How to Start a Collage Journal

A collage journal is simply a place to collect, arrange, layer, alter, and respond to visual material.

For many people, that is exactly what makes collage journaling such an approachable form of creative journaling. Instead of staring at an empty page and trying to invent something from nothing, you begin with things that already catch your attention.

Then you see what happens when you put them together.

What Is a Collage Journal?

A collage journal is a journal used primarily for arranging and layering paper, images, text, photographs, ephemera, drawings, paint, and other materials.

Some collage journals are almost entirely visual. Others include handwritten thoughts, memories, quotes, lists, observations, or traditional journal entries alongside the collage.

There really is not one correct format.

Your pages might become:

• Collections of colors and textures
• Visual diary entries
• Abstract compositions
• Memory pages
• Mood boards
• Scrapbook-like spreads
• Experimental art pages
• Places to collect everyday ephemera
• Combinations of writing and imagery

This is also where collage journaling overlaps with junk journaling, art journaling, scrapbooking, visual journaling, and creative journaling.

The boundaries between all of them can get wonderfully blurry.

If you are curious about the bigger practice behind all of these approaches, read What Is Creative Journaling?.

What Do You Need to Start a Collage Journal?

Not much.

One of my favorite things about collage is that your materials can come from both art supplies and completely ordinary life.

At the most basic level, you need:

• A journal
• Something to cut with
• Adhesive
• Paper, images, or ephemera

Technically, that is enough. Journal, paper, scissors, and glue. Everything else is optional.

You can also read my guide to 5 Creative Journaling Supplies You Actually Need if you want to build a simple starter kit.

Choose a Journal

You can use a sketchbook, notebook, composition book, handmade journal, altered book, junk journal, or almost any bound collection of pages.

If you know you are going to add lots of layers, look for something that can tolerate a little extra bulk.

But do not get stuck searching for the perfect journal.

Use what makes you want to open it.

This is one of my favorite journals for collage and creative journaling. View it on Amazon (Journal) →

Choose Something to Cut With

A basic pair of scissors is enough for most collage journaling.

I like having different ways to cut paper because each one creates a slightly different feeling. Scissors create cleaner edges, while tearing paper creates softer, more irregular shapes.

A small paper trimmer can also be useful if you frequently work with journaling cards, photographs, printable ephemera, or straight-edged pieces.

These are the scissors I like using for collage. View them on Amazon (Scissors) →

Choose an Adhesive

A glue stick is probably the easiest place to begin.

You can also experiment with tape runners, double-sided tape, liquid glue, washi tape, or other adhesives depending on the materials you are attaching.

You do not need several different adhesives when you are starting. Find one that works comfortably for the kinds of paper you use most often.

This is the glue I like using for paper collage. View it on Amazon (glue sticks) →

Where to Find Collage Materials

This is where collage journaling becomes especially fun, because almost anything flat enough to put into your journal can potentially become material.

Start looking at the things around you differently.

Try saving:

• Magazine pages
• Catalogs
• Packaging
• Postcards
• Old book pages
• Junk mail
• Maps
• Envelopes
• Wrapping paper
• Tissue paper
• Paper bags
• Receipts
• Tickets
• Tags and labels
• Brochures
• Photographs
• Greeting cards
• Patterned paper
• Stickers
• Stamps
• Handwritten notes
• Printed illustrations

You can also print digital ephemera, photographs, illustrations, patterned papers, journaling cards, and other creative assets at home.

Explore the Beyond Your Journal printable collection if you want ready-to-print materials for your pages.

If you are printing a lot of collage material yourself, the paper you choose can dramatically change how it feels. Regular printer paper creates thin, easy-to-layer pieces, while matte presentation paper or lightweight cardstock produces richer color and sturdier elements.

Once you start collecting collage material, you begin noticing possibilities everywhere.

A coffee sleeve is not just a coffee sleeve anymore. It is brown paper with interesting typography.

A clothing tag might have the perfect tiny illustration. The inside of an envelope might have an incredible pattern.

Collage teaches you to pay attention.

