Another Scrappy Saturday - Pigment Ink Bookmarks

Last Scrappy Saturday, I showed you how to embellish your bookmarks with some ribbon. The bookmarks shown in that post is what we are accomplishing today. I made these bookmarks before Christmas because they were a gift for two of my nieces. They fit into the theme of our week. Inspire Your Heart with Art.

The stamp used in these bookmarks is a flower with tons of hearts. Plus, I used the same technique as shown in Make it Monday! So you could easily make these two projects together and give a nice gift to someone who could use a pick me up.

Materials
Paper cutter or scissors
Ruler
Pen (if you don't use a paper cutter with a ruler attached)
Purple card stock
White card stock
A sheet of white copy paper
Sponge Daubers
Pigment ink
A stamp if you want that
StazOn Jet Black ink (for stamp)
Acrylic block (for stamp)
Roller Tape

1. Begin by cutting the purple card stock to 2 -    bookmarks. This is your backing piece.

2. Next, cut two bookmark mats from one piece of card stock at

3. With the scrap piece of white paper, lightly tape your bookmark mats down to hold them in place.

4. With your dauber, ink it up with the colors of your choice. I used pink, purple, and a green.

5. In a circular motion, begin daubing your ink onto the bookmark mat. Blending the ink as you go.

6. When you have finished, this is what they look like.

7. Next cut two pieces of white card stock to match the stamp size you are using. I do this two ways. I either stamp the image on a piece of card stock and cut them out. Or I cut two pieces of card stock and stamp, and then cut the excess. I do not measure this part because you may not have the same stamp I am using and need to use another. Just remember to use a stamp that will fit on your bookmark size!

8. Using Staz-on Jet Black ink, stamp your image onto the two pieces of card stock.

9. Using tape, adhere them onto the bookmark mat. I did a centered one and an off centered one.

10. Now flip your bookmark mats over and put tape on them. You can see the scrap piece I used on the left! Adhere them to your bookmark base.

And you are done!

Now, you can laminate these bookmarks if you wish or add ribbon like shown last weekend. I did laminate these like I do all my bookmarks. It extends their life.

Happy Crafting!

Another Scrappy Saturday - Ribbon and Bookmarks - Photo Heavy

Okay! You may have noticed that I have been making a lot of bookmarks in the last few months. *shifty eyes* I do not have a problem. I promise. LOL! But, I do have a lot of nieces, nephews, sisters, cousins, and such who love to read and who I needed to make gifts for. This week's bookmarks made on Monday were lacking the ribbon part. So I wanted to use some scrap ribbon to add some.

On one trip to my local Dollar Tree, I found some beautiful gossamer pink ribbon. It sparkles! It was the closest color I could find in my stash that relatively matched the color scheme of the tie-dyed bookmarks. So I decided to give it a try. Here's a quick tutorial on adding ribbon to your bookmarks.

*Note* This post contains a sneak peak into next week's Scrappy Saturday project!

Materials
Finished bookmark
Hole punch (standard size)
Ribbon


1. Punch a hole near the top of the bookmark. In the photo below, you can see that I punched one slightly higher than the other. I found that it looked better in the end product, but both still look really good.

2. Take ribbon and fold it in half. With the ends, fold them in half and half again. It should be able to fit into the hole.

3. Insert the ribbon into the hole from the back of the bookmark.

4. Pull the ribbon until half of both ends are on each side.

5. Insert the ends of the ribbon through the loop.

6. Now pull tight. Cut the ribbon to a shorter length if you wish.

Here's the finished product. Two bookmarks with gossamer ribbon for my two older nieces.

Now that you have a tutorial on how to add ribbon to your bookmarks, you can effectively add ribbon to any project similar to this.

Wishing you a happy crafting day,

Sarah

Make it Monday - National Book Week - Photo Heavy

This week is National Book Week. I chose to showcase this wonderful event because supporting literature, reading, and literacy is important to me. Reading and literature cultivates society to openness, caring, and compassion. Above that, it can teleport you to another world and provides a view from a different angle. What better way to celebrate books and literature than by creating a bookmark? Besides reading a book of course.

Bookmarks are versatile whether made with yarn, thread, or paper. For this project, I am using paper. I am using a technique that you have seen on this blog and will see in the future - pigment ink daubing. I am sure there is another term for that. I don't mind making up names for things!

Materials
Paper cutter or scissors
Ruler
Pen (if you don't use a paper cutter with a ruler attached)
One main color (backing)
A sheet of white card stock
A small section of ribbon (optional)
A laminator
A laminator sheet
A hole punch
Sponge Daubers
Pigment ink
A stamp if you want that
StazOn Jet Black ink (for stamp)
Acrylic block (for stamp)

Here's a picture of the daubers, stamp, and ink I used:

1. What you do first is cut two your base layer at 6 1/4 x 2 1/4. I used a light purple. This is not pictured; however, you can see the cut pieces further below. 

