use the f*cking stickers
A lesson in hoarding art supplies & postponing fun.
Last week I hosted a collage night at my new place with a small group of friends. We ate cheese, obsessed over my cats & made cute little canvases that everyone got to take home.
When bringing people together, I always want to create an environment where everyone feels comfortable. Since this was the first time some of these women had ever met, having an activity to focus on was a great way to ease into conversation.
Art-making is an excellent ice-breaker.
By the end of the evening, a roar of engaging conversations echoed through the house — you would have thought these people had known each other for years.
It reminded me of the business retreats I’ve hosted. Attendees arrive as strangers, bond through shared experiences, then walk away as friends. Creating a container where relationships can form is a special kind of alchemy.
In a culture that’s more online, (but more disconnected), than ever, spending time with each other in real life has become a novelty. Personally, I want to change that by doing more stuff like this, more often.
To prep for the party, I set up all my art supplies — blank canvases, scissors & glue, and curated some of my most prized magazines — vintage issues of Teen, Seventeen & Ladies Home Journal from the 1950s, 60s and 70s.
As my guests settled in, they began flipping through the printed relics I’d selected. One of my friends looked at me, visibly shocked… “You want us to cut these up?”… “Are you sure?”
I understood the concern, but assured everyone THIS WAS THE WHOLE POINT.
I went on to explain that one of the many things I’m working on these days is not being too precious with my art materials. I want to use them, to share them.
Before the fire I had built up a pretty impressive collection. I had an entire closet filled with hundreds of vintage magazines, books, old newspapers, stamps and other various ephemera. However, I often felt anxious about using my best stuff, always waiting for “the right time.”
In hindsight it was eerily similar my sticker hoarding tendencies as a kid. I was obsessed with Lisa Frank & had a massive collection of sticker sheets featuring sparkly unicorns, neon aliens, rainbow leopards & dolphins… all the classics.
However, instead of proudly displaying these treasures on my Trapper Keeper like all of my friends did, I kept most of them hidden away — afraid of such a big commitment, too worried I was gonna stick them in the wrong place. It felt so… permanent. Clearly this lack mentality spans decades.
Dear little Steph, I promise you it’s OK to use those. There are so many more stickers in this world. If you want to feel fully alive, PEEL IT, STICK IT TO SOMETHING & DON’T LOOK BACK! (Welcome to my inner child work).
What truly sucks is that I never got to use most of the stuff I’d spent so much time collecting. Instead, it became kindling for the raging fire that destroyed most of Altadena.
It was like the universe had sucker punched me in the jaw & said, “well if you’re not going to do anything with all of this stuff, I will…” 😭
So yea, unfortunately, I never got to delight in the process of transforming those source materials. I didn’t have a chance to see what else they could become — and it makes me sad.
This is why, as I’ve been building up a new collection, I’m absolutely committed to making art on a regular basis. I want to actually sit down & use all the cool shit I’ve gathered, and invite others to make art with it too…
No more squirreling stuff away for some random day in a future that isn’t promised. We will no longer be postponing our joy.
After my very existential explanation, everyone happily dove in. Some went straight to work - ripping, cutting, gluing. Some flipped through the crunchy, weathered pages, reading the articles & pointing out weird advertising that definitely wouldn’t fly today.
Collectively, we participated in responding to a very dated Cosmo-style-quiz, “Are You A 1975 Woman?” — everyone passed with flying colors, how progressive of us!
In the midst of all the collage chaos, there was a point when I stopped yapping and looked around to see what everyone else was making. I felt an overwhelming sense of awe as I watched some of the coolest women I know transform into little girls again, making new friends & creating art for the sheer joy of it.
As the night came to a close, the seven of us “1975 Women” had collectively finished 2 bottles of orange wine, cleared most of the charcuterie, and created a unique piece of art we were proud of.
I crawled into bed that night feeling grateful — for community, for art, for cheese — but mostly, I was thankful to finally be in a place, both mentally & physically, where I could even consider hosting something like this.
It wasn’t just another “ladies night” — it was a healing circle, our own little coven of creativity. We had successfully mod-podged with the muse & casted spells in collage.
This was the whole point & the message was clear: Use the goddamn stickers. 👁️
The sleeves that the stickers fit into to go inside a trapper keeper. That was my collection. I let some ladies cut up some of my magazines at a vision board workshop in January. They were hesitant but it was so freeing! Going to use some “stickers” and make something today!
"Use the F*cking Stickers" is the best thing to come out of 2025 so far. Perfect mantra. 👌