This is a big post, but there are some real gems in here. It’s worth taking some time to look them over.

Please enjoy!

Bookmark Collectors Virtual Convention – Link

I’ll be updating the convention website over this next week, so be sure to stop by see the latest information about presentations and activities at the convention.

Bookmarks In the News

Articles:

A very interesting article from Laine Farley about 3 investigations she’s made into the meaning behind cryptic messages found on vintage bookmarks, at BiblioBuffet - Link

A silk bookmark from the Jantzen bathing suit manufacturer inspired this fascinating article about the history of bathing suits, from Lauren at BiblioBuffet – Link

In this post about quilting is a fabulous way one woman displayed her mother’s bookmarks, at Patchwork Sanity – Link

A nice little history of bookmarks article, at Mir Printing and Graphics Blog – Link

Val Ubell over at Collectors’ Quest had an interesting discussion with friends about what will happen to their collections when they have to give them up. Intersting food for thought – Link

Apple gave out bookmark for Halloween at their retail stores, giving rise to rumors of new products – Link

Oh my, the bookmarks with pictures of city councilors from Calderdale (England) is developing into a nice little controversy – Link

A discussion about bookmarks being the hottest new wedding favor in 2009, at Women Blog – Link

The Seymour Library in Auburn (New York) has a set of bookmarks with the names of popular authors and a list of suggested authors who write similar works – Link

This is the author’s experience of working with a Spanish leather craftsman to create a personalized bookmark, by Sara Ritchie at the New Brunswick Business Journal – Link

Contests :

A couple of designer note cards with bookmarks are the prizes in this comment contest, at SuzeFashion-Handmade - Link

The Delphi Public Library in Carrol County (Indiana) is participating in the WrestleMania Reading Challenge that includes creating a bookmark – Link

The Book Depository is holding a bookmark design contest to produce a set of bookmarks that will be given out with book orders – Link

The Twilight “New Moon” bookmarks are being given away as weekly prizes at the Screen Star website – Link

Contest Winners:

The winners of the County of Los Angeles (California) Public Library Bookmark Contest were announced – Link

The Daphne Public Library (Alabama) announced the winners of their Back to School Bookmark Contest – Link

The winners of the Juneau (Alaska) Public Library’s Bookmark Contest were announced – Link

Make Your Own Bookmark

A Christmas Tree Bookmark crochet pattern, at Suzies Stuff – Link

A brief set of instructions for using your travel photos to make bookmarks, at Tip Deck – Link

A pattern for a tatted bookmark, at Crazy Mom Tats – Link

A stitching pattern for the ornament on a ribbon bookmark, by Kustom Krafts at Freebie Gallery – Link

A video tutorial for making a magnetic clip bookmark with stamped paper intended for use with a cookbook, by Angie Kennedy Juda at Cargo Networking – Link

A PDF you can print with a bookmark for transliterating Ugaritic Cuneiform, by Karyn Traphagen at Boulders 2 Bits – Link

Here are the newest additions to the Free Printable Bookmarks site – Link

You can download and print the Don’t Dis Darwin bookmark, distributed by the National Center for Science Education – Link

This post is for a free Cross Pattern tatted bookmark, but the site Tattyhead has quite a few free tatting patterns – Link

Download and print this Twilight “New Moon” inspired bookmark, from Designed by Ellie – Link

Download and print this bookmark from the Letters About Literature program of the Library of Congress in association with the Arkansas State Library – Link

Well, this one is different. Make a bookmark from Elmer’s Glue! At Cut Out And Keep – Link

Corner of the Library:

An etching of  The Making of a Marchioness by Frances Hodgson Burnett – Link

The character Dr. Lavendar from Around Old Chester by Margaret Deland – Link

Bookmarks For Sale

An etched metal bookmark that is a fund-raising item for Free The Slaves, a group that works with former sweat shop (slave) laborers – Link

Well, here it is: the Twilight “New Moon” Bookmark Set in Limited Edition Collector’s Case at Amazon - Link

Some handmade metal hookmarks using collected charms for ornaments, by Ciyou at Colors City – Link

