Bamboo Beauty With A Japanese Proverb

Bamboo Beauty is one of those stamp sets that I wasn’t originally going to get, but now I keep finding myself drawn to it. I’ve already made two cards but I knew it would be perfect for a bookmark. So I decided to stop fighting my creative instinct and just set to work.

"The bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that breaks" bookmark created using the Bamboo Beauty Stamp Set from Stampin' Up! #papercraftwithme

BAMBOO PROVERB

“The bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that breaks” is one of the five sentiments in this stamp set. Today’s bookmark would be built around those words.

First I cut a 2″ x 5-1/2″ strip of Thick Basic White Card. Next, using the Detailed Trio Punch, I punched an oval hole at one end. Then, still using the Detailed Trio Punch, I rounded the four corners of the strip.

To tone down the stark white background I decided to colour around the edges of the bookmark. So using a Blending Brush I added some Balmy Blue ink.

Now I was ready for the Bamboo Beauty Stamp Set and chose Old Olive ink for my stamping.

From the two bamboo stems I chose the thinner one and placed it onto my acrylic block. Then before actually stamping I placed the block on top of the bookmark so I could adjust the stamp. The sentiment was about bamboo bending so it seemed entirely appropriate to make the bamboo image more curved. This is the beauty of photopolymer stamps, not only are they more flexible than red rubber, they’re see-through too. Once I was happy I’d got the curve how I wanted it I stamped the image onto the bookmark.

Next, at the base of the stem, I added the smaller of the two leafy images. Then with the images done I stamped the proverb sentiment into the space that was left.

To finish I cut three 6″ pieces of white twine from the Baker’s Twine Essentials Pack. After folding them in half I poked the loops through the hole in the bookmark. Then I threaded the ends through the loops and pulled gently to secure them in place. With that my simple bookmark was complete.

So simple but so inspiring, I’m really happy with how this bookmark turned out. It’s a reminder that being a little flexible in thoughts and expectations could ultimately be a better strategy. What do you think?

For more projects using this beautifully simple stamp set see these earlier blog posts: