Heart On A String

Here is a card I made recently.  This is the one I was supposed to be working on when I "accidentally" made this collage instead using the same materials.  

I first glued down some papers from my new vintage books (oxymoron anyone?)  onto the background to create a nice base and texture.  I painted over it with off white, then added some soft washes of color.   I tore the bird's shapes out of various scrapbook papers,  glued it all down, then added some crochet bits to add additional texture.  I drew in some details with a pencil.     I wanted a bit more depth on the heart so I put 2 layers of heavy gel medium on it.  The stars/dots on the red are a raised silver pattern that was part of the paper.

I've had the image of a heart tied on a string and hanging from a bird or a tree in my head for quite a while (a few years actually!), so I decided to do one with a tree too.  I made a quick 5x7 inch collage on watercolor paper with vintage book pages glued down as a base, and then painted over with fluid acrylics.   I added some details with a pencil and scraps of paper.  

  It's a bit different from what I've been doing lately, but that's part of the fun of art. Experimenting and having fun and following your inspiration .  I'm not done using the heart on a string image, I think it'll continue to pop up here and there.  I'm not even sure exactly what it means to me yet, but that's ok. I do know it has to do with sharing your heart and being open, but I think there's more to it than that.  I'm not too worried about it right now though. 

 I know these things usually reveal themselves in time.