Decoupage & COLLAGE Plain Scrapbook Paper into ADORABLE Mixed Media Art!!!

Today's SUPER FUN Mixed Media tutorial is a cute piece of art inspired by a book by Julie Nutting called Collage Couture Techniques for Creating Fashionable Art. I'm a HUGE fan of Julie's and have loved this book since it came out in 2011. In fact- I used to do a variation of some of her cute projects with my students when I used to teach art classes in person! 

For today's project I've got a FREE download for you in case you'd love to SKIP OVER the DRAWING part and get straight into the mixed media goodness! 
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Here are the supplies you need for today's project: 

• Canvas, Canvas Board, or Wood Panel (your art journal is awesome too- use watercolor paper if you have it!)
• Karen's FREE, No-Draw Body Template 
• 1 Sheet of Transfer Paper
• 1 Sheet of Trace Paper 
• 2-3 sheets Scrapbook Paper that go together  (use whatever you have!)
• Mod Podge & a foam brush
• Paint markers - like posca pens, pitt pens are fun too (if you use mod podge)
• Ink pads, stamps, decorative punches, buttons, etc. for extra decoration!

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Once you have your body template cut out, trace her onto the back of a piece of scrapbooking paper.  Quick tip here - choose a contrasting pattern for the body vs. clothes. For example- if you pick a tiny/subtle pattern for the body/skin - select a bolder pattern for the clothes (or try the reverse!). 

Next we're gonna design some clothes! We need a mini pattern first, so lay a sheet of trace paper right over your cutout and let your imagination run wild! Today, I drew in a 3/4 sleeve shirt, skirt, and some cute boots for my girlie!! 

Next, choose 2-3 sheets of scrapbook paper that go together to be her clothes. Lay one sheet of scrapbook paper face down on your art table. Then lay one sheet of transfer paper face down (dark side down) on top of your scrapbook paper. Finally, lay your trace paper with the clothes patterns you just created on top of that. Sound confusing?

CLICK HERE to watch the video.

I promise it's SO EASY! I used different sheets of scrapbooking paper for the top and the skirt for my girl. Look how cute she is looking already!!!

Since I'm working on a wood panel (and I LOVE the look of wood), I'm leaving the background somewhat naked for now. If I had  chosen to work on canvas or a canvas board, I totally would've painted a background of some kind before gluing my girl down. 

​GRAB YOUR MOD PODGE to glue your collage pieces to the board. I used matte medium and I actually wish I hadn't!! Mod Podge will make your collage pieces slippery and creates a beautiful surface to doodle on top of. So go for that look if you can!! 

Once your girlie is glued down, just HAVE FUN with her! I have a ton of cute punches and am a cat mama of 3 - so my cat punch came out to play for this piece, along with some flower punches in different sizes.  I used a paint pen to add hair, and then stamped a quote to make me smile ;) 

I continued doodling on the flowers and cat to carry over that look from the outlines on her clothes and tie it all together. Lastly, I added buttons to my large flower punches, and DONE!  Isn't she SO CUTE?!!!

Once I had everything all glued down, I applied a huge layer of mod podge over the entire thing. That allowed me to doodle in a bit more dimension with my pitt pens because this is something I LOVE to do. You can leave bold pen strokes, smudge your strokes to add shading, or do a combo. It's what I do ALL the TIME with my hamburger style girls!!! I love the way it turns out...

I hope you ENJOY this super fun project!! 

Remember to DOWNLOAD your free, no-draw BODY TEMPLATE here.

Then come back and press play for the full length, mixed media tutorial!! See ya next week ;)