Summer At Last!! And More New Creations!

Did I mention, summer has *FINALLY* arrived in the northwest?! I was beginning to think it never would! Get this: I actually SWEATED today! Yes, I am easily amazed! It is so nice not to have to wear jackets and/or water-repellant clothing! My herbs are blossoming, and I took these pictures of them today:

Lavendar



Sage


Cilantro, which bolted before I could even use any :(


But enough of that. I have some new stuff that I worked on this weekend that I am totally excited about! I think I am nearly ready to start offering personalized and custom photo bookmarks in my Etsy shop, now that I have had some more practice. First, I have to share this:


This is some handmade paper that I acquired today. I have used handmade paper before- you saw it in my last post, in the blue photo bookmark. I got that paper at Michael's several months ago- I saw it there and was so taken with the vibrant color that I had to buy it! Of course, that was the last time I've seen it there. I remembered seeing some at another local store here called Paper Zone, so decided to go take a closer look today. I wasn't sure what it cost there, but was pleasantly surprised- the most I paid was $2.99 for one of these large sheets (about 25"x36"). I got several colors this time, and am sure I will be back for more later! I haven't been this excited since I got my new laminator! I think that handmade papers bring so much to a bookmark...they are unique and interesting and have so much dimension to them. They do present their challenges, though. Some of the ones I got are nearly as thin as tissue, and my paper trimmer doesn't cut through them very well. The ones that are very fibrous look so lovely with the distressed edges, but it's hard to create that- it takes a lot of manual work to achieve that effect. I really think it is worth it though. These papers make each bookmark truly a one of a kind!

So, let me show you what I did today. Most of these I used the handmade paper, and I also took this opportunity to do some final experiments with photo and personalized bookmarks before I go live with the concept on my Etsy shop. Here we go:


I made this one for my husband's neice, who has a birthday coming up. This is my first shot at putting a whole name on a bookmark. These letters were a bit bigger than I would have liked- I would have preferred to have the name spelled vertically down the bookmark, but there wasn't room in this case. I hope she likes it! This one uses a deep purple handmade paper and dark pink larkspur.


This is my try at making a masculine bookmark, incorporating the handmade paper and personalizing it with initials. This is for the eldest son of some very dear friends of ours, who turns 15 in July.

This one was interesting to put together- this is my first attempt at a double-sided photo bookmark. This was made with pictures that my BFF Kendra sent me of her kids and her husband's neice and nephew. Her family is going to Iowa in a few weeks to visit her in-laws, so I made this for her to give to her mother-in-law.
Side 1


Side 2


Using the same pictures, I made a bookmark for Kendra with just her kids:


I love how that one turned out! The contrast of the color of the flowers (those are blue butterfly delphinium) against the teal handmade paper is just gorgeous! This one is my favorite of the day.

And a couple more that I did for fun:


Loved this designer paper when I saw it in Michael's! It reminded me of French toille, and I thought it would be fun to work with. I love the contrast of the strong black and white design with the soft, shimmery pale pink.


Hard to see in the pics, but these dragonflies are all punched from iridescent papers. To make them more interesting, I cut the wings off and switched them up with different colored bodies. You can see that I used a soft mossy green handmade paper with this one. I have always loved green and purple together, so this one was fun to put together!

Hope that wasn't too many pictures to digest! I hope to do some more work this week, since the rest of my family is out of town and I will have uninterrupted time to work. I really want to get something up on my Etsy shop soon. I think I will start with the personalized bookmarks, as those are relatively simple. The photo ones are a bit more complex, and I need to work on writing out my policies and procedures for those.

Until next time, happy summer!