There are a billion ways to make your own junk journal ephemera. You don’t actually need fancy machinery to collect really good prints for your journaling collection.
Today’s post is more of an experimental approach for myself – I decided to make my own very specific ephemera. Because sometimes, I just can’t find the right quotes or frames to suit my specific page spreads.
After some time using the same old cutouts/stickers, I realize that some quotes just don’t suit the vibe. Writing them down on strips of paper is a very valid alternative. But what about frames? There are times where I just can’t find any in the right shape or color. It was time to see if I could design some in my style.
What Are Die Cuts?
Die cuts are basically materials that are cut to specific shapes and sizes. It’s an efficient step in a manufacturing process to make many of one thing. These could be metal die cuts used as part for computers, clocks, and countless other things. These could also be paper die cuts for pieces for card making, envelopes, packaging materials, and so on. Die cuts have a wide variety of applications.
Today, we will focus on paper die cuts for journaling specifically. Die cuts for scrapbooking are also ephemera. And they are essential for junk journaling, bullet journaling, and other kinds of journaling.
Using paper die cuts are also great and thoughtful budget-friendly gifts for friends and family. They can be used in greeting cards or preserved in ornaments as keepsakes. It’s also just fun to play with paper and it’s for all ages!
If you have a cutting machine or the ProCreate app, you can follow this process to make your own die cuts. If not, I will also provide alternative ways you can still achieve making your own die cuts (albeit with a bit more elbow grease, but you can feel the satisfaction of having moxy). I will also provide free printables of the frames I made today.
Let’s get started!
Tools
Though I do love free materials when it’s possible, I will be upfront and say that none of these tools are free. However, you don’t need to pay to still have fun with making die cuts. I will do my best to provide less costly alternatives to each of these tools so you can still make your own journal ephemera.
ProCreate App ($10)
- Alternative: The most important thing here is that you can draw your own designs. A good old pen and paper can’t let you down. If you have a tablet, free apps to draw with include Adobe Fresco, Sketchbook, and even GoodNotes for simpler sketches.
Printer ($50+)
- Alternative: Your local library’s printer, a friend’s printer, or your school’s printer. You can even carve a rubber eraser and make stamped images of your work and forgo a printer altogether.
A Cutting Machine – I used the Cricut Explore Air 2 ($150+)
You will also need to download the Cricut Design Space app on your desktop or tablet. The app is free.
- Alternative: Good old fashioned scissors, a paper guillotine at school, a craft razor blade, or even hole punchers. If you choose to use guillotines or hole punchers, you would need to create specifically shaped (and sometimes specifically sized) designs. Normally, that would be square, rectangular, or even circular designs. (Note that hexagon shaped hole punches exist too!)
- You can also outline your art with borders to cut more easily by hand.
- You can print or draw on label stickers that are already cut into rectangles
Process
Drawing on ProCreate
ProCreate is a powerful tool, especially if you want to expand your artistic abilities. I stuck with easy procreate art ideas, since I’m not very skilled. Don’t let beginner skills stop you from drawing what you want!
1. Choose your dimensions, aka your DPI.
The odds are that the default dimensions will be fine for our purposes. However, just to make sure your images will be printed and cut most ideally, it’s helpful to have a “high resolution.” A decent DPI to aim for is 300 DPI or higher.
To customize, tap on the little black box with a “+” in the top right corner.
You’ll then be taken to a new dialog box where you can customize your width and height. The DPI will automatically be calculated for you. The higher the DPI, the less layers you can play with. However, for our purposes, you may not need that many layers to begin with.
2. Once you are happy with your image dimensions, start drawing!
I used reference photos to draft my own frames and I chose different colors for these frames.
3. Once you’re done drawing, draw the outlines in a separate layer underneath. This will give wiggle room for your cutting machine when it’s cutting around the frames. It also reinforces smoother cuts. It doesn’t have to be too thick if you don’t want it to be.
Turn off the background layer before you start drawing the outlines.
4. Once the outlines are made and your frames are also in the image (but NOT the background layer), save your image as a PNG file.
Printing the Designs
5. On the Cricut Design Space app, go to your canvas and tap “Upload”. Choose your PNG file.
6. Something like this shown below will show up as a preview. Tap “Apply” in the top right corner.
7. The next page will show up like this. Choose “Flat Graphic” for the print-then-cut feature. Then, tap “Next.”
8. Once the file is loaded onto your design space, you can resize and duplicate your designs how you wish.
To cut them how they appear on your design space, you need to “attach” so they will all fit to one page. Keep in mind the ruler on the left and top margins. This will show you how large the frames will be in real life.
Keep in mind that it will want to re-size in order to fit the image on your desired paper size. Make adjustments as needed. When all dimensions are suitable, tap “Make it.”
9. Check the preview against the measurements on the mat one more time. When ready, follow the instructions. It will send the image to printer to print before cutting on your machine.
10. Choose the right paper thickness and let it print!
Cutting on Cricut
11. Once the sheet is fully printed, place the paper on your mat carefully. Align the top and left edges of the paper to the edges of the mat as accurately as you can.
12. Load the mat on the machine as directed and let it go!
Results
Shoutout to my cutting machine for making the cleanest cuts!
The very last step is to have fun with your new die cuts!
Conclusion
I hope you found this tutorial helpful, or at the very least very fun to learn about! My journaling feels so much more exciting using my very own designs. It definitely opens doors to more of my personal designs in the future.
Again, you can find free junk journal ephemera anywhere. And I will provide the frames I made today as a free resource for you as well. If you want to support my work and art, feel free subscribe to my mailing list, or subscribe to my other channels.
Till next time, xo.
Note that am not affiliated with any of the brands, authors, or organizations mentioned in this post.