More Pattern Play

 

Vacation

I'm on "vacation" from my church work this week, and I was inspired to make some bookmarks.  I've been doing a lot of reading lately, and posting on my other blog.  The link is We Are Not Alone in case you want to read my musings.  We are made to be creative in some way!

Gladiolas

 

It's a little early for gladiolas, but come August, I'll be ready! LOL  We're having more fun in Flat Brush Flowers.

Red Hot Poker

 

Bottlebrush

 

 The bottlebrush bush or tree, native to Australia, is a new flower to me.  We're in Fabulous Flat Brush Watercolour 3 now, and still learning new things!

Lettering for Love

 

The Westcoast Calligraphy Society's latest project is making bookmarks for residents and staff at one of the local care homes.

Participating is a chance to say hello, give thanks, and practice skills all at the same time!

Watercolour on Coated Cardstock

 

Following Violet's lead, I have been painting on scraps of cardstock.  During this process, I have found that coated cardstock is a fun surface to paint on.  (I discovered this by accident, when I pulled a scrap of a pearlescent cardstock from my stash.)

Watercolour paper is traditionally sized with gelatin, so that the paint does not sink immediately into the paper, but floats on the surface.  Coated cardstock performs in the same way; uncoated cardstock soaks up the paint immediately.

Artists who create a lot of art and break the rules often speak of "happy accidents".  This was one of those!

The Miracle of a Single Flower

 

Art Sparks 3!:  Pockets full of Posies

She Wore Flowers

 

Some of the pockets contain bookmarks...

Calligraphy Practice becomes Bookmarks

Pointed Pen, Watercolor Ink

I was trying out some calligraphy options for my journal the other day.  I wrote on strips of mixed media paper left over from making journals.

Pointed Pen, Watercolor Ink, Pencil Crayon, Gel Pen

Watercolor ink worked well for the lettering and for the added color in the counter-spaces the best option is gel pen or a very sharp pencil crayon.

Fashionable Reading Accessories

Handcarved Stamp

Barn Door Distress Ink

Your bookmarks match your books, don't they?  I'm reading a great new novel by Ann Patchett, but I wasn't really happy until I made a new bookmark.  

Carnations

Bookmark, watercolor

This was done wet on wet with a fan brush, one of my favorite brushes to have fun with!  After it was dry I added a second layer.

Christmas Bookmarks

I made bookmarks for the Christmas card exchange at the Westcoast Calligraphy Society.  I made fifty, and only have a few left over.

Auditioning Bookmarks

I am making bookmarks for the card exchange that we will have at the Westcoast Calligraphy Society Christmas tea.  This was not the final design I decided upon, but still worth posting here.

Spring Bookmark

I made this at the March meeting of the Westcoast Calligraphy Society.  We have fun and diverse programs including calligraphy, bookmaking, journaling and other papercrafts.  The society is run by a group of talented and dedicated volunteers - you can find out more about them here.

Japanese Double Pamphlet No. 2

The journal that I made a month ago is almost full.  I love the size and the paper, so I made a second Japanese Double Pamphlet, decorated with acrylic ink in warm fall colours.  This one also has a split cover.

With the leftover bits I made a couple of bookmarks too.

Japanese Double Pamphlet

I'm working through my current journal so fast that I've made my next one already.  I decided on a square format this time (7"), with the same Deserres Fabriano mixed media paper.

This is my first Japanese Double Pamphlet, which allows for two signatures.  I got the instructions from Roz Stendahl's free pamphlet binding class.

The Japanese Double Pamphlet can be made with a "split cover", which allowed me to use up some painted paper that wasn't wide enough to go all the way around from front to back.  In the photo below, you can see the covers in the middle of the two signatures.  If you make the cover using a single piece, this part would be a pleat, rather than two pieces.  It is hard to explain and a bit hard to line up all the pieces, which are stitched with a single 5 whole pamphlet stitch. 

I did have two strips left over so I made a couple of bookmarks for The Bookmark Project.

Shorebirds

Stamp by Magenta

Making Bookmarks

Today I had an enjoyable few hours making bookmarks to leave in the books that I return to the library.

This is a handcarved stamp on a gelli print.

Bookmarks Made with a Handcarved Stamp

And then, because there were scraps left over from these few, I made one more: