Rescue. Digitise. Reimagine.

I salvage and reimagine vintage and retro ephemera — giving the forgotten & discarded materials a digital second life for creators, makers, and mixed media artists.

I’m Ali, founder of See What Sticks in Australia. I’m a digital creator and maker who’s happiest elbow-deep in old paper, rescuing forgotten ephemera, textures, and typography from the pre-digital world and reimagining them for today. My style leans toward vintage Victorian and retro ephemera with a modern, usable twist. I’m also deeply interested in AI and use it as part of my creative process — combining heritage aesthetics with emerging technology to create fresh, usable designs.

I source & curate preloved, discarded, forgotten & salvaged vintage & retro ephemera, remnants & oddments. I curate reimagined products for modern creators — ready to use, layer, and bring your designs to life.

I also run an ongoing rescue and digitisation effort. I collect donated vintage and retro materials, carefully scan and digitally store them, to curate a growing digital library so these artefacts can continue to inspire new work.

I can bring your designs to life on stickers, drinkware, wearables and more — no quantity minimums, no waste, "not mass made but meaning made".

I’m drawn to making the old useful again. There’s something special about taking a century-old ledger page or a weathered postcard and turning it into something new — a template, a sticker sheet, a pattern. It feels like quiet conservation with everyday impact. I love closing the loop, transforming forgotten pieces into designs that makers can bring back to life in their own way.

"So nothing beautiful gets left behind — and every piece gets a second chance to be used, shared, and reimagined".

Donate & Collaborate
If you have old paper ephemera or craft supplies looking for a home, I can often rescue, digitise, and reimagine them — and in some cases, selectively buy items that suit the digital library. Think pre‑1960 paper, early magazines, letters, books, maps and atlases, music sheets, postcards and photos, ledgers and stationery, foreign‑language dictionaries, sewing patterns, textiles and trims (lace & embroidery), vintage wallpaper, buttons and buckles, jewellery (even broken), flashcards, playing cards, fabric samples, old catalogues, and quirky game pieces. For larger volumes, I can help arrange drop‑off or pickup.

Private pre-Garage sale or advice
non-intrusive and at your convenience. Leave the overwhelm to me.

Consignment Sales or advice   

I will list and manage your Online Sales through my website & different social platforms for you. Get In Touch
Website: seewhatsticks.com.au

Email: hello@seewhatsticks.com.au

Ephemera Explained

Ephemera are items which were not originally designed to be retained or preserved, but have been collected or retained. One definition for ephemera is "the minor transient documents of everyday life"
Ephemera are often paper-based, printed items, including menus, ticket stubs, newspapers, postcards, posters, sheet music, stickers, and greeting cards.
“The paper stuff that was never meant to be kept”
In the collecting world and design history, ephemera refers to transient, everyday items that were originally created for a single, temporary purpose and were meant to be thrown away after use, but are later collected or preserved for their cultural, historical, or aesthetic value. Product packaging fits this definition perfectly because its primary job is simply to hold, protect, and market an item until it reaches the consumer. Examples of packaging ephemera include:
Vintage cereal box panels
Tea bag envelopes and chocolate wrappers
Luxury tobacco tins and perfume boxes
Old sewing pattern envelopes, and outdated brand logos, these objects offer a fascinating snapshot of their time and are frequently utilised by historians, artists, and creators

Defined ephemera as "objects destined for disappearance or destruction", categorised the following as ephemera:

air transport labels/tickets    
bank checks/books               
bingo cards                     
bookmarks                       
broadsides                      
bus tickets                     
catalogs                        
envelopes                                              
flyers                          
maps                            
Valentine’s & Birthday Cards
Advertising                     
Lottery, raffle tickets
Vintage Stationary
Restaurant menus
Newspapers
Pamphlets
Paper Dolls
Postcards
Receipts/Invoices
Sheet Music
Stamps
Theatre programs
Ticket Stubs
Trade cards [cigarettes] [cereal] [sport]
Further items that have been categorised as ephemera include: posters, album covers, meeting minutes, buttons, stickers, financial records and personal memorabilia; announcements of events in a life, such as a birth, a death, a graduation or marriage, have also been described as ephemera.