Introduction
This project started with a piece of wall paper I was considering for a girl’s bedroom.  The white lacey design on a soft taupe background was so utterly feminine. A scrap of this wallpaper was the inspiration for the “Beloved Collage."

Step 1
Prepare canvas with Liquitex Acrylic Gesso.   Let surface dry for 24 hours. Paint canvas with Acrylics using the colors Soft White and Titian Buff for a vintage, streaked look. 

Step 2
Tear wallpaper in an irregular shape, roughly the size of the canvas, but a bit smaller. When tearing the paper, pull the outside edge towards you, (the part you intend to discard) holding the central piece you want to use firmly.  This will cause the rough, unfinished edges to be on the central paper and not the scrap you are discarding. Glue torn wallpaper to painted canvas using Golden Gel Medium.  With a fine grit sandpaper, sand the surface of the wallpaper to distress it and make it easier to apply inks.

Step 3
Add stamped images to background.  Stamp beloved letter, jeweled star and corner border with sepia ink directly to wallpaper and canvas.  Make sure to run some images off the edge of the paper for interest. Blend edges of wallpaper to canvas with some Titian Buff acrylic paint and coat the entire surface with Gel Medium.  Let dry.

Step 4
Add textural element.  I have a collection of pressed flowers and baby’s breath is one of my most used elements.  It presses flat and the white blossoms deepen to a nice ecru color over time.  The sprig of flowers used had been pressed in a flower press for several weeks until dry and stored in a book.  I placed flowers on baking parchment and coated one side with gel medium and let dry.  After 30 minutes, I turned the flowers over and coated them on the other side.  I arranged them on the wall paper and glued them down with gel medium.  I made sure to place a flower over the part of the corner stamp that didn’t stamp clearly. I applied two more coats of Gel Medium, letting the piece dry between coats.

Step 5
Add second textural element. I cut a scrap of lace edging the same size as my canvas.  I placed lace on baking parchment and coated both sides with Gel Medium. When dry, I used Gel Medium to glue lace to the left edge of the canvas, overlapping previous elements.

Step 6
Add the central image.  “Victoria” is stamped in sepia ink on matte finish cardstock.  Glue to canvas with Gel Medium and let dry. Apply a finish coat of Gel Medium to entire canvas.