Tagged: bookmarks
Sassy Girl Bookmarks
This post is about some more bookmarks I have made recently. These feature women cut from old pattern sleeves and colorful scrapbook papers. I’ll show you how I made them.
Cover bookmarks with pieces of vintage text and pattern tissue. Don’t think about it too much. Just place the papers down and glue them on.
Select some nice brightly colored scrapbook papers.
Cut papers into circles of varying sizes. I used some circle dies I have but you could always draw around round objects of different sizes and cut them out.
Glue the paper circles, pattern lady and quote on each bookmark.
I cut the quote into strips so they would fit on the bookmark. They look like they are just floating on the paper so I take and extra step to make them feel more incorporated onto the bookmark.
I used black watercolor pencil to loosely trace around each word strip. Now the words blend in better with the background.
Pop the bookmarks into plastic sleeves if you have them. I used the same colorful wool for the tassel that I used on the mixed media bookmarks from my last post.
Don’t forget to cover the backs to give them a proper finish. Now it’s your turn to use some vintage papers and pictures to create your own fun bookmarks!
I hope you like these fun bookmarks. They will also be for sale at the Spring Vintage Home Market.
Mixed Media Beach Book Marks
I’m going to be setting up at the Vintage Home Market show in Richmond, VA this Spring and decided to add some bookmarks to my handmade merchandise. My inspiration for making bookmarks came from some lovely wool I recently purchased at a thrift shop.
Doesn’t it just scream, “Use me for bookmark tassels?”.
Look at the wonderful textures and colors. So yummy!
Several people asked me to make beach themed junk journals for this show so I decided to add some beach themed book marks to my stock as well. Here is a quick step by step run through on how I made them along with the final results.
I cut some watercolor paper into strips.
Then I just scribbled on some blue watercolor paint.
I added some green and a darker shade of blue to completely cover the surfaces.
I added the bubbles by wiping away the paint with a baby wipe through a stencil. I painted on some seaweed fronds as well.
I cut out several seahorses with a Tim Holtz Bigz die and my Big Shot machine.
The seahorses were painted, sealed with glitter decoupage medium and dotted with a white Uniball pen. I made the eyes from gold sequins with a black paper dot for the pupil.
Some of the large bubbles got a glitter treatment and the seahorses were glued on to each bookmark. Captions were printed out, edged in blue ink and adhered to the base.
As I consider each piece a work of my own art I signed each one before slipping them into a plastic bookmark sleeve from Clear Bags. Some pieces of the inspiration wool was tied to the tops.
I also added decorative paper to the backs to finish them off. Here are the close-ups.
These bookmarks are really sturdy and well protected by the plastic sleeve so they will last a long time. They are perfect for taking on a cruise or beach vacation! I will be selling them at the Vintage Home Market in April.
Bookmarks are a lovely small way to create art that also serves a function. Cut some paper strips and let your own creativity flow while you make your own bookmarks!
Fun DIY Stickers
Okay, I know this is probably not a new idea, but this is the first time I actually tried making my own stickers. You can use any pre-made sticker blanks, varying the sizes and shapes to fit your projects. I used these round printable ones I got from The Dollar Tree.
I watched some videos on YouTube for inspiration. I used paints, sprays, stamps and ink, scraps of decorative papers, sequins and even tiny alphabet and word stickers to decorate the sticker blanks.
Here are some of the stickers I made.
Stickers, in general, are really inexpensive to buy. As an artist, I like to create as much of my own projects from scratch as I can, instead of relying on store-bought items. If you want specialty stickers, like inspirational ones, they are really quite expensive. Making your own allows you to customize them to fit every project perfectly while being unique and inexpensive!
P.S. Here are some laminated mixed media bookmarks I also made.
The Cardboard File Box
I couldn’t think of a better way to title this blog post but I realize it might be somewhat confusing. On glancing at the title one might assume this post is about a file box that is made of cardboard. Okay, I can see that. But you have to remember who is writing this post. I am a mixed media artist maker so nothing is going to be as it seems. This post is actually came about because of this….
Big stash of cardboard.
All kinds of cardboard!
All of this wonderful cardboard was haphazardly stuffed onto a shelf in my craft room. It was really stored rather willy-nilly and it was hard to find just the right piece for my projects. So in my quest to get my craft room more functional and organized I purchased this at a thrift store….
Cheapo Michael’s file box.
This is a file box from Michael’s and it only cost $4.00. Personally, it is so cheaply made it’s not worth more than $4.00, however, it is perfect for filing my cardboard. Here is what it looks like now that it’s finished….
Corrugated cardboard
File folder cardboard
Game board cardboard
Packaging cardboard
White cardboard
Okay, I know some of you are scratching your head at this time asking why any sane person would keep so much cardboard, never mind filing it. I repeat. I am a mixed media artist maker. This cardboard can be used in so many ways. It is as precious to me as the ring was to Gollum. For all you non-mixed media makers here is just a short list of the uses of cardboard.
Substrate for mixed media pictures
Substrate for mixed media bookmarks
Substrate for mixed media ornaments
Journal Covers
Pages in junk journals
Pages in art journals
Substrate for mixed media tags
Embellishments
And the list could go on and on, however, I’ve had a super tiring day and I can’t go on. So before you heartlessly just toss cardboard into the trash can, ask yourself, “What wonderful, kind, mixed media artist maker could I gift this to instead?”
glitteronmyface 