Getting Beady

When last we met, I had a tweet-up with @holyxuxa and she helped me pick out some beads to use on my bookmarks. But before we get to that, I wanted to show you a minor modification to this card:


Originally I wrote the whole sentiment, which meant I stamped nothing. I was guilt-ridden, so I made the other 5 of them like this:


And it only took me about 30 minutes of hunting in my "word sets" drawers to find that tiny heart stamp in the SU Short & Sweet set. I like this version a lot better. Also, please notice the white band of card stock under the ribbon is a lot narrower than the first one. That's because I messed up punching the border and had to cut off the bad section and punch the other side. I know, I meant to do that, right? I actually like it better. I DO! Should I tell you I have more than one of these with a narrow border? Mmm-hmmm.

Oh, did you notice I added a comma to the sentiment? I did! It's only right.

Okay, back to the beads. I bought these:

Two different colors/types of the small round beads ...

... some small brown ones:

... and some really cool larger brown ones:

Did you notice I have re-purposed my empty SU containers for these guys? I saved them for years just for this moment.

I played with those beads for hours, but my idea just wasn't happening. I thought they needed a little something-something, and I thought I had some metal beads in my stash, but find them? HA! So I was dejected. Then this morning I had a Happy Accident! I bumped some papers off the end of my file cabinet and voila! A pack of metal beads was lurking under them! Lookie:

So I set back in to work this evening, and I now present to you Attempt #1 at The Bead Idea. First, I took a perforating blade and ran it down the inside of a card:

Just once, people. Just once. If you run it twice, it actually severs the papers. (Ask me how I know ...) I then rounded all the corners of what is now The Book Mark. See? It's a card AND a gift! I put in an eyelet and wrapped the end of my silk thread through it a few times then knotted it. Then I strung a few of the green beads, one of the metal ones, and finally one more green one, then knotted the thread at the top. Ta da:

I wanted a flat bookmark (I only put flat bookmarks in my books!) but with a floppy, beady, hangy-off-the-end thing-a-ma-bob that will hang outside the book. What do you think?

I'll be playing with this for a while. Maybe get some thinner silk thread. I dunno. I'll be sure to show you if I manage an Attempt #2 that is actually blog-worthy. I am open to ideas or suggestions for improvement. Really! Bring it on!

And thanks for stopping by!