Not having access to all the tools and materials in my craft studio recently has given me a new appreciation for how fortunate I am as a crafter. It’s also forced me to think outside the box to get even more from the tools I do have at my disposal. For today’s project it was the Playful Alphabet Dies that came to the rescue once again. I discovered that one half of the equals sign makes a lovely ribbon slot for my bookmark. Yay!

HAND-PENNED SUITE

My project began with a pretty floral pattern from the Hand-Penned Designer Series Paper (DSP) pack. These summery flowers just make me want to smile and I can’t help going back to the pack over and over again.

First I cut a 2″ x 5-1/2″ piece of Basic White Card. Next I cut the DSP at 1-3/4″ x 5-1/4″. Then using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) I mounted the DSP onto the card and set it aside.

For the “anything is possible” sentiment I turned to the Hand-Penned Petals Stamp Set. After stamping it onto a 5/8″ x 1-3/4″ scrap of Basic White Card using Tuxedo Black ink I then glued it to a 3/4″ x 1-3/4″ piece of Highland Heather Card.

At this point I remembered that I needed to add a hole of some kind at the top of the bookmark base. However without a tag topper punch to hand I had to be creative.

ALPHABET DIES AND MORE

A little while ago I used the Playful Alphabet dies to add a small circular hole at the top of a bookmark base. This is great for twine and thread but not really big enough to accommodate ribbon. So I needed to look a little further. It was then that I noticed the = die in the set. When I checked against the ribbon I’d planned to use I decided that it was perfect.

So I put the layered bookmark base onto the cutting plate of my Mini Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine. Then I carefully placed the = die at the top so that only one of the slots was resting on the card. Finally I added a second cutting plate on top and ran it through the machine. It worked!

Now I was ready to put everything together.

Using liquid glue I first mounted the layered sentiment onto the bookmark base. Then I threaded some Highland Heather 1/2″ Grosgrain Ribbon through the slot. Finally, to secure it in place, I tied a bow around the ribbon using white twine from the Baker’s Twine Essentials Pack. And with that my pretty floral bookmark was complete.

While using one of the tag topper punches would have been easier, finding a new purpose for my dies has allowed me to make projects at a time when my options were very limited. You can see other projects where I needed to be creative with dies in these earlier blog posts:

• Plot twist and thinking outside the box
• Pansy Patch for flowers and sentiments
• Lots of thanks for little things

PRODUCT LIST

BUNDLE BONUS – I bought the Hand-Penned Petals Stamp Set in a bundle with the coordinating Penned Flowers Dies (not used today). This meant I saved 10% ff the cost of buying the same two items separately. I’ve included a link to the bundle in case you want to explore that option.