2. Next, cut two white pieces of card stock at 6 x 2. Adhere with temporary tape to a piece of white paper. You can alternatively just hold the piece of paper. This is what I do. 

3. Using the pigment ink and the sponge daubers, pick a color and begin moving in a circular motion in the spot you want. I usually choose the corners. My first color is purple. Pictured below.

4. Pick another color and do the same, but blend the color into the previous one. My second color is pink.

Here's a picture of picking up ink using the dauber.

5. Pick a third color (if you wish) and do the same as step 4. I chose blue and green to mix giving it a pale teal look.

And the 2nd layer is finished.

6. Cut two pieces of white card stock at 3 x 1 3/4. (Or, measure one to fit the stamp you use.) This measurement is for the flower stamp. If you are interested, I found this stamp at JoAnn's online and had it shipped to my house

7. With StazOn Jet Black ink, stamp the image onto both pieces of cardstock.

 8. Now, adhere the stamped images onto the 2nd layer by using tape. This is a Scotch Tape glider. I chose to place mine in the middle and at the top.

9. Attach tape to the back of the 2nd layer and attach them to the base color.  (Here's the purple base layers.)

10. When you have finished, send them through a laminator following the instructions provided by the machine. If you want to add ribbon, punch a hole into the top of the card after laminating and add ribbon. I chose not to do so at this time, but may add some ribbon when I find the right one.

From Dande Creations, I wish you a happy National Book week and urge you to get lost in a book after you finish crafting some bookmarks!

Another Scrappy Project - Bookmarks 3

I feel this may become a theme in 2015 - Another Scrappy Project. It seems like an amazing concept that takes scraps and turns them into new items. So......

Oh yes, bookmarks. Number 3. LOL!

What I found interesting about this bunch is that I used the same background color. I took one piece of cream colored 8.5 by 11 paper and cut it in half long ways. That meant the paper was 4 1/4 by 11. I then cut each length into 2 inch pieces of paper. That made 10 bookmark size pieces.

The scrap paper I cut into 4 x 1 3/4 to fit. That gave a small clearance of 1/4 on all sides in most cases. Some I cut down to stamp. Here's the photos:

The green chevron paper did NOT want to be photographed. 

As you can see, the Thinking of You stamp has scrap paper a little shorter to allow for stamping directly on the base paper.

What would you like to see done with scraps? I am planning on doing a section with crochet and other such crafts. This new theme and concept will not be just paper crafts!

Sarah

Another Scrappy Project - Bookmarks 2

Apparently this is a new and exciting thing for me. Using up scraps has become a way for me to expand my mind into creating new unions. And, it is an AWESOME way to reduce unused materials. Here's the next batch of bookmarks. These are all varying in size and shape to utilize the most of the scrap paper.

These are the pretty papers I found in my scrap box. I was almost tempted to search through my pattern books for more just so I could make cards to match. I resisted the temptation since I wanted to just use scraps!

Here's the first batch of true Christmas bookmarks. I am sure these will make their way into some gift bags for my nieces and nephew this Christmas. 

What I love about making bookmarks and using scraps is that you can allow your mind to wander. It is a completely easy craft to do. I spent so little time actually piecing these together. I believe the longest part was making sure there was no tiny paper fibers on the outside because my paper cutter is weird. That means someone with a great paper cutter can whip these out quickly. If you don't have a paper cutter, feel free to do this with a ruler and scissors. It is completely do-able. 

Sending positive crafting vibes,

Sarah

Saturday's Christmas Craft - What Do You Do With Scraps?

When I think about my year as a crafter, I realize that I have untold amount of scraps all over the craft room (and perhaps the house). That includes yarn, ribbon, paper, and sequins. Everything I have used has some sort of scraps. Without being wasteful, I squirrel them away in hopes I can use them in a future project. And sometimes, that "future" doesn't come. So as I was thinking about what I had and what type of things I can make with them, my mind fell on the paper scraps that keep piling up.

Now, I am sure those who exclusively do cards have a larger pile of scraps than I do, but what I have is enough for many of today's craft. Several of them! I realize that I am just getting started. Would you like to see what you can do with your scraps in time for Christmas and able to make many at once?

Yep! Bookmarks! All shapes. All sizes. And in varying patterns. Take a look.

I spent about a hour (including the time it took to search) completing 13 bookmarks with scraps. I only used one new sheet of paper to match the deep purple pattern paper as I didn't have any scraps. This time also included finding my laminating paper and laminator to make these bookmarks last.

Who would have thought? It is one of the most stressful times of the year for crafters and here I found a great way to destash and enjoy a few quick projects.

I do not have any specifications for these bookmarks. It literally depended on the size and shape of the scrap paper. Allow your imagination to soar. If you want to add something else to this, use a hole punch at the top and add some ribbon.

What are you working on this Saturday?

Sarah