What Is Collage?

Have you ever been drawn to the magic of collage? It lives in a world where anything goes! There is no limit to the levels of creativity you can reach when you start taking inspiration from different materials to make a whole. Let’s learn a little more about collage and the various techniques you can use to make some magic with your crafts…

What Is Collage?

Collage refers to the art of taking a range of materials and arranging them to create something new. The term ‘collage’ finds its roots in the French language, drawing from the word ‘coller’ which means ‘to glue’ or ‘to stick together’.

Though it is widely believed that the collage craze caught on initially when Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque started sticking newspaper cuttings and other materials onto their canvases, collage actually goes back far further into history than we may realise.

As early as the 1100s, Japanese artists were known for taking paper and sticking it onto brightly coloured silks. In the 1400s, we see paper collage making an appearance in European culture. Scrapbooks and homemade Valentines cards were hugely popular in the Victorian era.

All throughout history, collage has been a mainstay in our artistic growth and desire to create.

There are endless possibilities when it comes to creating a collage in your art and craft projects. Here are a few collage project ideas to get you started, but don’t feel obliged to stick with just these. Feel free to pave your own way into creating your own collage :).

The number of ways in which you can customise and produce something unique and personal to you is endless.

It’s important to note that while collage can be used as a purely artistic outlet, you can also create meaningful items that serve an effective purpose to capture and preserve memories, plan for the future, map out your goals and provide you with inspiration to reach them. You can get as creative as you want!

crop young craftswoman cutting piece of paper on wooden table

Of course, if you are reading this then it is likely that you already have a love for all things paper and craft; these projects and activities can be a way of making use of your favourite craft and cute stationery stash as freely as you want without the worry of producing Leonardo da Vinci equivalent masterpieces – regardless of whether the world sees your work or not, these are all personal to you and you only.

Here at InsideMyNest, we offer a pretty special collection of collage bits and bobs. If you’ve been searching for floral, woodland, mystical, magical elements based on our natural world to make all your collage dreams come true, you’ve come to the right place.

photo of person using laptop for graphic designs

Our digital collage sheets are printable sheets that are full of high-quality images (usually in JPG format) that have been hand painted and digitally edited with love to help inspire and bring joy to people who love to collage. The sheets are very easy to download and print at home, even for someone who doesn’t use a computer very often.

So, go ahead and let your creativity flow! 😊



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