Bookmarks in Watercolors

 

 I am an avid reader. This last year I must have set a new record for myself--14 new books!! I found several new authors I like, while stepping out from cozy mysteries into some fantasies. I just finished 2 books last month by Evie Woods, The Lost Bookshop and The Storyteller. Her newest book, The Mysterious Bakery of Rue de Paris, is waiting for me at the local library.

I've been trying to keep my reading down to one book at a time, but I have to admit to temporarily "losing" a book for a while, and starting a new one until I find it. So, bookmarks are important to me. I love printed books--I spend enough time in front of a screen as it is. And because of this, I have blended two past times into one by water coloring bookmarks!

Above are three of my newest bookmarks. The first is a beach scene with baby turtles crawling out to sea. A trip to Hawaii last year (and the photos I took) inspired e to paint these. The second was again inspired by my Hawaiian trip. I had sketched a scene from a lagoon we snorkeled at while my daughter borrowed my mask. It came in handy while I was thinking about the next water color to paint.

The last is a theme I've painted often, one with greenery, water and a moon. I decided to highlight the sunshine with a white Sakura pen to give it more depth, as it was a very small canvas.  Of course, what's a bookmark without a frivolous amount of ribbon sticking out the top of your book?

There's Fun in the Sun to be Had at Scribbles Designs Challenge Blog

In this age of technology, a person get anything on a computer or digital device. Parents no longer have to buy expensive sets of encyclopedias, students no longer have to go to the library for references and citations. Avid readers can store numerous books on their Kindles and Nooks, etc.
I don't know about you, but I like to hold a PAPER BOOK in my hands. It's easier on the eyes, I don't have to charge it and the words I read seem to have more "weight". 

As a book reader, I often find myself looking for a bookmark, so I thought I'd make a set of bookmarks for my DT make today for Scribbles Designs Challenge Blog. The theme at Scribbles Designs is FUN IN THE SUN. I love to sit in the sunshine with a book in one hand and a tall cool glass of iced tea in the other hand. Preferably looking out over the Caribbean, but living in Chicago makes that an impossibility unless I'm vacationing.

My bookmarks use a digi image from the Scribbles Designs Store called #848 Flip Flops. I digitally colored a few pair of flip flops, lined them up and printed my sentiment over them: "Summer reads are to flip over". After adhering the bookmarks to some handmade paper, I hand-colored another set of flip flops for each bookmark. I used colored pencils and glitter gel pens and placed these in the corners where the bookmarks will stick out of books.

This challenge runs until the 14th of August, so don't forget to link up your card or project for your chance to win a gift certificate to the Scribbles Store.
By the way, what are you reading right now? I just finished an Anne McCaffrey book that I must have missed throughout the years, and have started a China Bayles mystery series by Susan Wittig Albert.

Happy crafting, peeps and don't forget, "Fight evil...Read a book."

Challenges I am Entering:

A Bit More Time to Craft -Anything Goes
Love to Craft - Anything Goes
Fabrika Fantasy - Anything Goes

Paint Chip Inspiration

I have a very messy desk today, so I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't pull anything out of, well, anywhere, without using what's already on my desk. So what did I find first but four large paint chips. I decided to keep them as strips and make the card above. Bim, bam boom. I was done and had leftover strips so I made the bookmarks below.

 I used a punch for the butterfly topper, and I used the tiny butterflies that were punched out to mismatch each bookmark. The stamp is from a Stampin Up set. The projects took less than ten minutes in all!
What can you use with paint chips? If you don't have any, I believe all the sales people are helping other customers in the garden center, so now's your chance to grab a few (handfuls)!
And as always, crafters, have fun!