Blog — ephemera

For the past few weeks, I have been doing a deep dive into corrugated cardboard. I've figured out how to work with it and what I can make from it and I have to say I am so glad I did. I came up with a ton of ideas and I'm going to share them with you. Separating Corrugated Cardboard Layers Once you learn how to separate the cardboard elements, you will start to understand how incredibly versatile it is: Take a sheet of cardboard and hold it under hot water with the spray hitting the corrugation as shown above. With...

This article will teach you how to make easy, yet stunning, holiday place cards and gift tags using one special ingredient: DIY tickets. These tickets feel just like real tickets because I use drywall tape from the hardware store (paint department). And I use a tracing wheel from my sewing kit. I know these aren't common things most crafters use, but they make all the difference, I promise! Step 1 - Color Drywall Tape  I don't like the bright white background, so I usually dye the drywall tape to start. The photo above shows inking, painting with watered down acrylic paint,...

I got to the point where I had TONS of paper scraps I was saving for my junk journal, and I figured out a great way to use them up. I glue them onto book pages while watching TV. Then, I have a whole book full of collaged backgrounds ready and waiting (and hidden and protected in a book). Here's how I do it and what I've made with the collaged pages. Step 1 I like to add strips of another book or old music - anything neutral and printed.  Step 2 Then I add some plain texture. I like...

I love to use real junk in my junk journals - you know - that stuff that comes into your house and immediately gets thrown out. And the classic example of junk is the window envelope. They are pretty cool, but they aren't easy to make pretty. The Challenges of the Window Envelope First of all, many of them have writing on them. That's not pretty, so some camouflage is in order. Second, the window itself is hard to decorate around. If you are trying to cover the writing with pretty paper, you have to cut around the window, which...

I LOVE using stickers in my journals and mixed media projects. But they are expensive and some of them come with plastic backs, which are terrible for the environment. So I tried to figure out all the ways I can make my own stickers. Here's what I came up with. Make Faux Stamps Some of these stamps I designed, but some of them I got from Wikimedia Commons Public Domain. I lined them up in Photoshop (you could use Word or any other software that allows images.) Then I printed them on paper and used lickable glue on the back (recipe...