free download: cassandra clare + madeleine l'engle bookmarks

I hosted a handmade bookmark swap for my children's lit group recently, in which you were to send one bookmark tailored to one of your partner's favorite books and one bookmark featuring something you liked. As it happened, my partner DeidreArt likes several of the same authors I do, so this one was a particular pleasure.

Deidre's a big fan of Madeleine L'Engle, so I chose two quotes and book covers for the bookmark, including my favorite L'Engle book, A Ring of Endless Light. I've always loved the Austins, and in this book Vicky meets Adam Eddington, a marine biology student who teaches her to swim--and communicate--with dolphins. Whenever I see a dolphin now, I think of how L'Engle described their skin as "resilient pewter."

Deidre also enjoys Cassandra Clare's books. It was the easiest thing in the world to find a number of great Jace quotes from The Mortal Instruments, but I particularly love this swoony one. Who could resist a boy who hunts demons and says stuff like that? I also made a bookmark for Clockwork Angel, too. This was my absolute favorite YA book from 2010, and it tells the story of Tessa, who crosses an ocean to to seek her brother in Victorian London...and who finds that she has a mysterious past and unbelievable powers she'd never dreamed of. I love how Tessa learns to use her gifts to overcome her enemies, and I love all the characters that populate this dark, enthralling world. I'm dying for the sequel to come out, but it's a long way until December 2011. *sigh*

I backed the Cassandra Clare bookmarks with fantastic thin metallic cardboard from an Entertainment Weekly ad that I'd been saving. Do you collect bits and pieces of interesting material for your crafting, too? My supplies closet is bursting to the gills with all kinds of things that I just know will come in handy someday.

Anyway, if you'd like to print out these bookmarks for yourself, feel free to download a copy here. Just remember that they're for personal use only, not commercial, so no funny business, please! Consider it my version of a fan tribute. ;) Hope you enjoy.