Make your Own 
 Unique Gold Bookmark

This step-by-step guide will walk you through my process to creating your very own unique gold bookmark.

make your own unique gold bookmark - gold foil application

This gorgeous gold abstract bookmark is a one-off original piece created by myself, Maria Atton. In this blog post I aim to walk you through the steps required to enable you to make your own unique gold bookmark.

You will need the following materials and equipment to make your own unique gold bookmark…

  • Thick card – I use 400gsm but thick watercolour card will also work well
  • Pebeo Gilding paste – Buy on Amazon
  • Old paintbrush – I use an old, cheap kids paintbrush that I don’t mind ruining!
  • Gold leaf – for small projects such as this I use imitation gold leaf – Buy on Amazon
  • Soft bristled brush – Buy on Amazon
  • Winsor & Newton gold ink – Buy on Amazon
  • Small pipette
  • Paper straw
  • Gelly Roll metallic gold fine line pen – Buy on Amazon

Excellent! Now that you’ve got your materials and equipment ready, follow these steps to make your own unique gold bookmark.

The step-by-step instructions on how to make your own unique gold bookmark…

Step 01 – Applying the gilding paste to your bookmark

Get your materials and equipment ready and cut your thick card down to the size you want. The bookmarks I make use a 400gsm thick textured card and are cut down to 60mm x 160mm as I feel this is a good size bookmark. 

Next you need to use your old paintbrush to randomly paint some gilding paste onto the area – be fairly generous. Be warned, this stuff can be pretty messy and can totally ruin your paintbrush. Make sure you wash your brush out in soapy water as soon as you’re finished.

Important: Wait 15 minutes before moving on to the next step.

Step 02 – apply the gold leaf to your bookmark

After leaving the gilding paste for 15 minutes you are now ready to add the gold leaf. Gold leaf can be incredibly fragile so handle this with care. Gently apply the gold leaf to the area (this may require more than one sheet) and carefully press down with the soft bristled brush.

Leave for a further 15-30 minutes to give the gilding paste time to dry adequately.

Step 03 – Remove the excess gold leaf

Once you’re happy that the gilding paste has dried enough, use your soft bristled brush to gently rub away the excess gold leaf. As gold leaf is very light and fragile don’t be surprised if you find little bits of gold leaf everywhere!

Step 04 – Add the gold ink to the gold bookmark design

Making use of the small pipette add drops of the Winsor & Newton gold ink to your bookmark sporadically. make sure yo give the ink a good shake first.

When you’re happy with the placement of the gold drops, use the paper straw to blow the ink around the bookmark. Turn the bookmark around to ensure that the ink travels in different directions for a more dynamic look.

Step 05 – Add your finishing touches using the gold fine line pen

The final step of the process pf creating your own unique gold bookmark is to add in the finishing details. I did this with my metallic gold fine line pens using a series of lines to contrast with the randomness of the gold leaf and gold ink. Here you could ass any pattern or combination of patterns that appeals to you.

Et voilá! Your unique gold abstract bookmark is finished and ready to use… Enjoy!

I hope that you have found this step-by-step guide to
making your own unique gold bookmark useful and fun!

Of course, if you wanted to avoid all the hard work and get your hands on an original piece of bookmark art you can always visit my Etsy shop and buy one ready made!