Friday, February 7, 2014

Mark This Spot!

A "First Fridays" Artistic Interlude with Sofie Couch

It’s First Fridays, it’s February, and it’s my first official First Friday's post at Classic and Cozy!


So I thought I would lead you all in something pretty radical for a writer. Yes, today we dice and slice books. I mean, literally, we’re gonna dice-and-slice books. So get out your scissors, get out a couple of raggedy-taggedy books, and let’s get chopping and make some book marks.



First, remove the spines from a couple of old books. I promise, no books were harmed… well, actually, they were harmed. They were annihilated. But I didn’t pull anything off of the shelves of a rare books collection. In my hometown, we have an amazing recycle center and there is a special walk-in bin filled with books that local folks no longer want. They’re sad books. Books that are looking for a good home. Unfortunately, I got to them first.

Okay, so rip off those spines. If you’re a craft geek, like some of us, you have a laminator just laying around the crafting bench. Actually, book spines are a little thick for my baby laminator. They needed a little persuasion to squeeze through, so I took out the ol’ flat-iron – it doesn’t get out very often – and with a towel between laminate paper and iron, it works just fine! Don’t have laminate paper? No problem. Pull out a roll of packing tape (no heat).

With your trusty hole punch, put a little punch in the top of your book spine/ book mark.

Next, just add ribbon and voila! Now, you have only to grab a cup of tea and a good book, (might I suggest, KEEPING UP WITH MR. JONES?) and your trusty new book mark. Enjoy!


Sofie Couch (that's Sofie - with an "F"), has made a return to romantic comedy. If you were one of those readers who were looking for more books by that illusive writer, Annette Couch-Jareb, (CYBER BRIDE, 1999), she’s back… with a new writing name. 

6 comments:

  1. Hey, Sofie - great idea! Question - does the "flat iron" refer to the hair tool, or the old-fashioned iron that some people in ancient history used to get the wrinkles from clothing? :-) (I don't have the first but have the latter...somewhere...stuffed in the back of a closet or something.)

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  2. What a clever idea. Love it. Will have to give it a try.

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  3. I'll add this one to my 'to do' list which is like my every growing 'TBR' list.

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  4. Wish I was artsy-crafty like this - SIGH This would be a fab give-away at a book signing!

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  5. It's a project so easy, even I can do it! :) Well, I might have wept a tiny bit as I ripped the spine off of the book.

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  6. Hi Sophie--
    I LOVE this idea. Don't think I can annihilate a book. However, if it was already in very bad shape, then I could.
    Victoria--

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