Finally happy with the collage

 

I'm finally getting results I like for my collage that I'm entering into the "Dreams of the Land" challenge. I guess the third time really is a charm! (Read about my first two attempts here: having-trouble-with-collage.html)

This time I was very deliberate and thought about each step for awhile before carrying it out. I still might add a few more touches, and I'm definitely adding a border. But instead of quilting it I'm going to stretch it over a 16x20 frame.

We have to use at least three techniques for the challenge, so I've used painting, stamping, hand stitching, beading, colored pencils, photography (the hiker), and embellishment (the button face and feather).

Today I stamped a few gold spirals after deciding that the bottom needed something more. But I wanted them to be subtle, so I didn't completely cover the stamp with paint.

Then I added gold touches to some of my painted scraps, because you never know when you'll need glitzy fabric! You can apply the gold paint with a sponge ...

... or drag an old credit card or some other stiff card through the paint ...

... or use a styrofoam food tray to stamp subtle dots ...

... or use bubble wrap for bigger dots. You can get bolder dots by using an opaque paint and coating the bubble wrap with a thicker layer.

Here are some other scraps I played with.

My painting space is a mess, but I'm just going to leave everything out for the summer and pretend I'm at an art retreat. And I don't care that this is just inside my front door and is the first thing visitors see.

Have a colorful day