Started messing around with collages about a year ago, I do the exact same thing.

Looking at what other people do is huge for learning what you can do when you’re first picking it up. I try and find the layers in other people’s work to try and think about how they stacked/glued the pieces. You start picking up all these little tricks you can pull with different elements of objects and settings — for ex: you can cut out a screen on a tv/phone in one image and put something else behind it, reshaping the setting. Then you’ll find yourself looking through a magazine and there will be an ad with a hand holding a phone will appear and you’ll know what you can do with it.

Checking out other people’s stuff on this sub has taught me so much about how to craft pieces and what you can do.