Also at Colors City is this brass hookmark with star and teapot charms – Link

A metal clip bookmark wedding favor with the word love in a silver heart, at Blue Rainbow Design’s Wedding Tips & Trends Blog – Link

School kids have designed and made a set of bookmarks which are sold as part of a fundraiser for the Fredericktown Community Library – Link

A metal hookmark with charm and pearl ornament, by Min at Little Maketto – Link

If you’re into the Furry culture, you can have a bookmark made with an image of your character over at TeenyCom – Link

A variety of hand made hookmarks with beads and charms, at Beads Garden Fashion – Link

A fisherman’s silhouette is this week’s featured theme at Impressive Inscriptions – Link

Free:

The New York Federal Reserve gives away free bookmarks with information about historical figures. Follow the link and type “bookmark” in the search field, then click on Search Catalog – Link

On-Line Bookmark Collections

Mirage Bookmarks:

A new brushed stainless steel bookmark featuring an emblem from the Swiss city of Basel - Link

A set of four beautiful Victorian era chromolithography portraits of commanding officers of the British Empire – Link

Coleccionista Chilena de Marcapáginas:

Pictures from Olga’s bookmark exhibit at Santo Tomás Sede Puente Alto – Link

Mondopunt:

A set of bookmarks from the Spanish Emergency Unit – Link

Bookmarks commemorating the anniversary of Francesc Macia, the president of the Catalan Republic in 1931 – Link

A miscellaneous assortment of bookmarks (or else I couldn’t quite understand the themes) – Link

Some beautiful bookmarks from the publisher Salamander - Link

Some great bookmarks with historical themes, including some puzzle bookmarks – Link

One of Mondopunt’s video galleries of bookmarks, this one with a music theme – Link

An interesting collection of bookmarks showing the subtle variations in “the same” bookmark – Link

Bookmarks recognizing the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women – Link

Collecting Bookmarks:

A German bookmark with a cartoon of a bear swinging from the moon – Link

A magnetic clip mark with a portion of the painting  Girl With a Pearl Earring, from the Netherlands - Link

An interesting wrap around bookmark with an interlocking metal ornament, from the USA - Link

A Portuguese bookmark with a picture of the Barcelos Cockerel (and the story behind the cockerel) – Link

A graphic of the American flag with a bit of information about it – Link

A blouse and slacks on a hanger, from the USA – Link

A Japanese bookmark with a picture of Kinkaku-ji – Link

A lovely pattern on this souvenir bookmark from IaÅŸi, Romania – Link

Cartoon images of elk on this bookmark from Norway - Link

A wire clipmark with the ornament in the shape of a tulip, from the Netherlands - Link

From the British Museum, this bookmark has the image of the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II – Link

A painted wooden bookmark from the Philippines - Link

A quote about love and a picture of a butterfly on this bookmark from the USA – Link

Forgotten Bookmarks:

An 1893 add for painless tooth extraction – Link

A 1917 quote letter for some chairs – Link

Ticket for a 1955 baseball game – Link

Label from a can of sea trout – Link

A vinyl souvenir bookmark from Petrified Creatures – Link

A note on baby formula stationary – Link

A diphtheria toxin-antitoxin certificate – Link

A couple of black and white photos in their envelope – Link

A Henry Burton poem on card stock – Link

A Spanish note with translation and very funny misspelling – Link

A note about chores, forgotten by the collector! – Link

A cute cartoon drawing – Link

A postcard from The Bird In Hand restaurant – Link

A personal note about the book in which this was found – Link

Flikr Images:

A metal hookmark with a zombie love button for an ornament, by jnhkrawczyk - Link

A Chinese Christmas miniature postcard bookmark, by CrayolaMom - Link

Intricately cut ornaments on these wooden bookmarks, photo by Creative Kismet – Link

Russian Bookmark:

The Russian Bookmark will have a booth at the International Book Fair in Moscow, Russia – Link

In December, the Russian Bookmark will have an exhibition “The World of the Bookmark” at the Anichkov Palace in Moscow, Russia – Link

Hand Made Bookmarks:

Oh my, these are stunning! Hand made fabric art bookmarks with Art Nouveau themes that were part of an exchange, posted by Gladys Love at Fibresoul - Link

