Viva Las VegaStamps!: Bookmarks and Notebook - Gift Ideas

Thursday, December 13, 2018

Bookmarks and Notebook - Gift Ideas | Sue Plumb

Hi everyone!

It's Sue Plumb here to share my latest design team project with you. As we head into the festive season, I thought it would be a good time to share a couple of simple appreciation gift ideas with you. There are always people in our lives that deserve a small token of our thanks - whether that be teachers, neighbours, friends, the mailman, or even the staff at the local store. So I decided to whip up some simple stamped bookmarks and notebooks featuring some of my fave Banksy stamps to give out.

For the notebook, I started with a plain, kraft cover notebook (purchased from Kmart). I used Dina Wakley acrylic paints, applied with a brayer and layered randomly to add some colour. I then took the recently released Victorian Flower Background and used it to stamp a border around 3 sides of the cover.

Next, I chose the fabulous Banksy Wall Singer for my feature image on the cover, before I also stamped the Banksy Life is Beautiful as the accompanying text. I love how it turned out! I paired it with a pen before wrapping it up.

After I created the notebook, I decided to re-visit a project I have created previously and shared here - bookmarks. (You can find my original watercolour bookmark post HERE) This time however, I wanted to use a more minimalist style to showcase some cool Banksy stamps.

I started by cutting some smooth white cardstock into strips measuring 2x8.5". I then stamped a focal Banksy image onto each one, and an accompanying quote as well.

Here is a list of all the stamps I used on the bookmarks (as shown from left to right above):

- Banksy Man on Bicycle and You Only Live Once

- Banksy Frida Kahlo and Banksy Just Because

- Banksy Spray Can Cop and The Unicorns Made Me

- Banksy Einstein Protestor and Banksy Love is the Answer

- Banksy Girl Floating with Balloons and She Was a Dreamer

- Banksy Ladder Painter and Banksy Life is Beautiful

- Banksy Gas Mask Flower Girl and Where is My Mind?

- Banksy Child Sitting and I Hope You Know

- Banksy Swing Girl and She Spread Her Wings

I also stamped the back of each bookmark with the Banksy stamp.

Once they were all stamped, I used Faber-Castell gelatos to add a splash of colour to each one. I wanted to keep them simple, so I only used a single colour on each one and left the focal images uncoloured.

I then took all the bookmarks and laminated them, trimming off the excess laminate with a trimmer.

I then punched a hole into each bookmark and added a variety of twine, tassels and a metal charm to decorate them.

I am so happy with how these turned out and cannot wait to gift them to their new owners! Thanks so much for stopping by so I could share this with you. I hope I have inspired you to create some special handmade appreciation gifts for the people in your lives too.