What Is A Collage Masterboard & What Do You Do With It?

What number of paper scraps do you have got mendacity round? I’m going to wager you have got rather a lot! Even when you’ve solely been crafting for a number of weeks, the scraps add up. Rapidly.

The excellent news is that there’s a quick, straightforward and useful technique to bust by these scraps: collage masterboards.

Learn on to search out out what’s a collage masterboard, what you should use them for plus some prime ideas for making your very personal masterboards.

What Is A Collage Masterboard?

A collage masterboard includes glueing your scraps of paper onto a bigger piece of paper to make an fascinating background. You may then lower into it to make coordinating ephemera to your journals corresponding to tags, journal playing cards, pockets and extra.

Whereas you may make your masterboard nevertheless you want (bear in mind: there are not any guidelines in junk journaling!), the best technique to make them is to only glue your scraps with out a lot rhyme or motive. In spite of everything, a collage masterboard is only a background so that you can additional embellish.

You may select no matter form of paper you wish to glue your scraps onto. Most individuals use e book pages, however you can additionally use scrapbook paper that you simply don’t notably like.

You may as well add different issues to your masterboard apart from paper scraps, corresponding to stickers, washi tape, stamps and stencilling.

When you’ve completed glueing all the things down, you now have a masterboard which you could lower up into totally different items of ephemera.

For those who need assistance visualising how one can make your masterboard, then listed here are some movies that can assist you:

READ NEXT: Junk Journal Definitions & A-Z Junk Journal Glossary For Novices

Some Easy However Efficient Makes use of For Your Collage Masterboards

Journal playing cards and tags

Among the easiest issues you may make along with your collage masterboards are journal playing cards and tags, so I’d counsel beginning with these.

I additionally advocate turning your masterboard over and slicing into it “blind”. Not solely does this make for a enjoyable shock, however it additionally stops you from second-guessing the place to chop your masterboard. That is notably useful once you’re simply beginning out!

When you’ve lower some journal playing cards and tag shapes, you’re free to brighten them nevertheless you want.

Keep in mind: Your collage masterboard is simply your background, so have enjoyable fancying up your ephemera with fussy cuts, stickers and labels. You might even do some stamping and stencilling on them.

READ NEXT: 15 Junk Journal Tags & Journal Playing cards To Encourage You

Pocket book covers

Fancy making a singular pocket book cowl out of your collage masterboard? All you must do is fold it in half and strengthen your backbone with some tape or cloth.

Whereas I wouldn’t use masterboards for heavy journals, they swimsuit pocket book covers completely. I like this instance from Tatty Treasure the place she created some beautiful botanical notebooks out of her collage masterboards.

READ NEXT: 21 Junk Journal Cowl Concepts To Encourage You

Pockets and tuck spots

As soon as you’re feeling comfy with making your collage masterboards, tags and journal playing cards, you possibly can transfer on to creating extra complicated items of ephemera along with your masterboards.

Why not lower them into triangular pockets for a enjoyable and helpful piece of ephemera? You may even make gusseted pockets so that you’ve received extra room for bulkier items of ephemera.

Right here’s a video to point out you ways I made some gusseted pockets out of my masterboards.

READ NEXT: 10 Simple Junk Journal Pockets – Concepts & Tutorials

Flip outs and flip out pockets

You may even make flip outs along with your collage masterboards. You might rating a hinge into your masterboard to create your “flip”, or you can connect it to an envelope flap to create a enjoyable flip out like I’ve proven on this video.

You might even lower your masterboard to suit the entrance of an envelope. You may then use the envelope flap to create a easy flip out and use the envelope itself as a pocket.

READ NEXT: 14 Artistic Issues To Do In A Journal Or Pocket book

High Suggestions For Making Your Collage Masterboard

With regards to really making your masterboards, listed here are some prime ideas I’ve realized by making mine.

Change the course of your paper scraps

My first tip is to vary the course of your paper scraps once you glue them, so you have got textual content going each which approach. I feel this makes your collaged background extra fascinating.

It additionally stops you from getting caught up in your head as to how issues are trying once you’re glueing the items of paper down.

Begin with impartial masterboards

One other tip I’ve for you is to start out with impartial collage masterboards till you’re feeling extra comfy with the method.

For those who’re simply glueing impartial items of paper down, you don’t actually have to fret about the place you’re placing issues as all the things already coordinates.

Plus, your impartial masterboard will work with any theme. You simply want to brighten your ephemera based on the color scheme that you simply’re working with or the theme of your journal corresponding to botanicals, florals, classic, et cetera.

When you get extra comfy with collage masterboards, you can begin incorporating color into them if that’s what you’re taken with. For instance, I generally add postage stamps, washi tape and stickers to my masterboards.

Your masterboard doesn’t have to make use of simply paper

As with all issues to do with junk journals, you may be as inventive as you want. One technique to be extra inventive along with your masterboards is to make use of supplies aside from paper in your background.

Possibly you wish to add stickers or washi tape? Or perhaps even cloth or lace? That approach, once you lastly lower your masterboard into ephemera, you have already got an particularly fascinating background, which doesn’t require a number of adorning when you’re completed.

I as soon as made a masterboard out of classic tickets that had seen higher days. I then distressed them with my inks, and added some scraps of serviette, flicks of gold paint and different issues. And earlier than I knew it, I’d made one thing that resembled a brick wall, which then turned aspect tucks. Very cool!

You don’t have to make use of fancy glues

Once I make my masterboards, I exploit my Uhu glue stick, which works completely wonderful for a easy paper-to-paper job corresponding to this. When you’ve lower your masterboard, you possibly can at all times add additional glue and even stitching the place items could have come up.

Add some stitching and also you’ll have some cool Franken paper!

One other factor you can strive is to stitch round every bit of paper you glue onto your masterboard. That is best if in case you have easy squares and rectangles. The ultimate look is so cool!

This method is called Franken paper, which you’ll be able to see on this tutorial from Nik the Booksmith and my course of video right here exhibiting how I made the fabulous purple notebooks pictured above.

Observe, apply, apply!

Lastly, as with all issues, don’t be afraid to apply usually and alter issues as much as swimsuit you.

It’s best to’ve seen my first masterboards; they weren’t superb. However now?

I could make a superb masterboard in as little as 5 to 10 minutes with out a lot thought. My level is: apply away and also you’ll quickly get the hold of it.

I hope this weblog publish has helped to show you all about collage masterboards and what you should use them for. In case you have every other questions on masterboards or anything associated to junk journals, then simply drop me a line within the feedback under.

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