It’s been about three months since I’ve intentionally played with my crafts. Most of the gap has simply been due to learning to live life in my new environment, working around a new part-time job, and… starting a little container garden this past spring, which has been a huge part of creative recovery for me.
Still, the paper, recycled cardboard, scissors, and glue have been calling me back. Yesterday, I had some sensory fun making bookmark sticker collages (work in progress).
This is where I use sheets of stickers and cut down recycled cardboard. I either cut from a cereal box or, in this case, a sparkling water box. I size them to about one and a half inches wide by four to five inches long, glue pieces together for strength and firmness, and then begin placing stickers all over the bookmark until every space is covered. This creates a really cool collage effect, and it’s a sensory satisfaction for both your hands and your visual curiosity, almost like a kaleidoscope of images.
It reminds me of a blog post I wrote in the very early days of my sister blog, Creative Life by Nherie (formerly Living a Life of Creativity), where I often used collaging as a form of expression. That spark of a reminder was all I needed to rekindle a simple expressive art. It’s nothing I feel I need to sell or even put on display as it’s simply for me to enjoy and explore my feelings, which is the whole point of creative recovery.
Collaging, for me, is like journaling, except with images. It’s a way of merging the conscious with the subconscious. I ask myself: What drew me to this image or the wording within it? Was it the color? Did the word evoke an emotion...and if so, which one? Or, if it’s simply something I like without knowing why, I let it remain unknown. It doesn’t have to make sense to me or to anyone else, and that’s what makes collaging such a valuable creative recovery tool.
So, however you choose to express your art, sell it, not sell it, show it, or keep it just for yourself...it’s all perfectly fine.
Sharing a few of my older collages
Thank you for taking time to read this post!