How to Make Your First Collage Journal Page

There are endless ways to build a collage, but having a simple process can make the first few pages much less intimidating.

1. Choose One Thing You Like

Do not try to find a theme yet.

Choose one piece of paper, photograph, illustration, color, or object that makes you want to use it.

That becomes your starting point.

Maybe it is a photograph of a swimming pool. Maybe it is a tiny illustration of a frog or a piece of yellow packaging.

What if its a scrap of paper in a color you cannot stop looking at?

You do not need to explain why you like it.

2. Find Two or Three Things That Relate to It

Look through your materials and find a few pieces that seem interesting next to your first one.

They could relate through:

• Color: similar or contrasting colors
• Subject: objects or imagery that share a theme
• Texture: smooth photographs beside rough torn paper
• Meaning: objects connected to the same memory or feeling
• Complete randomness: sometimes two things simply look good together

Do not worry about creating a perfectly coordinated collection. You are simply giving yourself material to respond to.

3. Move Everything Around Before Gluing

Place your pieces onto the page without attaching them.

Move them. Overlap them. Turn something sideways. Let part of an image disappear behind another piece.

Push everything into one corner. Spread it back out.

Collage becomes much easier when you think of the page as something you are arranging rather than something you are supposed to immediately know how to create.

4. Start With the Largest Pieces

Once you have an arrangement you like, attach your larger background pieces first.

These might be:

• Patterned paper
• Book pages
• Photographs
• Large illustrations
• Blocks of color

Then build smaller elements on top. This creates natural depth without requiring much planning.

5. Add Something Small

Tiny details can completely change a collage.

Try adding:

• A postage stamp
• One sticker
• A handwritten word
• A small label
• A date
• A piece of washi tape
• A tiny drawing
• A single sentence

Sometimes the smallest element becomes the thing that makes the whole page feel finished.

6. Stop Before You Think You Should

One of the easiest ways to become frustrated with a collage is to keep adding things because the page does not feel finished.

Try stopping earlier.

Close the journal. Come back later.

You might realize that the page did not need anything else at all.

5 Easy Collage Journal Ideas for Beginners

If sitting down with a pile of random paper still feels overwhelming, use a simple constraint.

Constraints give your creativity somewhere to begin.

Make a One-Color Page

Choose one color and collect anything you can find that belongs somewhere within it.

Your interpretation can be loose. A green page might include leaves, packaging, handwriting, frogs, maps, paint swatches, photographs, and scraps of patterned paper.

Build Around One Photograph

Choose a photograph and let everything else respond to it.

You might add colors pulled from the image, words describing the memory, pieces of packaging from the same day, or completely unrelated material that creates an interesting visual story.

Use Only Found Paper

Make an entire spread without using traditional craft supplies.

Use envelopes, packaging, receipts, catalogs, tags, junk mail, and anything else you find during your normal day.

This is a great exercise for noticing how much creative material already surrounds you.

Create a Tiny Collection

Choose something oddly specific and collect versions of it.

Blue objects. Hands. Little houses. Numbers. Things with stripes. Food packaging. Stars. Faces looking sideways.

There is something incredibly satisfying about seeing unrelated objects become a collection simply because you decided they belong together.

Start With Three Pieces

Choose three pieces of collage material without thinking too hard.

Your only challenge is to create a page using all three.

You can add other materials if you want, but those three pieces have to remain.

This turns the page into a small creative problem rather than an open-ended question.

You Do Not Need a Theme

One thing that stops people from starting collage journals is the feeling that every spread needs some kind of concept.

It does not.

A collage does not always have to communicate a clear story.

Sometimes the reason two things belong together is simply that you like how they look next to each other.

That is enough.

You can create intuitively first and understand the page later—or never understand it at all.

One of the most interesting things about keeping a collage journal over time is seeing your visual patterns emerge naturally.

You may discover that you repeatedly choose the same colors, shapes, strange little objects, kinds of typography, faces, or moods.

Your journal gradually becomes a record of what catches your attention.

