Are you becoming a “Frugal Artist”?

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This article is written by Debbie Ward of Lucky Girl Paper Arts.

I find myself falling into a new category of paper crafter, the “frugal” artist. A few months ago, I had to put myself on a spending diet. I don’t know if any of you have ever done this, but, in short, you either reduce the amount of what you have been spending on your supplies or completely cut your spending 100%.

I had to do this because I had just come back from the local scrapbook store, happy with my purchases, until I got home, opened the items, and realized everything I bought I already owned. I was so angry with myself I gave myself a “time out” from spending. I had to get creative with things I already had laying around the house if I wanted to continue to create. I not only found it a challenge but I treated it like a game, and the best thing about it, I saved money.

Take a moment, think about what you might have in your own home that can be used in your card making arsenal. If you have children in your home, you may already be sitting on a large stockpile of doodads & trinkets. If you do not have children, start going through drawers and cabinets and you may be surprised what you might find. Here is a short list of things I found when I started looking around my own home: old books, corrugated cardboard from an old mailing box, aluminum foil, old jeans, buttons, string, pipe cleaners, game pieces from an incomplete game, beads from a broken necklace, playing cards from an old deck, postcards, tissue paper from a specialty store (I couldn’t bring myself to throw it away), sand paper, and metal washers.

Here are some samples of what I made with the treasures I found:

mixed media greeting card by Debbie Ward

Card made with 2 skewers (cut down) and twine

frugal artist debbie ward

Card made with a scrap of denim

Looking back at the month I was on my spending diet, I realized two things:
1. If there is ever a Project Runway for paper crafting and they have to make something from basically nothing, I can win that challenge.
2. My creativity doesn’t come from what I buy but what is inside of me.

I can’t say I will be throwing away all of my supplies after this, but it is nice to know that I can push myself creatively. As a side note, the money I saved from my spending diet was invested in new die cutting plates.

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Debbie Ward 
has been paper crafting for many many many years. She loves to create cards, scrapbook pages and altered items. Debbie designs for a local scrapbook store, Hannah’s in Antioch Illinois USA. www.LuckyGirlPaperArts.com
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Filed Under: Mixed Media Artists Tagged With: , , ,

Crafting time and still no ideas?

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Do you find that on occasions you have time for crafting and no ideas or inspiration? Here are a few ideas to get you going:

– Pull out that sketch book or art journal and revisit your previous sketches and ideas

– Pull out a coloured box of small pieces of paper and sort through them – bringing different colours together will grab our attention and spark our creativity

– Start on a small project – like greeting cards or ATCs

– Choose a drawer or box you haven’t looked in for a while and look through it; you may find something found or bought long ago that you had forgotten

– Pull out your UFO box (UnFinished Objects) and see what can be finished or transformed into something new.

We would love to hear how you spark your creativity ~ leave us a comment!

mixed media gothic arch art

Happy creating!
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Filed Under: Mixed Media Art General Tagged With: , , ,

Vintage Ephemera

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I am having a bit of a vintage ephemera fetish at the moment and thought I’d share what I have collected and learn so far.

Vintage ephemera consists of “vintage” being anything old. Often this will be from the turn of the century to about the 1950’s. The 1960’s to 1980’s seem to fit more into the retro category, but this era may also be covered when searching for such things. “Ephemera” refers to things that are fleeting or short-lived, which may seem like a contradiction, but in my search, it usually refers to paper and cardboard type products; old pages of text, receipts, sheet music, postcards, greeting cards, posters, cigar cards, swap cards and playing cards all may feature is the collection. Old books often feature in this product grouping as well.

Finding vintage ephemera from the source is the best place; collections from old relatives are the best find as they also have a personal connection. Some second hand shops, flea markets or church fates are good places to go looking for them. If this isn;’ your style (these places can be very dusty and not always the best odds of finding soothing worth while and at decent price) there are places now that have done the hard work for you and have compiled vintage ephemera kits (see L’Uccellos and Meet Me at Mikes ~ both in Melbourne, Australia)

To use original or copies?
This debate continues to rage across the mixed media art world. Some artists love using originals to add authenticity to their work, using rich papers, tinged with age and passed down. Others will scan the originals which preserves the original and allows for multiple reprints and re-sizing.  Books in particular are most argued about.

I personally will decide on a case by case basis; if it is something that I have multiples of, or doesn’t have a significant emotional attachment, I will often use originals. If the piece has intrinsic or emotional (family) value, the scanning to print copies is preferred.

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I would love to hear about your favourite place to find ephemera ~ leave a comment telling us about your best find!



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If you would like to read more…

Now there’s a hip way for crafters to bring family history into their daily lives. Collage Lost and Found combines basic collage techniques and found objects to create edgy and unusual crafts with not only style, but a story to tell, as well. Highlights include:
-20 step-by-step projects with easy, fashionable designs for greeting cards, magnets, necklaces, journals, and more
-Sassy, and alluring artwork that reflects the author’s old-world Sicilian upbringing and her fascination with a bygone era
-Inspirational photo galleries packed with ideas, as well as information on basic collage, collecting ephemera, and jewelry techniques
Readers won’t be able to resist these clever ideas for turning long-forgotten treasures into items they can wear, display, or send!


Vintage Collage Journals is the sequel to artist Maryjo Koch’s Vintage Collage-Works, her first book illustrating her unique style of collage art with antique ephemera. In her new book, Koch has compiled an inspiring portfolio of her many themed journals combining collage techniques with watercolor painting and other artist’s techniques. She explores the collage medium in travel journals, recipe keepsake books, and nature and garden sketchbooks. As an avid collector of antique paper ephemera, Koch utilizes the things she collects in inventive ways to add personal touches to her journals, mingling them with photos, sketches, and paintings of the many themes she explores. Along the way, she also shows how the act of making a journal can be a valuable way to explore an experience or subject in greater depth.
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Filed Under: Mixed Media Materials Tagged With: , , ,

Serendipity Technique

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The Serendipity Technique is easily mastered and is lots of fun. The only problem I have is deciding how small a piece is too small to throw out, because this techniques will use all of your small and left over pieces. How your initial collage goes together is not an important part of this technique; it is the cutting and then rearranging of each square that adds the charm to each piece.

1. Collect together a background sheet (this one is pre-painted in red, left over from doing the credit card technique) and similar colour scraps.

Mixed media art scraps

2. Tear them into interesting shapes and glue onto the background. I used a glue stick.

3. Stamp shapes onto the collage background


4. Cut collage into strips. To make this simple, use the ruler width or lines on the cutting mat to cut them, rather than measuring the strips too accurately. Take care if using a paper cutter if your collage is thick in places, as it may damage your cutter.

5. Cut strips into squares, again using the ruler width or lines onto cutting mat to cut them at the same spacing. You will have lots of colourful squares.


6. Now you can turn all of these squares into cards or add them onto other forms of mixed media art. Some of these were edged with black ink or layered onto darker card to highlight the squares.

Like any of these techniques, have a play round with them – cut bigger squares or smaller squares, use your kids artwork or turn a background you don’t like into an entirely new piece of art.

Happy creating!

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Filed Under: Mixed Media Art Techniques Tagged With: , ,
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