SS>hello All-
  >I really enjoy reading this echo,basically i am a lurker, but every now 
nd
  >then I find something to write about....I have a 5yo in kindergarten, and 

  >4yo in head start.I was looking for something unique to make for them as
  >"end of the year gifts" I decided to make from book marks.I am being a
  >little wimpy in that I am buying the premade bookmarks- I have never tried
  >to make my own bookmark before(out of Aida)- any suggestions?I am under a
  >bit of a time constraint and felt the premade bookmark would be easier.
  >        I went to the libarary and picked up several patterns- I have
  >completed my first one for my daughter's kindergarten teacher.I was pretty
  >happy how it came out- but have a few questions....
  >        I tried using a couple of of different objects in combination of
  >the bookmark.I used a bookshelve with books and an apple on the top and
  >then a heart in the middle- I kind of "winged" the writing.I do have a
  >folder of diggerent kinds of alphabets.beause of the size of the piece I
  >used a straight stitch alphabet.My question is how do you "set the 
attern"
  >for the writing.I had different  sized words(# of letters) in a word.Foe
  >example "I Love you" and I had each word on a different level.How do you
  >center it so that it comes out even?
  >        Another queastion that I have is about the back of the bookmark- I
  >did not use knots, but The back is certaintly not pretty! Should I take a
  >piece odf Aida and cut it into the size of the bookstitch and cover the
  >back? How do I connect it- tacky glue or a simple border stitch to connect
  >them? Thank you in advance for your help!
  Were the words included in the pattern?  If so just follow the pattern
and they should fit. If not just do what feels right and looks good. I
found that no matter what you do as long as you like the results most
times the person your giving it to will too.  If you go to a cross
stitch shop or to some local craft stores they often have a few
different leaflets for book marks that would work very well for most
occasions, I was just in a book mark exchange with some of the gals from
the cross stitch echo and am very pleased with the results.
  For my daughters pre-school teacher my daughter and I did a stained
glass apple. These are really very easy to do, they are plastic with
paints and a brush. Once the paint drys you can get a suction cup with a
hook and stick them up just about anywhere. I found these at a craft
store, bought the paints and several loose pictures. They do come in
kits also which includes a large or several small patterns and the
paints and a brush. Got one kit for a little boy in the same pre-school
for a birthday present it was full of dinosaurs (which he is very wild
about) His mom told me that as soon as all his friends left the party he
wanted to sit with her and paint them all up and he loves them! She took
some string and some small dowels and made them into a mobile for his
room. The small ones take about 10 - 15 minutes to do and are easy
enough for small kids to help with.
Roseanne Brown
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