Try Not to Save Everything for the Perfect Page

This is one of the hardest creative habits to break.

You find a beautiful sticker. A perfect piece of paper. A photograph you love.

And instead of using it, you save it. For later. For something more important. For a page worthy of it.

Use the good paper.

Cut the beautiful sticker.

Tear the photograph.

Your materials become more interesting when they enter your creative life than when they stay perfectly preserved inside a drawer.

There will always be more paper.

What If You Do Not Like Your Collage?!

Then you made a collage you do not like.

That is it!!!

Nothing terrible happened.

Not every page needs to become evidence of your artistic abilities.

Creative journals are incredibly useful because they can hold experiments that are not meant to become finished artwork.

You still learned something.

The journal keeps the experiment contained.

Turn the page.

How to Develop Your Own Collage Style

Do not worry toooo much about developing a recognizable collage style when you are beginning.

Style tends to emerge through repetition.

The more you make, the more you discover what you naturally gravitate toward.

Pay attention to:

• Colors you repeatedly choose
• Materials you enjoy touching
• Subjects you keep collecting
• Whether you prefer crowded or minimal pages
• Clean edges versus torn edges
• Photographs versus illustrations
• Handwritten versus printed text
• Symmetrical versus chaotic layouts

Manufacturing a style comes much later!

Give yourself enough pages for one to appear.

Organizing Collage Supplies Without Making It Complicated

An elaborate craft room is not a requirement to collage journal.

A few containers can go a long way.

You might keep separate spaces for:

• Larger paper scraps
• Small paper scraps
• Stickers
• Photographs
• Words and typography
• Printable ephemera
• Things you have not categorized yet

An accordion folder, photo storage case, small drawer organizer, or even a few envelopes can work perfectly.

This is one of my favorite ways to organize collage materials. View it on Amazon (storage boxes) →

The important thing is being able to see and reach your materials.

If everything is hidden away so perfectly that using it becomes inconvenient, your organization system is probably working against you.

Frequently Asked Questions About Collage Journaling

Do I need to be artistic to start a collage journal?

No.

Collage can actually be one of the easiest forms of creative journaling to begin because you are working with existing images and materials rather than trying to create everything from scratch.

You are choosing, arranging, combining, and responding.

Is collage journaling the same as junk journaling?

They overlap, but they are not necessarily the same.

Junk journaling often incorporates found, recycled, vintage, or everyday materials and may involve handmade journals with pockets, inserts, tags, and interactive elements.

Collage journaling focuses more broadly on arranging visual material on journal pages.

A journal can absolutely be both.

What kind of journal is best for collage?

There is not one universally best journal.

If you are using lots of paint or wet media, thicker paper can be helpful.

If you are primarily using paper collage, almost any notebook or sketchbook can work.

Choose something that feels inviting enough that you will actually use it.

Can I collage in a regular composition notebook?

Absolutely.

Just remember that multiple layers of paper will make the notebook thicker over time.

Personally, I think a slightly chunky journal is part of the charm.

What glue is best for collage journaling?

For everyday paper collage, a good glue stick is usually the simplest option.

Different adhesives work better with different materials, though, so experiment with what feels comfortable to you.

This is the glue I like using for paper collage. View it on Amazon (glue sticks) →

Where can I get images for collage journaling?

Magazines, catalogs, old books, packaging, postcards, photographs, brochures, junk mail, printable ephemera, and your own drawings are all great places to begin. Check out your local thrift stores or art supply shops. You can always support your artist friends and buy stickers and art from them! There are endless online shops to buy journal ephemera.

Once you start intentionally collecting imagery, you will probably discover that finding collage material is much easier than finding somewhere to put all of it.

Start With What You Have

You could spend weeks researching journals, paper, adhesives, scissors, printers, storage systems, and collage techniques before making a single page.

Or you could find three pieces of paper and make something today.

I recommend the second option.

Collect and notice things.

Combine things that are not supposed to belong together.

And you will find what your creativity looks like when it is not being asked to perform.

That, more than any particular supply or technique, or what anyone says on social media, is where creative journaling starts.