Hi and welcome to my last crash the stash post!! I’m excited to share how I created a set of fun artsy bookmarks.

I’ll be using an A4 piece of cardstock that had leftover paint from a paint pouring project but it wasn’t a very nice background so I collaged over it with a combination of deco paper, book paper and coloured tissue papers. When that was dry using some ink sprays I sprayed through Shawn’s “words, words, words” stencil then I brayered over the page with white acrylic paint to lighten the background.

Now for some colour, I started by applying pink paint in a couple of areas, then I attempted to remove some of the paint through the spaces of Shawn’s “words, words, words” stencils. Afterwards, I stenciled white paint through the same stencil with a makeup sponge to lighten the background, I repeated this step with blue paint. Then I sprayed through the same stencil with black and added some splashes.

Once that step was dry I pulled out a bunch of stencils and paints and began layering up the stenciled images until I was happy with all the colours, then I added a few white stenciled patterns, creamy patterns then gold and silver patterns.

To create the bookmarks I cut the cardstock down to about 5cm wide, rounded the corners with a corner punch and defined the edges with a stazon ink pad. I wanted to add words to the bookmarks, so I stenciled the words “treasure”, “journey” and “joy” onto a piece of paper. I cut them out and rounded the corners but only “joy” fit nicely on the bookmarks so I wrote the phrase “treasure the journey” and stuck them on with PVA glue.

For the final details, I added a touch of gold and outlined with a sharpie around the phrases and doodles around the stenciled patterns adding highlights here and there with a white gel pen. To strengthen them I sandwiched them in between a A4 laminator pouch and laminated them using a laminator machine, then I cut them down to size and rounded the corners using a corner punch.

I really like how these bookmarks turned out, I wasn’t loving the background at first but once I cut it to size I liked it a lot more. You can use this technique to improve any backgrounds you’re not fond of then turn them into anything such as greeting cards, postcards, gift tags, etc the choice is yours. 

I hope you enjoy the video and find inspiration from it.

Shawn Petite Stencils:

Sketched flowers 1, Scribble marks 1, Backgrounds 2, Scribble writing, Numbers 2 and In the garden, Dream catcher, Words, words, words stencil 8×10,

Supplies used:

Cardstock, Laminator & pouch, Scrap deco papers, Book paper, Coloured tissue papers, Clear chalk primer, Makeup sponges, Acrylic paints: Crawford & Black’s white, rose, cerulean blue, Seacryl’s ultramarine, Wilko’s gold & silver, DIY sprays, Small round paint brush, Brayer, PVA glue, Sharpie – fine, Stazon ink pad – black, Koh-I-Noor Hardmuth black calligraphy ink and pen, Uniball Signo White.

Fun fact: I am a self-taught artist. I call my paintings “she” if there’s a girl on it. I love the feel and smell of books, especially old ones. When I decided I wanted to be an artist I had no idea how to draw and where to start, so my mum introduced me to mixed media.  

My favorite quote – “Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive that is you-er than you!” – Dr. Seuss.  

you tube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEwZAaBEhy99qvuGwrNYGtw  

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Be inspired, create and know that you are loved!