Mixed Media Bridal Collage

Here is what I've been working on lately. I call it mixed media because it has a little bit of everything thrown onto this canvas. The first photo shows the best picture I could take of the whole thing. You can click on each picture for a better view and a larger version. Some day I will learn to take better pictures. My sister is coming to visit next weekend and she is a very good photographer. I'll try and get some pointers from her.

So, I started with my paintover very lightly on her face. Not much to speak of, since I wanted to concentrate on embellishing that dress. Next, I tackled the bottom part of the dress. Yes, that's a million little strips of crepe paper (I sprayed it with Archival Mist) crumpled and glued onto a plastic form of the skirt. I was careful to leave the bodice showing since that would be the next step.

Next, I copied the ad again, but this time onto silk. I adhered the silk bodice to the canvas and began embellishing. I used two different sizes of Swarovski crystals (my newest obsession!) and very small ivory glass seed beeds. I glued each thing individually onto the bodice. Once you get into a rhythm, it goes pretty fast.

I tried to include the best photos of the bodice closeups. The roses on the background are paper roses I picked up in the 25 cent bucket at Michael's! I loved their color. They are a very faded shade of violet. I used white rose scrapbook paper for the background. And the bottom photo is the original ad. I loved this ad the first time I saw it in the bridal magazine. That dress just begged to be embellished!

I have put her into a display case and now she looks down on me in my studio! I loved this piece. It's exactly as I had envisioned. As I said in my last post, the first try with this was NOT working. Patience and a little more planning really paid off.

I am doing a series of brides and each dress will be made from a different material. I haven't picked out the next one yet but I have narrowed it down to three. And, in between, I'm working on more ATC's and other projects for family members. So, needless to say, I'm staying very busy. Until next time...