Collaged Birds

I've been finishing off some ATCs for a Collaged Birds swap this week.  We had to create four cards, with collaged backgrounds and featuring a bird on them.  For my cards I used ATC-sized pieces cut from backgrounds I created some while ago, based on the "Inky Layers" technique in Bernie Berlin's book, "Artist Trading Card Workshop".  Basically, this consisted of layering down a mixture of papers, images, etc, some with inked edges, then sponging dye ink randomly over the top.  Over this you apply a layer of coloured glazing medium (I used a gel medium) and then more inks (pigment and irridescent).  It's a case of creating a look that you like and using whatever you have to hand, for example Twinkling H2O's would work as a final layer instead of the liquid inks. 

Over these collage backgrounds, I added the bird imagery, to tie everything together.  For instance, I added the "scrabble" words "Bird Call" to one card, because part of the collaged background included a torn piece from a telephone directory with the telephone numbers displayed.

Birds are one of my enduring favourite themes so I really enjoyed making these cards.

For anyone who's interested, there's still plenty of time to sign up for the Butterflies and Dragonflies swap - you have until 31st March to send your cards to me.