A very cute sausage dog illustration on a bookmark, by Cally Jane Studio – Link

A lovely tatted bookmark in a book thong form, by Jill at Tatncrazee - Link

A ribbon bookmark with stamped ornaments, by Claudia Rosa at Pretty Pressings – Link

A set of bookmarks made as a collage from recycled materials, at Green Thing – Link

Making bookmarks from leftover scrapbook paper, by Bobbi at Blogging Along – Link

Very cute colored paper bookmark with owls on a unicycle design, by Clairexx at CraftyC’s Crafting Library – Link

This is darned clever! Using a metal bookmark with a Velcro fastener and an Altoids tin, Jo Reimer made a portable watercolor paintbox holder that slips onto the pages of her moleskin paint book – Link

Some lovely bookmarks stitched on scraps of leftover fabric, at Mare’s Runaway Needle – Link

A colorful bookthong style tatted bookmark, at Umi & Tsuru – Link

A bookmark with a silhouette image, by Laura Dresser – Link

Images from a workshop where kids made bookmarks, at Veta897 – Link

Some colorful bookmarks using a stamp and resist technique, at Ink On My Paws – Link

Also at Ink On My Paws are these bookmarks thanking the Armed Forces along with some personal stories – Link

Some sea glass beads on hookmarks – Link

A bookthong with handmade charms, at Jewelry Making by Suzdezigns – Link

A set of bookmarks with a graphic of a little girl, by Sandy Mastroni – Link

Also by Sandy Mastroni are these bookmarks with graphic images of people – Link

Elaborate embroidered magnetic bookmarks, by Linda at Quilt Cookies – Link

Some jumbo paper clip marks with colorful flower ornaments, at Taffy Crafty Creations – Link

Miscellaneous:

A Russian bookmark in the collection of Chuck Whiting at Bibliophemera - Link

A great classic Spider-Man collectible bookmark, posted by Jon K. at Spider-Man Stuff – Link

A bookmark promoting her young adult novel Tell Me A Secret, by author Holly Cupala – Link

A found bookmark that’s a promotional postcard for Chesapeake Bay and features a blue crab, at Out And About In New York City – Link

A check used as a bookmark, at We Saw A Chicken – Link

Some lovely bookmarks with pictures of elaborate paper cutouts, from the public library in Hakodate, Japan – Link

There will be a bookmark exchange in Ripoll (Spain) on December 8th – Link

2010 Bookmark Challenge:

This update from Nov. 2 includes a discussion of Jen’s baseball bookmark design and kit – Link

On Nov. 9 a marketing plan takes shape as well as plans with the NYC libraries – Link

The Nov. 16 update plans on finishing the plan for the marketing plan – Link

And on Nov. 23 a progress report on the current goals (not much to report, but I feel I’m helping with Jen’s accountability program – and thinking of my own) – Link

Enjoy!

Bookmarks In the News

Articles:

At BiblioBuffet, Lauren’s bookmark inspired article is about encyclopedias: their history, development, and a bit of their taxonomy – Link

Over at the Ephemera blog, Marty Weil has asked the eBay booksellers group about things found in books; he calls them fly-aways, but I’ve referred to them as found bookmarks – Link

The previous post led me to this one where Marty discusses fly-aways, and has a picture of a great antique bookmark from the play Little Lord Fauntleroy – Link

Jen over at Needle and ThRead reports on the Bookmark Make-It-Take-It event at the Anchorage Public Library where folks learned to stitch a bookmark – Link

Contests :

East Central Public Library in Mississippi is sponsoring a bookmark design contest – Link

Miscellaneous:

The school district in Manatee County, Florida is giving away a free bookmark as part of their literacy program for kids – Link

A chain of organic food stores in Okanagan, Canada is promoting literacy by giving kids a bookmark on which they record their reading achievements; at the end of the month they bring the bookmark back for a free, healthy treat – Link

Make Your Own Bookmark

A two-part video tutorial on folding an origami bookmark (corner-envelope style) with a Panda’s face – Link Link

Here’s a set of links for crochet patterns for making bookmarks – Link

And similar site with a set of patterns for knitting bookmarks – Link

Bookmarks For Sale

Melody Lea Lamb is a miniatures painter who is creating bookmarks with her work – Link

