Magnetic Bookmarks revisited

It's about 18 months since I last made magnetic bookmarks, but a recent meeting with some bloggy friends meant I wanted to think of something hand made to take along with me as it's tradition to exchange 'little somethings'. So I opted for a 'little something' useful:

I used:

- SU 'Smoky Slate' card stock - after stamping and trimming them, the bookmarks ended up at approx. 1.75" x 5" , when they were folded in half from top to bottom
 
- stamps used are from the Clarity 'Letter Box' set for the names, along with the matching masks to cover up the lettering when doing the floral stamping - and Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink

- once the letter boxes had been stamped then covered with the matching masks I used a stamp from KanBan's 'Stamp 06' set and the following dye inks, all made by Memento, 'Rhubarb Stalk', 'Teal Zeal' and 'Cottage Ivy'

 - the word 'friend' was then stamped using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink and a stamp from Winnie & Walter's 'The Big, the Bold and the Happy' stamp set

- tiny little butterfly stickers

- then I laminated them, my laminator is just a cheapo one from Lidl btw

- trimmed the excess lamination from the sides and ends and rounded each corner with XCut corner rounder punch then made sure the folds were as tight as possible by using the Hoogie Borad and firmly re-embossing the fold lines

- then just added the pairs of magnets, I bought mine from Abel Magnets but can't find them on their website any longer :(

Then, with nothing else to do (that is soooo not true), I made matching holders just to make them look more like a little gift although they certainly won't be robust enough to use much :

 Closed

 And open

They're pretty self-explanatory - and I just invented and measured them as I went along :) The bow was punched with the SU 'Bow Builder' punch and I used lovely thin self-adhesive Papermania 'Magnetic Clasps' to hold the little flap closed.

Di
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Ramping up the magnetic book marks

A few of you will know that I love to make magnetic 'flip over the page' bookmarks. For a while now, thoughts of how to make them more long lasting had been whirling round - rather than just plain card I normally use which in time would wear, probably get a bit grubby etc. Meeting up with Annie (Wipso) last week was the catalyst I needed to have a play and blow me down, it worked!

The difference is that I made the bookmarks larger, then laminated them - wahoo, success:

I used:

- plain white card stock - after stamping and colouring the bookmarks ended up at approx. 2" x 6" - laminating does lend itself more to these bigger bookmarks I suspect

- stamps used are poppies from Hero Arts' 'Delicate Blossoms' set and mixed flowers from Kanban's 'Stamp 06' set. Stamped with Stazon black ink pad and coloured with Whispers pens - which don't 'bleed' through the card

- tiny little butterfly stickers

- then I cut the bookmarks to size and laminated them. My laminator is just a cheapo one from Lidl and it worked a treat

- trimmed the excess lamination from the sides and ends and rounded each corner with XCut corner rounder punch. I did cut right up to the edge of the card rather than leave a little margin of clear lamination round the edge. I did a few experiments first and just didn't like the look of the clear edge - that might have given them an even longer life I guess but I reckon these are robust enough to last a good long while

- had used ready scored card which helped immensely when it came to then lining up the laminated bookmarks in the Hougie board and giving them a good creasing down the score line - on both sides so they fold as tightly as possible

- all that was left to do was to add the magnet pairs to the insides of the bookmarks and then clear up the HUGE mess of stamps, pens, sample tries etc.

I reckon these would be great with all sorts of things, pressed flowers would look fabulous for example.

If you haven't guessed, the poppies bookmark was for Annie (Wipso) as she loves poppies and the mixed flowers for Jo (Twiglet)  - I scouted through Jo's blog and thought these colours were very much 'her'.

Di
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WOYWW 206

Super fast WOYWW from me - almost didn't join in but, as it's only a couple of weeks until Week 208 and the ATC swop, it didn't seem right not to play as I do hope to take part:

The usual cup of coffee - almost cold, as usual. The makings of a card, those Radley dog buttons still waiting to be played with - and a whole load of panic here. This is why:

Looks pretty innocent I know - but there's 250 bookmarks lurking in there. All are at least printed, chopped to size and the fold scored, 50 or so with the corners already rounded (punch, punch, punch), pretzel bags trimmed down to size for packing before little 'Flip over the page Magnetic Bookmarks' labels are added to seal the bags.

The reason, it's only just over two weeks until my old school reunion and these will be little table favours on the Saturday evening when we have our riot posh dinner/dance.

And this is what they'll look like once the magnets are added. Harrumph though, still smarting here 'cos the weekend is the same one as the WOYWW crop :(

That's me - need to finish the card and then get back to punching off bookmark corners - only 800 corners left to punch, sigh.

