 In honor of World Collage Day 2025 (May 10th) I offered a free mini zine collage class. We got together on Zoom and had the best time making spring inspired zines by folding just one piece of paper into a mini book and then collaging the pages.
Below you can see some of the zine pages that were made during the class.
Kimberly L.
About World Collage Day World Collage Day, initiated by Kolaj Magazine in 2018, is an annual international celebration of collage on the Second Saturday of May. Artists and art venues are invited to hold events on that day to celebrate the art of collage. World collage day is about artists connecting across borders and about sharing an art medium that excels at bringing different things together to create new forms and new ways of thinking.
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 Stitching in progress at the in-person class at Madison Wool in Madison, CT. and a class on Zoom.
Anita - in progress and finished mug rug.
A detail of stitching in progress by Claire.
Fabric piece layouts (above) and finished stitched pieces (below) by Maria.
I’m not much of a shopper anymore, but I do love rummaging through thrift stores, flea markets, and estate sales. You never know what you’ll find—sometimes nothing at all, and that’s perfectly fine. Recently, I went to Estate Treasures and Services in Middletown, CT—a massive warehouse packed with everything from furniture to rickrack. Tucked along a back wall, I spotted a bookcase stacked high with the largest collection of piano roll paper I’d ever seen in one place. My first thought? You already have two boxes—you don’t need more. But, of course, curiosity won, and I had to take a peek inside a few.  To my surprise, these rolls weren’t just the usual light tan I knew of. These were manila, white, translucent white, and even a darker tan variation. I bought 5 boxes - they were only $2 each! .  In the photos above and below you can see the variety of punched slits and holes. Each one so unique. Two have words which I'm assuming are the song lyrics and notes about tempo.
I’ve loved using piano roll paper in my collages, and now, with these new colors, the possibilities have expanded. The sturdier manila and white rolls are especially exciting. They are less brittle so I’m already imagining them as pages in future bookbinding projects. Below are the 2 rolls that a friend gave me a year or so ago and some examples of how I used them.  The holes, slits and printed dots on these papers are great elements to work with. I've used the slits to weave through and the holes and printed dots as inspiration for stitching french Knots.
This one of my favorite book binding projects. I randomly glued the piano roll paper onto two large sheets of printmaking paper.  Then cut them into smaller pieces to become the pages for this book.   I've made a lot of books over the past few years. When making a particular size book you may have to trim off the tops or sides of the folded signatures leaving you with a good amount of extra pieces that are too good to throw away.  My December goal was to make a bunch of small books and use up all these off-cuts. Below are a few of these books. They range from 3 inches to 2 inches tall.   While making these books I had to do more trimming so I had off cuts from the original off cuts. The books below are just under 2 inches tall, and yes, it's a challenge working this small but mission accomplished.   Do you have favorite holiday projects you return to every year? I sure do! This is the season when I can't wait to bring out my scrapbook, origami, and painted papers to start making paper origami ornaments. While I have my favorite go-to's, I also enjoy discovering and trying new models. This year I came across ornaments that were made from individual flowers from the Kusudama ball. It reminded me that I had made these flowers before and still had a few up on a shelf in my studio.
The flowers you see above, the ones from my shelf are made from repurposed maps. I originally intended to complete a full Kusudama ball but only managed half, plus an extra flower before I ran out of steam. Each petal is made from two pieces of paper and each flower has five petals Even for me who usually has a lot of patience for origami models that use many repeated folds it was a little much. That's why I loved the idea of making just one flower into a special ornament with the addition of ribbon and some embellishments.    To make these ornaments I used six petals instead of five. This gives the flowers a fuller look and allows for using two different types of paper in one ornament. Depending on how they're hung, the ornament can either look like a flower or resemble a bell if suspended upside down. I've included this year's ornament tutorial below. I hope you'll give it a try and make some Kusudama flowers too! Let me know how it goes—I’d love to see your creations! 
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AuthorHi, I'm Kathy an artist working in the mediums of collage, eco-printing, rust printing, and slow stitching who loves to teach. I enjoy sharing my process and guiding you on your creative journey. Archives
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