Altered Notebooks - my new addiction

My newest paper addiction is altered notebooks. I saw this on someone's blog and decided to use them for the club project on April 30. I am doing them again for the other club today and had forgotten to get the notebooks so when I ran out to get them I grabbed a couple different sizes to play with. I always try to have other items to show the club members to spark their imagination.

So - when I got home I played with the notebooks and am really pleased with what I came up with.

This is the club project. It is a small pocket size notebook and had a hole punched below the rings so the ribbon actually wraps around the cover and the ends come through from the back and tie for the bow.

Here is a birthday book. The notebook has 50 pages (actually had about 58 I think) so I put 5 days on each page and have room to record lots of birthdays. I left room at the end of each month for notes or comments.

The first page has January written at the top and then 1, skip three lines, 2, skip three lines, 3 - etc through 5. Page 2 has days 6 through 10, and so on. When I got to January 31 it is by itself on that page. Then I started February on the next page. Now I just need to go through my online calendar and add the names :-) This is small enough to add to a keepsake box full of birthday cards.


And my new prayer journal. This is one of those chubby notebooks. I covered both the front and back and tied on an ink pen with the matching ribbon. How handy is that?


A larger one - full size notebook. It had 3 holes punched through on the left so I used them to do some ribbon adornment. I used the seam binding in Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler and Pear Pizzazz.


This is a close up of one of the bows. I used the Very Vanilla to wrap around the cover. Then took a piece and pushed the ends through from the back. Before tying, I added the pieces of Cherry Cobbler and Pear Pizzazz and tied all three at once.

I also spent the morning cutting ribbon for my current Ribbon and Sticky Pages share. Aren't these colors beautiful! Daffodil Delight, Pretty in Pink, Night of Navy, Marina Mist, Real Red, Rich Razzleberry and Pumpkin Pie. What beautiful flowers these will make. There is still time to get in on this share - check it out here.

Waterfall Cards

One of my favorite cards is the waterfall card. I have always wanted to try it and when my sister made one to share with my club members, I decided to step up to the challenge. Here are a couple I made.

These both use the Sweet and Sour Designer Series Paper. I love the Pumpkin Pie and Rose Red together.

A waterfall card can tell a story - like this one. The orange slice is being eaten as you flip through the waterall.

A little more is gone. I used the scallop circle in the trio of small punches. I inked the orange from Tart and Tangy stamp set with Pumpkin Pie ink then 'rock and roll'ed it in Rose Red

And here is the last image - almost gone :-) This could be just a fun note card or it could be used for a theme like "Savor life".

For the other card I just randomly stamped the two step Greenhouse Garden flowers and cut out the squares. A lot of the fun in making these cards is going through your stamp sets and seeing what ones you want to use.

I enjoyed these so much I am planning a Waterfall Card Class in June. See Details here.
And don't forget to leave a comment to be in the drawing for some blog candy - 100 6x6 sheets of DSP.

Technique Tuesday and RIbbon Share

The Technique Tuesday for this month (May 17) is Bargello. Here is the card we will be making.
To see more of my bargello designs, click here

Card Stock: Bashful Blue, Real Red, Wild Wasabi, Celebrations DSP
Stamp Set: Fun and Fast Notes
Ribbon: 1/4 inch Real Red grosgrain

And I am offering a Ribbon and Sticky Pages share so you can try the Heated Ribbon flowers

For $7.00 you receive enough ribbon and a half sheet of Sticky Pages to make 14 flowers.

The ribbon colors are Real Red, Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie, Pretty in Pink, Daffodil Delight, Marina Mist, and Night of Navy. You receive 1 yard of each.

Here is a flower I made using some dyed ribbon. This is on a card and the ribbon gets hard and stiff from the heat so they would durable enough for mailing.

And another which I put on a box full of cards for a Mother's Day gift. The center of this one is a retired corduroy brad.

Anyone purchasing a ribbon/sticky page share

Mother's Day

Our church has a Mother's Day tea every year and this year we have some special guests. I was asked to make some Mother's Day cards for them.

Of course, I jumped at the excuse to play with my toys (like I need one!)

This is what I came up with. I had played with embossed vellum when I was designing cards with fabric and really liked the effect of the embossed vellum layered on a piece of card stock.

You can see my original card in this blog entry.

It is a great way to get a subdued shade of the color. These cards all use the Vintage Vogue stamp set, Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set, pearl jewels, Modern label punch, Word Window punch, Slit punch (retired), Square Lattice embossing folder and the IN color ribbons.

This one is Peach Parfait and River Rock.

This one is Poppy Parade and Pear Pizzazz.

This one is Blushing Bride and Baja Breeze.

