photo collage sketch

i've mentioned to a few friends, that i was planning on making some framed photo collages this year, for christmas gifts. i have one all put together and finished for some of my family. but i don't want to share that one just yet. don't want to ruin the surprise. i created a new one today, that i can share. first though, i want to show you the basic plan.

here's the sketch that i came up with for this project. this is an 11x14 framed project. i thought 8x10 was just too small for this. and i wanted to fit a lot of photos. 11x14 was the next choice, and you can get frames that size fairly cheap (about $10-12 on sale at michaels). i came up with the 4 rows, of 5 photos each. but then decided to take out 3-4 spots to add some pattern paper and embellishing. so i have 16-17 photos, depending on who i'm doing this for. but it could easily hold 20 photos. or more, if you wanted.

now the actual collage is 10.5 x 13.5 inches. when i took out my 11x14 frames, i realized that the opening for the actual photo is 10.5 x 13.5 inches. it cuts off a little on each side, to hold the photo in the frame. so i created the collage as 10.5 x 13.5, and once i was done, i simply copied and pasted that onto an 11x14 canvas. seemed like the easiest way to do it for me. i did the math, and came up with 2.1 x 2.7 inches for each photo. i wanted enough room at the bottom to add a title of some sort.

the spots on the sketch that have a flower? that's a spot for embellishing. i always put a flower when i sketch things. just my symbol for "embellishment". lol! but it could be anything. you could do this digitally. just like adding a digital pattern paper. or print the photo collage, and then add "real" pattern paper and embellishments on top of the collage. like hybrid scrapbooking. i used both real stuff and digital stuff, depending on the collage.

here are some of my frames all waiting to be filled up. i'm going with oak frames, black frames, and white frames. i choose each, based around how that person decorates their home and what i think they'd like. i'm having my new collage printed, and will pick it up later tonight. so i'll show you the finished collage and the finished framed project tomorrow :)  

Comments

[Heather Jordan]

Sounds like a perfect gift idea! Can't wait to see the finished project.
I made one of those 7 gypsies printer's trays for my parents. Turned out pretty cute!

[Carla]

That is such a great idea for Christmas presents. Pictures are the most valuable things to us!

[wendy myers]

This is such a cool idea, where do you get the collages printed?

[Sandi N.]

Laura

This is a very thoughtful gift for someone.

I look forward to seeing them soon.

Sandi N.

[Rhonda Steed]

Great gift idea!!!!

[Sara Rossi]

What an amazing idea!! Sounds like something anyone would love to get!! Can't wait to see!

[Marissa]

Cool idea! I have always wondered if you can save something like that on a zip drive and just take it to the Costco here and have it printed in an hour? Is that how you do it, or do you do it online? I am so ready to buy the KI Colorful digi products to do a project like this!

How did the rev. war project come along?

[Deneen]

Love this idea and have done something similar for family in the past and it was a big hit! Can't wait to see your amazing creation!!!!!

[krolski (kathy)]

Can't wait to see it! I've made photo collage scrapbook pages on 12 x 12 paper and framed them in the scrapbook frames from Michaels. I gave them as gifts too and people really seemed to like them. It's a fun gift!

[Jackie]

Looks great. Can't wait to see it. I love your ideas!

[Laura T.]

Can't wait to see the finished project!!

[Krista]

beautifully done!!