OVERVIEW

Our project this month is a cross between a collage and scrapbook page, utilizing images, layers, patterns, and other paper goods to help tell our stories.

The inspiration is you! This piece is about preserving your celebrations, history, heritage, culture, and traditions--past, present, or future. They can be things you’ve experienced with your loved ones or something new you want to begin. It can be a big event or a small detail you love, it can be something serious or silly! You can use your project to share:

• Your favorite celebration / tradition or one you’d like to start
• A special recipe / dish / food / drink that represents your culture
• A ritual, practice, or activity that has been passed down to you or one you’d like to pass on
• A game, art, or craft that came from your ancestors
• Your language, alphabet and words, a quote or expression
• A special memory with all the important details documented
• Whatever comes to mind when brainstorming

When you’re done with your collage scrapbook page, you can add it to a sketchbook / journal / photo album, frame / display it, or make copies / share photos of it--if it’s a new tradition you’d like to start, this could be a fun way of presenting it! And if it’s one from the past, framing it can make a sweet gift to the folks connected with it.

EXAMPLE

My collage scrapbook page is a nod to my visits to Taiwan throughout the years. We didn't get to go often, but because my parents are from there and all of our extended family still lives there so I got the opportunity to travel and experience another country throughout my childhood. It never occurred to me what a special privilege this was until I became an adult. I actually also lived there for about a year when I was 2 years old (which is where the younger photo of me is from) but I don't remember any of it!

My piece is also about appreciating where I come from, where my family comes from. I was born in the US and grew up here so of course when I was a kid and teenager, I just wanted to fit in. That may have meant rejecting my own culture to adapt to the culture here. So this is also a reminder of how I am also connected to Taiwan.

I liked the idea of then and now so tried to share some experiences from when I was little and going back there as an adult.

Here's what I used:

• 8 1/2 x 12 inch white cardstock for the background. I'll be adding this page to my travel journal which is bigger, so this size background worked great.
• A postcard of Taiwan, this is what I used my photo corners for. The photo corners allow for the postcard to be switched out in case I ever wanted to change it. I like how this postcard also serves as a map!
• 2 photos (I used my original photo but if I didn't want to, I would have printed it out on the matte photo paper in this month's mail) from the past and present.
• Torn strips from a map as the background
• My vellum paper has my mom's writing in Chinese characters of different locations in Taiwan we have been to or want to go to. I loved getting to involve her in this project--feel free to ask for help on yours too! I love how the characters look and thought that would be a fun element to add and layer on top of the map and photo (which had a lot of empty space).
• In my pocket I added: prints of the stamps I've gotten in Taiwan (I still have the ones I got when I was in 4th grade!), candy wrapper, stickers, and cut outs from a brochure from our recent trip to Sun Moon Lake.

I hope seeing this example helps and gives you an idea of what you can do. If you'd like to follow this exact layout, feel free. You can also start there and see where it evolves and change certain elements. But also feel free to do whatever you'd like! Yours can look nothing like mine and you can utilize your materials in a totally different way!

PROCESS

This was my process in case you'd like to follow it or use it as a loose guideline. Feel free to adjust as needed and do what feels best for you!

1. Pick your subject for your page. 

What is the story you want to tell? What is the focal point? What do you want to share?

2. Gather materials.

Find anything and everything related to your subject that you may potentially want to add. It's OK if it's more than you’ll need--it can be helpful to have different choices that you can sift through and pick out what you want.

You will need something that will be your focal point(s) as well as things for your background, to layer, to create a border with, to put in your pocket (the mini transparent envelope included in the mail). Here are some items you may want to collect:

• Photographs (You can use more than one! Consider a before / after, process photos, different angles, etc.)
• Ticket stubs, programs
• Recipe cards, handwritten envelopes, cards, notes, invitations
• Maps, brochures, postcards
  
• Stickers, postage stamps
• Fabric, trim
• Wrappers, wrapping paper or packaging, matchbooks, napkins (clean of course :)), balloons that haven't been inflated yet
• Pressed flowers 

If you have items where you don't want to use the originals of, take a picture of it, make a copy by scanning and printing it, etc. That way you can use it and can also cut and tear into it. 

Set aside any tiny things for your pocket.

Think outside of the box--even if something doesn't look like it might be a good fit, grab it anyway, just in case! 

3. Create a rough layout.

Play around with the different elements you have and the placement. Don't forget to add your vellum paper into the mix! Even though your pattern is not drawn out yet, use the blank version as a place holder and to layer and see how things look.

• Use this time to finalize what you want to add onto your page. (This process is flexible so you can always add or take something away or switch something out.) 
• Try overlapping and layering different items. 
• This process will also help you determine what size you need things to be. Once you are sure what size you need, you can go ahead and trim / cut / tear so you have an accurate representation in your rough layout.
• The goal is to get to a point where you are happy with what you see and are ready to finalize (start gluing things down).

4. Create the pattern on your vellum paper.

I like waiting until this point to make the pattern because I can see the layout and what might be needed. For example, is the vellum more of a background layer with lots of items covering it? Then a smaller pattern on the entire vellum without lots of white space might work best. 

A permanent pen or marker works best to be sure it doesn't smear. Be careful to let the ink dry! I had my mom use a Sharpie marker.

What patterns or writing or markings can you add to your vellum paper? Here are a few examples:

• Replicate a shape or pattern that is in one of the photos or items you are using. If you are sharing a recipe and have a photo of the dish on a plate with a pattern around the border, you can mimic that pattern or take elements of it to draw on your vellum paper.
• Add writing. This can be characters or words in a different language, it can be in cursive or print, or you can have someone else write it.
• Create patterns using dots, lines, geometric shapes, or a combination. It doesn't have to be very complicated! Simple patterns work very well!
• Create a pattern using doodles or drawings. If you are sharing about a certain tradition you have, you can cover the vellum paper with different doodles of the items related to it. For example, for the Big Sandwich Night I shared in this month's letter, the doodles can be of slices of bread, cheese, olives, lettuce, tomato, and other items to build a sandwich.
• Draw an image. It doesn't have to be a pattern, it can be a drawing of a single subject.
• Visit the Pinterest page for some examples.

5. Finalize your piece.

Start working on the final layout! This means finalizing the sizes of things, where everything will go, and gluing things down!

• I like using glue stick (I use Elmer's brand)--thicker, wet glue can cause the paper to wrinkle. Double sided tape works well too! 
• For your vellum paper, I like using tiny dabs of glue stick in the corners. Since it's transparent, I try to only add glue to small spots or any parts that are covered by something else (I'll add more there since you won't be able to see it at all). Even though my glue stick dries clear, sometimes I feel like you can still see it so I try to use it sparingly and in inconspicuous areas. 
• For the transparent envelope, usually the items you add will cover up any glue marks so I go ahead and put glue on the entire thing. If you don't think it'll cover, I follow the same rule as the vellum paper.

6. Finishing touches.

Once everything is glued down, see if there's anything missing or if you want to add anything else. If you are planning on framing it or displaying it in some way, your piece is now ready for that step!

I am really excited to hear your stories and see your finished collages and sketchbooks! Please feel free to share it in our Discord Group, on social media (please tag me so I don't miss it), or please email me a photo and description!