All Kinds of Cards

A week ago, my friend Judi hosted a small gathering to teach us to make collage cards. Judi provided all the supplies and an amazing variety of materials we could use to make the cards.  I have found I don't enjoy working with sticky or wet media as much as I do nice dry fiber, but I had a good time.  I took lousy photos of the results with my cell phone.

 There were five of us and we all had different ways of approaching the work.

Judi planned to keep just one card from each of us to use as samples for a class she has been asked to teach.  I think she was very smart to do it this way, letting us experiment and ask questions, and then winding up with a larger variety of cards than she might have come up with on her own.  I think she should keep them all until the class takes place.

One more photo shows the same cards, but I climbed up on a chair to get a better angle so I can point my three completed cards out.

Mine are the dark blue/green one top row center (I started with a magazine photo of peacock feathers), the Chinese horse in the second row toward the right (another magazine photo I'd saved for years) and the strange one with feathers just below the horse.  Do I have a feather theme going here?  Well, after our first two collages, Judi suggested it was time to try some paint techniques.  I was not happy with what I had done, then I decided the s-hook shapes could be swans.  Sadly, the only feathers I found to help with the suggestion I accidentally created were green.... well, it was my first try! 

I think my cards reflect my quilting background.  I also tried leaf-printing, but I was not successful with that. Clearly it takes some practice to get the paint the right consistency and apply the right amount of pressure on the leaf.  After rejecting what I'd done, I started painting over the fabric I had printed on and had fun mixing colors and creating new effects.

But I'm no painter, so I didn't save that with a photo - however, I do think I might try some more work with the water color pencils after doing this, perhaps I can use it for a future challenge quilt.  And I just might collage a card. Time to start saving more magazine ads.

And Judi's cloak? Here's a photo I took of the back before the quilting and lining so you get a better idea of the finished garment - this shows the hand-woven panel of silk prints Judi created.

Judi sent me a couple of photos of the completed garment - this view shows a little of  her delicious low-immersion dyed lining on the sides of the hood.  This last photo is "original size" so clicking on it won't give you any more detail.