALLY messed it up by adding all sorts of texture! I used bubble wrap & pieces of punchinella {a piece of plastic-y stuff with little holes in it} to dot on some cream & peach paints. 

 Then I took a script rolling stamp in black paint & rolled it here & there.  You could easily use ANY of the border stamps in the shop to accomplish this too! {You might be able to see that if you click on the photo to enlarge it.}

Lastly, I sealed the whole thing with some semi-gloss gel medium. I will probably go back & varnish it before I sell it.

 That's it!
I hope you enjoyed looking at my "Poppin' Poppies!
Have a wonderful day!