Bow-tiful Bounty

When we got peeks of the latest collection from The Greetery - the first item that jumped out at me was the Bow Bookmark Die.   Bows are massively on trend right now and my other biggest hobby after crafting is reading and I always make bookmarks for my Book Club.  I thought this one would also be great to make a whole lotta bookmarks to support my local independent library so this weekend I set out to make a rainbow of them!

If you want to get the most out a single sheet - trim it lengthways to just a bit wider than the die (about 7.5cm) and then you can cut two full sets of pieces from each strip.

They are very easy to assemble - just add glue to the central part only (the bit that is the same shape as the smallest part of the die) and line them up by that shape (pointiest bit goes bottom left)   Just gluing that bit means the bow always sticks up out of your book.

The sentiments I've used on them are not ones we sell - apologies - but they are just perfect for my bulk use for the library.  They are called Bedtime Story by Clearly Besotted but I think they have been discontinued as I couldn't find them just now to link to for you.  We do have some book themed sets that would work instead - Bookmark Sayings by Waffle Flower would fit perfectly as would their Merry Bookmas set if you wanted to get ahead for Christmas.   Some of their sentiments in Story Sentiments would fit, some of the 3 line ones would need partial stamping techniques or stamp surgery but both are do-able - the same would be true for Storybook Sayings by Mama Elephant.   Concord and 9th True Story would be a great fit and a couple of the great book themed sentiments in Tall Tales by Altenew would fit too - the others might be a bit too tricky to be selective with.   Slow Down and Enjoy by Lawn Fawn has some great bookmark themed sentiments too and I will likely make a few more using these sentiments too.

Whilst the dies are designed for making bookmarks - they do just make brilliant bows too!  I thought they were a great size to feature as a triple focal point on a card. 

I started this one with the brilliant new Rounded Rectangle Masks Stencils from Altenew - I just LOVE this stencil set.  I love a rounded border but don't always want to add layers of cardstock so the ability to ink up different "layers" really appealed.   On this card I used the second largest stencil with a little repositional adhesive spray to hold it in place.  I inked the interior with Tattered Rose Oxide ink using my Waffle Flower blending brushes, and then used Saltwater Taffy for the outside but deliberately letting it spill slightly into the middle so you get a lovely soft ombre effect with a bright white frame - just love the flexibility this gives for subtle backgrounds!

Then for the focal bows I just cut the top layers 3 times each and then cut just the bottom of the bookmark for about 3 cm to get little tails to cross and glue behind the bows to give me the perfect sized bows for the card.   The sentiments come from the stamp in the Perfectly Tied Kit from Concord and 9th which is bang on the bow trend and are stamped with Altenew's Berrylicious ink which is my favourite shade of dark pink which is great for sentiments instead of black! 

That's all for today.   Happy Crafting! 

Tara