Making Your Own Ephemera

Posted on November 4, 2022 by Imagine

By Alison Heikkila –

Hello! Today I’ve got a fun tutorial that’s all about making your own ephemera. Ephemera can be ticket stubs, advertisements, postage stamps, handwritten letters, etc. It’s fun to use “found” ephemera, but it’s also a blast to make your own. You can feel free to follow each of the “steps” below, or just choose the ones you like. There’s no real order or correct way to make these elements, and you can use them on any of your paper-crafting projects. I just decided to go with a tag today. This particular project is great if you need to loosen up, break out of a creative block, or you just feel like adding to your stash. Just have fun with it!

*Some affiliate links are used in this post. That means that if you shop through these links, I may receive a small compensation, at no cost to you. For more information, please see my Affiliates page.

Directions:

Ephemera Tag 2

Step 1:

Grab some cardstock and a stencil, and start spraying them with Fireworks! Spray.

Ephemera Tag 3

Step 2:

There’s a lot of spray left on that stencil, so don’t waste it! Grab another scrap of paper and flip the stencil (wet side down) on to it to get the reverse design. You can use a brayer or your hands to push the stencil into the paper to transfer the color better.

Ephemera Tag 4

Step 3:

Still more on the stencil? Spray it with a little water to get the color moving and press it into a third piece of paper.

Ephemera Tag 5

Step 4:

Grab some rubber stamps that have fun designs (especially solid images like this one), spray your craft mat with another color of Fireworks! Spray, and ink up the stamp in the puddle. Stamp some scrap paper with the wet stamp.

Ephemera Tag 6

Step 5:

Apply Kaleidacolor inks to cardstock using your favorite method. I used the Fruitcake palette on my Gel Press with a brayer. Then, take a stencil and apply VersaFine Clair ink on top using a sponge dauber or cosmetic sponge.

Ephemera Tag 7

Step 6:

Run a piece of cardstock through an embossing folder. Then ink the raised areas with Delicata Ink for shine.

Ephemera Tag 8

Step 7:

Stamp out a sentiment with VersaMark Ink and use your favorite Mboss embossing powder on it. For texture, tear the edges and ink them with Rich Cocoa Memento Ink.

Step 8:

Take some old book paper and flick Fireworks! Spray on it to get different sized droplets.

Step 9:

Stamp some small geometric shapes and die cut/fussy cut them.

Look at all the ephemera we’ve created by just using scraps!

Ephemera Tag 9

Step 10:

Die cut a large tag out of cardstock. Start laying your ephemera on to the tag to see where you want your pieces to be.

Ephemera Tag 10

Step 11:

Let pieces hang off the edges of your piece. You can cut them off later, if you wish. Don’t be afraid to move your elements around, cut them, tear them, etc.

Ephemera Tag 11

Step 12:

Use different types of adhesive. I like using Tear It! Tape for the embossed layers, wet glue for flat layers, and foam tape or squares for elements that I want raised. I also love to use On Point Glue for sequins and rhinestones, which I added after I had all of my paper elements adhered.

Ephemera Tag 12 600

Here’s the finished tag. Again, make this however you like. It doesn’t need to be for the holidays, it doesn’t need to be a tag. Just grab a bunch of supplies and play. Whatever ephemera you have leftover can be used at another time.

Art Supplies:

Imagine:

• Fireworks! Shimmery Craft Spray in Cottage Ivy, Lady Bug, and New Sprout

• Memento Ink in Rich Cocoa

• Kalediacolor Inks in Fruitcake

• VersaMark Ink

• Mboss Embossing Powder in Rose Gold

• VersaFine Clair Ink in Rain Forest

• Delicata Ink in Golden Gliz

• Tear It! Tape

• On Point Glue

Other:

• Stampers Anonymous: Bold Tidings Mini and Mod Cactus

• Sizzix: Tag Collection #658784, Kaleidoscope 3D Embossing Folder

• A Colorful Life Designs: Sweater Knit stencil, Make Some Plaid stencil

• Doodles Paper Playground: Bold Rhinestones (I only used the red)

• Simon Says Stamp/CZ Design: Hex Yeah (discontinued)

• Scraps of cardstock, old book paper, etc.

