Say 'Yes' to art - my third collage

I had some time for collage and drawing today, after cleaning the home, cooking and organizing things for my last day of work at school!

I glued a background (wood) in a corner of a page in my moleskine journal and  then I started to add things.
When finished, I wasn't 100% happy about the result, so I decided to draw something on it!
Oh, so scary!
I used to think that drawing on a collage is a bad thing, a misdeed, a way to ruin your masterpiece.
Well, I was wrong, drawing on a collage is the best part of the process!!! :)
I had so much fun adding little details and words. And, while I was working with my black pen, the title of this collage came to my mind peremptorily: "Say yes to art"!
Like that funny elegant man does. Say 'Yes'! Like I did starting a new collage at the end of a session of "domestic obligations".
Say 'yes' to art... hope you will do it today! :)

What is it? A collage?

Two days ago there was a large space next to the kanelbullar's recipe in my moleskine pages. And it wasn't empty, but full of colors and images.

 

 

What is it? A collage?

No.

Two :D

 

 

After more than one year I jumped over my fear and I started to glue images on the page and I finished to make two collages.

The bug input went from that golden frame I found in a magazine. The original plan was to write into the empty space (I like to write into frames!), but it inspired me to create a sort of "paint" and a collage was born.

So natural and so exciting.

It's a new way to create images; you use images created by other people to create other images, a process so different from drawing (= you create images by yourself).
I found this creative process so "intriguing" :)

And less difficult than my previsions. Loved it!

Now I feel like I can't stop making collages. Eh, eh.

 

My mind is full of questions about these two collages I created this week. Have they a meaning? What are they speaking of? Have they to represent a subjet?Or not? Can I call them "collages" if they are simply a group of cut&glued paper without a precise pourpose?

But I don't want to torment myself. I simply want to experiment and make beautiful images for my journal. And learn new thing.

I have no artistic ambitions, I only want to enjoy creativity :)

Mission impossible: 2012 summer in sixteen photos

Picking up only sixteen photos taken this summer for this mosaic hasn't been easy. I've tons of photos in my folders, because I'm a compulsive photographer (yes, I know!) and because we had an extremely busy summer, full of things so happy(*) that I couldn't stop to document them.

 

Some of these photos haven't been published before, some have their blog-post.

This collage tells me a lovely story about creativity, flowers, nature, sea, art, cooking and family life. It tells a part of my story :)

I'm so sorry that I couldn't include some of the dozens of photos I have with my little nephews and nieces (their parents don't like the idea to see their children published and I respect their opinion).

They are so sweet and funny!

A great summer finished!

 

Collage made using picmonkey, as usual.

 

(*) some happy things of this summer:

- My boyfriend's dad turned 80

- My parents-in-law celebrated their 60 (!!!) wedding anniversary

- My nephiew Luca was baptized

- We knew for the firts time our niece Lidia, who lives in UK, when she was 11 months old

- Mum&dad came to visit us two times and we explored Sicily together

- Marianna and Martino got married

- We celebrated my boyfriend's birthday

Is it enough?

Making collages with Picmonkey

Have you tested Picmonkey.com?

It's a web-site where, for free, you can use a lot of tools to edit your photos. Registering isn't needed and you save the edited photos in your computer.

I use it almost daily, because I find it simple and practical.

Recently I found a new funny tool: a collage maker!

I tested it a bit and I love it!

The interesting thing is that there are a lot of layouts to try out: you can make a collage made of squares (a "traditional" layout you can realize using other free tools on the web), but also mixing squares and rectangles in different positions, numbers and combinations. You can even create a layout by yourself.

I made a collage to sum up in images my tutorial about how to make fabric peonies and published it in my Flickr album.

This tutorial is so simple that images are enough to explain the whole process, I think.

Then I put together photos taken in May, a month dedicated to gardening, spending quality time with family and friends and exploring the world :)

I want to make a collage like this at the end of every month: it's a great way to review what we did!

Another idea is to make thematic collages: one about all the bags sewn last year, one about me&S together, one with the photo taken during a specific event...

For example last saturday (national feast here in Italy) we spent a great day in the country with our friends, making pizza in the wood stove and enjoying nature: so I made a collage with the best photos of the day to send it to my friends. In this way you can give them a "souvenir" without swamping their mail box with tons of heavy images.

I'm always looking for free and simple tools to have fun with photos. 

Have you web-sites to suggest me? Please, leave a note in the comments!

A zine about collage by Tattered Edge

It's time to talk again about zines' world!
I love this form of self-expression!

Recently I've purchased two mini-zines written by a canadian girl (Lelainia) who runs an Etsy shop called "Tattered edge".
One of them, "Collage and composition", was in my birthday wish-list. I started to be interested in collage this spring, but I was a bit confused about how to start and what to consider when working on collages, so this little book seemed very interesting to me.
The second one I've purchased, "Tipography: art by the letters", captured my attention because I like fonts and everything is typography-related. So I added it to my cart and paid.

I quickly received them in a beautiful recycled envelope, made of a folded magazine page (probably a magazine about art). On the back I found amazing canadian stamps with two of my favourite animals, butterfly and dragonfly (do you remember my recent love for stamps?).

Both the zines were packed in a plastic envelope. Lelainia sent me also a little gift I'll try to use in my future collages for sure!

"Collage and composition" is my favourite. It is a small work of 8 pages, but it has also a cover with inner pockets with two samples of collage to watch carefully. It's a simple and clear text, parted in five chapters ("Scale", "Color value", "Texture and depth", "Creating the layout", "Finishing touches"); the chapter about colors is my favourite.

If you are interested in Lelainia's work you can also read her blog.

And now, please, help me: can you explain me why I'm so scared by making a collage?
Have you links of tutorials or ispirations about this art to share with me?
Probably I already know the solution: I have only to try and follow what my creativity suggests me. I know, I know.