This is a great way to make lots of cards - choose a design and try different color combinations.

And it wouldn't be Mother's Day without my babies :-) Here they are in 1992 - one of my favorite pictures.

We don't get many pictures of just the three of us - but this one is from last spring. I loved them as little girls - but love them even more as the beautiful young women they have become. They both make me proud!

New products

These cards all feature a new Designer Series Paper (DSP) that was available through a special promotion in April. But don't fret if you missed it - you can still order it from the new catalog in July. The paper coordinates with about 10 of the Stampin Up colors so it is really fun to play with.

This is my favorite piece and I have paired it with Cherry Cobbler and River Rock. You don't need much else on a card with paper this nice!


Same papers and colors. Notice the label - it is one of a new set of stamps called Four Frames that was also on the April promotion and will be in the new catalog in July. All four stamps coordinate with the Decorative Label punch. What a great idea!


A clean and simple card that looks so great - because of the paper! This is River Rock and Marina Mist.


The summer mini catalog (May through August) has some new triple layer punches. The punch has three settings and each one creates a different layer of the design. The flowers on this card use layers one and three of the Blossom Bouquet punch. Colors are River Rock and Chocolate Chip.
What to do with the scallop ring from the triple punches - you can't just throw them away! I cut them in half and alternated them to make a design down this card. The colors are River Rock and Baja Breeze.


This is a closer look at the scallops. The ribbon hides the seams where I match up the halves.


And more of the paper - River Rock, Chocolate Chip and Tangerine Tango. I like the off-set ovals for 'something different'.

And the last one - Marina Mist and Tangerine Tango. Again - the paper is so pretty you don't need much else. This would be a great quick card done in a variety of colors. Any one of the papers in the pack would look great on this type of card.

Another Keepsake Box

I made another Keepsake Box full of cards (25 total) for a fundraiser. This one is for a relative (DH's third cousin) who was injured in a car accident and is currently in rehab. The silent auction is next weekend at the end of a Prayer Run. Here is a link to the facebook page for the fundraiser, Prayers for Bethany and Corey Prayer Run

(Bethany is the cousin, Corey is a young man who was in the same hospital as her and had a very similar injury. The families have supported each other through their recoveries)


This is the box. I wanted to use the retired Kaleidoscope designer series paper since her favorite color is lime green and Green Galore is the closest I had to that. It was a great opportunity to use up some retired card stock too (Pixie Pink, Pink Passion, Only Orange and Apricot Appeal)


Here are three of the cards. I did not have any Only Orange ribbon but the Peach Parfait (current IN color) matched what was in the paper so I used that. I love the bold colors and flowers on the papers.

Some of the paper was just pink - so I made a couple cards with that. These both use two-step stamp sets (Fast and Fabulous and Greenhouse Garden) They are fun to do and always look great!

More fun things to do with designer paper. It is so pretty that you don't need much else on the card.

Some of the Tempting Turquoise pieces in the pack. I included the tri-fold for some thing a little different.

The card on the left matches the box lid. These are probably my favorite pieces in that pack. It was fun designing the flower on the right. They remind me of my teen years - psychedelic. The punches around the edge make it look leather.


More interesting ways to use the designer paper - just a couple all purpose cards. A bright and cheery 'Hello'.

Some encrouaging verses. I thought about Bethany and her family a lot while making all these cards - praying continually.


Some more cut outs. The butterfly coordinates with the one on the paper - and it so easy with the Big Shot and die cut. The flower was designed to match the one on the stamp (Fast and Fun) and with the punches it was quick and easy too.

These cards are not as feminine as the others. Some of my favorites for kids.


Some more lime green (Green Galore). Again the designer paper makes the card so easy. The colors in the paper match the Stampin Up card stock and you just grab your colors and put it together.



A couple more fun cards. The summer stamp set is an old one I got on E-Bay. Not even sure of the name. I always love making the pinwheel in the center. The designer paper goes a long way on those! And the patchwork one on the right is another great way to use up those scraps of designer paper or card stock.
Hope you enjoyed looking at the cards - and praying they do well in the silent auction. Prayers for Bethany, Corey and their families.

New Technique - Heated Ribbon Flowers

Here is a new technique my sister and I learned last weekend. To see the tutorial where I saw this originally Click Here

I did not have any colored satin ribbon so I took some of the white and dyed it with a few drops or Red Rose ink refill in some water.

Card stock : Always Artichoke, Pretty in Pink and Crumb Cake

Here is a close up of the flower. It is so EASY! I plan to do more - and am going to have to order some satin ribbon in 'flower colors' Wouldn't these make cute fall mums? Anyone interested in a ribbon share for the satin ribbon. Watch for details! What colors would you like?