A simple gift for a special friend!

Happy Spring! Turning my calendar to April – I realize a good friend’s birthday is just a few days away. What to get her, I wonder? Of course, I want to find a gift that is not only unique and personal, but something she really likes. Like me, she’s a bit of a bookworm. Just having read some good books, I think, why not give her a book? Maybe I will also make a bookmark to go with it – one made especially for her with a special wish. A good book recommended by a friend – it’s a perfect and simple gift.

Using Storybook Creator 4.0 and the beautiful new Enchanted Digital Power Palette, I’ve created some bookmarks I think she’ll like. I will print them on heavy paper and laminate them. I’d like to share them with you. However, don’t think they have to be just bookmarks. S-T-R-E-T-C-H them a little bigger and add a ribbon to create a cute door hanger. Stretch them even a little more and they are a perfect border for an album page.
While creating these, I used some simple techniques I’ve discovered for editing embellishments. I truly LOVE the embellishments in the kits, sometimes though I need to change them just a little bit - perhaps the color isn’t quite what I want, or I just want to use a small part of an embellishment, or I’m looking to create something completely unique with its pieces.

For Bookmark #1, I placed the Life Is Fabulous and the Live Simply embellishments on the canvas. To “cut” a portion of an embellishment, simply select the embellishment and use the cutting tool to cut the portion that you would like to delete. In the case of Life Is Fabulous, I use the rounded rectangle shape to cut out the portion shown. I click “cut” with “keep the unshaded section” selected.
For the Live Simply, I want to delete the “LIVE”. To do this, I choose the Wand tool, highlighting each letter while holding the shift key. (Don’t forget to include the little areas of the letters under the scrolls.) I then click “cut” with “Keep the unselected area” selected.

After resizing and positioning the remains of the two embellishments together, the image below shows what I have left. (Note that when resizing objects, you need to hold the shift key while clicking and holding the button on the mouse, so the object correctly maintains its shape.)

For Bookmarks #2 & #3, I used the same Ribbon-Green embellishment. Select and place the Ribbon-Green on the page. With the ribbon selected, cut it in half lengthwise using the “straight” tool. With “Keep both sections” selected, click on “cut”. Both halves are now selected, so you will have to click off the ribbon and then back onto just one of them. Copy and paste this piece twice. Three pieces will become your flower “stems”. Cut one circle off of a stem, using the ellipse shaped cutting tool. This will become your leaf. Copy and paste twice, resizing to make different sized leaves. Please see below.

There should be one last piece. This will become the black link for Bookmark #3. Select it and color it black by choosing “Cut&Fill”, “Color”, and choosing black. Assembling the pieces, you obtain the below elements to use in creating the bookmarks.

Have fun creating!

Smiles,

Debbie

 

A Simple Gift Bookmark Instructions

Ingredients:

• Storybook Creator 4.0 
• Enchanted Power Palette 
• Fonts: Kunstler Script, Castellar, Courier New, Miriam Fixed 

**Begin all bookmarks by cutting a rectangle measuring 2” x 5 ½” from Paper 12 and making this the background.

Bookmark #1 (Live Life simply.)

1. Cut a 1 ½” x 4 ¾” rectangle from Paper 29. Center on black dot paper leaving a ¼” border on each side. 
2. Size a Gem-black embellishment to be about ¼”. Copy 5 times, placing the 6 Gems as shown using the alignment tool. 
3. Place a Flower-XLg Red in the middle of the bookmark sizing it as shown. 
4. Place your modified “Live Simply” embellishment on top of the flower, centering it and sizing as shown (approx. 3 ½ “ long). 
5. Place your modified “Life” so that the bottom of the “f” fits around “simply.” Select and copy “Life”, then change the color (using “Cut&Fill”, Color, grey). Arrange the grey “Life” copy behind the green one, moving it slightly off center from the green one, so that it gives a little “pop” distinguishing it from the background. 
6.  Add two text boxes and add “Live” and “u.” using Courier New font size 20.
7.  The heart is found in the “Insert”, “Shape”, “from Art Kit”, Geometric Heart #2. Select, color black, and size as shown. 

Bookmark #2 (Happy Birthday)

1. Cut a 1 ½” x 4 ¾” rectangle from Paper 31. Center on black dot paper. 
2. Place 3 modified Ribbon-Green pieces on bookmark and resize widths and lengths as shown to create “stems”. Arrange “stems” on top of “leafs. Add heavy shadow to all stems and leaves. 
3. Add flowers as shown, resizing to fit on the ends of your leaves. ( I used Flowers: Lg Black, Lg Cream, XlgRed, and Sm White). Add Glitter Dots-Black and Red, resizing as shown. Add heavy shadow to all. 
4. Add Ribbon Black and trim to edges of green dot paper. Insert a black rectangle shape (1/8” x 1 ½”) to cover the middle of ribbon so as to add type. 
5.  Add “happy birthday” or other sentiment. ( I used Miriam Fixed font size 10). 

Bookmarks #3 (Where there is Life)

1. Cut a 1 ½” x 5” rectangle from Paper 9. I flipped mine and cut it along the edges of the blueish colored diamonds. Make sure you cut one end so that it includes the complete diamond (this will be the top of the bookmark). 
2. Place your black modified Ribbon-Green piece from above, on bookmark as shown. 
3. Add a Flower XLgRed. I sized mine to fill the two diamonds from the top to the bottom. Add a Glitter Dot-Black and add heavy shadow to entire flower. 
4. Create smaller flower clusters by placing Flower-Med Black as base, then Flower-SmWhite on top of that(sizing as shown), then add a Glitter Dot- Red. Group the three pieces. Place on the black “link” as shown. 
5.  Add the LoveLife_Filled embellishment. Create a red (sample color from the flower) rectangle slightly larger than the quote, arranging it behind the quote to make it slightly larger so it mats the quote. 
6. Trim the top of the bookmark, following the lines of the diamond as shown. 
7. Add a Glitter Dot Black centered in the middle of the top diamond.

 

Comments

[bridget]

I don't have a color printer. Any other ideas? Send them in for 5x7 prints (say for 2 side by side)? I love these - they are beautiful ... really want to make some for some special moms ... thanks for your help!