7 Ways to use Paper Scraps for Great Collage

My collage journal is growing, but I’m still in the experimental stages of how to use the cut up paper to my best advantage. I’m finding as I go along, that magazine pages give me the best results and I’ll explain why in a later post. I’m also discovering that it’s okay to use part of a page that I really like and then just adding to it. I’m also calling on old, faithful techniques, like image transfers, to get the best spreads.

I started this post with 3 ideas of how to use paper scraps in collage but as I added photos I realized the list was much longer. Here are 7 ways I’m using (and you can use too) to create new collage art.

Idea #1: Home decor magazines are great sources for collage material. Use pages that show tiles or ceramics as I did on the page on the right and then cut them into leaf or petal shapes to create a floral spread. Bonus idea: Any pages with color and text, when cut into strips, add a lot of interest to a floral design like the image on the left.

Idea #2: Sometimes you just love a spread on a page. You can just use that part of the page that you love, and then add your own details as I did by adding more leaves which I cut out from the same page spread, maintaining the color tone of the original spread.

Idea #3: If you can’t draw a vase, cut one out! Then draw your own flowers, or cut them out from floral images (I did both) and then add them to the vase. Bonus idea: Looking for stripes? Sometimes when you cut pages into long vertical pieces what you end up with is stripes like these beautiful blue ones below.

Idea #4: I had done these “face collages” many years ago - I’m glad I tried it again. Draw your face outline first on old book pages like I did and then cut it out. (The front of old books often contain a couple of blank pages and I love the texture/freckle suggestion this gave the face.) Next cut out strips of multi-colored magazine pages trying to get the shape of the hair as it goes around the face. Outline everything with a black marker to get more detail.

Idea #5: Don’t limit yourself to straight cuts when cutting up your scrap paper or magazine pages. A good pair of scissors will make it easy to create these thin, winding strips similar to the hair above, but thinner. I’m still experimenting with this idea but I know there is a good one there : )

Idea #6: If you find yourself drawing or doodling the same type of thing often - see if you can turn it into a collage piece. In my case it’s purses. I cut out random shapes from multi colored pages and then I added the “straps”. The paper that I chose here was scrapbook paper and the different colors on those pages are really what make these purses work. If I had use just solid color paper, the result would have been very different.

Idea #7: I had forgotten how much I loved to do “image transfers”. Use any magazine page you love to create image transfers and then add your own details as I did with the flowers on the left. The right page is also an image transfer in the background and then I added additional cut out pieces over top. If you are not familiar with image transfers - ask me in the comments and I’ll be happy to share and explain further. I want to do more of these in this journal. I added a closeup of the page on the left since I think it is now my #1 favorite.

If you are collaging as well let me know. Share your techniques, and ideas in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you and so would my readers.
How do you start with your collage pieces, do you have something in mind or do you just go for it as I do with paper and scissors. What type of paper scraps do you use? Do you use magazines or scrapbook papers? Do you draw an outline first or just see what happens? Again, I’d love to hear from you. Leave all your comments below.

PS> I still have about 20-30 pages left in this journal so I will be sharing more of my collage work as I progress.

Full Disclosure:

All of the bits and pieces used in these collages are from: Stampington Publications, UpperCase Magazine and Flow Magazine. I have stacks and stacks of magazine form these three publishers so making a collage journal gave me the opportunity to go through my stash since I have issues from each of these magazines dating back as far as 2008.

If you see your art in any of my “strips” in these collages you have probably been published in any of the magazines listed above. Rest assured that I am using these pages for my personal use only and these collages will not be sold.