To see what everyone else is up to, with a LOT more sense (as well as much smaller mouths when asked what they can come up with for table favours),  hop over to Julia's and then onto see who else linked in :)

Happy WOYWW! Punch, punch. punch :(

Di
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A Grand Day Out :)

Yesterday, Julia, Jan and I met up with Brenda B (of WOYWW, Rudolph Day and of course the Snippets Playground fame) and her hubby who are over from Michigan at the moment. We also met Brenda's Mum ( one lady who everyone would love to have as a Mum, perhaps we can adopt her for the Playground), mooched around Salisbury and had a lovely day  ............. this is just one piccie of many taken so kindly by Andrew:

Left to right are Julia, Jan, Brenda and moi. My bag says 'Fassion City' sic, not Passion City as 'she who shall remain nameless' thought!

The problem for me was what to 'make and take for Brenda' that was light and non-crushable for the purposes of packing at the end of their holiday. I opted for magnetic 'Flip over the Page' bookmarks - no surprise there really as I love making these:

I used cream card for Brenda's and kept all the bookmarks very simple (not being able to sit and craft for much time in one spell), different stamps and inks. So as not to leave Andrew out, I made four bookmarks for Brenda plus two (using Kraft card) for Andrew. This is a close up of one of Andrews:

 And a sideways view so you can see the magnet and how it works:

Has anyone noticed the super stamp I used on top of the stamped seahorse? I think it's stunning and so realistic but you'll have to wait for the Snippets Playground and my snippets card (sometime soon) to find out more - oooer, I'm so, so bad!

Then I made a couple of envelopes, with Papermania magnetic closing studs:

Andrew's envelope was green and not pink I hasten to add :)

A lovely day with good friends, WHAT more can you ask?

Di
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Pixie's Crafty Snippets Challenge - 17

Not sure about anyone else, but I seem to have a ton of strips of plain card in the snippets folder - so this week I dug a few out and made these magnetic bookmarks:

The second photo shows the inside with the little self-adhesive magnet.

A great way to use up those snippets of card strips, and useful at the same time. I have shown them on here before, but that was long before so many of you hopped in to say 'Hello' :)

I used:

- strips of coloured card, these ones are cut to 18cm - 4.5 cm then scored across at 9cm point for the fold

- all stamps are by Stampin' Up - from the 'Vintage Vogue' and 'Faith In Nature' sets - and I used SU's little ink pads too

- the corners were rounded using a punch, to help to stop the corners from becoming 'tatty' over time

- then the magnets were applied. They come in pairs from Abel Magnets here, look for 'self-adhesive magnetic pairs' part way down the page in the link, and the best way is to remove the sticky backing from one of the pair and place it on inside of the front where you want it on the bookmark. Then make sure it's 'pair' is perfectly lined up on the adhered magnet before removing the backing and carefully fold the back of the bookmark over making sure the edges and the end line up properly before pressing together. The reason I place the magnet on the front first is because if you do press a bit too enthusiastically when adding the second one of the pair you're less likely to end up with a ridge at the edge of the magnet on the front of your bookmark.

The beauty of these little bookmarks is that they flip over your page and don't drop out of your book - and you can also flip them over the back cover of your book whilst you're reading, much less chance of losing them :) You can also use stickers, coloured images - whatever floats your boat really.

I sized them to fit into pretzel bags which you can buy from the internet - just needed to trim the tops of the bags a tad :) Great for charity fund raising!

Right, enough about bookmarks and onto the weekly roll call:

First off the starting blocks, again was Sandra H with this lovely Christmas card. Of course, Mrs A will be lurking in the bushes checking even more than ever just why Sandra hops in so quickly :) The card is so cute Sandra, lovely LOTV teddy image and sentiment - and it's pink :) Then we had another visit with this little beauty - made for last week's Less Is More challenge where the theme was 'doodling'. Gorgeous butterflies and flowers Sandra and the soft colours are gorgeous. And pink, as you know, always hits the spot with me!

Then, Jules arrived for the first of two visits to the playground - first of all here with such a fabulous card. It features a super bluebells image (and a few of us frantically wanted to know the source) and delicious backing papers. I'm almost sure they're Laura Ashley papers, a long while ago I remember wall papering a curved ceiling with the top one of the two designs :( One of those jobs where you wonder why you ever had such a totally stooopid idea :) Absolutely gorgeous card Jules. Then Jules brought this card to show, using alcohol inks on acetate - it was mid-week and what a mid-week beauty! White, black, grey and pinks - made only as our Jules could do, really stunning. I love the host of extra detail to peer at, and the feather is a super finishing touch.

