Making SoulCollage Cards

One major component of the SoulCollage^® process is the actual card making. Whether done in solitude or in community with others, card making offers time to allow your intuition and creative nature to come forth in your unique and special ways.

Here you'll find some suggestions for making your own SoulCollage^® cards. As with anything, you'll likely discover the ways that work best for you over time as you develop your own SoulCollage^® style and preferences.

A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE "SUITS" OF THE SOULCOLLAGE^® DECK

·         In her book, SoulCollage^®, Seena Frost recommends making cards that fall into various "suits" that will eventually make up your SoulCollage^® deck. For a deeper understanding of these suits, you may enjoy reading her book. Attending a workshop or retreat will give you more information on this aspect of the SoulCollage^® process as well. It is not necessary to know which suit your card will fall into as you are creating it...that can come later. If you do know, that's OK too. One wonderful attribute of the SoulCollage^® process is that you can't do it "wrong"!

·        "COMMITTEE" Suit: I think of the Committe suit as all those various "parts" that reside within me, sub-personalities, almost like a group sitting around a conference room table. Whenever I an in a situation, certain members of my committee may speak up more loudly and others may hold back. Certainly, each of these parts wants to be acknowledged by me. Some examples of my Committe cards include "Playful Child", "Receptive Self", "The Judge", "Nurturing Mother", and "The Adventurer". The possibilities are nearly endless for creating Committee cards, it seems.

·        "COMMUNITY" Suit: This type of SoulCollage^® card creates opportunities to make cards that visualy capture the essence of special people or pets in each of our lives. Each card focuses on one being or one group and is a tangible way to acknowledge and honor the impact that person or pet has had in our lives. These beings can be currently living or not and can be people we've actually known or perhaps those we have admired from afar. Some examples of my Community cards include "Buddy" (my son), "Johnny (my fiance), and "Grandmama & Aunt Mary" (two dear women who greatly influenced my life).

·        "COMPANION" Suit: Companion cards recognize that many of us feel we have animal guides who offer us wisdom and insight at various times in our lives. Seena's book outlines a process to access these animal guides in a very personal way and to relate them to the various parts of the Chakra or energy system in the body. Examples of some of my Companion cards include "2nd Chakra Tiger", "6th Chakra Owl", and "1st Chakra Turtle".

·        "COUNCIL" Suit: Council cards represent various archetypes that we each recogize or feel operating in our lives. Council cards are often about various "bigger than life" concepts or ideals that are important to us as individuals but that also carry meaning for others. Archetypes reside in the collective unconscious. For a more thorough explanation of archetypes and Council cards, you may enjoy reading Seena Frost's book, SoulCollage^® . Some examples of my Council cards include "The Hermit", "The Divine Feminine", "Death/Rebirth", and "The Fool".

·        "SOURCE" Card: One final type of card that can be really beautiful to create is the "Source" card. This card is deeply personal (and aren't they all!) in that it is each of our unique representations of what "Source", "God", "Great Spirit", "The Universe", or whatever term each of us may use to describe that highest aspect. My "Source" card did not come right away, but when I saw the images that eventually made up the card, I "just knew" they were the ones I wanted to use.

FINDING IMAGES

·        Images are everywhere and you’ll probably never be able to look at a magazine or even junk mail the same way again! Anything goes here!

·        Great magazines for images include (but are certainly not limited to):

o       National Geographic

o       Natural History

o       Smithsonian

o       National Geographic Traveler

o       “O” Magazine

o       Spirituality & Health

o       Expression

o       Catalogues from Specialty Retailers

o       Travel Brochures (available via mail from most Chambers and Visitors’ Centers or for pick-up during your travels)

·        Don’t discard “regular” magazines like Newsweek, Business Week, Fortune, etc. without a look to see what you’ll find. Surprisingly, many of these magazines have great images.

·        Ask friends and family to save their old magazines for you.

·        Check with the local library or bookstore to see if they have some out of date issues that they’ll give you

·        If storage is an issue for you or you just don’t like clutter, go through your magazines at your leisure and tear out images. Images can be stored in a small box or file folders by categories to make it easy to pull them out when the mood to make SoulCollage^® cards strikes!

SELECTING IMAGES FOR YOUR CARD(S)

· I find myself working in two general categories of ways to make cards, although they certainly overlap: (1) When I have an initial idea about the theme of a card (i.e. Playful Child Self or The Hermit archetype) as I begin to select images and (2) When I work totally based on intuition and feelings, selecting images that tug at me and/or feel they want to be placed together without my conscious clarity about what they mean to me. When working within both categories, intuition plays an active role…the difference involves when I begin to draw on my intuitive nature. With the “planned theme” card, that’s once I’ve determined my “topic”, selecting the images that speak to me with my theme in mind. With the “unplanned theme” card, intuition kicks in right from the start and I have to give my left brain permission to take a break right from the start.

· I also find myself making little piles of images that “grab” me as I look through stacks or file folders of images already torn from magazines at an earlier time or as I leaf through magazines. When I feel I’ve selected enough, whatever that feels to be to me at the particular time I’m working, I then begin to sort out the images that create the most interest for me or that call out to me most loudly at that time. Everyone does this differently as this is certainly a matter of personal style and preferences.

