This is how I Collage!

I get many questions about the collages I make so I thought I’d share a bit about how they come together.

The Inspiration
I have always loved quotes, lyrics, pictures and combining them together seemed like the obvious thing to do. I had seen the beautiful detailed collages that people make but they are too detailed for the impatient personality that I have. My projects had to start and end all within the hour, because yes, I’m not very good with patience. I had seen her collages on Flickr and been really inspired.So that’s when I started basically.

I have been drawn to graphic design so I do notice magazine layouts, advertisements etc. My collages are inspired by their design.

My taste is simple, with a lot of white space, bright colors, typography and I like to bring that out in the collages.



The Words
I am a big collector of ‘words’. I have a quotes/lyrics journal where I keep a collection of favorite words from songs and books that I read. I also bookmark favorite quotes from books on Good Reads. And I have a Pinterest board where I collect more beautiful words! In short, there is something about the power of words that super inspires me, and I try to collect all the beautiful ones that I run into! I end up using some of these in the collages.



The Pictures
I collect a lot of magazines and since I’m a photographer, some pictures just speak to me. Sometimes I find pictures in newspapers, sometimes even in random junk mail we get and I cut them out and keep them for when inspiration strikes. 

Other times I just sit with a scissor and a catalog and just cut and paste, just listen to what feels right to my heart!





How it comes together
Usually when I’m in the mood for making something, I bring out my supplies (I have a box with all the supplies I need like glue, pens and markers, scissors etc.), magazine cutouts or random catalogues I want to cut up, and my collection of quotes.

I go through the pictures, and whatever speaks to me, I just cut out and paste. I normally don’t have an idea in my head, but just go with the flow. Sometimes I have a design in my head that has inspired me so I use that layout but mostly I just try different layouts and then just paste.

Then I go through words in my collections, and look for something that speaks to me and that would go with the picture.

I write it down. Doodle some. And I’m done.



Hope that helps some.

Thanks for stopping by!

(Note: I know I should’ve taken some pictures of the process and posted them, but if I waited for that to happen, this post would be postponed till God knows when! Maybe I’ll take some at some point and share them)

It’s the people we miss, not the place

This ramazan morning I sit and reminisce of all those ramazans spent in Pakistan. Those sehris and iftaris that are stored in our memories with a million stories.

I remember standing in the kitchen bundled up because of the biting cold, supposed to be helping Mama make sehri as she made her famous parathas. I remember those sehris in Islamabad, when Mama was unwell and Papa, Nadiya and I were up for sehri, making and then eating our 'dawn parathas' (they were still a new thing in those days and had become a family favorite). I remember in Sargodha when I would study after sehri, and Papa would come and check on me before he went back to sleep. And then I remember our last ramazan together as a family in Wah. Asif used to make sehri and we ate together as a family, papa having his roti and us our parathas. And then having our tea served on a TV tray and Mama, Papa and I sipped as we watched Aalim Online (It used to be actually nice in those days). And I remember those iftaris! The luxury of coming to the table right before iftari and enjoying the most sumptuous of meals. The pakoras, the chaats, the dahi bhales have never tasted the same since then.

And while we were spending those days we never knew how precious those memories will become a few years down the road.

All of us overseas tend to be nostalgic about ramazans we spent back home. But as I reminisce, I suddenly realize it’s the people we miss, not the place. It’s the traditions we miss, the full houses. It's a whole era we miss. When our parents' homes were our safe havens, when all the people we loved, lived under one roof.

But one thing I realized today, that when we moved and it all changed for us? It changed back home too. And it's never been the same. Ramazan is the same wherever we are. It is made special only by the people we spend it with.

Praying that all of us are blessed with many many beautifully blessed ramazans with the ones close to our hearts.

Thanks for stopping by!

Guest Post: DIY journal

Hi lovelies, I'm introducing a new thing around this blog today. Guest posts!

I'm sure by now you know of my baby sister, the awesome-ly talented Waliya Najib of Waliya Najib Photography. She is pretty crafty too, and I cant wait for you all to see her room. Hopefully we'll do a post on that soon. But for today, I asked her to share this easy little DIY she did recently for our first guest post. A photography journal! This is where she keeps all her inspirations and ideas and also a track of all the work she does. Here's what she wrote about it.
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Had been wanting to get a journal for my photography, but couldn't find one like I was looking for. So i decided to make one on my own.  

This was super easy and suppper fun to make.

  

All I needed to do was to draw something cute (these adorable cameras inspired by Elsie from A Beautiful Mess) on different little pieces of paper, color them, glue them on to the journal and just add a final coat of modpodge and its done! Its even more exciting to be working in a self made journal♥


all photos by Waliya Najib


Thanks so much Waliya for sharing this with us. Hope you all enjoyed it. Check back for more in this series:)

Thanks for stopping by!