A little digression.....

With several books about collage (see the "What I'm Reading" sidebar) from my local library, I was eager to create a project not confined to the journal.

Here's what I did:

-gessoed a piece of heavy card stock cut into the arch shape
-mixed a nice brown with acrylic paint thinned with matte gel medium, then painted the arch with a large, very cheap natural bristle brush
-selected and discarded the elements several times (we all know how that goes!)
-put it all together with more matte gel medium, leaf printed tissue paper, coffee-stained green bias tape, 20 lb. hemp cording, a snippet of upholstery fabric, chalked edges, hand stitching, a little vellum, a handmade heat embossed art foam medallion, stamping, a few dangly beads.....  Maybe this layering thing won't be so difficult after all!

And voila!  Une femme, tres jolie.....