Another artist (Matty8080) is putting his work on bookmarks and then selling them – Link

On-Line Bookmark Collections

Mirage Bookmarks:

A paper bookmark from Changing Hands Bookstore – Link

Marcapaginas: Natalia

A bookmark to remember the anniversay of Simone de Beauvoir’s dieath – Link

A set of bookmarks with themes based on Leonardo da Vinci to celebrating the anniversary of his birth – Link

On the anniversary of his death, a set of bookmarks with images of Charlie Chaplin – Link

Arrrh! Pirates be the theme o’ this bookmark booty – Link

Mondopunt:

I’m having real trouble translating this site, but I believe this set of bookmarks is from an exhibit celebrating Fefe Almeida – Link

Another set of bookmarks that are promotional pieces from a publisher for several different books – Link

Flikr Images:

Another great image suitable for printing as a bookmark – Link

Here’s a bookmark that was received as part of a swap – Link

Miscellaneous:

Over at Creativity has No Limits, Norma Soulet has two new bookmarks she made from felt – Link

A beautiful set of bookmarks Lay Hoon made for her swaps – Link

A cross-stitched bookmark with icons from the game Triforce (how cool is it that there’s a blog about cross stiching designs from video games?!) – Link

In the category of found bookmarks, here’s one that looks like a peacock feather – Link

A handmade, stamped bookmark by Teresa - Link

This set of bookmarks has been sold, but I really liked the design and it’s by Sleeping Forest (book-thong style) – Link

I’ve included a few more sources in my search for links, and I’ve organized them under some new headings.

If you have anything you’d like me to include in future entries, or any feedback in general, you can add a comment below or send an email to alan@bookmark-collector.com

These entries are from December 2007 as well as January and early February 2008.

Bookmarks In the News

Editorials:

Provocative little blog posting titled Bookmarks Are For People That Hate Money by Ben Allen – Link

A nice tribute to Norman Mailer by Guy Somerset that leads to a discussion of bookmarks – Link

Frank X. Roberts discusses of the origins of the bookmark at BiblioBuffet - Link

Designs:

A beautiful bookmark commemorating the California Genealogical Society’s 110th Anniversary (how do I get one?) – Link

In South Africa, a Lifesaving Bookmark was designed to remind reading parents to check on their kids at swimming venues – Link

A bookmark design which uses flexible organic light emitting diode (FOLED) technology (cool!) – Link

Another design for a bookmark that highlights a word position in a book – Link

Jackie Blaum, a fifth grader, invents Jackie’s Dry Erase Bookmark – Link

Upcoming Contests :

The Friends of Hickory Public Library in North Carolina is holding a bookmark contest for children in grades K-8 – Link

A Mail-Art Competition sponsored by the Plainsboro Library in New Jersey with the theme Cultural Crossroads – Link

A Bookmark Design Contest sponsored by The Book Wish Foundation – Link

The Davenport Public Library in Iowa is sponsoring the Cornerstone of Downtown bookmark design contest – Link

Contest Winners:

Daphne Public Library in Alabama – Link

Hit The Books program sponsored by the Omaha Royals in Nebraska – Link

Hit The Books program sponsored by the Lexington Legends in Kentucky – Link

Design A Bookmark Competition sponsored by the Clare County Library in Ireland – Link

Swaps:

This is a link showing the results from a bookmark swap sponsored by Crafty Daisies (and these are beautiful!)- Link

Make Your Own Bookmark

Clever and fun photo-bookmark design in Zakka Life Crafts blog – Link

Attractive crochet bookmark in the shape of a key at CraftBits – Link

Needlepoint bookmark with a snowflake image at About.com: Needlepoint – Link

Bead and Wire on a metal bookmark hook at About.com: Jewelry Making – Link

Another bead and wire bookmark, this one of a butterfly at CraftBits - Link

A video on making a magnetic bookmark by Patti Behan on her blog – Link

A small felt bookmark designed by Melissa Goodsell at One Crafty Momma – Link

Paper and magnet bookmark in a greeting card by Bethany Paull – Link

Print, cut, and fold these files to create a set of bookmarks at 4Kids – Link

A discussion of cross stitch methods for making bookmarks – Link

Project for making a ribbon bookmark from Scrapnextras - Link

Handy little bookmark made with blank pages for taking notes from DIYPlanner – Link

