Bookmarks, Bookmarks, Lots O' Bookmarks

I decided to get some bookmarks worked up to take with me to used curriculum sales when I sell my stuff this year. There's one coming up in March, and another one will be in May or June. I thought it would be a kick to see if I could actually sell something! I don't know yet how much to charge.

Here are the first four. I decided to use some colors that were left over from my original Lumiere sampler pack:

I think I have a little more copper in the bottle. I think I might try rubbing it on one of the green hem lace backgrounds when these dry (one of the green pieces had copper underneath, and you can still see it a little, which gave me that idea). These have already been trimmed.  Also, on the hem lace pieces, I pressed them under a book while they were drying to keep them flat.

Here's three more. I really like the composition of first one (on the left), but the color is hideous. I just DO NOT like the yellow gold that came with the original set. I hate mustard the food, and mustard the color. And it looks even worse in the picture than in person! I tried to use this color up on the big lace that sucks up paint. I plan to thoroughly paint over it.  After I do that, I think this bookmark will shape up nicely. It is a similar composition to my first framed piece.

The next two bookmarks I'm not sure about yet, with the little bits of lace. I'll have to see what different paint layers do to make them more interesting. The color on this shot is a little strange--the bookmark on the right is actually silver, not blue. Again, I was using up paint for these foundational layers.

Here are some variations in scrim. The scrim is stuck, the bookmarks have been trimmed, and they now have a foundation color. I tried some different patterns of scrim. It will be interesting to see how well these are highlighted by layers of paint. They don't look very spiffy now, but I think they will turn out well.

The last four bookmarks are a step behind. I hesitate to post these, because they look pretty awful before they are trimmed, but then I decided to try to "keep it real." I had some more of the big lace, so I made another bookmark with it. Note to self: Halo Gold Violet is a very pretty color, but don't use it for a foundation color when you're gluing on lace. The gold tends to build up on the brush and makes a mess. Save it for highlights.

As for the burgundy one, I think I'm really going to like this one. Can you spot the double round center in one spot of the lace? This is where the lace edges met each other on the original pillowcase--they were glued together solidly. I kind of like it in there. It reminds me of the Oriental custom of deliberately placing one flaw in a work. I might keep this bookmark for myself! Also, it's the last of this kind of lace, which makes me sad. I'll have to start looking in thrift shops for more, and I don't know if I'll find more or not.


Here are the last two in progress. Whew! That's a lot of bookmarks! The purple one on the left has three different scraps of lace left over from other projects. Actually, I lied above. In the middle of the purple piece--THAT'S the last of the lace I like that I don't know if I will find again. I'll have to see how this one piece turns out--I'm not sure about it.

The blue piece on the left photographed strangely. The lace is the same color as the background, but here it appears lighter. I don't know why.

I also got brave and cut up three other old, experimental pieces for bookmarks, including the waterlogged disaster. I might spruce some of them up with new layers of paint here and there. This gave me about ten more bookmarks. As I cut up the old pieces, I realized that I've learned a bit since then about how to actually do this, which was encouraging.

All in all, I was pleased with the progress I made today. I know it has looked like I've been doing "nothing" on the blog, but I was indeed cutting out and preparing the bookmarks. I'm STILL waiting for my Joggles order--it's been 10 days since it was mailed. I emailed her this week and she said that sometimes it has taken three weeks. Boohoo. But I figured out how to lay my other two pieces out of the way, so I'm going to console myself with bookmarks until my MistyFuse gets here. I am enjoying doing them after doing several larger projects--I think I find them less intimidating.