Decorated School Notebooks

I have such a great project for you today!  I decided to decorate larger notebooks for the kids.  There are a lot of videos on youtube with different ideas on how to decorate these notebooks.  In the past, I used adhesive to cover them but decided to use Mod Podge instead.  It worked out so well.  I covered the back of the book with the Mod Podge first and then centered a piece of DSP over it and just smoothed it down.  Once it had dried, I used my exacto knife and just cut around the edges.   I then turned it over and did the same thing to the front of the book and put the decorations on.  I let it dry and gave it another coat to make sure they were covered well.  I used my butterfly dies on this book using matching CS.

For this notebook I used my heart dies.

Rachel asked if I could decorate hers with some stamps.  She liked the Lotus Blossom stamp set, so I stamped them on Whisper White and then cut them out with my stitched circle dies.

Another one I used was the  Best of Flowers stamp set.

Here is a picture of the back of the notebook.

For the front covers, I did three coats of Mod Podge.  I used to use washi tape to cover the spine but decided to just leave them alone.  This was such an easy method to cover these notebooks, and I think they will hold up much better with the Mod Podge.  Our schools started this week, and Jennifer starts Kindergarten next week!  Can't believe that!  All the buses are back on the road as well, so we will have to time out outings again!  Have a great week!

I entered this post at CardzTV Anything Goes Challenge #62.

Thanks for stopping by,

Nancy

Spiral Notebook Cover

It's hard to believe but school is starting next week and it's time to get all the supplies ready.  I am in the midst of covering different sizes of notebooks.  Today's post is for the small spiral notebook.  I saw this quick and easy VIDEO over at Simplysimplestamping and decided to try it out.  It was so easy to make.  Here are three different ones that I made so far.

This is a great way to use up your scraps as well. 

I had some of these notebooks left in my stash from last year.  I love the idea of making a template for the spiral.  And it is true that the front is different that the back.  So make sure you use a different template for each side.

I used CS for the back and my green glue to adhere them together.

I used a nail file to round the corners.

I had some extra monkey DSP which I know Rachel will like.

I covered the back with Chocolate Chip CS.

I didn't decorate the front too much as I know they will be stuffed in backpacks, so I decided to tie some twine on the top.  Now on to the larger notebooks. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Nancy

Heartfelt Blooms Thank You Cards

Over the weekend, I finished up making some Thank You cards that I needed.  With so many birthday celebrations lately one can never have enough Thank You cards on hand.  I decided to use SU's Heartfelt Blooms stamp set.  I made two of each color so I have a few left over for my stash.

For my colors. I used Blackberry Bliss, Sweet Sugarplum, Watermelon Wonder and Calypso Coral.  I used my swirl embossing folder that I have had forever on Whisper White for my first layer.  My colored strip measured 1" x 5 1/4" and my centerpiece measured 4 1/4" x 3 1/2" and 4" x 3 1/4".

 I also used the sentiment that is in the stamp set.

I added some rhinestones on the Thank You banner.

For my inside panel, I stamped part of the flower.  We are in the midst of a steady downpour here with flooding all around.  No sun in sight until Wed.  Most of Joe's garden has been rained out.  It is days like these that I'm glad I am retired and don't have to drive to work!

Thanks for stopping by,

Nancy

Wreath Building Cards

The other week I saw this video from Jennifer McGuire all about her new Wreath Building Bundle.  I thought is was so great that I decided to buy it and try it out.  It comes with stamps and 2 templates to use on a stamp positioning tool.  You can actually make the templates from CS in different sizes so you don't have to purchase the templates if you don't want to.  If you want to make your own, check out how the Paper Pixie made hers.

I have to say it looked pretty easy on the video, but it did take a few tries to get it right.  My first attempt looked like this.

I didn't position the leaves right, so I didn't have enough room in the center for a sentiment.  I also found taping my template down helped a lot, and after I finished one rotation before I started the next stamp I positioned my square CS so it looked like a square again.  I think that helped in getting the next flower/leaves in a better position.  I made two cards with different sentiments from the Thankful Banners stamp set.

I used Sweet Sugarplum CS for my base card measuring 4 1/4" x 8 1/2" and scored it at 4 1/4".  I used Whisper White CS 4" x 4" for my layer.  For my colors I used Sweet Sugarplum, Pretty N'Pink, Blushing Bride, Old Olive and Pear Pizazz.

I left the inside of the Thank You card blank so I could write on it but stamped a birthday greeting on the inside of the Celebrate card from the same stamp set bundle.

I then decided to make envelopes for them out of the Sweet Sugarplum CS with my envelope punch board.  I used one of  the stamps in the bundle to decorate the back of the envelopes.  Jennifer also used Fun Foam to mount her card.  I never tried that before, but since I had some left from the girls crafts I tried it and liked how it turned out.  You could simply adher it down or use dimensionals.  I am definitely going to try some more stamp sets using this technique.

We had a busy weekend celebrating Joe's birthday.  Way too much heat and rain here in PA.  A lot of flooding in the area.  Hope everyone had a great weekend.

I entered this card over at CardzTv Challenge #60 - Anthing Goes. and Always Happy Birthday Challenge - Anything Goes.

Thanks for stopping by,

Nancy

Joe's Birthday Card

I had a special birthday card to make this week! Joe's birthday is Sunday and he will be 80!!  He is looking at me and saying what!!  I tell him it is only a number!  So he tells me he will remember that when it is my turn!  LOL!!  We are all going out to eat at a special restaurant in NJ that he likes, so before things get too hectic I got busy and made him a card.  For my base card, I used one of my favorite colors - Pacific Point.  I only had one layer on this card of Whisper White.  I used one of my favorite stamp set - # of Years and decorated the front using Grapefruit Grove and Pear Pizazz inks.

Then I used my Happy Birthday Thinlets set and # of Years with the Pacific Point CS.  I ended up cutting the Happy Birthday apart and inserting the numbers in between.   I really liked how it turned out.

I used the same stamp set to decorate the inside and the sentiment.  I really couldn't make up my mind what card I wanted to make him but I'm happy with my decision.  Our weather here is still being crazy with heat and rain but Sunday it is suppose to be nice, so I will keep my fingers crossed.  Have a great weekend.

I entered this post at CardzTV Anything Goes Challenge #59 and Crafty Creations Challenge #371 - Anthing Goes.


Thanks for stopping by,

Nancy