Ephemera and Whimsy Addiction

sounds fun but what exactly is Ephemera?

Its all the things listed above, people have diff opinions on what exactly it is, but basically its non-imatated real life bits and pieces that can be used again for art/scrapbooks/ATC's. But I would welcome other opinions.

I think ephemera usually means written/printed stuff, especially the kind of thing some people might just throw away, but you decide to keep because it's interesting. E.g. you might come back from holiday with a printed napkin from a fancy restaurant, a ticket from the boat trip, a beer mat from a bar and a give-away map of the area...

I guess with this swap the idea is to include stuff that someone might be able to use for collage work - e.g. used postage stamps, maps, things with illustrations, unusual fonts etc.

I think that beads, feathers, pressed flowers and scraps of fabric are not ephemera in the traditional sense. But I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to include a few of those too!

You are right They are by definition things, on paper, that were only meant to be used once and thrown away,An online definition is:

Ephemera is transitory written and printed matter, not intended to be retained or preserved. The word derives from the Greek, meaning things lasting no more than a day. Some collectible ephemera are advertising trade cards, airsickness bags, baseball cards, bookmarks, cigarette cards, greeting cards, letters, pamphlets, photographs, postcards, posters, stock certificates, tickets, and zines. Decks of personality identification playing cards from the war in Iraq are a recent example.

In library and information science, the term ephemera also describes the class of published single-sheet or single page documents which are meant to be thrown away after one use. This classification excludes simple letters and photographs with no printing on them, which are considered manuscripts or typescripts. Large academic and national libraries and museums may collect, organize, and preserve ephemera as history.

But for this swap were throwing in a bit of whimsy :) so the other non-paper things are fine :)

This is probably a stupid question: Do the images need to be neatly cut out? The reason I ask this is because I often rip things out, leaving some of the background, because depending on the particular project, I may want a rougher edge, etc.. Also, would pictures (photos), headlines, sub-heads, etc. from books, magazines or newspapers, & interesting patterns or backgrounds from wallpaper fit into this profile of ephemera, as I collect & use these images for my projects? I just want to clarify, as I don't want a bad rating. Thanks! :)

Yes all that is fine, you can rip :) these things are things that Can be used as insperation, ATC's, Crafts But are things people take for granted, mag pics, tags, pieces of ribbon, more examples are in the list above :)

Had a grand old time filling a baggie with ephemera and whimsy. A bit of my past is also included in the packet, along with bits of strangers' pasts. Hope my partners enjoy!

Sent it today!

fromthepines and Katco - Your packages are on their way. Enjoy.