Last Collage Challenge #25

I've come to the last page in my stamp-catalogue-recycled-into-collage-book. Even though these challenges continue weekly for the rest of the year, I will be taking a hiatus, at least for now, and this will be the last collage I will do with the prompts. It's been fun and certainly a challenge but it's also time to move on.

Collage #25

Prompts:

1) magic - whatever that means to you (I used an image of magic mushrooms)

2) floral (image of a bird's nest orchid)

3) dashed lines (on paper at top of page)

4) a form or portion, filled or blank (the blank time card on left of page 

and consignment note lower center)

5) text not in your natural language (Russian page, lower right; 

French script in center)

Bonus: washi tape (floral tape in several places on page)

And here's the cover finished:

Collage Challenge #24

Collage #24

Prompts:

1) dance (image of dancer and dance ticket)

2) something in shape of triangle (Eiffel Tower and stamp)

3) crossword or newspaper puzzle (crossword)

4) something you wear (girl's red dress)

5) crinkled paper (red handmade crinkly paper in lower right corner)

Bonus: piece of napkin or tissue paper ( green vine napkin)

I also added a few labels and a patterned paper in lower left.

Collage Challenges #22 and 23

I'm not quite sure how I did, but I got a week behind on these challenges. So I did two this week.

Collage #22

Prompts:

1) a string of numbers (the ledger entry in upper left corner, the numbers along bottom, and the numbers in the label in lower right corner)

2) something with teeth (the camel - isn't he ugly?)

3) an office supply (I used stapes in several places as well as lots of torn masking tape)

4) text or image in reverse (stamped text at middle top from a Tim Holtz "reflections" 

stamp set and script on right edge from same stamp set)

5) something shiny (bits of red foil candy wrapper, the mirror in the ad, and the 

shiny little purse by the #6)

Bonus: connecting links (image of heavy chain links)

Collage #23

Prompts:

1) an instrument that measures something (tape measures and 

the Trader Joe's sticker of a scale)

2) something red (ticket, red paper scrap, red teddy bear, circle punched from 

magazine)

3) an emblem (the emblem on the antique label)

4) a piece of magazine or newspaper text (magazine text in upper left corner 

and small piece to right of teddy bear)

5) repeating pattern (polka dot paper in background; also textured pattern on white paper)

Bonus: paper with a bumpy surface (the handmade white paper that I embedded with

some rug hooking canvas while making it)

Collage Challenge #21

This week's 5-prompt challenge came together pretty quickly.

Prompts:

1) portion of sewing pattern (lower right corner)

2) something made from wool (image of woman with wool coat - it was black and 

white so I colored it to better match the layout)

3) vegetable (I used a vintage playing card that has the gorgeous image of peas on it)

4) tea or coffee-dyed paper (coffee-dyed paper in lower left corner)

5) something heart-shaped (the heart stamp)

Bonus: a typo (I didn't use the bonus)

I added a few other pieces of papers, a few labels, a leaf die cut, and images of mushrooms and a butterfly to round out the collage. I like how it came out, probably because it is more vintage and my style.

Collage Challenge #20

Week #20's challenge was last week and I created this on Thursday. It feels good to be caught up and only doing one collage a week!

Collage #20

Prompts:

1) something that represents a party or celebration (the cupcakes)

2) something with a bit of yellow (lots of yellow on this page - the bird, lemons, sun and girl's hair, triangles in washi, post-it note)

3) any kind of tape (triangle-patterned washi tape)

4) old sticky note (green-blue and yellow post-its)

5) something sour (lemons)

Bonus: a doodle in red (red pen doodling)

This challenge came together very quickly as I just happened to have the appropriate 

images and colors at hand.  

Collage Challenges #19

I am a little behind with the 5-prompt collage challenges from Margarete Miller. Last week was the 19th week. The prompts were posted on Monday, May 4, and I just finished the collage today.

Collage #19

Prompts:

1) something heavy (great white shark image from magazine)

2) something written or drawn in pencil (prompts written on star)

3) a piece of calendar (upper left corner)

4) art scrap (gelli plate scrap, upper center)

5) gum or cough drop wrapper

Bonus: tissue paper or napkin (blue napkin in lower left corner)

I didn't use #5 as we don't chew gum and the cough drop wrappers I had didn't go with these colors at all. Luckily I had plenty of napkins to choose from for the bonus. The other patterned papers in the background are all the linings of security envelopes.

Collage Challenges 17 & 18

After finishing these two collage pages, I am officially caught up on Margarete Miller's 5-Prompt Collage Challenge. This week is the 19th collage!

