Hello everyone!  Valentines is only a month away and I thought I would share these cute little retro valentines day ephemera cards with you.  

Free Valentines Ephemera

When I first saw these adorable little characters, my attention was drawn to the flowers, and I knew I had to have more of them.  So I changed the background in both designs to a pattern effect created with the flowers. 

This single digital download include 2 designs, 1 bear & 1 fairy, and is repeated for a total of six 3x4 inch cards.

Download Free Valentines Junk Journal Ephemera Cards

Thank you for stopping by and I hope that you are following Calico Collage on social media.
You can find Calico Collage on Instagram and Pinterest: @calicocollage
If you are a fan of Calico Collage, come join the Facebook Group - Fans of Calico Collage
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Dragonfly Art Journal

 

Hello!  Today's post is going to show you one of my latest art journal pages.  This page uses art from my latest ephemera book, Dragonfly Delight that is now available on Amazon.

Dragonfly Art Journal Page

What was used:

Dragonfly Delight Ephemera Book
Washi Tape
Tattered Angels in Dried Lavender
Old Book Pages, and Paper Scraps
Exacto Knife
Scissors
Elmer's Craft Glue Stick  

Like many of my art journal projects I didn't have a plan, am I the only one that is this way?  You start a craft project with no idea how you want it to turn out?  Is it just me?

I knew I wanted the woman to be the main focus of the page.  My mother, who passed away in September, adored this particular illustration.  This was the first time I had physically worked on an art project since her death.  Throughout the process of creating this page, I kept her in the forefront of my mind, selecting ephemera and colors that I believed she would have chosen if she were right beside me.

 
I removed the pages I wanted from the Dragonfly Delight ephemera book with an exacto knife.  Here is a little tip for when you do this, make sure to open the book far enough back to see the white edges in the center.  This will make removing the pages easier.

I selected all the old pages with brown hues in mind.  I selected one particular piece of old paper because my mother was a woman of God and she loved singing so I picked out a page from an old hymnal titled "Oh, Home, Sweet Home".  I felt it was fitting since, I know she considered heaven her home.  

One of the images from the Dragonfly Ephemera Book was from a very old catalog featuring fine silver soap boxes and puff boxes.  My mom actually had a puff box that her mother gave to her.  I remember seeing it as a little girl and that is why I picked this particular piece of ephemera.

With all the papers picked out it was time to glue them down.  I used an Elmer's craft glue stick to do this.  Once the old pages were glued down, I started laying up with washi tape and the ephemera from the ephemera book. 

Once everything was glued down the way I wanted it, I splashed Tattered Angels "Dried Lavender".  This is a glimmering purple color.  I picked this color because it was purple and purple is the ribbon color for Alzheimer awareness, the terrible decease that took my mother.  

This particular page means a lot to me.  Art truly is therapeutic.  Remember to create everyday and even more then you are traveling down those more bumpy roads of life.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope that you are following Calico Collage on social media.
You can find Calico Collage on Instagram and Pinterest: @calicocollage
If you are a fan of Calico Collage, come join the Facebook Group - Fans of Calico Collage
If you are a BIG fan, make sure you are on the VIP mail list to receive exclusive freebies and coupons.   

 

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The New Year brings very exciting news to share!  My first set of Junk Journal Ephemera Books are now published and available on Amazon!  

From the time I began selling digital art in 2008 there have been steady requests for physical printed copies of each piece of art.  I didn't want to offer just any kind of prints, and wanted to make sure what was offered would be of the best quality and now I truly believe that time has come.

Junk Journal Ephemera Books

My top three selling junk journal kits were the first choice to make into books; One Fine Day, Fairy Garden, and Dragonfly Delight.  Lets dive into what each book looks like now.

Dragonfly Delight Junk Journal Ephemera Book

About This Book 

26 Double-Sided Pages. (56 pages total)
14 Designer Papers (These pages can be folded in half for Junk Journals)
12 Designer Ephemera Papers (a mix of ephemera cards, tags, fussy cuts, etc...)
All Pages are 2 Sided With a Matching Design
All Pages Coordinate With Each Other.
All Pages are Designed for You to Cut or Rip Out.
All Art is Printed on Quality 24lb Paper. 

 

Check out Dragonfly Delight Junk Journal Ephemera Book

 

 

Fairy Garden Junk Journal Ephemera Book

About This Book 

29 Double-Sided Pages. (60 pages total)

17 Designer Papers (These pages can be folded in half for Junk Journals)
12 Designer Ephemera Papers (a mix of ephemera cards, tags, fussy cuts, etc...)
All Pages are 2 Sided With a Matching Design
All Pages Coordinate With Each Other.
All Pages are Designed for You to Cut or Rip Out.
All Art is Printed on Quality 24lb Paper.

 

Check out Fairy Garden Junk Journal Ephemera Book

 

One Fine Day Junk Journal Ephemera Book

 

About This Book 

27 Double-Sided Pages. (54 pages total)

12 Designer Papers (These pages can be folded in half for Junk Journals)
15 Designer Ephemera Papers (a mix of ephemera cards, tags, fussy cuts, etc...)
All Pages are 2 Sided With a Matching Design
All Pages Coordinate With Each Other.
All Pages are Designed for You to Cut or Rip Out.
All Art is Printed on Quality 24lb Paper.

