Sometimes this mixed media lark is very much like speaking a foreign language. Itty Bittys haven't figured on this blog so far as it's quite a new thing. I have no idea who originally coined the phrase, but it's a piece of art 3 x 3" square and I've entered my first swap of them. This one is organized by
Artchix and needless to say requires us to use Artchix products, to be more specifix, a piece of their
faux postage. They do a lovely collection of these and I joyfully set to work making my 6 Itty Bittys. However, I found it very difficult to integrate the postage with my fabric/paper collage and eventually decided the problem lay with their white surrounds. The white simply stood out to much, and screamed: look at me, which was precisely the opposite of what I wanted to achieve. As soon as I cut off the white, things came together like I had envisioned.
Here are the 6:
Between the Cradle and the Grave.
The postage is from the Royal Faux Postage Sheet and I've also applied a purple face pebble from Artchix as well as a mainly purple transparency. The cradle itself is part of my original fabric/paper collage and was a vintage image.
Ripe Fruit on the Table
The original fabric/paper collage was made for my September Journal Quilt and I added the tulip Faux Postage and the Artchix butterfly transparency. The transparent text is also from an Artchix sheet.
Spring
A left over from another fabric collage and again I added a flower from the Peace and Tranquility Faux Postage, this time a yellow poppy and a transparent face and text, all Artchix. This one has a lot of sparkle, which is hard to see on the scan but quite satisfying (to me!) in real life.
He Sought for her Heart
The last remnant of the pink/lime green collage I made while teaching at the Loch Lomond Quilt Show. Can you see that spear aiming at the heart ( well sort off, allowing for artistic licence!). I've added Faux Postage from the Love Post sheet as well as a lovely lime green flower. The transparent text is again from Artchix. I'm continually amazed how I manage to find text so suited to my finished pieces. It just leaps up from the pages I'm scanning. Serendipity at its best!
A Song of Glory
This collage was originally for my November Journal Quilt and I love the colours. The bird from the Peace and Tranquility Faux Postage and the nest and text are Artchix too.
La Reunion
Finally my favourite of the 6. The fabric/paper collage is a leftover from the spread I did for Abby Lazar's ArtisticJourneyinColor RR album, which had the theme The Blues. I added the beret suited woman which seemed to go so well with the man leaning against a wall seeing as they both looked like rebels to me. I added the transparent clock and the word La Reunion jumped off the sheet at me, asking to be added.
The returns for the Artchix Itty Bitty swap arrived safely today as well as the new collage sheets with the Itty Bittys on which Artchix produced specially to accompany the swap. I'm over the moon to see they have used two of my Itty Bittys on the new sheets. Just to remind you I'm picturing them here again! 