FITTING THE IMAGES TO THE CARDS

·        Level of detail in cutting images as well as numbers of images per card are choices of personal artistic preference and often vary from card to card made by the same SoulCollager. In fact, as you continue in your SoulCollaging you may find your style will continue to evolve…that’s been my experience with my cards and I’ve seen it with others too. Experiment for yourself and look at some cards made by others to begin developing your own style. There’s no right or wrong way to do this. Make it your own!

·        Using a cardstock “frame” (like the one you received in your workshop packet) will give you a little window the size of your card under which you can place and move images to determine how to place them on the actual card. (This “frame” is not intended for use in measuring and cutting your images…the actual card base is better for that since it’s measurement is exact.)

·        It’s often helpful to select a background image or images and get those on the card first.

·        Once I’ve placed my images under my “frame” and have the desired plan for my card, I lay each image in sequence (see first bullet point under “Using The Glue” for sequencing) on the actual card. Running a finger on the place where the image touches the edge of the card creates a little crease on the image that can be used as a line guide to cut the image edge(s) to the exact size needed.

·        For larger images and backgrounds, it’s often helpful to use a paper cutter to make the straight edges that will be at the edge(s) of the card.

·        If you plan to put a gold or other border on your cards, it’s recommended that the images fall a tiny bit short of the edges of the card leaving a very fine line of exposed white space that the width of the gold pen will fill during the edging process.

·        Cards will be more durable if the images do not extend past the edge of the card even a little bit. In case any little overlap remains after the card is finished, this can be trimmed with scissors after the gluing is complete by flipping the card over and cutting right along the edge of the card from the back.

USING THE GLUE – A STICKY TOPIC FOR SOULCOLLAGERS!

·        Begin gluing images from those at the “back” of your collage layout. Images that lie underneath others are glued first and the more forward images are overlaid sequentially.

·        There are many glue options and it’s important to choose one that works for you. I use glue sticks and particularly like the Elmer’s Craft Bond because it’s a “turbo glue stick” – a strong and quick-dying adhesive. It is not very flexible, however. Others really like the liquid “Yes Glue” or “Modge Podge” that can be painted onto the images and takes a little longer to dry (assists in moving images around on the card after the glue is applied). Like everything, it’s all about matching your style and preferences with the various options available.

·        Regardless of the type of glue, images adhere with less wrinkling and bubbling if glue is applied to every little part of the image back. Dry spots are potential trouble spots for bubbles/wrinkles.

·        Pressing down hard on the image after it is applied to the card and smoothing it (either by hand or with a brayer) will also help reduce wrinkles/bubbles.

·        If you are using a glue stick, it really helps to cap the stick while you are pressing, cutting, etc. This way the tip won’t dry out. A dry glue stick tip can grab at your next image and increase the risk of tearing the fragile paper.

·        If excess glue gets on your card, using a slightly dampened paper towel to gently wipe it away before it completely dries takes care of it.

·        Pressing the completed card under a heavy book or other flat object on a flat surface also helps with flattening the images and creating the seal of images to card.

ADDING A GOLD (OR OTHER COLOR) BORDER

·        A gold (or other color) border gives a finished look to cards. “PenTouch” Medium Gold paint pen works really well for this.

·        When using a PenTouch pen, the tip grabbing the edge of the card is what ensures an easy-to-apply, straight border. Having images that have not overlapped the edge of the card will make this bordering process much easier.



·        If you make a mistake with the PenTouch, don’t panic! Even if it dries, the paint can be removed by carefully wiping with a paper towel edge soaked in “Goo-Gone” or liquid paraffin candle oil. It’s always easier if you don’t make a mistake, but the paint can usually be removed with minimal lasting impact to the card.

·        Putting a gold or colored edge on the actual edges of the cards also provides a nice touch.

USING A PROTECTIVE COATING

· Adding a coat of polyurethane will make your cards more durable and will also provide a shiny finish is you so choose. I use “Anita’s Semi-Gloss Polyurethane”. “Modge Podge” and other similar products also work well. These products come in matte finish, semi-gloss, and gloss.

· When using “Anita’s”, I apply a very first light coat to the cards and allow that to dry. Putting on a thick first coat seems to increase the potential for wrinkles and bubbles. After the first coat is dry, I like to apply a thicker second coat (and sometimes even a third) to really seal down my images and to add the shinier finish.

DECORATING THE BACKS (TO DESIGNATE “SUITS”)

·        Select a specialty or hand-decorated paper pattern for each of your SoulCollage^® “suits”. Really let your creativity shine through here!

·        Adding/drawing-in a gold border on the backs of cards is a nice touch and makes fitting the “suit” paper easier while providing a more finished look.

·        Once you’ve determined the “suit” for a card, apply glue to the corresponding specialty/hand-decorated paper cut to 4 5/8” X 7 5/8”. If the paper has a pattern that has a top/ bottom, be sure you position it to match the top/bottom of the card on the other side. A paper cutter will be really helpful with this step.