Download and print a bookmark with information about fleas at HealthyChild – Link

Another discussion about making bookmarks as wedding favors – Link

Another download and print bookmark, this one from Audrey Jeanne’s Expressions – Link

A very cool bookmark and card with a discussion on how it was made – Link

A downloadable paper template for a T-Shirt shaped bookmark at Crafty Beats – Link

Bookmarks For Sale

Some lovely little angle bookmarks at Drooling Over Yarn – Link

A variety of custom bookmarks using crystals and charms at Planet 4 Creation – Link

Beautiful engraved butterfly bookmarks, hand colored from Bernard Maisner – Link

A line of bookmarks with some nice calligraphy at Bookworm Bookmarks – Link

A position marking bookmark at Irregular People – Link

On-Line Bookmark Collections

BiblioBuffet: On Marking Books: Lauren Roberts:

A beautiful bookmark discussion from the 1928 Olympic Games – Link

Antique bookmarks related to health – Link

Two bookmarks from the golden days of NBC Radio – Link

Interesting bookmark issued as propaganda during World War II – Link

A discussion of celebrating Christmas with bookmarks along with two examples – Link

A bookmark prompts a discussion of stockings! – Link

Bookmarks and fragrances – Link

BiblioBuffet: On Marking Books: Laine Farley:

Bookmarks from Vietnam and Cambodia – Link

Old and new bookmark calendars – Link

An interesting discussion (with examples) of bookmarks as Christmas craft – Link

Punt Per Punt:

A lovely top index that points to a set of group listings, organizing Nuria’s collection – Link

Nuria’s set of Christmas themed bookmarks – Link

Marcapaginas.info:

Happy Pig bookmark from the Czech Republic – Link

New Year’s Resolution – Link

The Footprints of Time, published bookmarks froma graphic art competition – Link

Angels – Link

Carnival – Link

Mozart – Link

Lego’s 50th anniversary – Link

A lovely set of bell towers – Link

Valentine’d Day – Link

A collection of hearts – Link

Clocks – Link

Inside Books: Bookmark of the Week:

National Bookstart Day – Link

London Transport Museum – Link

Tintin from The Sceptre of Okkatar – Link

Paddington Bear – Link

Highlighting three bookmarks for the end of the year – Link

Tutankhamen and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs at the O2 Dome in Greenwich – Link

Terracotta Army at the British Museum – Link

Tintin by Herge, magnetic bookmark – Link

From the home of Washington Irving, author of Sleepy Hollow – Link

Planting Trees, a free bookmark from the local library – Link

Mr. Bump from the Mr. Men series – Link

Punto de Papel:

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – Link

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – Link

Happy New Year and 3 Bookmarks from Venice – Link

A couple of puzzle bookmark sets, titled Gracias Rosa – Link

The Four Houses from Harry Potter – Link

Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe – Link

Flikr Images:

A lovely bookmark – Link

Watercolor flowers – Link

Miscellaneous:

A couple of beautiful, vintage Disney bookmarks midway into this post of collectible – Link

—————-

Whew! Back again in a week with (hopefully) a more manageable list.

She talks about how the process started as a way to promote her novels and then became a hobby. She describes the pleasures of collecting the materials and how she creates the bookmarks by embedding the iridescent parts into handmade papers or laminating them onto commercial papers.

She’s a wonderful writer and I recommend reading the entire post. Her descriptions are so intriguing that I am now interested in trying the same methods.

Link

Dan Schawbel has a marketing blog where he discusses having a “personal brand”. He sees the business card bookmark as another way of making sure that marketing materials are always on hand.

Patrick Rhone has a more personal blog where he looks at productivity. He argues that using a business card as a bookmark is an efficient way of always having a bookmark handy and increases that odds of retrieving a lost book.

I must confess that I’ve used my business card as a bookmark more often than seems reasonable considering my hobby. I hadn’t really thought about it being an advertisement for myself, nor as a substitute for a bookplate. Both of these arguments give the practice a veneer of intent and provide a sense of respectability. That’s quite an improvement over my usual feelings of embarrassment at the “Bookmark Collector” not having a bookmark handy.

