Cut Out + Keep

You Give Me Butterflies Bookmark

A cute and quick project that will keep your place in a book without folding pages.

https://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/you-give-me-butterflies-bookmark • Posted by Lee C.

A cute bookmark I had discovered I could make. It is quick and easy for beginners or just as a twist on normal markers for places in your favorite novels.

You will need

Project Budget
Free

Time

0 h 30

Difficulty

Nice & Simple
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Description

A cute bookmark I had discovered I could make. It is quick and easy for beginners or just as a twist on normal markers for places in your favorite novels.

Instructions

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    Measure and cut out a rectangle. It is about 2 1/4 inches in width (5 1/2 centimeters) and 7 1/2 inches in length (19 centimeters). I used a sheet of cardstock for this, but any heavy paper will do. Do NOT use copy paper or any thin paper. If you do, the paper will curl and damage quicker when exposed to humid weather or water.

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    Reference images. I usually find them in magazines or from the internet. This is optional and is only here to assist with any details or poses.

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    Trace the rectangle that you have cut out onto the white side of the scrap booking paper of choice (or any colored paper for that matter.) Then cut it out and hot glue it down to the cardstock that you had cut out earlier. This will serve as a background for your bookmark, but this is also optional.

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    Sketch and plan out what you want your bookmark to look like. This will only be a guide, like the reference images. All I did was go to a sheet in my sketchbook and retrace the rectangle then drew in the square.

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    I wasn't entirely sure if I liked the sketch, so I focused on something else. This is also an optional step, but I went back to the scrap booking paper glued to cardstock. I then took a cheap wet-erase white marker (which acts more like a paint) and added splatters to the paper to add a more intense white than there already was. To make splatters, I uncapped the marker and began to flick at the paper in a firm up and down motion without letting the tip of the marker touch the paper. This usually only works with new Sharpies (markers) if you have no paint. If your marker is dry, it will not work. And it might take a few tries to get the ink moving through the marker then onto the paper. I also highly advise that you lay newspaper or a bag under the paper you're flicking at and wear an old t-shirt, because the ink/paint will get almost everywhere, sometimes even on your clothes.

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    Go back to the extra white cardstock (or choose a different color if you left your bookmark white) and cut out a figure of a man. Depending on your skills with scissors and thick papers, your man will be very shabby or even tilted. This can be fixed with more trimming or can be left. Make sure that your man is not wider than the bookmark or taller. His head should be about halfway up the bookmark (4 1/2 inches [11 1/2 centimeters]). Once you are satisfied with the figure you have cut out, glue him down onto the bookmark.

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    For this bookmark, the figure will have an empty stomach with a butterfly within it. To have this empty stomach, go back to the color paper that you have used as a background behind the figure of the man. Cut out a circle (or any shape you prefer) then hot glue it down where his stomach would be.

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    Once the circle is pasted down, the bookmark should look like this (a figure without a stomach).

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    Now we have to make the butterfly. I want it to fit inside the circle and not touch the edges, so I measured the circle. (1 1/4 inches tall and wide, almost 3 1/2 centimeters tall and wide.) To make the butterfly fit inside the circle, it must be smaller than the length and width of the shape you used.

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    To make the butterfly stand out against the other colors, use a much different color (darker or lighter depending on the papers you used before). Because my bookmark is darker, I want the butterfly to be very bright. I chose a florescent sheet of scrap booking paper to do this. If you are using scrap booking paper, sketch out the butterfly on the white side (if you are using any other colored paper, sketch on any side you choose).

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    Cut the butterfly out carefully and make sure it will fit the way you want it to before hot gluing it down.

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    Now is a good time to punch a hole in your bookmark. You can choose whether or not to punch the hole into the top, bottom, or side of your bookmark, but I chose the top because of the extra space. You should still have a lot of space left above the head of the figure on your bookmark. We will cover that up later.

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    The hole will have string/yarn/thread through it so it can stick out over pages of a book to show that it's marking a place. I used three colors to do this; the colors that matched closest to the butterfly's. You can choose whatever colors you want.

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    I then do a French Braid with the thread and tie it off at the end without any beads. This is easier for me to do, but you can choose whatever way you prefer to make a tail for your bookmark.

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    Then loop the thread through the hole of the bookmark and tie it off; or you can loop it then hot glue it down for a quicker alternative. Cut off any unnecessary excess.

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    Going back to the space we had left on the bookmark, find the words 'You give me butterflies'. You can search for these words in a magazine, newspaper, or you can even print them off from your computer. Whichever way, cut the words out separately then glue them down in the space.

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    And viola! You are now finished with your bookmark~