I still haven't cleaned behind my fridge!! I have however taken some time to gather together the eco and rust printing, both on fabric and paper. I have also had a good rummage in boxes and suitcases for vintage fabrics and papers, decorative tissue and handmade papers. Worryingly I seem to have a stock pile of all these things that I had forgotten about. I have compiled the substrates that I have drawn, inked and painted on. Now is the time to work into these pieces or covering up anything I don't like. Also to use those precious bits and pieces that have been languishing in a stash...now is that moment for these treasures to shine. Lets start with the paper and the vintage and hand made papers I have been hoarding...I mean collecting. The colour of eco printing lends itself to vintage, hand made and printed tissue paper. I like subtle muted tones, but if you love colour and you feel that the eco print has gone a bit dull, now is the time to use hits of brightness. I like to use PVA glue with a sponge roller to attach my collage. You might prefer Pritstick, I always apply the glue to the collage piece making sure I glue over the edges, then apply everything to the main substrate. This stops glue getting all over the front of the piece. I try things out first, moving unglued things around before I commit myself to sticking. I particularly like the way tissue paper, rusted or plain blends into the surface when the PVA is on it. A well glued piece of collage will become part of the surface. But as usual, anything goes and if you like partly attached pieces, try that out too. There will be a few pieces that you will not want to cover, the mixed media drawing or an eco print which has been very successful. Turn them over and collage the reverse, this will make it two sided, ready for a later idea. Most of my collage tends to be random and ripped. Here I have cut circles of paper in response to the washer printed paper. Give shapes a try. If like me you have a large stash of eco printing and rusted tissue make complete pages in sketchbooks and use them as surfaces to draw onto. My fabric pieces have been treated in much the same way although I have used vintage and eco printed fabrics to collage with. Less is more for me, I have just chosen fabric that again blends in with the background and added ripped strips here and there. I have attached them with a spot of glue stick to hold the pieces in place. This is not a permanent solution. You might want to hand stitch these bits in place, simple repetitive stitches work well or/and machine stitch. Either free machine embroidering or a set decorative stitch. Just holding fabric collage in place or embellishing shapes and areas that have been painted or drawn on. Of course, you could collage fabric onto the paper substrates and paper onto the fabric work. Stitch into the paper with your machine or hand stitch. Draw, paint and print back into the pieces after you have attached the collage. I found the more I worked onto a piece the more I wanted to layer back into it with the previous techniques. The thing that really concerned me was that despite delving into my stash, it just didn't seem to get smaller...!! I could give you a vast list of artists using collage and mixed media to have a look at, that's what Pinterest is for lets face it. But here are a few of my favourites:- http://www.littlefieldstudios.com/paperfiber-mixed-media https://www.robenmarie.com/blog/watch-the-process-art-journal-page-flourish https://www.instagram.com/under_the_oaks_creativity/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/shelleyrhodesartist/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/carolinebelltextiles/?hl=en https://casholmes.wordpress.com/ Enjoy manipulating your ever growing resources and using up some of those things you are keeping just in case. Have the best creative week you can. Best wishes, Sue