Framed Bird Cage Collage

I have the habit of re-doing my art projects until I get them just right.  This piece came from one of my re-do’s.  I loved the bird, the wire cage and the bird’s wire “birthday hat.”  Unfortunately, I didn’t love the substrate which housed him.  While trying to find a new home for my bird, I was also trying to figure out what to do with the cool frame.  It was a little damaged and couldn’t hold glass in its present condition.  Then the two ideas came together.  . . . bird cage in a frame.  I’m rather happy with it.

   

I used very old wire to make the bird cage.  I twisted the wires together and made a loop for the top.  I then clipped the loop onto a clipboard, and formed the sides and front of the birdcage. 

How to create shipping tag collages

Along with vintage cigar boxes, I also inherited old shipping tags.  The warping of the shipping tags did concern me at first.  However, as soon as I started painting, the tags flattened out on their own. I love it when problems solve themselves. 

·      For this tag, I made a background using acrylic paint.  Click HERE to see tutorial. 

·      The bird is a stamp.  I stamped him onto card stock.  I then colored him in with colored pencils and glued him to the tag.  His eye is an enamel black dot, which I “dotted” using a white Signo uni-ball pen.  I also used the Signo uni-ball to make the dots on the inside of the circles. 

·      The black branch is a transfer rub from Tim Holtz.

·       The roses at the bottom are from a 1920’s Valentine postcard.

·       Finishing Touches:   I used a black marker to go around all edges and silk ribbon to tie it off.