Quick Specs
- Type: Metal bookmark with a beaded charm
- Size: 4 1/2 inches
- Blade: Silver-toned feather with a curved hook top
- Beads: Seven small round beads: clear, dark purple, charcoal, green, brown, orange-red, red
- Drop: Polished dark purple teardrop stone
A Silver Feather With a Column of Beads and a Purple Teardrop
A column of small round beads hangs from a ring at the top of the feather, and it reads like a short spectrum. A small wire loop joins the ring to the first bead, a clear one that catches the light at the top of the column. Then come dark purple, charcoal gray, soft green, brown, orange-red, and a speckled red, each about the same small size, and they sit one against the next with no gaps, so the column reads as a single line of color. Below the last bead a tiny silver ring holds a teardrop of polished dark purple stone, smooth and domed, with lighter streaks running through it. The feather itself is a flat silver-toned blade with a raised center spine, slanted barb lines, and a rounded tip, topped by a curved hook. The beads and the drop hang from a short wire at the hook’s ring, so they swing freely beside the blade. The teardrop is the largest piece on the bookmark by far. Seen together, the slanted barbs of the feather and the straight vertical line of beads give the bookmark two different rhythms.
The drop’s smooth, domed surface is the one soft shape against the sharp lines of the feather. The dark teardrop gives the bottom of the charm weight and a single strong color, and the clear bead at the top lets light through before the colors begin. Moving down, the beads shift from cool tones to warm ones, which makes the column look like a small gradient beside the plain silver feather. Silver and purple pair well with dark book covers, and the warm beads add a flash of orange and red against a navy or black binding. In a book, the feather stays in the pages while the beads and the drop hang at the edge, where you can see them from the side of a closed book. A bookmark with this much color adds a little life to a shelf, since the drop hangs at the edge of the book like a small jewel. At 4 1/2 inches it fits in a bag with a paperback, and the feather blade gives the whole piece a tidy outline that stays quiet beside its colorful tail.
Practical Ritual Applications
Choose a book you open every day and give the bookmark that job: a journal, a Tarot guidebook, a novel you read before bed, or a notebook where you log your readings. The colored beads make the bookmark easy to find on a crowded desk, and the teardrop hangs where you can spot it when you reach for the book. A shelf of paperbacks with several bookmarks shows a row of drops in different colors, which gives a bookcase some life. It also works as a place keeper in a recipe book or a planner. It makes a simple gift for a reader, a student, or a friend who loves stones and feathers in their decor. For more things to keep beside your books, browse my stationery and writing supplies.
How to Use and Store Your Feather and Stone Bookmark
Slide the feather in, keep the beads outside the pages, and lift it out by the feather or the hook.
- Open to Your Page
Slide the feather blade between the pages at the place where you stopped, with the curved hook resting over the top edge, and close the book gently. The beads and the drop hang from the hook beside the blade, so check that they sit outside the page block before you close the cover.
- Handle the Drop With Care
Lift the bookmark out by the feather or the hook. The beads are small and strung on a fine wire, so pull gently and watch for the column catching on a page edge. Care guides for decorative pieces advise extra care with thin and protruding parts, and the teardrop is the heaviest piece on the end.
- Store It Dry and Straight
When you finish a book, lift the bookmark out and lay it flat, or hang it by the hook from a lamp base or a bookend so the beads fall straight. Keep it in a dry spot away from heaters, and wipe the feather with a soft, dry cloth when it collects dust.
The Tarot Fellow Standard
I stock this bookmark for its color: a silver-toned feather with seven small beads and a polished dark purple teardrop stone on a short wire. It does a plain job, marking your place, and does it with some sparkle. I carry it for readers who keep a stack of books going, for journal keepers, and for anyone who likes a little stone on their desk. If the stone side of it appeals, my crystals, stones, and gemstones collection has more to see.
Frequently Asked Questions
General bookmark guidance advises keeping the part inside the book thin, so it will not indent the pages, and avoiding dyes or decorative materials that might bleed onto the paper. The Canadian Conservation Institute also advises against sticky notes, because they leave residue. On this bookmark the beads and the drop hang from the hook, outside the pages, and only the feather blade goes between them.
Clean, dry hands are the recommended habit. The Institute of Conservation notes that skin oils and dirt can stain paper, and it adds that gloves can reduce your sensitivity to delicate pages, so clean, dry hands are advised for turning them. It also advises opening books carefully and never pulling one off a shelf by the top of its spine.
The commonest materials are card, leather, and fabric, and bookmarks have also been made from paper, silver, brass, silk, wood, cord, and plastic. Modern ones range from ribbon and felt to steel, wire, tin, beads, vinyl, and gold. Metal bookmarks with beads, like this one, sit within that long list.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet