I Found it in a Magazine

I'll admit it: I don't care if Brad is cheating on Angelina, why Vince dumped Jen, or where TomKat's baby is. I'm wholly uninterested in the hottest new diet, the best way to reorganize your closet, and the countdown of the most beautiful people. Despite that, I'm a magazine addict. I'm hooked, and I just can't get enough. I want every magazine I see. When I'm sick, my boyfriend brings the latest InStyle to cheer me up. Why? It's huge, and packed with ads.

I'm not picky about subject matter, either. Though Jane, Real Simple, and Details are my favorites, I'll gladly scour Glamour, Cosmo, Sports Illustrated, Blender or Psychology Today. You'll want to guard the ones you haven't read though. As my boyfriend has learned, an article that looks fine at the beginning, and becomes quite interesting, may have a hole in a crucial place.

Ah, my little secret - I'm a clipper. If you don't get to it first, you're left trying to read Swiss cheese. I contend that I'm encouraging creativity by forcing people to imagine what they're missing. This doesn't hold much weight.

Though it may appear I'm indiscriminate, that is far from true. I carefully peruse every inch. I check the back of the page before making the slightest slice, just to be sure that I'm not ruining something better.

I love pictures, particularly nature. Ads are my favorite part, though. They often have great pictures, and bold words for which I'm sure I'll find a use. Perfume ads are my least favorite, as I often have trouble collecting the parts that I want without subjecting the room to their scent.

So why do I litter the floor with paper shavings and fill envelope after envelope with clippings? Once I am through mutilating my magazines, I am ready for the fun of making my collages.

I collage for everything - birthday cards, Christmas cards, notebook covers, scrapbook pages. Collages are such personal things: the world through my eyes. They are also great additions to journals. All it takes is a little rearranging to get the right look, some clear packing tape to seal it, and I have a perfect expression no mater what I want it to say.

Though my collection of magazine clippings is quite extensive, and spans just over a decade, I find comfort knowing that I have any clipping I could ever want. At least, this is what I believe until next months magazines come out. Then I find so much that I can't live without, so many bits that would compliment this project or that, so many things that could inspire my next work. Will I ever give up my fascination with clipping apart my magazines and putting them back together my way? Probably not - sorry, honey, you'll just have to beat me to them if you want to read a full article!