Collage #17

Prompts:

1) something red (papers, stamp, flower, hearts, red foil candy wrapper)

2) two of something (2 J's, Jacks, large hearts, small hearts)

3) something that points or is pointing (hand)

4) piece of envelope either side (red patterned lining, upper right corner)

5) kraft or brown paper (pc. of brown paper bag in background)

Bonus: sticker (ticket upper left; postmark, upper right; white ticket, lower right)

Collage #18

Prompts:

1) something sticky (frosting on bundt cake)

2) something you can wear (clothes on magazine page model)

3) a favorite word (beauty)

4) piece of coloring book page (upper right corner)

5) something with paint or ink (background pages gel printed and stenciled)

Bonus: zigzag (pink and blue rick rack)

For this page I first gessoed and watercolored over the catalog page so I wouldn't have to 

completely cover with papers. I like the irregular edges with the watercolor peeking around.

Collage Challenges 15 & 16

Almost caught up on the weekly collage challenges. Here are two more:

Collage 15

Prompts

1) something that rings (image of church bells)

2) plaid pattern (gold plaid paper in lower right corner)

3) piece of map (antique map upper left corner)

4) something in hexagon shape (light fixture image)

5) text in foreign language (Spanish book page lower left)

Bonus: numbers (on paper middle top of page and label near bottom)

You can see I used all 5 prompts along with the bonus.

Collage 16

Prompts

1) something that dangles (bride's legs dangling over wall)

2) something that starts with J (juniper branch)

3) piece of letter or note (mid-center of background)

4) a schematic (lower right of focal image)

5) rubber stamping in color other than black (circles in green paint)

Bonus: circles (stamped circles; circle design in paper, 3 collaged punched circles)

Again, I used all five prompts and the bonus.

Collage Challenge - #12, 13 & 14

I'm still playing catch-up with the 5-prompt collage challenge by Margarete Miller. She has been posting one challenge per week since the beginning of the year but I joined in somewhat late.

Here are three more challenges I finished a few weeks ago.

Challenge 12

Prompts

1) money (the fake - Russian? - bill in lower right)

2) something that starts with F (fall foliage; flag)

3) something drawn or written in pencil (I wrote the prompts in pencil

on the red patterned paper, upper right corner)

4) coarse paper (red and green handmade papers)

5) a label (red label)

Bonus: flag (Mexican flag since the colors went with my collage)

Challenge 13

Prompts

1) something orange (paper on right, butterfly and flower)

2) something with claws (panda bear)

3) bell/bells (bells on stamps)

4) stripes or striped paper (two black and white security

envelope linings)

5) calligraphy (my horrid attempt at calligraphy for the sentiment - 

certainly need to work on that more!)

Bonus: numbers (a rubber stamp image from a catalog)

Challenge 14

Prompts

1) something wet (picture of seashore)

2) lavender - color of plant (in several papers and also flower)

3) game piece or piece of puzzle (puzzle piece that I sanded because it was too 

bright for the page)

4) paper in soft colors (many of the papers)

5) business card or portion (Rae Missigman's card in upper left corner)

Bonus: sticker (vellum flower sticker)

As you can see, by the time I got to the 13th and 14th challenges, I stopped adding the prompts to the pages. It was getting harder to find creative ways to add them to the pages and be cohesive with the collages. I will probably add a list to the back of the book when I'm finished.

Collage Challenges #9, #10 and #11

Collage 9

Prompts:

1) a piece of jewelry (green bracelet)

2) something green (bracelet, patterned paper, leaves, printout of lace trim)

3) paper with lines (chart paper in center of page)

4) something found in a desk (postage stamps)

5) something drawn in ink (used bonus in place of this one)

Bonus: security envelope pattern (lower left corner of page)

Collage 10

Prompts:

1) something you see through a window (wheelbarrow, flowers)

2) something you can hold in your hand (tea cup with flowers)

3) mushroom (two vellum mushroom stickers)

4) poem ( spring poem)

5) piece of dictionary page (top portion of page)

Bonus: geometric shape (ornate oval label, rectangular labels)

I adhered the oval label as a pocket and added a little tag with the prompts written on it.

Collage 11

Prompts:

1) something you're thankful for (music)

2) something alive (bird, bees)

3) ticket (gold, red, ivory and blue tickets)

4) piece of map (upper left corner)

5) something stenciled (paper on left side of page stenciled with paints)

Bonus: a bug or insect (bees)

I wrote the prompts on the back of the ivory "ART" ticket which slides in and out behind the red ticket.

I hope everyone is doing well during this unprecedented time. I, for one, am busier than ever trying to keep up with all the free classes, You Tube videos and activities people have been sharing.  Happy Easter!

