Putting Together a Collage Page

In my journal I primarily work with a mixture of paints, inks and collage. I tend to be relatively systematic with this style of page, as in there are 3-4 steps or more depending on how in depth the layering on my page will ultimately end up being.

I've outlined the steps I took to create my newest page and am sharing it for anyone who is interested in how my pages evolve or is curious about how to get started on their own pages:

Step 1: Base Layer

Typically the base layer consists of just the big blotches of watercolor paint that will become the background. I scanned this a step later in the process after I had added some simple ink outlines and a few more touches of watercolor.

Step 2: Collage Layer 1

This is my main collage layer. Pieces I glue down here are typically the biggest, chunkiest elements on my page.

Step 3: Collage Layer 2

Not much has changed in this step, but you can see that I've added my smaller collage elements as well as a chunky element that I wanted on my top layer. If you click on this image it will take you to my Flickr page where you can view it larger.

Step 4: Final Touches

If you wanted to do more than 2 layers of collage, those steps would come before the finishing touches. Here you can see I've added a few final inky phrases and details, such as writing on the wee polaroid photos, the departure and arrival time of my move and other statistics. I've also added a heart shaped button over my home and a shiny star over my new town. I also added a piece of rick-rack to help frame out and balance my spread.

I hope this is helpful and that you're all having a great time working in your journals so far!