 

Check out One Fine Day Junk Journal Ephemera Book 

 

Thank you for stopping by and I hope that you are following Calico Collage on social media.
You can find Calico Collage on Instagram and Pinterest: @calicocollage
If you are a fan of Calico Collage, come join the Facebook Group - Fans of Calico Collage
If you are a BIG fan, make sure you are on the VIP mail list to receive exclusive freebies and coupons.

 

 

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Printer Settings for Printables

I'm going to cover just the fundamentals of printer settings in this post so you can better understand why and how your junk journal papers and scrapbook ephemera print the way they do.
If you want to learn more about this topic, keep reading.

First things first, how do you find your printer settings?

Head on over to your Settings > Devices > Printers & Scanners or Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Devices and Printers. 
You can also search for "printer" in your windows 10 search bar at the bottom of your screen.

As for me, I change my settings with every print I make according to my project.  When I right click the file(s) I want to print I select print then click on Options...>Printer Properties...

Your settings window may look a little different than this, but you will see a "paper type" and "print quality" options.  This is all you need to change.  As you get more comfortable with your printer you can change up other settings.

What printer setting should you use for your printable?

Now that you know how to change your printer's settings, it's time to have some fun.

Please note that for this little test I used the same paper and printer for all the pages. 
I am using the basic of basic paper - Xerox 20lb paper with a brightness of 92
I am using a HP Envy Photo 7155 printer (I love this printer because of the ink subscription program)
I'm using the same printable junk journal paper from the Winter Songs junk journal paper set from Calico Collage's Etsy shop

You can clearly see the difference between the junk journal papers with the a simple change of the settings.

Lets look a little closer at the individual pages.

This page settings were Plain Paper + Normal Print. (the default setting for so many printers)
It's very light, and it's hard to see the image's fine details, but I can still read the decorative text.  This setting would be extremely useful for someone creating a vintage junk journal or worn styled shabby chic project.

This page settings were Plain Paper + Best Print.
This is my preferred setting.  When you select Best Print, it will take a little longer for your printer to print.  This is due to the fact that it is printing more finer details of the design and using more ink to do so.  This is why the print appears darker.  This, I believe, is a more happy medium print setting that is very universal.

This page settings were HP Photo Paper + Best Print.
Oh my isn't that much richer, but still so pretty.  The reason why this printed much darker is because the printer thinks it is printing on heavy duty glossy paper, so it is using more ink.  This setting does take a lot longer to print because it is making sure to get all the fine details.  I wouldn't suggest this setting if your digital downloads are already dark in color, by doing so may drown out the over all design.

What I want you to take from this.

Don't be afraid about changing up your settings.  And do not feel you have to use the type of paper you selected.  I used the same 20lb paper in all these tests.  Play and have fun!

***

Thank you for stopping by and I hope that you are following Calico Collage on social media.
you can find Calico Collage on Instagram and Pinterest: @calicocollage
If you are a fan of Calico Collage, come join the Facebook Group - Fans of Calico Collage
If you are a BIG fan, make sure you are on the VIP mail list to receive exclusive freebies and coupons.

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Good day, everyone.
Today I'd like to share another layout from my art journal with you.  This one is centered on the Mystic Maidens printable ephemera that I sell in my shop.  I really like how these turned out and knew I wanted to make an entire layout out of them.  If this is of interest to you, I hope you will continue reading.

Mystic Maidens Art Journal Layout

To create this layout I used:

Printable Mystic Maidens Ephemera Cards

Printable I am Affirmations ephemera words

Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Mist

Curious Glimmer Mist

Watercolor paintbrush, honestly any paintbrush will do.

Random mix of paper ephemera, dried teabags, and washi tape 

Elmer's Craft Bond Glue Stick

 

This layout was inspired from a single piece of crinkled metallic paper that was sent to me in some happy mail.  As soon as I saw that blue I knew it would match my Mystic Maidens and I just had to make this layout.  So first thing I did was pick out what 2 cards I wanted to use from the Mystic Maiden ephemera cards.  

 

After selecting the ephemera cards, I moved on to the paper ephemera and began gluing the pieces down.  Many of them were glued down upside down.  I wanted the focus to be on the Mystic Maidens rather than the words.

Then I started ripping the crinkle paper and gluing it down, followed by some washi tape and the dried teabags.  I was drawn to these teabags because they were round and reminded me of the full moon that appeared on both of the ephemera cards I chose. 

Next, I rounded the corners of the ephemera cards and glued them to each of the pages, followed by the "I AM Bright" and "I AM Effervescent" ephemera words.

 

 

Finally, I took the glimmer mists and removed the bottles' spay tops.  I dipped the paintbrush into the bottle and randomly painted on each of the pages.  I was really impressed with how well the "Curious" glimmer mist matched the metallic paper.  You couldn't really see it when painting with the "Dazzling Diamonds" glimmer mist.  So I put the spay top back on the bottle and spayed both pages...because we can never have enough glimmer mist.

 

 

Thank you for stopping by and I hope that you are following Calico Collage on social media.
you can find Calico Collage on Instagram and Pinterest: @calicocollage
If you are a fan of Calico Collage, come join the Facebook Group - Fans of Calico Collage
If you are a BIG fan, make sure you are on the VIP mail list to receive exclusive freebies and coupons.

 

 

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