Back in youth camp, I got hooked on collaging from magazines & such. Pictures, words, phrases, etc. Camp had a spiritual bent, so our collages would generally be introspective projects. They helped us find a unique way to express ourselves to each other & in the process, learn something new about what's going on inside us that we may not have noticed before.

Now I collage for everything. For fun & for spiritual reasons.  My main use is when I need a picture of something to help motivate me &/or attract positive things in my life.  The process lets me be creative & focus intently on what I want.  The end result is a wonderful reminder to keep up the good work.

Even my just for fun collages help me.  I'm not a very good artist in the visual sense.  Collaging sort of fills in that gap for me & gives me a sense of artistic accomplishment.  Bonus points for my self-esteem!

My other use for collaging can be trickier, but is extremely fulfilling.  I collage my emotions.  Joy, love, depression, anger...anything.  If I'm feeling scattered due to overwhelming emotions, negative or positive, collaging helps me channel that energy into something creative.  If it's a positive emotion, I finish with a sense of quiet contentment.
Collaging negative emotions doesn't really distract me from them, but allows me to acknowledge them & change them into art.  By the time I'm done, I'm no longer scattered or overwhelmed, but more at peace with myself.  I might be a little drained, but I'd rather that than flying off the handle.

This is my art therapy (along with coloring) & it's been one of my ways of using the law of attraction long before all the hoopla over "The Secret."
(I honestly never thought of that as a secret, but that's how I was raised.)

Anyhoo...
Does anyone else do this sort of thing?  I'd really like to hear from other people who collage & what they use it for.  

I don't collage now, but after reading your post, i think it is a fantastic idea. I tell my kids to write things down, but I think this would be much more benificial.

Thank you.
Karlene

I'm glad I could help!

These days, you can find pictures online in addition to magazines. I like to surf the stock photo sites.

You know, I was thinking of something you might want to do for your kids, if the interest is there.
Use something like this to keep the collaging supplies in. Scissors, glue, construction paper/poster board to do the collages on & old magazines & catalogs.  I also find nifty shaped punches on sale sometimes, which make fun little decorations & are good for using up paper so there's less trash.

This way, whenever there's a need to make use of creative energy, everything's together so you can get started right away.

I have all of the craft things in one area. I never bought the scap booking things, cuz I just don't do it. But to use it for collages would be very cool.
My motives are because I tell them they don't have to show me what they write, I just don't want them building negative energies from holding things in. They all love to draw, color, ect.. so they will show me this and I will have an insight in what's going on.
I want to try this so when I calm down from whatever event, I can go back and "see" what I was thinking.

Thanks again for all you do.
Lots of love
Karlene