Monday 30 January 2017

2017 #1 Bookmarks {by Darcy Wilkinson}

TOPIC 2017 #1: Pink and Orange


Hi everyone, Darcy here with a super quick project employing the combined colours of pink and orange. Neither of these are colours that I would use on their own but together I think they are quite magical in their ability to transform a project, especially if they have lime green added to the mix. Some of you may know that I have gone back to university, and my current assignment requires me to read and illustrate parts of a book. Well for that I would need a new bookmark of course!


As you can see the substrate is simple white satin ribbon, upon which i built up my stamping using pink and orange archival inks. 

EDY18


Not content with one I decided to make three. 

EDY09
EDY10

These are not just simple ribbons to lay between two pages, these will wrap around the page and fasten, so they needed 'bits' on either end. One end has coloured felt and elastic. 


and the other end has a button. 


They looked a little plain still, so I wanted to add something else, not just for added interest but also for dimension.. and strokability, you know where you just can't help but touch!


These flowers are stamped onto sheer fabric, stitched together and then gently heated at the edges, as the fabric is synthetic it curls with the heat and shrinks and shrivels, giving great texture. They were stitched onto the ribbons just above the first lot of buttons. 


All that was left to do was try them out on my books. As you can see the ribbon lies flat inside the book. 


But then wraps around to the front and fastens, the elastic means that these will fit a variety of book sizes. 


Although I used my sewing machine to 'hem' the ends of the ribbons (to avoid fraying) and to add the felt, you could very easily do this by hand as it really is just a few stitches. The buttons of course ares stitched on by hand too. I found that the ink on the ribbon wanted to spread a little, making my first attempts blurry. I remedied this by stamping 3-4 images and then drying quickly with a heat gun before stamping the next 3-4.This meant they weren't starting to spread by the time I got to the end. 
I hope you enjoyed that and have a go, it really is a simple and quick project. 
Darcy 

Blog: Art and Sole
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15 comments:

Helen said...

ooh, Darcy, these look fabulous - what a clever idea to use the elastic for your 'one size fits all' bookmark. LOVE the flowers!!

Kirsten said...

These are such a great idea & they look lovely.

Claire said...

Love these Darcy, they look great on the front of your books! Claire x

Miriam said...

These are wonderful Darcy - such a great idea... look great too. Practical and pretty!

CastleKelly Crafts said...

Fab Idea Darcy, and they look easy to make x

Artmadnana said...

Oh Darcy. These are wonderful. How do you think of your projects. Not only beautiful but useful too. I adore the way they wrap around the pages. I'm going to make one!!

Elena said...

Absolutely beautiful Darcy,really fab take on bookmarks and the flowers are gorgeous

Lucy Edmondson said...

What a brilliant and beautiful idea!

Lucy x

Etsuko said...

Oh! incredible project Darcy!! These are fantastic and so useful, love them!! xx

Sarah B said...

brilliant idea - great to create something useful xx

Hazel Agnew said...

A great idea Darcy, brilliantly executed! Practical too! Xx

Jo said...

OMG! These are gorgeous!!! I'm thinking little christmas prezzies for my friends!!! Thank you for sharing this fabulous project!

craftimamma said...

How pretty these are Darcy and useful too! I love making flowers by shrivelling fabric too!

Hugs
Lesley Xx

Donna K. said...

I really like these bookmarks. I've made some with shipping tags, spray inks and stamps which I then laminate and add ribbons or yarn to through the reinforced hole at the top. These are very clever because they can't fall out if you drop the book. I don't understand if you added the sheer flowers on top of or under the buttons.

Craftyfield said...

What an original idea! Very practical too...