Hi Everyone, I’m Faye Mitchell and truly excited by Jamie’s
request to make a guest blog post. I’ve
decided to make a fancy charm and bead bookmark using mostly Craft Chameleon
supplies. A few items have come from
other stores.
Items needed:
Charms - Craft Chameleon (not pictured)
Beads
Headpins
SVG Design Program
Vinyl
Jewelry Making Tools
The first thing I did was make a template of my acrylic
bookmark in Silhouette Studio Designer Edition so I could make sure I cut my
vinyl out in the correct size. The
acrylic bookmark from Craft Chameleon is 1.5" x 4" so I drew a
rectangle with these measurements.
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As you can see I actually drew the rectangle at 4.5” and
then put a small line across it at 4” and
put the circle/hole in it. This part is not necessary but I did it to
help me envision the final product.
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The next thing I did was decide on what pattern I wanted on
my bookmark. Since my bookmark is for a
friend who lost her sister I decided to go with a cross design. I searched the silhouette design store and
found the perfect cross shape and purchased it.
Once I had it purchased I edited it to the size I wanted and duplicated
it multiple times so that it formed the design I wanted and covered the entire
bookmark. My actual bookmark is clear
but so you could see the design in the Studio I changed it to black for the
picture.
Now I decided on what quote I wanted to put on the
bookmark. I decided to use a bible
scripture for comfort. Using the text
tool I typed out the quote and selected my font and sized it to fit the
bookmark and charms. I used the font
“Maxwell Bold” for all the wording. I
used the templates from Craft Chameleon to get the sizing correct. In order to prevent waste of vinyl I used the
subtract feature under modify to cut the cross background pattern down to the
size of the bookmark.
Once I finished all my designing, I cut and weeded the vinyl
and lastly applied it to the acrylic pieces.
Make sure you peel the clear plastic coverings off the
acrylic pieces first before applying the vinyl.
Then you take your transfer tape and pick up the weeded vinyl pieces and
place them onto the acrylic pieces.
After I have the vinyl applied to the pieces I poke the hole in the
acrylic with the diamond reamer I purchased from Craft Chameleon. I also rub it around the edge of the cross
and bookmark acrylic pieces to trim off the excess vinyl from the backs.
Now that I have all the vinyl applied I sit them to the side
to cure while I work on assembling the hardware findings and make the bead
dangles.
To start I usually go ahead and
attach the triangle bail to the bookmark even though it doesn’t have to be
attached right away. Mainly I do this
just so I have this part done and I don’t have to worry about a little helper
getting a hold of the triangle bail and putting it in his mouth or just running
off with it.
Next I move onto the
bead dangles, once again to prevent a certain little helper from getting ahold
of little pieces and scattering them around the house. Bead dangles are pretty easy to make. To make a bead dangle you first take your
headpin… the ones I use are just plain 2” headpins that I picked up from a big
box store.
You then just thread the beads (also gotten from a big box
store in this case) onto the headpin.
Once you thread your beads onto the headpin comes the tricky
part. You take your round nose pliers
and bend the end of the headpin around to make a loop. Once the loop is formed
you can trim the excess and manipulate the wire to your desired shape and size. Then you use a jump ring and attach the bead
dangle to the lobster clasp.
Next I move onto attaching the charms, tassels, and small
acrylic pieces. I do this with a
combination of jump rings and extension links depending on the size of each of
the pieces and how I want them to hang.
After the vinyl is cured I typically seal the small pieces
with either mod podge or clear nail polish.
Once your sealer is dry you can attach the beaded charmed piece using
the lobster hook to the triangle bail on the bookmark piece.
TA-DA
you have a finished your fancy charm and beaded bookmark to enjoy the next time
you read a long book!!!
