And one thing I loved about paper books were all the accessories. Especially when I found Levenger. Hold the phone, Mabel! I had a heavy weighted leather thing that was meant to hold pages open for you while you took notes or cooked, similar to this. Probably still kicking around here somewhere. Then there were the little boxes of copper Page Points, now called Page Nibs - be still my heart!
I don't read many paper books anymore. Everyone has the exact same amount of time, so I try hard not to say "I don't have time for that" because it sounds sort of rude - like someone else has bonus hours I don't have. Instead, I just choose to spend those hours I used to spend reading doing two other really important things - watercolor and sleeping. I used to be able to read for hours in bed, but in my old age, I just fall asleep when I stop moving, so I'd just end up with a broken nose if I tried.
Instead, I listen to audiobooks while I craft. Best of both worlds, because it stops the two activities from competing for my attention - they happily co-exist.
But I make exceptions. One is for crafty technique books, which I look to for inspiration for my classes and techniques. The other is books that are special to me for another reason, like the book that two of my neighbors wrote, which is available in paper and Kindle, but not audio. It's a mystery, and while they were writing it she'd zip off to lectures on deadly poisons at UT and other dark topics she needed to research. It was fun to see it all unfold for them.
So they inspired me to sit down and make some bookmarks - I thought I'd give one of them to each of them.
I used this stamp set, with both the matching die and the add-on die, which cuts out the whole stitched bookmark. What you do is cut out the bookmark with the add-on die, and then glue the other image that you stamped and cut out with these dies down, without gluing down their feet so that their feet hug the page you're on, and their heads stick out of the book. You can stamp their little butts on the back! You can actually buy all three as a bundle here.
I did mine on watercolor paper and then painted them with Daniel Smith watercolor. I looped a little bit of twine around the top. (I bought this monster 2300 foot roll of twine in 2012 - SIX YEARS AGO - and I've barely made a dent in it! Such a bargain.) I stamped the little sentiments and the images in Nocturne. I thought about laminating them, but I didn't because I thought it would make them too slippery, so I left them. I like the feel of watercolor paper anyway. Are they the cutest? These would be fun to give your little summer bookworms.
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What are you reading/listening to right now? I'd love to know! Be sure and say what genre it is in the comments. I've added a few new true crime podcasts to my list here. I'll add the crafty books I bought in New Mexico if I end up loving them.
Here's a sale at Reverse Confetti before I go! This is today through Wednesday.
Loveyameanitbye.
I love your blog posts as much as crack corn. Your bookmarks are adorable, and would make a great gift for my mor, or other people who still read paper books. I pin them on my bulletin board and enjoy them as decoration. Congrats to your neighbors!
ReplyDeleteThese couldn't be more adorable, Lydia! Love, love, love.
ReplyDeleteThe Hate U Give by Angie Thomas -- freaking awesome audiobook. Just be sure not to buy the German version. I was really confused for a few minutes....
ReplyDeleteHey Lydia - love, LOVE those cute bookmarks! I'm in an online bookclub, so will have to make some of these for my fellow bibliophiles. Anyway, totally agree about your "time" comment. If you do something other people don't do, it's because you have "more time". As for books, you might like 'The Word Is Murder' by Anthony Horowitz. It turns out to be true crime, but I didn't know that when I started it. His 'Magpie Murders' is how I got started with him (fiction/mystery). Now on his Sherlock Holmes series. Anyway, happy crafting and reading!
ReplyDeleteLove your adorable little bookmarks Lydia. I used to read a lot, mysteries mostly, but now my short term memory loss prevents me from remembering what I've already read.
ReplyDeleteI mostly read eBooks now. My library changed platforms, so now instead of reading on my Kindle, I have to read on my iPad. And now I have a front tooth that has been repaired 3 times. Only the first chip was due to the ipad falling on my face when I fell asleep, though :-D (There's no snaggle tooth emoji, I don't think).
ReplyDeleteThese are so cute. I have the set with the elephant and made 50 bookmarks for my grandkid's classes before summer break. I volunteer at their elementary school reading with them 2 days a week and thought this would be a great way to encourage them to keep reading through the summer. On the reverse side, I wrote simple messages to them.
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