Hahnemühle's New Bookmark Pad

 

Hahnemühle just released a super fun product you are going to need! So much fun to be had! 

Made with their Expression watercolor paper, the new Bookmark Pad holds fifteen 2" x 8" bookmarks ready for you to add your artistic touches. Today I want to give you an overview of the ways I used the bookmarks to create art and tell you how the paper held up to my experimentation. 

Glued at the top, the 140 lb. 100% cotton paper is ready for you to create with, using either the landscape or portrait orientation. When I started to pull the first sheet out to use - the entire pad broke loose from the packaging. But that's ok. It fits right back in to stay safe. The pages are very snug in the glued binding and will not fall loose piece by piece. The cold pressed surface holds watercolor well and also take acrylic as you will see in my examples. These bookmarks are presented as watercolor ready. I am not one to play by the rules, so I tried a bit of everything. Let me show you. 

For my first bookmark I wanted to use my very favorite products. For the moment. Hahahaha! That is subject to change at a moment's notice. Anyway. I used Ranger's Distress Ink Pads and a blending tool to rub on the background color. Lots of rubbing on this cold pressed paper to get the color down into every bit of surface. Easy peasy! No problems with the paper at all. Using one of the new Totally Tracy stamps, I added some peripheral flowers and that was it for the background. The girls are Krista Smith stamps I've had forever - colored, cut and glued like collage elements. And last I stamped some sentiments. The paper was great! No problem at all. Not even with all that rubbing with the blending tool. 

This was a fun one! The background was made using my squish technique and Lindy's Magicals. The magicals are little pots of powder that I dropped onto my craft mat, then spritzed with water. I used three colors on this one. Lots of water and again - no problem with the paper. I used pens, stamps, Posca paint pens and Archival ink. Each product worked great on this watercolor bookmark. 

This was an easy one! I soaked the bookmark with loads of water, then swished three different Schmincke water colors into all that juicy water. And I let it dry naturally. The imagery is a large stamp I added using Archival ink. This paper can take a massive amount of water and hold up with no issues. 

Since these bookmarks feature watercolor paper I figured I should at least watercolor a picture on one of them. Hahaha! My product of choice for watercoloring is almost always Schmincke. And that is what I used here. Along with Sharpie pens, Posca paint pens and some Archival ink. I use lots of water when I paint - probably way more than I need to - and I had no issues. No pilling of the paper. No warping. And it dried totally flat. 

I wondered how acrylic paints would work on the Hahnemühle bookmarks. And what about mono printing on a gel plate? What about stenciling and mark making? So that's what I did next. This paper worked like a charm on my gel plate! Sometimes lifting your print will tear the paper or you might lose small bits of paper left behind on the plate if the paper is too thin. Not a problem here. At 140 lbs., this paper lifted great! I used Amsterdam acrylic paint for my lift. Then I stamped and watercolored. Other products were Posca paint pens, Ohuhu Glitter pens and Archival ink. I love how this turned out!

And just one more. A little tongue in cheek humor. I do most of my reading on a Kindle. Hahaha! But these bookmarks make great gifts! Or knowing me they will end up on the pages of my daily journaling I try to do on occasion. This started with a gel print background using Amsterdam acrylic paints. I added stamps with Archival ink, Posca paint pens, some scraps and bits of leftover papers from other projects, a little watercolor and Copic markers. The two girls are Krista Smith designs I colored, then fussy cut and adhered using a sticker machine. 

I used six of my fifteen bookmarks. There are still many ways I can use the remainder. And I will. And most likely use them in my daily journal or on art journaling pages. 

Would I recommend Hahnemühle's bookmarks to you? Yes! Absolutely! Even if you do all your reading on a tablet? Yes! Absolutely! There are many ways you can use these little bits of art. And trust me - you will want to!

Already available in Europe at this location.  In the United States these bookmarks are available at St. Louis Art Supply and MC Art Supplies, but you may need to ask for them as they are a new item.