My mom’s art alias is Angel. I love when we collaborate! She’s more of a crafter than an illustrator, and I’m more of an illustrator than anything else, so we make a great team!
She traced some of my digitally-drawn coloring pages with acrylic paint pen onto clear plastic sheets to create these “stained glass” crafts. She’s actually the inspiration for the frame mandalas, so seeing her use them in the exact way I envisioned is so satisfying!
This one has been modified for privacy, obviously.
Thank you mom, for making such beautiful art with my art! Being a part of collaborations with fellow creatives is one of my greatest joys in life.
Hope you all are having a wonderful Labor Day, thanks for tuning in! Take care, and I will see you in the next post!
I’ve gotten really into reading again lately, and we’ve been frequenting the library. It’s hard to come home with just one book so we often find ourselves short on bookmarks! I’d been meaning to make some personalized ones for a while and I finally got around to doing it.
First I removed a sheet of paper from my sketchbook and divided the sheet into 6 neat rectangles on what would become the back side. My partner helped me with this part, I kept doing something wrong with the measurements and it became very frustrating. She managed to make perfect sixths. Thanks, Jazzy!
The second step was to lay guidelines for the mandala. I used an orange colored pencil so I wouldn’t have muddy graphite lines. Decided to use tools this time, even though I love fully freehanding mandalas. I knew if I wasn’t satisfied with the artwork I would start from scratch, and using guidelines usually prevents that from happening, so I decided to play it safe this time.
Then I doodled away until finally all of the white space was filled! As a finishing touch I added some glitter pen here and there, I just can’t resist sparkles! ✨
Next up was slicing up my work! A bit nerve wracking but I knew the results would be worth it. I signed each bookmark separately on the back before arranging them in the plastic lamination sheet.
Finally, the part I’d been waiting for, running it through the lamination machine! It’s my mom’s and it’s over 15 years old now but it still works like the first day we got it. Shout out to my mom for her help with this project! Couldn’t have done it without her. We ran it through twice, then I cut out the bookmarks to their final sizes and then ran each through the machine one last time.
And there you have it, some cheap DIY bookmarks that are built to last!
I used Tombow water based marker and INC glitter pen on Strathmore mixed media sketchbook paper. I want to try doing watercolor bookmarks next time!
Lamination machines are probably not a common household item, but if you know someone who has one or happen to have one yourself I really do recommend trying to design your own bookmarks. There are some alternative methods to “laminate” things that you could also try.
It’s really nice to have that personal touch added to a frequently seen and used item. I know these babies are gonna be used a ton and I’ll always remember making them! Hopefully they will even motivate me to keep up my reading habit!
A wood giraffe cutout from the dollar tree, painted by me, with Craft Smart matte acrylic paint.
Had a lot of fun with this little guy. Learned a lot about giraffes in the process! They are so cute! No wonder they’re my partner’s favorite. This is a birthday gift to her.
I’ve also been exploring Neurographic art lately, so stay tuned for a post about that hopefully in the next few days!
Ari October Art 