Tiny Art

The first time I created textile collage postcards was three years ago and I've been wanting to make more.  So that's one of the things I've been up to in dribs and drabs over the past week.  I posted 11 pieces for sale last night on my Sales Blog, so do check them out.  The rest are going with two quilts to a show in Chico, CA called A Sense of Place, one of California Fiber Artists' venues for 2012.  The show runs from mid-May to mid-June at the Avenue 9 Gallery.

I've also begun making ATCs (Artist Trading Cards), which I'm totally loving.  What fun they are to create.  A handful of last year's 4x4" collages are being turned into 3.5x2.5" ATCs, but mostly I'm starting fresh with ideas that pop into my mind as I go.  What a great way to try out different techniques that I'll use on larger mixed media collage pieces in the near future.  New loves ~ ironing paper, fusing paper, and stitching paper!

A few words about what goes into making a textile collage postcard ~

1. It begins with a fabric collage, the small pieces fused then zigzagged onto the background fabric
2. The top gets overpainted with metallic textile paint
3. The postcard back is 2 layers of muslin fused together (so the subsequent quilting on the Peltex between the layers doesn't show through)
4. The words "Postcard" and "Postcard Art by Constance Rose @ 2012" are printed on pre-Bubble Jet Set treated fabric, then cut out, fused and stitched to the backing
5. The top is fused to the Peltex and quilted
6. The back is fused to the Peltex
7. The postcard is satin stitched around the edges

I have a lot of irons in the fire now and I'm really happy to be working at full steam again.