Matchbook Ephemera Folio with ESA {by Tracy Hickman}

I needed somewhere to keep die cuts and ephemera for an upcoming Seth Apter Art Workshop so I created an accordion folio with craft and glassine envelopes  for storage.  using every stamp in Seth's new 3 set release for PaperArtsy, (ESA49), (ESA50) and (ESA5)1.  Below is a close up of the decorated matchboxes that house ephemera on the folio's cover.  Coming up: how to bleach fabric using stamps!

I knew I wanted to dye fabric with PaperArtsy Infusions for a rusted look.  One of the stamps in PaperArtsy Eclectica - (ESA51) by Seth Apter was calling out to be used with bleach on this rusted fabric scrap.  The compliment to rust is blue and this trio of Paper Artsy Fresco Chalk Acrylics in Niagara Falls, Jade and South Pacific created a gorgeous ombre blend as a backdrop for a new favorite PapterArtsy stamp in Eclectica - (ESA51) by Seth Apter that created an abstract snowy scene.  Infusions in Green Man and A Bit Jaded were added for depth and pooling around the embossed marks.

The leaf stamp in Eclectica -ESA 49 inspired the cover and color palette to compliment the teals and rusts.  I used PaperArtsy Infusions in: Green Man,  Olive Tree  and Slimed to stamp 3D "trees".  Using the smooshing technique with Infusions and water on a craft mat on some creamy watercolor paper I embellished with embossing powder using that fabulous script stamp in PaperArtsy Eclectica ( ESA49) by Seth for texture.

A close up of Infusion stamped trees sewn together (love how the infusions created these perfectly imperfect impressions, a stamping technique I'm looking forward to using more!)

When you need immediate gratification and don't want to wait for real rusted results, PaperArtsy Infusions in Rusty Car can come to the rescue.  I dyed this natural cotton canvas fabric in a water Infusion bath, dried thoroughly and attempted my first bleach stamping experiment.  Placing just enough liquid bleach to cover the bottom of a small dish, I stamped into the bleach, shook the stamp once to shake off any excess liquid and placed on the rusted fabric like a normal stamped impression.  The results were SO worth my apprehension  and can't wait to try this again!

Some additional stamping using PaperArtsy Eclectica sets (ESA49), (ESA50), (ESA51)  by Seth Apter that were used to decorate the inside craft envelopes and draw your eye to the abstract small paintings that are the focal point covers to the glassine envelopes you'll see next.

I developed the layers of these mini abstracts on craft paper in 3 steps..... Layer One is a combination of 4 PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics in this order:  Fuzzy Cactus, Heavy Cream, Teresa Green and Terracotta brayered up and down, left and right, one color at a time.

Midground Stamping for the Second Layer came next using many of the stamps from all three stamp sets using only black permanent ink and Distress Oxide Ink by Ranger Industries in Peacock Feathers.

Finally, Step Three concentrated on focal stamping using both black and white embossing powders to highlight this layer and add texture.  Using a limited and similar palette unified the pieces and helped tell an abstract story centered on mark making.

The final pieces below mounted on both sides of the glassine envelopes.

The finished Folio cover with a nod to landscapes which I love.  The moon stamp in PaperArtsy Eclectic ESA50 by Seth Apter was stamped on vellum and embossed, placed behind a metal eye piece to cap off the trees on top of the matchbook ephemera drawers..  The word ART was created from several of the word stamps and placed on tiny vials to hold rusting or embossing powders.

A peek inside the front cover, craft envelopes to hold die cuts and papers,  I intentionally kept these fairly simple to not fight with the square abstracts on the glassine envelopes.

4 flip envelopes to hold more ephemera and be a gallery of inspiration to show how to use stamps in different ways, focal points, edging and layers…

Brayered Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics add great texture behind background stamping in ink and embossing powders on the upper stamped layers for depth.

Love this focal stamp from PaperArtsy Eclectica - (ESA51) by Seth Apter, it would look great colored in with Mattints which I may come back and do.

You can see that same stamp here, this time used in the midground and stamped in Peacock Ink. This creates a subtle backdrop to “Make Memories”, the fabulous round word stamp, one of three that can be found in each of the three Eclectica Stamp sets.

I'm looking forward  to using this postmark and script stamp above to make vintage ephemera and seemed a perfect addition for this Ephemera Folio.  The above squares measure about 4.5" but these stamp sets have so much flexibility with a range in scale, they would be great used on  larger panels for framing and fabulous mixed media art.

Hoping you found a nugget of an idea in here somewhere.  Creative Wishes to all!

Tracy Hickman

@anonymouse.palette