Making bookmarks for some very special people...

Yesterday my husband and I and several friends had the lovely occasion to meet the sweet Sisters of the Poor Clares in St. Julians at a get-together organized by the same nuns. We are indeed very happy and fortunate to be able to spend such precious time with them. They always bless us with their welcoming and warm friendship.

The bookmarks were a joint effort/idea made

as a gift for the Poor Clares
~ thanks to all who shared ideas or donated supplies

so that I could make these ~
...here are pictures of the work involved in making them

for those who would like to try making some.

I measured, cut and knotted (on one end) some lovely colourful ribbons, donated by some friends, ...

It was hard to choose from such a lovely variety of crosses...these were generously donated and sent from America by some very dear on-line friends.

The next step was the most difficult...threading the ribbon which is a bit fidgety but I improvised with a home made tool ... a short length of silver wire bent in two to thread the ribbon with!

With my family's help I found a way how to leave one side of the ribbon longer than the other while securing the cross so that the final knot does not show behind the bookmark.

Once I designed the bookmarks I printed them...hmmm, that was when the printer ink finished...anyway I finally got them printed.

The next step was to laminate them.

I love the laminating part...this is when the design part is all done and ready and you can finally see the end result...

A paper cutter is a very helpful tool when you have to cut out some three dozen bookmarks and trim them!

Using a hole punch, make a hole in the middle at the top of each bookmark.

This was also a fun part...threading the ribbon and cross ... here comes the part where you will find out that the knot stays at the back because of what we did earlier when we threaded the ribbon and cross having left one side a little longer than the other.

Here is a close up of the bookmarks.

It took quite a long time (at least 8-10 hours spread over different days) to design (having tried several different designs), to print and then do all the steps above to make these bookmarks.

It was well worth making the bookmarks to see the smiles on the sisters' faces.

Here is the wording on the bookmarks:

"Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible." ~ St. Francis of Assisi ~

"Praise God by Your Life" ~ St. Clare ~

Thank you Lord for the precious gift of
the Poor Clares who daily offer their
prayers for each and every one of us.