What's a flamingo without a palm tree?  Using watercolor paper, I sketched the palm tree off to the side and painted it loosely with watercolor.  The 3 flamingos were stamped and diecut (Gina K).  Wings were embellished with pink mica flakes (Melissa Frances) and that was a walk down memory lane!!!  Having them overlap is another fun visual of 3's.

Next up is a diecut circle mounted from behind with a section of background paper from my stash.  I thought it had a perfect undersea vibe.  The 3 elements were mounted (cascaded) and the starfish raised with foam mounting tape.  So, you see the rule of 3's and you see a purposeful cascade to form an interesting collage.  The images touch slightly which pulls the cluster together in a pleasing manner.

I created the beach background first by randomly stamping an image that looked like sand granules.  Painting the sand over with chalk and water helped bring the random "dots" together.  The sky and water were also chalk and water and purposely super randomly painted.

I knew I wanted to use the beach umbrella and now wish I had cut a small slit in the card to insert the umbrella into the sand to give a grounded feel.   Again, the rule of 3's apply only this time the collage rule is to use one focal image (umbrella) and two cascading images.  The starfish touch and one is raised.  The flip flops are also raised.  To follow the cascade of collage, start with the sentiment and follow your eyes to the umbrella the starfish and finally the flip flops.

The umbrella isn't touching anything and looks like it's floating, so it's not quite right to my eye.  The flip flops color isn't right either.  I've fixed it and see if you see a grounding difference.

I like the umbrella inserted into a slit in the sand in this version.  I also changed the flip flops to add better contrast between the starfish and sand.

Another rule of collage (there's quite a few!) is to think of a triangle (it can be oriented in any direction) and build a scene using that shape.  If you look at the starfish, they are the "top" point of this upside down triangle!  From the sun down to the flip flops is the longest line of the triangle.  Even the little gems are in a triangle shape!

Knowing the placement really helps when balancing the little pieces.  Another important collage rule is to have images hang off the edge, which is the case with every diecut in this scene!  They don't all have to hang off an edge, but it worked in this case.

For more information about collage here's a link.  I've found my handwritten collage notes from I can't even remember how many years ago and will transfer them onto a format to post to my blog.  Those notes are how I really learned the "rules."  Stay tuned.

Have a pleasant week!

XOXO

LYN