Heidi also came to play three times this week - firstly with the cutest 'strawberry girl' card. Just look at all the pretty finishing touches, I love it Heidi! Then, this was the next card Heidi brought - a Christmas card with such a sweet little angel as the central image. Fab. colouring, I struggle with colouring hair but you've cracked it Heidi for sure! Some lovely scraps of SU card and papers as well - they really do make some wonderful colour combinations. And then we have this fabulous card  - another Christmas card, with an image you will all want! Not only that, it's a twisted easel card - one of my favourite designs. Such a lovely combination of red and lime green, really quite up to the mark Heidi!

Next was Irene, huffing and puffing a bit after ditching her efforts at playing with distress inks and duster brushes (know that feeling only too well Irene). But, this card didn't use the dreaded brushes and inks - it's here and is so lovely. Pretty pinks, embossing, ribbon - and such an adorable image. If you look closely you'll see the clever little touch behind the little girl holding the newly wrapped parcel, a sellotape dispenser :) I'm not surprised you chose such a lovely image Irene - I love clever little twists like that.

Liz also visited twice this week - first of all with this card - all in blues. Such a super idea to stamp the background and then also stamp some flowers with the same stamp to use as embellishments Liz. Lovely ribbon and the darker blue is such a good contrast. Later in the week, Liz hopped back with another card, this time using an old birthday card and ending up with a great result. Fabulous sky blue and the embossed circles echo the rounded lines of the image and the scalloped circle perfectly. Love that huge bunch of flowers Liz :)

We also had two visits from Sam, the first was waving a birthday card for her hubby - and what a happy smiley card too, chooks! To see it go here - isn't it just great? Just love those cheeky chickens, and am sure one is eyeing up the delicious looking flower :) Now, this next link isn't snippets 'per se' but if you haven't already seen it then it truly is a fabulous birthday gift for Sam's husband, well worth a look and so cleverly done. Sam's next snippets make fair took my breath away, some little scamp had thrown down the gauntlet for a non-inky card from Sam and this is the result. Wow, just shows what you can do with a load of little snippets - isn't it perfect? Ah, and I did spot a little line at the end of the blog posting referring to a 'go-karting shed'..........just one word about that bright idea, NO!!! I have my work cut out without having to dodge little maniacs in go-karts whizzing round the playground :(

Carol was next with this really elegant, mostly white on white, card. Lots of embossing, die cutting and layering - plus pearls, seam binding,ribbon rose and dainty butterflies - all in white. And the central image is so perfect for such an elegant card - an upturned, flower-filled parasol - just the right balance of colour. Absolutely gorgeous Carol - every time I see white on white cards in the playground I'm really tempted to have a go, especially seeing all the lovely results you girls bring to show.

Next was Karen T - with a card to really make you smile and the sentiment 'Have an Udderley Brilliant Birthday' is absolutely perfect for the cute image. Karen never wastes a single snippet, like a lot of us I suspect, and the papers are brilliant for the image. Karen was unsure whether she should add some embellishments - the consensus of opinion from those of us who hopped over to see is 'No, it's just right as it is'. Can be used for a male or female - and of course, Mrs A wisely pointed out that cows do need their space :) Great fun card Karen!

Laura was next with this super congratulations card for her Dad's promotion news - really cleverly done sentiment Laura, I bet that took some doing, love the blue paper and all those stars too! It's been a great week for Laura - she also got a job lined up for when she finishes her training to be a children's nurse in September - go girl!! And, there are also some lovely free sentiments to download from Laura here - so all round, loads happening at Chez Laura. Well done from all of us.

And another card this week which you really must go and see is one that Linby made - here. Amazing use of snippets, ending up with such a pretty 'patchwork quilt' card- complete with embossing and faux stitching. The embossing really makes the already lovely patchwork look so realistic and the colour combinations are perfect Linby. The little flower and butterfly on the sentiment are great finishing touches - I love it.

Sarn was our next playmate - with such a lovely pre-coloured LOTV image, these are sooo useful, almost as good as Stickeroos :) You can take a peek here - just love the way he's dozing and the BPs are perfect Sarn. Oh, and don't forget girlies that it's also the 25th this week - which means it's Rudolph Day over at Sarn's. That's the day (or week) we all try to make at least one Christmas card to keep a bit ahead of the game, plus there's a set of stamps to be won!

