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I collage, or at least I say that I do.  The truth is I have a huge binder full of cutouts sorted by things like “people”, “animals”, “backgrounds”, “fruit”, “text”, “letters”, etc.  which I never have time to get to.

Every single magazine I get I go through with a few things in mind.  I usually tear as I go.  Sometimes I go one at a time and sometimes I do ten at a time.  Never rip a lot at once or you’ll get chunks of glue on the page (it’s easier to recycle them this way).   Most magazines have a nice glue strip on the side of the magazine which you can toss in the trash while you recycle the pages.  At the end of the magazine I am usually left with four piles: “collaging”(To cut out later.  Includes pages for small magazines which I keep for Blythe.), buttons (I make 1″ buttons.), interesting articles (To read later.), and pages to recycle.

I’ve found out a few general ideas of the use of a magazine based two criteria: collaging and articles section (personal opinion).

  • Elle Decor – It’s good for collaging, specifically backgrounds. Look for funny trinkets and wall art in pictures of rooms. Good for furniture in case you really like a picture of a model sitting or you just need a chair, couch, or table.  No articles.
  • Baby – good for illustrations and text/letters. Interesting articles if you have a baby (a.k.a. not me)
  • Audubon – good for cool-ass birds (most are just pretty to look at and hard to cut out, don’t choose a bird that would take half an hour to cut out). Great landscape backgrounds.  Interesting articles if you’re interested in birds, conservation, or ecology (a.k.a. also, not me).
  • Vogue – good for any fashion-related collages.  Nice titles. Good for textures.  A few good articles, some are about rich women struggles (seriously?), but overall, there are some interesting current issues articles and it’s great if you’re interested in fashion.
  • Time – good for quirky small things (the timeline in every issue) and small magazines.  Also any real people (good for satire pieces).  Good articles.
  • Rolling Stone — It’s good for celebrity pieces (please be satirical), Blythe-sized magazines or records, and some basic text.  Articles are interesting if you are interested in reading about music (I’m more of a listener.).
  • Interview — good if you want a different texture than the normal magazine.  Good for bulk text to use as backgrounds.  Good for poster-like decoration.
  • InStyle — Good for backgrounds, small magazines, titles, and fashion items (purses, shoes, clothes, etc.).  Good value for it’s money ‘cuz it’s usually so large!
  • Marie Claire  – Good for fashion items, buttons, backgrounds, small magazines(!), and some interesting reads.
  • Self — Good for motivational collages, helpful articles.
  • Game Informer — Good for gamer collages, can be good for backgrounds too.

The more magazines I get the more I’ll add to this list but unfortunately the supply is short. [Updated 09/25/11]