Metallic Collages

As you could see in my post in early March, I have been bitten a bit by the collage bug - and I'm really enjoying it.  I think part of the intrigue is the puzzle-like aspect of making a sheet by fitting together various pieces.  Of course, determining the pieces themselves, their placement, and balancing colors is all part of the process.  I like the additional dimension of the cut out pieces - the circles in this case - that allow me to swap-out colors.  The lime and silver sheet has circle cut-outs.
The teal sheet was my second sheet using these colors and this time, rather than cut out additional shapes to "swap", I used an artist's tracing wheel and went along all the edges of each piece, creating a quilted stitch look.  This idea comes from Ron Lehocky, who has tons of excellent tips and tricks up his polymer sleeves.

The pieces I'm sharing with you today incorporate metal leaf into the clay.  Recently, I ran across a series of photos that demonstrated gently pressing the metal leaf sheet into the clay with the edge of the tissue blade, and then pressing and massaging the leaf "into" the clay so that it stayed on the surface but was imbedded a bit into the clay.  This creates a crackle effect and makes the sheets easy to use and cut.  The metal leaf just acts like part of the clay.  Of course, it is still a metal leaf surface, so the end product needs some sort of protective coating.  For my pieces, I used Lisa Pavelka's Magic Gloss.  I have always been pleased with the results of this product.

So, here are some photos of the pieces I've been making.  I love teals, so, of course, my first pieces used a custom mix for that color.   Lots of earrings and a pendant on the left, and a piece with some motion on the right.

Next, I went purple.  I liked this color with silver leaf, and, in addition to pendants and earrings, I made a bracelet.  It is hinged together with silver jump rings and uses 2 magnetic closures.

Finally, here is a red group.  I used Premo's Alizarin Crimson nudged up a few shades lighter.  I really like the rich red this created.