I also spent a lot of time arranging the paper bookmarks stored in the binder. I gathered them into some commonly themed pages: library promotions, reading, science fiction, book promotion, etc. That helped me find duplicates and select bookmarks that were in the best condition.

At this point, I’ve made at least one pass through all of the bookmarks, and have put them in some sort of protective cover or placed them in a safe drawer. I still don’t have a total count (a reasonable question that other collectors have asked me), but now that I have a sense of the number of duplicate bookmarks I have, there are over 200 unique paper bookmarks in the binder, over 100 bookmarks in protective covers, and another 100 bookmarks in the drawers that are three dimensional: either sculptural, made of a thick material, or crafted in a way that keeps them from fitting in a protective cover. There are probably another 300 to 400 duplicate paper bookmarks.
Although I’ve been organizing, I can’t really say the collection has much organization. I think that’s the next big effort.

In a previous post, I mentioned the Negative Preservers. They’re clear, with four envelopes to a page. It’s easy to put bookmarks into them and to remove them. They fit into a 3 ring binder, and after my initial disasters using them without a binder, I now keep them in a large, sturdy binder.

Well, there’s nothing that gets you started like putting on a video, sitting with a beverage (diet Coke in a large mug), and just digging in. One by one, each bookmark was slipped into a sleeve. For this initial sort, I’d put one facing each direction, so I could put a total of 8 in a page. I’d put duplicates in the same envelope, unless there were a lot of them, in which case I’d wrap up the duplicates in a zip-lock bag. One bag for each bookmark.

I would run into bookmarks that were too wide, too long, or both. For this first sort, I would slide them into the pocket of the binder cover. Duplicates of these oversized bookmarks went into larger zip-locks. Luckily, I didn’t fill all 50 pages that I’d bought, but I came very close.

I didn’t try to store the antique paper bookmarks with this sort. I kept those mixed in with all the bookmarks (metal, wood, plastic, etc).

This first sort took several evenings of work. It wasn’t very difficult, and probably took as long as it did because I was rediscovering a lot of old memories. It was quite common to uncover a bookmark I hadn’t seen in quite awhile, although I must admit there were a lot that caused me to wonder “when and where did I get this?”

I set up a gray art artist’s board as a background. I shot outside in a shaded area on a sunny day. The camera was on a tripod. My significant other (Harriet) has an excellent eye for arrangement and helped me set up the bookmarks in a rather interesting way. What could go wrong?

Well, our wonderful Canon Powershot S2 was dead – not a battery in the house. Okay, my older Kodak has served me well in the past, but of course, it’s failing. I could coax a few shots out of it, however. Then comes the process of learning how to shoot flat items in a way that reduces parallax. That ended up with me on a ladder. Then came formatting the picture so that the blog title was readable and didn’t look completely out of place. There went Harriet’s careful layout.

Then came cropping images; balancing color, brightness, and contrast; exporting, uploading, and aligning. Rinse and repeat several times until I reach the delicate balance of appearance and frustration. A graphic artist I am not.

So the image in this post (and for now at the top of the blog) is my best compromise, for now. I think it gets the point across, and provides enough imagery for some future postings. I’m sure I’ll replace it in time, and my technique will improve.

I wanted to make a simple banner image for the blog. Just a few bookmarks; a sampling of my overall collection. I thought I’d start simply enough: just gather what I have into a few drawers to simplify choosing a sample set.

Several hours and 5 drawers later, I’ve gathered the bulk of the bookmarks. It occurs to me that there are more squirreled away in some drawers from recent trips, and I’ll need to move them in with the rest.

And, I made sure that these were just the bookmarks. I separated out all the other collectible do-dads and memorabilia.

The best part of all this was rediscovering my collection. I have a lot of beautiful, intersting, and memorable bookmarks. Many are reminders from trips I’ve taken, several are small works of art, some are antiques, a lot of them are bits of advertising and souvenirs from interesting movies or events, and most I can’t easily explain.

Now I can pick out a few to be photographed for the blog.