Collage Challenge - #7 and 8

Collage #7 - Prompts

1) a leaf or leaves (leaves stenciled with acrylic paint)

2) something sweet (cupcake napkin)

3) a group of three (butterflies)

4) a math symbol ( multiplication and subtraction symbols)

5) a doodle (doodled leaves and top border)

Bonus: a label (red label with prompts)

 

Collage #8 - Prompts

1) a person or people (picture of little girl)

2) bubbles (also in picture)

3) crossword or newspaper/magazine puzzle (Sudoku)

4)  text in language not in English or your home language (Russian book page)

5) sticker from fruit or vegetable from grocery store (house-shaped label from tomatoes)

Bonus: next noun you hear

I didn't use the bonus prompt.  Other items collaged were a piece of vintage wallpaper, some drywall tape, and a die-cut heart. The prompts are written on the back of the picture which is slid under the left side of the heart.

Collage Challenge - #5 & 6

Collage 5 Prompts

1. a path or road (photo)

2. something cold (snowy path; snowflakes)

3. a favorite word (inspire)

4. piece of calendar (upper right)

5. paper with repeating pattern (brown paper; graph paper)

Bonus: an illustration (tree)

Collage 6 Prompts

1. something ornate (labels)

2. piece of dictionary page (in lower left and upper right corners)

3. something that turns or spins (bicycle wheels)

4. something that starts with letter C (stamped circles)

5. a form (guest check)

Bonus: something you see through a window (flower)

I used all five prompts plus the bonus on each of these.

Collage Challenge - #3 and #4

I finished two more collages over the weekend.

Collage #3 Prompts

1. use a bug or insect (the caterpillar and butterfly)

2. a key (stamped and embossed key)

3. sequence of numbers (stenciled numbers on script paper)

4. ink (I used ink to stencil the numbers as well as a floral image on the book text)

5. a quote (quote downloaded from Internet)

Bonus: something in black and white (book text, script paper, magazine scrap under quote,

 painted marks on tissue paper above quote)

I used all five prompts plus the bonus for this one. It was hard incorporating these different items on one page!

Collage #4 Prompts

1. use playing card (I used front of a vintage card)

2. group of 3 (three people, three buttons below, three eggs)

3. something bumpy (paper doily and lace)

4. something that splashes (fish and duck)

5. buttons, real or not (pictures of buttons from magazine)

Bonus: person/people (family photo)

This one was even harder for me! I was only going to use the fish but needed the duck to fill in the collage. I wrote the prompts on a little tag tucked under the playing card which was attached like a pocket.

Collage Challenge - #2

This is the second collage challenge.

I used all of the prompts for this one, including the bonus:

1. something with a bit of pink (the print background, stamped flourish and pink in the focal point images)

2. sheet music (horizontal piece)

3. clothing tag (I added the list - #4 below- to the clothing tag and placed it in the glassine bag)

4. list (see above)

5. text from book page (I used two pieces)

Bonus: stamping in two colors (the flourishes in pink and navy blue)

This was an easy collage, maybe because I prefer pink and blue to the neutrals of the first collage!

Collage Challenge - #1

How is everyone doing in self-quarantine? For me, it's not a significant change as I love being at home holed up in my art room creating! (My husband, who is just the opposite, is already experiencing cabin fever and withdrawals from sports!).

I've been browsing for some fun challenges to inspire me and keep me creating during these surreal times and I found a 2020 ongoing collage challenge on margaretemiller.com that sounds interesting.  I love collage and doing them often helps to improve your skills. For this challenge, five prompts plus one bonus are uploaded each week and you make a collage using the prompts. The bonus is extra if you want to use it and can also be used to replace one of the other prompts. I decided to follow along. Since this challenge is already in its 12th week, I will just do the weekly prompts either daily or whenever I have the time and inclination.

I am going to create these in this very old Hampton Arts stamp catalog which I picked up at a trade show years ago. I kept it since it is coil-bound and has nice, sturdy pages. It's approximately 8" square, so large enough to get several images on and small enough to not be too overwhelming.

This is the cover which I will collage at a later date.

And this is the first page - before I started working on it.

This is my completed collage. The prompts were: 

1. something that represents time (I used the clock image from a magazine and the stamped time quote)

2. something that blows in the wind (the paper on the left which has seed pods and leaves)

3. threads or a piece of fabric (I forgot this one, but used the bonus instead)

4. an animal (the elephant on a piece of old scrapbook paper as well as the horse on the long, vertical postage stamp)

5. something out of the recycle bin (part of a paper bag on the right side, a piece of food wrapper - striped, and a small scrap of kraft packaging)

Bonus:  postage stamp (I used two - I added the prompts on the underside of the large stamp in the upper left corner)

I'm assuming you can use other items and images to bring your collage together or at least I will be doing so. I added some vellum leaf stickers and a Tim Holtz butterfly.

I had fun with this. It's amazing that you can take unrelated images and tie everything together. This is certainly not my most favorite piece ever but I think it works. If this sounds interesting to you, go check out the link above and join in!