Kerri Miller, Managing Editor
Welcome back to my “what I learned from the Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking designer” series. This week I’m examining the artistic works of Mou Saha.
Mou Saha is the queen of collage. She’s got artistic talent oozing from her fingertips and I personally find her projects totally inspiring. I can only wish I had her talent for watercoloring, mixed media, handwriting, and collage. This is basically what inspired me to review her projects this week. I wanted to see if there were things I could actually do to create a Mou-like project. And I’m happy to say that I found a few things to try.
Here’s what I learned from Mou. Be prepared to get inky!
Add the unexpected to an artistic collage. I love, love, love artistic collages-especially those that aren’t overly done. Mou is so good at using a variety of papers, stamps, paint splatters, patterns, and black and white photos to create a beautiful and unexpected collage without making it look too overdone. It’s the unexpected items like the black and white photos acting as a design element and stripes of music and lettered patterned paper that really get me excited about this layout. This is definitely something that I can aspire.
Mou Saha’s My He(art) Is In It Layout on p. 43 of Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking, July 2014
When creating a watercolor background, don’t try too hard. Basically it shouldn’t be perfect. Mou does a fantastic job of creating a natural looking watercolor background with pigment sticks and a paint brush. I expect that you shouldn’t try too hard when you are creating this type of background. You have to let it flow naturally – something that comes easier for some than others. And since I’m not quite the artist that Mou is, I think I will start with painting a 12×12 cardstock and then cut out my favorite area to make my card.
Mou Saha’s Hello Sweetheart Card on p. 18 of Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking, July 2014
Create your own artistic element. This layout is truly a beautiful work of art. Mou uses her signature watercolor elements in this layout along with creating her own fantastic dream catcher element using feather die cuts, pom poms, yarn, beads, a doily piece, and a cardstock circle. Although this looks like it takes huge amounts of skill, if you break down the elements it’s actually something I think I could recreate. I’d love to try anyway.
Mou Saha’s Hold Onto Your Dreams on p. 16 or Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking, August 2014
Check out Mou’s website Collage, Collage, Collage for more inspiration on creating collages and mixed media projects. She’s got some step by step instruction that makes it look easy! It’s fun to see how she uses stamps, inks, and papers to make some wonderful layouts and projects. I hope you are as inspired as I am by her work.
Happy Crafting!
P.S. Leave a comment by 5:00 pm MDT on Wednesday, July 10 for a chance to win this fun little ensemble of craft supplies inspired by Mou’s mixed media.
Prize package includes product from BoBunny Press, Fiskars, Maya Road, Prima, and Tim Holtz.