Next was Mary H with a really lovely Sympathy card, always so difficult to make and this one is beautiful Mary. To see it do hop over here, lots of pretty die cutting and the use of teal and white is gorgeous Mary. Mary also asked if anyone has any tips for attaching the embossed velum she used - something we all struggle with I think - she cleverly used some pretty lace to hide the glue/adhesive. The only thing I can suggest is to use a double sided adhesive sheet. Apply it to the back of the vellum before embossing/cutting and then peel the backing sheet off for a nice all over adhesion. Of course, that's no good if you want the vellum to just be stuck down one side so any ideas would be good please. I do as Mary did and hide the glue/adhesive with ribbon or lace :)

After a little prompt, Ali joined in for the first time this week - with this really gorgeous card. Tons of snippets used here, stamping, paper weaving, layering, all in lovely shades of green. It must have taken ages to make Ali and you should be rightly proud of the result of all your hard work. Err, I see that Mrs A said 'Come and rest beside me on the swings' - be warned Ali, something could be brewing there. Just let me know if she comes up with any mad schemes - the latest is offering to mend knicker elastic, but more of that later :)

We had two visits from Elizabeth too this week - firstly with a really super card - very Parisian indeed. The colours truly do reflect Paris in the Spring, fresh greens and pretty blues, using such a lovely Penny Black Stickeroo perfectly. I love the brilliant match of the backing papers, oh, and Elizabeth also decorated the inside of her card as she usually does. Bangs head on desk here - another thing I really should try doing :( Then, next time Elizabeth brought a card using one of her own photos - tweaked to look as if it's a canvas print. It's a gorgeous red lily - do go here to see - the backing papers and velvet ribbon are absolutely perfect for the image aren't they? And another squeak of despair here - I'd forgotten that Elizabeth also decorated the back of her cards!   

Karen was next, with this really elegant card, which entailed a lot of hard work. Do read how Karen made the card, a lot of gold embossing went on - and the deep rich red flowers on vellum and the gold leaves are fabulous Karen!  I love the deckle edging, something I don't often think about doing, and the end result is beautiful. Lots of lovely layers building up to the flowers which do really 'pop' as they say. Love the photo of your daughter and adorable grand son as well :)

Sally then brought three cards all in one posting - and all so different too. Firstly a fun caravanning card (happy memories here) - just right for those intrepid travellers and a great working in of the other loves in the recipient's life, a dog and music :) Really clever. Then Sally used one of my favourite Penny Black stamps (the duck chums) along with lovely backing papers and some gorgeous little flowers made from parchment - followed by such an elegant card using pink, black, white and soft green. As I said, all different and all brilliant Sally! Did all those pear drops get eaten?

Our next playmate was Mary Mac, with a Sympathy card. Sadly a few of us have been making those recently :( Just beautiful colours here Mary, and the image is lovely. Brave use of Distress Inks with a great result. The combination of black, purple and orange gives a real 'sunset' feel to the card and I hope it brought comfort to your friend.

Rach was next with this terrific 'daisy, daisy' card - really fresh and Spring-like. Brilliant lettering and those daisies are just beautiful Rach - one of those cards that really stands out from the crowd. Then, we had another little visit - this time with another daisy card, but very different to the first one. Just shows how varying papers and the number of layers can make for such a change - the little banners pennants are so clever too, great idea to use the same papers Rach!

Mags B swung in next, for a play in the puddles - and we had plenty of those this week! This is Mags' card here -it's just fabulous Mags! Super image (a bit like Saturated Canary ones) and I love all the extras, including the snippets of course :) Isn't it strange how 'Saturated Canary' and similar images have really taken off lately - this little sweetie is by Sugar Nellie and has loads of beautiful detail for you to peek at.

Next was Lynne, with two really pretty cards to share. Both featuring lots of careful scoring using a scoreboard to create a 'diamonds' background and then the sweetest little daisies added to where the lines cross. I did laugh at Lynne's comment in her posting 'This time I`m taking a bat and ball and some Dolly Mixtures to share. Maybe that`ll lure Mrs A from the bushes where she was seen lurking last week.' To which a little response came from Mrs A that she'd been prickled by the bushes and had also ripped her skirt - no surprises there huh?!

Then the little scamp herself arrived, Mrs A, waving a needle book - as well as offering to mend any snapped knicker elastic. To see that beautiful little piece of needlework (not the knicker elastic!) go here - isn't it beautiful? It's Sunbonnet Sue, the same image as last week, but this time she's been appliqued by hand onto the cover of the needle book and is carefully picking flowers. Plus there's a little pincushion made from a bottle top to match :) So sweet, do go and see :)

Tammy then brought a really bright and cheerful card for a one year old's birthday. Absolutely perfect colours to fascinate a little one and I bet it goes down really well. If you look closely at the card, there's a lot of detailed cutting and layering - all of which goes to make a super-fun card and a perfect combination of colours and patterns. And then, yesterday, Tammy hopped back with some great news about joining a DT - well done! And, also brought a snippets card to show - here . To find out more, hop over to Tammy's - the card is gorgeous, doily, stamping, seam binding, buttons - all the things we know Tammy uses so well.

