All The Pretty Papers

What can you do with patterned papers?

Below is a preview of some papers I’ve been working on. Some are listed in my shop as sets of three . There are also sets of swathes from vintage wallpapers, and fabrics

One of my favorite fiddley things to do with pattern papers is patchwork collages, as if doing intricate appliques with vintage fabrics. Mine are done digitally with layers, but the same effect can be done the old fashioned way with paper and glue. lots of patience, in either medium. Below is my patchwork lady, she was originally a magazine ad from the 1920’s very flapper-esque, I was working on a patchwork bolero jacket and funky floppy hats from vintage fabrics and watching a wonderful artist from one of my old home towns of Cassadaga FL. A lovely artist named Elizabeth Saint Hiliare, who makes the most amazing “Paper Paintings” using collage techniques and her own handmade papers. She has a youtube channel with lots of videos and instructions.

Patchwork Lady is one of my more complicated patchwork images I’ve done so far. They are quite satisfying.

It started out as just a collage

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Before I made my Patchwork Lady, I made a lot of “junk” and abandoned a few projects

The yellow composite flowers are from a vintage template from a watercolor painting or embroidery instruction book. It was just simple line art, I filled it in with vintage textile scans.

My first try was Red Fish – Blue Fish meets broken china dishes

This is one I am currently working on using my own layered pattern paper designs

The papers I designed and used, and the original image of a bowl of hyacinths in bloom. The image is from a periodical dated ca/ 1920s featuring artists images used for painting ceramics.

My first successful Image was the blue bird with nest and eggs below

Pretty Bird

Pretty Bird was made from My set of vintage textile patterns in 3 color-ways

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But Wait, there’s more!
Pattern papers also make unique frames and backdrops for collage and other mixed media projects.

The Victorian Ladies and Textiles, Altered Art cards below were made with many textile swatches, Victorian Fashion Plates, and images of Victorian trims, laces and other fancy embellishments.

Digital Butterflies Printable JPEGs for Collage, Decoupage and Mixed Media

What is a digital collage sheet?
Digital collage sheets contain printable, royalty free source images for use by scrapbook artists, art journal makers, paper crafters & pendant makers. Most sheets follow a similar theme with the idea that with just one sheet you could make, or at least start, a pretty awesome collage. Digital Butterflies Images are packaged neatly together into in digital file which can be downloaded & printed over & over again. The digital images can also be manipulated using most photo editing programs (ie, Adobe Photoshop or the freeware Paint.NET).

What can I do with digital collage sheets?
You can do so much with these images! First you print them out, then you can, fussy cut, loose cut, tear, strip, use whole. make patchwork collages, make decoupage boxes, fold into envelopes and pockets, make tags, tucks, make transparent overlays. You can make digital, and traditional collages, ACEO art trading cards, fussy cut elements for assemblage, use the images for decoupage, make handmade greeting cards, create beautiful art journals, scrapbooking, or altered art books. We also carry a wide variety of pendant images which can also be used as journaling spots, faux stamp starters, altered art and mixed media photo charm jewelry. Our pendant images come in circles, squares, rectangles for dominos, microscope slides, bamboo tiles, matchboxes and more, We carry standard pendant image sizes, and we are steadily expanding our selection, and are always willing to make custom sizes and shapes on request.

Can I Try These Out First?
I’m working on that currently.

I’ve been learning to make pattern papers, feel free to right click and download the 6 x 6 inch image above, to play with. It was made from an antique book page from a botanical catalogue of dried flowers, This is the Scarlet Pimpernel