Eclectic & Technicolour: Bright mixed-media 'ephemera bits' kits

Hello hello.

We woke to icing sugar in the street this morning. Well, OK, maybe it was a light dusting of snow ... but it looked as near to icing sugar as anything I've seen this side of the top of a Victoria Sponge. And so ...

.... maybe you'll be wanting to stay in and get creative with something bright and cheerful [or, as some of my Southern hemisphere readers remind me ... it's also summer somewhere ... so the bright cheery crafting will apply there too!]

So, today I thought I'd share a closer look at one of the 'Ephemera Bits' kits I recently put together and propped up on the shelves of my Etsy shop. Meet 'Eclectic + Technicolour Brights':

When I'm struggling to name a kit I sometimes just play it safe and go for the obvious and so ... as you can probably tell by this first image ... this particular kit got its name from the collection of eclectic, bright, technicolour bits of ephemera which it's made from. [No one said I had to be original!].

It's sometimes too easy to associate 'ephemera' with grungy styles, with old tickets, weathered metal and aged paper and, while all of that is fabulous and has its place ... I wanted to show how bright and fun ephemera can be too. How it can be more modern than some vintage Steampunk-esque styles ... but still retaining some lovely retro touches.

I must admit that much of this kit reminds me of my 1980s childhood ... so admitting that this is a 'retro' themed kit is pretty hard on my ego. But I don't mind suffering for my art ...

The full contents list can be found here but actually a close look at the photos reveals all:

• There are 2 near-identical kits available in this theme - one featuring 'Topsy' [above] ... the other with 'Tim' [below]. So if you want a specific girl/boy pack, and you're the 1st to order, just let me know your choice when ordering.
• There are lots of other bright illustrations from children's reading books + annuals alongside text pages and maps meaning there's plenty there for you to turn into both backgrounds and focal points;
• I've mixed in some bright papers new and re purposed [see first image] alongside neon cards, bright postage stamps and fun labels;
• There are 4 lengths of colourful sticky tape and washi tapes [wrapped around a strip of acrylic] so you can enjoy different designs without needing an entire roll!

• I've also included on of my favourite things in this kit - a pack of pre-cut words and phrases which you can combine to create weird and wonderful journaling or titles. I love working with 'found' words and they can be great prompts and starting points for really interesting journaling and even poetry or stories.
• I like them so much I'm thinking of developing a whole blog category or even a class around the things I've created from using snippets!

• And finally ... I added in 3 designs [grid, dots + hearts] of mesh/sequin waste for you to use with inks, paints etc
• Either stencil through them or colour over the top and use in reverse [like you would a stamp].

You can click any image [or here] for more details of the kit.

Before I go ...

If you've not used Etsy before:

• it's usually very straightforward, you just need to register [so you can log-in] then it just uses PayPal like any other online store.

And, if you're new to Art Journaling and want to grab some quick inspiration for using a kit like this:

• I now have a Pinterest board where I'm starting to pin all my, blogged, journal pages - here [you don't need to be registered to Pinterest to view it].
• And I've also created a Pinterest board to house any tutorials I've written - here - which contains 2 step-by-step photo tutorials showing an art journal page from start to finish. [They're my most pinned and viewed blog features so I hope you find them useful too!]

Right, I'll leave you to the rest of your Tuesday.

Be it snowy or summery out there I hope you manage to squeeze in something creative today.

Julie :-)