Make a Beautiful Pumpkin Thank You Card

Posted on October 7, 2022 by Imagine

By Alison Heikkila –

Greetings! Alison here and today my latest tutorial for Imagine is a textured, fall-themed thank you card. I can see making a bunch of these to put as place setting on your Thanksgiving table, as a thank you to your guests for celebrating the holidays with you. I used several simple techniques on this card that when combined, look really fancy and festive.

Skill Level: Beginner to Intermediate
Time: 45 minutes- 1 Hour

Directions:

Step 1:

Using a piece of metallic cardstock, run it through your die cutting machine with an embossing folder.

Step 2:

Using a sanding block, a piece of sandpaper, or even a nail file, sand the raised areas of the embossed cardstock. This will give it an aged or distressed look.

Step 3:

Gently rub Spiced Chai StazOn ink across the surface to add more interest to the piece of cardstock.

Thankful 5

Step 4:

On a Gel Press Plate, gently tap the Cappuccino Delight Kaleidacolor Inks across the surface. You can use a brayer to blend the colors, as well as a few spritzes of water or Ink Potion No. 9.

Thankful 6

Step 5:

Lay white cardstock on to the Gel Press Plate and rub to get the ink to transfer. Pull the print and let it dry. I pulled a couple of prints and then chose my favorite to use for this card.

Thankful 7

Step 6:

Die cut a pumpkin out of the monoprint.

Thankful 8

Step 7:

Die cut a bigger pumpkin out of brown cardstock and ink the edges with Golden Glitz Delicata Ink.

Thankful 9

Step 8:

Die cut the sentiment out of cream colored cardstock and ink the edges with Desert Sand Memento Ink.

Thankful 10

Step 9:

Add Tear It Tape to the back of the embossed panel. I like to use this adhesive when I am working with a piece that has a lot of texture. It holds everything in place really well, and you don’t need to worry about liquid adhesive getting “stuck” in the wells.

Step 10:

Assemble the rest of the card. I used On Point Glue to attach the rhinestones.

Thankful 11 600

Isn’t it pretty?

I love all of the shine from the embossed panel. I also really like seeing all the colors on the pumpkin through the die cut. I hope you’ll give some of these techniques a try!

Art Supplies:

Imagine:

• StazOn Ink: Spiced Chai

• Delicata Ink: Golden Glitz

• Kaleidacolor Ink: Cappuccino Delight

• Memento Ink: Desert Sand

• Tear It! Tape

• On Point Glue

Other:

• Darice: Embossing Folder

• Gel Press: 3×5 Plate

• Recollections: Pumpkin Die Cuts

• Simon Says Stamp: Thankful Die

• Doodles Paper Playground: Gold Starburst Rhinestones

• Brown, Cream, and White cardstock

Have a Witchin Good Halloween Card

Posted on September 27, 2022 by Imagine

By Annie Collins –

Hello Crafty Friends – Annie here with a quick and easy Halloween card featuring a variety of Imagine Crafts products.

Skill Level: Beginner

Time to Complete: 30 Minutes

Art Supplies:

Imagine:

• VersaMark Ink

• Mboss Embossing Powder: Black Hologram & White

• Memento Ink: Tuxedo Black

• Memento Marker: Tuxedo Black

• Tear It! Tape

• On Point Glue

• Imagine Craft Mat

Other products:

• Recollection Brand Stamps: Halloween Skeleton Critters

• Create & Inkspire Stamps: Halloween Sentiments

• Create & Inkspire Stamps: Halloween Icon

• Copic Marker: V12, V04, & V17

• Sakura Gelly Roll Pen # 10: White & Metallic Gold

• Recollection Brand 110lb Cardstock: White

• Recollection Brand 80lb Cardstock: Purple and Black

• Mrs. Sparkle & Co: Gold Stars

Create a Watercolor Sunflower Card using Stencils and Fireworks! Shimmery Craft Spray

Posted on August 26, 2022 by Imagine

By Neva Cole

In today’s tutorial, I will share how I used layering sunflower stencils to create a water color look to my image. Notice there is no stamp outline, that helps achieve a more organic look to the project. I learned a few things along the way, and almost want to include a few blooper photos! Instead I share the way that will give you the cleanest look avoiding the pit falls!

