Embroidered Collage

I'm amazed at the difference that a little bit of color intensity and outlines can make.  I'm thrilled with how these turned out even though I was dubious previously.  I took colored pencils to all of them.  I shifted the color palette on a couple, making the yellows orange or green, for example.  For most of the cards the outlining in dark colors really made the card.  There were even a couple that I thought were lost causes until I added lines to them.  My favorite,which I'm keeping, is the one in the middle.

As an interesting note on mixing media - It was more difficult to apply colored pencil to the light purple areas.  The surface felt as if it was already too waxy.  This was probably because I had taken some white water colored crayon over the purple before I applied water, so there was a greater layer of pigment.  I'll want to remember that in the future.  Also, different color combinations were more effective at either enhancing or changing the underlying color, but I don't remember which were which specifically.

I've found working on the 3"x4" pieces to be useful.  I don't have to worry as much about edge effects as I would if I started out with the 2.5"x3.5" card and I can select the best compostion within the framework I have.  I do end up with lots of little bits, though, which I probably should save. I could make cards collaged out of little strips cut from other cards....