Hi friend, Elizabeth here from @thejoyfulsojourn on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, to chat with you about collage papers! Since Archer & Olive started releasing collage paper books, I’ve seen a lot of questions about what to do with them. I hope that by the end of this blog (and with my YouTube video linked below), you’ll have some inspiration to dive in!
Supplies
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- Any journal or planner you’re using to log your life this year! Examples today are in an A5 journal and B5 planner.
- Decorative elements like pens, stickers, and stamps are excellent paired with the collage books! If you’re not quite ready to purchase a collage book, grab your monthly kit club papers! They serve the same purpose.
- Don’t forget your Tools! Your hands of course, plus scissors and a glue stick or glue pen.
Collage Papers 101
Let’s start at the very beginning – a very good place to start! Archer & Olive provides us with collage papers in two different contexts: the monthly kit club, and collage paper booklets. In both cases, the paper weight is much lighter than the classic 160gsm found in their notebooks, allowing for easy ripping, cutting, and playing – without adding a ton of extra bulk to the spine of your notebook. Most collage papers from A&O come in a B6 size, though we have seen specialty papers larger (ie the 2025 Halloween box) and smaller (the booklets in the Fall 2025 quarterly sub box).
Collaging doesn’t end with the booklets and kit club papers, they’re just the gateway! Because once you get comfortable with using them, you’ll be more attune to all the other scrappy papers in your every day life that can be glued to the page (and thus the ‘junk journal’ was born). Whether its wrapping paper from a gift, a receipt from a fancy restaurant, or a produce sticker on your banana, all these paper products have the ability to transform your planning, journaling, and creative life.
Collage Papers in Planning & Journaling
Here are a couple examples of the integration of collage papers into a vertical planner.
In this B5 planner, I’ve used kit club elements to decorate my spread while leaving plenty of room for functionality. Collage papers were cut down to fit in the bottom two boxes, and I love how they break up the starkness of the white page.
Again in the B5 vertical planner, I’ve cut down a single collage paper sheet from the Ink & Type booklet, to create day-of-the-week headers. I also added full images to the lower boxes. I see the collage papers as washi tape and stickers without the adhesive yet! Once you start to see them as the same, you’ll be limitless in how you can use the papers.
Moving into a notebook for planning...
On this daily planning page in an A5 notebook, I ripped collage paper to create a bracket on the upper corner of the page, stamped the date on a dot grid collage piece, ripped down to size, and glued it on top.
This is a horizontal weekly layout, with dashboard page on the right side. Here I ripped up two patterned collage papers for the top and bottom of the page, and glued down a complete collage page in the center for notes. A&O’s mostly-B6 sized collage papers work beautifully in an A5 notebook, plenty of room for washi tape and stickers to adorn the outside.
Monthly dashboard pages are some of my favorites to decorate in any planner or notebook! In this example I used one sheet from the Ink & Type booklet, which had multiple images on it. I cut each one out and arranged on the page as desired, leaving a spot in the middle for the month. I used alpha stickers to spell out the month of October, though stamping the month would have looked really cool as well!
If you want to get more fancy with your monthly dashboard, here’s a little window idea! I cut a window on the monthly page, looking through to a collage paper image of the ocean at sunrise from the “day” collage book found in the Fall 2025 sub box. I framed the cut out, and the image on the other page, with the same washi.
Turning the page, you’ll find space for dates I’m highlighting for the month, and priority tasks. Can you spot the collage paper here? I ripped a sheet of sunrise and laid it all across the top of the page as a foundation for my header words! A wonderful alternative to washi.
Collage Paper Tip-ins & Pockets
When I first considered using collage papers in my journals, I thought they could only work as tip-ins. That is, full sheets that I glued into the notebook. While my use of them has gone in a different direction, it’s still worth pointing out how awesome they are in this way!
Here I’ve cut down a page of the A5 notebook down to B6 size, and glued a collage paper on top of it. This gives a little extra stiffness and support to the page. The design of this particular sheet from the Forest Findings book is awesome because of the split between the flowers and the plaid. I used the split line as my guide for labeling the tip-in with “Autumn Memories ‘25” alpha stickers, and the back is open dot grid for logging memories or photos from the season.
Collage papers make EXCELLENT pockets. If you’re not a fan of cutting your notebook pages, simply glue down a piece of collage paper on the left, bottom, and right side. Leave the top open, and once dry, slip in a note to self, photos, receipts, etc!
Collage Paper for Art & Creative Play
I'm saying this mostly as a reminder to myself - but hopefully it's encouraging to you too: Your notebooks and notebook pages do not need to be 'functional'. They don't need to serve any other purpose than that of giving you space to play, to quiet your mind after a stressful or overwhelming day.
This two page spread came from my desire to just rip paper and create a quilt on the page. It doesn't serve a purpose other than the act of creating it for fun. Collage papers are great for paper play, whether it be covering the page completely, or layering a few pieces and leaving space to write out your favorite song lyrics, quote, or scripture verse.
Head over to the Archer and Olive YouTube channel where I share even more spreads that utilize collage papers! I hope they inspire you to break out your stash and use them without fear!
If you're uncomfortable with ripping paper and 'messing up' your booklets, I've provided a printable below of some of my favorite neutral textures that will match any spread! Print them out and rip them up. Splatter them on your page like confetti, cut them like washi strips, or punch them into shapes and use them like stickers. And when you're ready, dive into your collage books.
We would love to see how you use collage papers in your notebooks and planners, so be sure to share your pages on social media by tagging myself and Archer & Olive with your project using: @archerandolive @thejoyfulsojourn @archerandolive.community #AOShare #archerandolive
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