Then, Bernie arrived with a Z swing fold card - and what a beautiful result too. To appreciate it you really must go and look but in brief it's a real taste of Spring, lovely flowers and butterflies, embossing, die cutting and such fresh and pretty colours. It's been made with a lot of love for Ludy, Bernie's daughter-in-law and the ever-thoughtful Bernie has added a Filipino greeting as Ludy is originally from the Philippines. I just bet she'll be totally delighted Bernie!

Kate was next, with this fabulous tag. It's Kate's first visit to the playground - and she certainly stormed in with such a gorgeous make. The image is  just gorgeous, and the colours on the tag are perfect. Kate added a butterfly, script then vintage lace and burlap to add texture. Plus she used a fabulous pine cone die and lots of other goodies to come up with a 'top of the class' make :) Hope we see you again Kate!

And, Hazel must have had a hectic week as she was 'missing in action' until yesterday - which is the day of the week her Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge begins. This week it's to use 'lots of layers' layers, three or more, and I love the cheerful card Hazel made - all those snippets used with vibrant splashes of red are gorgeous, and I love the poinsettias Hazel! Great card :) I'll be joining in for sure :)

I'm off to bed as it's past midnight now and just in case I turn into a pumpkin..................

Mr Linky is below as usual. Hope you have a great week, and that the sun comes out to play a bit - it's been pretty wet again in the playground! We seem to have had loads of hailstones here :(

Di
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The only conditions to playing nicely in the Snippet Playground are that your card (or anything else you wish to bring here to show) must be made by using up snippets (card, paper, lace and ribbon are all fine), and a link back to here in your own blog posting will mean that you'll be included in the Weekly Roll Call. Oh, and no nipping or hair pulling of course :)  

Magnetic cupcake bookmarks

I found this photo a while back when I was using Piriform Recuva to retrieve some lost files.

I had great fun making them for a friend to sell. They're self-explanatory really - plain white card folded in two with magnet pairs attached on the inside so they flip over the page of your book. The images were stamped and the colouring was done using a mix of Whispers pens (before my days of Aquamarkers) plus some sparkle added using Stickles.

I think the sparkle was appropriate as Becky, who sold them, had a cute shop called Purple Sparkle Crafts. She sold some gorgeous things and her hand made scented candles were amazing, many in the shape of cupcakes. Hence the cupcake bookmarks :) At the moment she's having a little break to concentrate on other things but I hope she opens her online shop for orders again soon! My stocks of her yummy wax melts are running low :(

You might be interested though to see what she's up to right now here - especially if you live in the Bath area.

Di
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Gorjuss girls bookmarks

A couple of weeks ago I met up with some old school friends way up in Liverpool - sadly for one of our ex-teacher's funeral. The Late Betty was certainly the life and soul of our school reunions and we'll miss her loads.

Moira, one of my oldest (sorry Moira - that week between our ages makes all the difference!) friends, and I stayed overnight with me in the Adelphi Hotel (that hotel is a bit like stepping back in time!). We got chatting about this blog and she was saying how much she likes the Gorjuss girls. She lives in Kilmarnock and they have a shop up there which sells Gorjuss girls stuff - much more than card making stuff too! They do have a website, but up to now it hasn't been updated to show the goodies - ranging from shopping bags to emery boards. How do I know about the emery boards? - lookee here:

These are just TOO cute to use aren't they :) Moira whizzed out to treat me to some when she got home!

Anyhow, knowing her new found love of all things Gorjuss, set me thinking. She's a real bookworm - has been since we met on our first incarceration term at boarding school. The world could be tumbling down but give her a good book and she's a happy bunny! Lying in bed the other night, instead of chasing/counting sheep, I came up with this idea.

I already had some Gorjuss girls tags - die cut decoupage ones...and the wee girlie perched on the pile of books is just so appropriate! I layered them onto folded card stock cut to size and added some magnetic paired pieces.  It isn't my first venture into magnetic bookmarks, I've made a few for charity in my time, first came across the idea in New York and they are much less likely to be lost. You just flip the bookmark over your page (and store it flipped over the book cover when you've got your nose stuck into whatever you're reading - I haven't tried it on hardback covers I must confess but in theory it's 'simples'!!).

Here they are open, sorry about the rubbish photo!!

Then all that was left was to flip the three over a piece of card stock and embellish a little bit - like so:

Into a cello bag and popped into the post to Kilmarnock. And, the lovely thing is that Moira loved them - that made my day!

Di
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