Making your own Ephemera

Hi! Bev here with a tutorial on how to make your own ephemera for scrapbooking, journalling, letter writing etc.  I have recently discovered journalling and have started to journal our family days out, and I am using lots of washi tape, ephemera etc.  So this tutorial is about how to make your own with carstock and designs from the Silhouette store.

What you will need:

• Silhouette Cameo/Portrait
• Printer and Ink
• Cardstock

Step One

Open up a fresh page in your design studio and set the page up to be A4 (if you are in the UK, Letter for US) and show print and cut borders and also registration marks.

Import some designs from your library and if necessary ungroup the design and layer it to build the image.

Once all of your designs are built or imported.  Use the scale window to resize and use the fill and line colour boxes to choose your colours if needed.

Step Two

You will need to use the offset tool to create a border around the shapes and this is the only part of the designs whih will be cut.  It creates a really nice effect once the ephemera is cut and ready for journalling.

Click on the offset tool and decide what distance you would like the border around the image.  You may also see there are cuts within the offset that you would rather not be there.  These can be ereased by moving the image off of the offset, click on the offset to select it, right click and release compound path.  You can then click on the bits you would like to erase and delete them.

Another handy tip I learned whilst erasing the unwanted cuts from the offset, is that if you select both of your images (the image and the offset) you can use the align tool to centre them together.  Then right click and group.

Once all of your images are how you would like them with the offsets and colours etc.  Click on cut settings and ensure that only the outline is set to cut.  We are only cutting the outside of the offset.

You will then need to send the sheet to the printer. 

Step Three

Cut settings are the next job, and as I was cutting on cardstock, I chose that option in the cut settings window.  I also have had times before where the carstock hasn't cut all of the way through, so I increased the thickness slightly and selected a double cut.  Send it to your silhouette and load your mat into the machine.

And there you have it! your DIY ephemera.  There are so many wonderful designs in the Silhouette store that you will almost always find a perfect design for the occasion.

I have really enjoyed sharing with you and can't wait to see what ephemera you create in the future for your projects!

PRODUCTS USED:



DESIGNS USED:

Floral Embellishment Amy Tan - Design ID#128147

Home Sweet Home - American Crafts Design ID#38470
Typewriter Flea Market - Doodlebug Design Design ID#154603
Amy Tan Car - American Crafts Design ID#46318