You know it’s funny the things that come to mind as I’m considering new projects to make for my blog. Take the other night… I was thinking about bookmarks and the kinds of books people read. I’m a fan of medical thrillers especially by Patricia Cornwell and Kathy Reichs, but I do like other genres too. And then it occurred to me, what about having a different bookmark tailored to each genre! So to kick off that idea I designed this pretty bookmark that’s perfect for all those romance novels.
ROMANCE AND FLOWERS
I began by looking for a suitable background pattern in the Hand-Penned 12″ x 12″ Designer Series Paper (DSP) pack. As well as the bright and colourful florals there are some more subtle patterns and I chose one in Blushing Bride with white accents. This strip was already 2″ wide so I just trimmed it down to 5-3/8″ long.
Although I liked the background, I already had more flowers in my design plans and found exactly what I needed on the back of a small scrap with a yellow wavy background. Using Paper Snips I fussy cut two small clusters of flowers and set them aside.
Before going any further I needed the letters from the Playful Alphabet Dies to spell out the word “romance”. So using the Mini Cut & Emboss Machine I cut these from small scraps of Poppy Parade Card.
While working out the spacing of the letters I decided it wouldn’t be romance without a heart, but it needed to be small. So I took out the Give It A Whirl Dies and found a heart that was almost the same height as the letters. To add more interest I cut the heart from a scrap of Basic White Card then coloured it using Poppy Parade ink and a Blending Brush.
It was then that I noticed the die with two tiny arrows. This fitted perfectly on what what left of the Basic White Card scrap so I die cut them too. Using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) I fixed the small arrow on the front of my heart, and the longer arrow on the back.
At last I was ready to put all the little pieces together.
FINAL CHAPTER
My main aim was to fit the word “romance” onto the background layer while keeping the letters straight. To do this I cut a 5/8″ strip of scrap card and lined it up along one of the long edges of the DSP. Then I could add the letters and heart one by one, using the scrap card as guide.
I started with the R 1/4″ from the left end, then instead of the O I glued the heart, followed by the remaining letters. Next came the two floral pieces slightly overlapping the top of the R and the bottom of the E. Once they were in place I flipped the layer over and trimmed off the excess flowers using the edge of the DSP as a guide.
For the base of the bookmark I cut a 2-1/8″ x 5-1/2″ strip of Poppy Parade Card. Next, using liquid glue I mounted my assembled DSP layer on top. Then I grabbed the Detailed Trio Punch to add an oval hole at the end.
Finally 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, then I passed the cut ends through the loops and pulled gently to secure the twine in place. With that my bookmark was complete.
I really love how this project turned out and now I have ideas for other novel genres. I wonder which one I should do next…
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