Skill: Beginner

Time: 2 Hours

Directions:

2022-Aug-WatercolorFireworksSunflowers-Step1

Step 1:

Trim white watercolor cardstock to 4 1/4” x 9 1/4”, or about 1/4” on each side larger than your stencil. this will allow you to handle your project more cleanly. Use reposition able painters tape or washi tape to secure stencil along left side with edges matching along the upper and left hand side. Spritz with Fireworks! in New Sprout until color depth desired is achieved. In this close up photo freezer paper is used underneath the stencil and paper with the plasticized side up. This allows collection of the over spray for background papers. Carefully lift stencil to keep excess Fireworks from leaking under the stencil and adding unwanted color.

Step 2:

Secure next layer of layering stencil in place and spritz with Fireworks! Shimmery Craft Spray in Bamboo Leaves. This photo shows a spray box that protects your work area from over spray. It also shows the best distance of 12” to 18” to spray the stencil to avoid large droplets of Fireworks!.

2022-Aug-WatercolorFireworksSunflowers-Step3

Step 3:

Clean stencils with sections of watercolor paper after each layer. Move the watercolor paper around on the freezer wrap to pick up excess spray. Keep color families together, as both colors of green are used on this background paper. Clean up excess with paper towels or baby wipes.

Step 4:

Continue with additional layering stencils.
Here Dandelion is used for Stencil 3, and Tangelo for Stencil 4.

Step 5:

Sometimes as a designer you discover easier methods in the process of designing a project. I was not satisfied with the color through the stencil by just spraying with the stencils that were smaller openings. It is recommended to use this method for the rest of the layers. Fireworks! in Tangelo is shown here sprayed on a plastic sheet. Using a cotton swab the color is carefully dabbed through the stencil to give better color depth. A cotton swab also prevents leakage underneath the stencil of excess color. A lot less of the spray was used with this method! Stencils 5 and 6 used this method to complete the look. Stencil 5 used Fireworks! in Lilac Posies, and Stencil 6 a mixture of Fireworks! Rich Cocoa (for shimmer) and Walnut Ink in Java for a darker color.

Step 6:

Here are the images from the entire stencil set.

Step 7:

One “blooper” photo, all the backgrounds made with the over spray and Fireworks! left on the stencils. To be used in future projects? The green sheet is trimmed to 4 1/4? to 5 1/2” to cover the front of the card.

Step 8:

Tap drop of Fireworks! in Dandelion on white watercolor paper trimmed to 3 3/4” x 5”.
Use quilted card front die to add texture to front panel.

Step 9:

Part of the remaining background section is stamped with Memento Luxe in Lilac Posies using a sentiment from the Sunflowers stamp set. It is die cut with a Spellbinder die.

Step 10:

The Sunflower is die cut with the coordinating die. The layers are adhered together with Tear It! Tape with dimension foam tape behind the card front.

Art Supplies

Imagine

Other:

White Watercolor Cardstock
Pink Fresh Studio Sunflowers Stencils, Coordinating Die, and Clear Stamp
Concord & 9th Quilted Card Front Die
Spellbinders Fancy Tabs
Dimension Foam adhesive
Cotton swabs
Die Cut machine
Stamp Platform

Create Your Own Perfectly Matching Background Paper

Posted on July 26, 2022 by Imagine

By Neva Cole –

In today’s tutorial I will show you how to create a background paper that will allow your photo(s) to shine on a scrapbook layout. Using Memento Inks that match the photo allows the photo to be the center star of the layout. All the embellishments will also match by coloring with the same inks. The background itself is super quick and simple, and can be used for cards as well as layouts.

Skill: Beginner

Time: 30 Minutes

Directions:

Step 1

Select ink colors that are in the photo you wish to highlight. In my case it is one of my favorite photos from our travels to Oahu when we climbed to the top of Koko Head. The stunning blue, brown, and green directed my choice of ink colors. In this step Memento in Peanut Brittle is brayered randomly over a sheet of canvas textured white cardstock. Cover about a third of the cardstock in varying levels of ink layers. The key to this technique is to not look for perfection, just go for a fun look!

Step 2:

Memento Bahama Blue is used to ink the next layer in the background. A good quality rubber balloon is filled with popcorn and tied off. This is used to ink with random size dots in varying ink intensities on the background covering about one more third of the paper.

Step 3:

A second balloon filled with rice gives a slightly different ink look for the last layer using Memento Olive Grove. Fill in the remaining open areas on the cardstock to finish the background.

July_2022_Neva_600_Step4

Step 4:

The embellishments are shown here as one step, as the main focus of this tutorial is the background technique. Smooth texture cardstock is used for all the embellishments as it die cuts more cleanly. A frame of white cardstock is trimmed to 7 1/2 “ x 5 1/2 “ and inked with Memento Luxe in Peanut Brittle. The Luxe ink blends a little more easily over larger areas. The title is die cut in triplicate, then adhered together with small dots of On Point Glue around the die cuts to add dimension, and finally inked with Memento in Danube Blue. A die cut of the island of Oahu is inked in Memento Olive Grove.

July_2022_Neva_600_Step5

Step 5:

When the photo was layered over the frame the match between the soil and the Peanut Brittle was so close, they blended together! The edges of the photo are inked with StazOn in Jet Black to add definition to all edges of the photo, and allow the photo to stand out from the frame.

July_2022_Neva_600_Step6

Step 6:

A journal block is written on the computer and printed out using photo settings and trimmed to size. A frame is trimmed 1/4” larger than the journal block and inked in Memento Danube Blue. The two are adhered together with Tear It! Tape.

July_2022_Neva_Main_600

Step 7:

The elements of the layout are placed on the background and adhered with Tear It! Tape or On Point Glue. Memento Dual Tip Marker in Tuxedo Black is used to mark a small “X” as to the location of Koko Head on the Island of Oahu.

Art Supplies

Imagine:

Memento–Peanut Brittle, Danube Blue, Olive Grove

Memento Luxe– Peanut Brittle

StazOn–Jet Black

Memento Dual Tip Maker–Tuxedo Black

Ink Daubers

Tear It! Tape

On Point Glue

Other:

White canvas textured cardstock

White smooth textured cardstock

2” Rubber brayer

Rubber balloons with popcorn and rice

Momenta Casual Script Alphabet Dies

Die cut machine

Brother scan and cut

Silhouette Design Store–Hawaii State die cut modified, Candy Apple Bold Script

Learn Thumping Technique using Ink Pads

Posted on July 12, 2022 by Imagine

By Martha Lucia Gomez –

Hello there! In today’s crafting tutorial I want to show you how to make the traditional thumping technique but this time using ink pads and not markers! To make my card, I used the large size of Memento Inks but it can be made with the Memento Drops too or with any other type of ink. This is an easy and fun summer card for any occasion.

Skill Level: Beginner
Time to Complete: 30 Minutes

Directions:

Step 1:

Select the stamp set that you prefer. To make most evident this technique you can use solid stamps. Additionally, pick the colors of ink that you wanted to use. I am using two, Memento Ink Bamboo Leaves and Tangelo.

2022-July-Martha Lucia - Dandelion Card - Step 2

Step 2:

Ink your stamp with the first color. In my case Memento Bamboo Leaves.

2022-July-Martha Lucia - Dandelion Card - Step 3

Step 3:

Without stamp the image over the cardstock, ink the stamp partially with the second colors. Keep in mind the parts that you want to look with different shadows.

2022-July-Martha Lucia - Dandelion Card - Step 4

Step 4:

Stamp the image over a piece of cardstock.

TIP: Clean the second ink pad with a dry towel to avoid contamination of the colors.

2022-July-Martha Lucia - Dandelion Card - Step 5

Step 5:

You can repeat the above step if you want to obtain darker colors. Stamp a sentiment using a contrast color to complete your card.

2022-July-Martha-Lucia---Dandelion-Card---Step-6

Step 6:

Resize the layer with, paste the sentiment and add the decorative layer over a card base. If you want, you can use your favorite crafty foam to add more dimension to your card.

Art Supplies:

Imagine:

• Memento – Bamboo Leaves and Tangelo

• VersaFine – Onix Black

Other:

• 88 and Clear – Clear Stamp Set Kissable Dandelion

• Scrapbook.com – Clear Stamp Set Handmade Essentials

• Joy Clair Designs – White Smooth Cardstock

• Positional Stamp Tool.

• The Greetery LLC – Crimped Frame Die

• Die Cut Machine

• Scrapbook Adhesives Crafty Foam.

Directions:

Art Supplies:

Imagine:

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