Custom Event Bookmarks

Custom Event Bookmarks: Ages 18 months + with parental/guardian supervision for under the age of 8.

For each Barony of Carillion event, we create a custom bookmark to commemorate the event using the heraldry of the Barony and other heraldic images that go with the theme of the event. The bookmarks are done in a coloring book style so that any one who chooses to participate in completing their own bookmark can learn a little bit of heraldry while also practicing the art of illumination.

Materials: Cardstock paper; MS Word (or Open Office); Photo editing software; Printer; Scissors or paper cutter; Single hole punch; Colored pencils or washable markers; internet access; 1/4 inch ribbon

Items to prep ahead of time:

• In MS Word (or similar document program), change your page layout to be landscape and your margins to be 1/2 inch all around.
• Divide your page into 5 columns.
• Set your paragraph to be centered.
• Choose the font you would like to use and go into the options for the font and select the check off box for emboss. This will make the font appear & print as an outline of each letter that can then be colored in.
• Type in the name of the event, who is hosting the event, the date of the event.
• You'll want to download the images of which ever heraldry and heraldic images you wish to use in your bookmark. Many of the heraldic images and the various heraldry can be found on the SCA or separate kingdom websites.
• Using the photo editing software, you'll want to remove the color from each image you wish to put in your bookmark. If the image is already a black and white outline, you can then add it into your bookmark.
• Put your cursor in your word document where you like the image to be. We generally put the images above and below the wording as you can see in the example picture below. Once you have everything you want for the front of your bookmark, make sure it stays in the first column by adjusting image sizes or font sizes as appropriate.
• Then select everything and copy and go to the top of each column & paste so that you now have 5 bookmarks on one sheet.
• If you would like to do something on the back side, as we do, you can add additional images with the colors removed on a second page. The more heraldry or heraldic images you add the more you can teach those who want to participate in making bookmarks about the icons and imagery we use in the SCA.  
• Once you have everything set for front and back, you can print the front & then flip the pages once dry & put them back into the printer to print the flip side. Be careful that the top of the front of the bookmark matches up with the top of the back.
• Once both sides are printed, cut the bookmarks apart and punch a hole in the top center.
• You can cut out various color 1/4 inch ribbon to 6 inch lengths for the participants to decorate the bookmark with by pulling through the hole & tying off.
• You can also make one larger one on a separate sheet all by itself with the full color version of each image you use. This can be your focal point when explaining the reasoning behind each piece chosen and explaining what the image represents.

Activity:

• Have participants choose a bookmark, a ribbon, and colored pencils or markers in the colors they would like.
• Let them color in the images and the words and when they are finished, have them tie the ribbon to the bookmark through the hole punched in the top.

These are the front & back of the bookmark we customized for the Barony of Carillion's Bellringers/K&Q Bardic Championship/Twelfth Night. Being a royal bardic competition we used the Queen's favor and the Carillion heraldry for the front of the bookmark and then the awards symbols used for the Bardic Champions and the award given to musicians for outstanding vocal performance on the back.