What’s Your Story?

from Suitcase of Memories - Hollanders Create Butler Township Legacy

Memory Lane

Do you have a story to tell? Why not tell it through mixed media collage? It’s a fun and easy way to tell a story with paint, paper, fabric, and found objects, You don’t even need to know how to draw! Here are some quick tips to get started:

Be Inspired!

This book project was born on the New Moon with a pair of thrift store wooden shoes, a red candle, and a bottle of “Writer’s Block” wine. What inspires you? Pay attention… you might be surprised!

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Vision Board

To create a vision board, collect images, items, and a color palette that speaks for your collage. Aren’t quite sure what to choose? The act of gathering your favorite treasures will spark your creativity. So that’s a good place to start.

Tell Your Story

You’ll find this old Germanic text in the background of many of the collages created for this book. What elements can best tell your story? Your Grandmother’s recipe collection? Buttons from your Mom’s pink, vintage coat? Include only treasures that make you smile.

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Have Fun!

I purchased a rubber stamp using this favorite image of my Grandmother. It didn’t quite work for this project, but it sure was fun to try.

Others can sense the energy you put into your artwork. So make it fun and make it yours!

For more collage tips and inspiration, visit my website at: www.StrangeFarmGirl.com

My Artistic Muse - “Johanna Van Erp, circa 1950” mixed media collage.

What was in the Suitcase?

The inspiration to create this book came from an assortment of vintage family photographs and newspaper clippings discovered in a worn blue suitcase from our Grandmother’s past. The contents of the suitcase told the story of a group of Hollanders who came to the United States to settle in what is now known as Butler Township in Minnesota.

This book commemorates the Dutch immigrant arrival in 1910 and their following settlement in Otter Tail County. As a scrapbook of sorts, it includes copies of newspaper clippings, photos from the past, and mixed media collages created with gratitude and respect for those who came before us.