Several people have newspapers on hand that are received as freebies at the grocery store, library, or in the mail. Others have newspapers delivered, or they’re bought at the store. However newspapers end up in the home, don’t reserve them just to help light a woodstove or wrap things for a future move.
Materials:
- Several sections of a newspaper
- Sharp scissors or paper cutter
- Straightedge ruler
- Pencil
- Plain white paper (2 sheets)
- Glue stick
- Photocopier or scanner
Instructions:
- Look through the newspaper and cut out blocks of interesting text, interesting advertisements, and headlines. Anything that jumps out at you as your sifting through will work.
- Using the straightedge ruler, measure out blocks ranging from the size of a business card to the size of an index card, and cut them out. Try to make these blocks as heavy with text as possible, but not the entire article. Keep it random.
- Arrange these clippings on the white piece of paper so they are layered on top of each other. Keep all the text straight, but be sure it is not arranged in a way that makes sense when it is read. Be sure there are no blank spaces left on the page.
- Glue all the clippings down to the plain white piece of paper so there are no loose edges present.
- Photocopy this sheet, or scan it into your computer and print.
- Fold the photocopy (or printed image) in half length-wise, and then fold it twice more by bringing the top of the page to the bottom. This will give you eight rectangle blocks.
- Cut the eight blocks out, mix them up, and glue them down to the second sheet of plain white sheet of paper. Again, be sure not white areas are left on the page and be sure no edges can curl up.
- Photocopy this sheet, or scan it into your computer and print.
- Optional step: Fold the paper into quarters, and cut it up into blocks. These blocks work great as pre-cut mattes, as well as in book arts.
When finished, you have handmade sheets of collage paper to use for art journal projects, mixed media paintings, in scrapbooks, altered books, or any other mixed media project. Keep the original in a template file so it can be easily reproduced anytime you are in need of collage sheets.
Variations:
- Reproduce the collage sheets on to papers in shades of yellow, parchment, vanilla, and brown.
- Rub distress ink over the top of the paper to give it an aged look.
- Rather than cutting the page into blocks, tear the sheets to create deckled edges to chalk or rub distress ink on later.
- Create two original pages, and then mix them up into one very layered collage sheet for an even more interesting look.
Because this project is so quick and simple, it is easy to change out the collage patterns using new newspaper clippings when the original sheets have been used over and over again in projects. These sheets also make a great gift for those who enjoy receiving unique art supplies.
