Wednesday, June 4, 2014

MIM #167: DIY Notebooks

Even though it's only been a week, it feels great to play with paper again! Erin Lincoln has a terrific challenge for Make it Monday #167: DIY Notebooks. Head over to Capture the Moment to check out her video tutorial and join in the fun.

I pulled out my first ever PTI stamp set for this quick little project. Yes, it was the Take Note stamp set that sucked me into the stamping world, although I didn't really dive into card making until a couple of years later. 



A few pieces of Library Ledger papers were cut and stamped with Aqua Mist images to make the notebook pages.




I followed Erin's instructions closely until it came to adding the cover.




I left the back cover a litte longer so that it wrapped back up the front of the pages. A vase die was selectively cut to provide a tab on this piece.





A paranthesis was cut out from the front panel to provide a slot for the tab, allowing the notebook to close completely.

I left my craft room and family last week to indulge in exploring a new (to me) city. A few months ago my oldest BFFs and I co-ordinated the schedules, set dates and booked flights for a trip to Chicago. We thought the hard part was done (it takes work to get flights from 4 different cities to land within 30 minutes of each other!) and then ran into a minor problem: every lovely hotel room in the city was booked for the ASCO. What the heck?! Apparently we picked the weekend that 30,000+ Oncologists take over the town.

While we have been friends for 40+ years and have slept together on everything from basement floors to tents, the minimum standards for our biennial eating/shopping/exploring trip are pretty high and require at least 2 rooms.  I've used VRBO and AirBnB for family trips before, but this is the first time for I've used this type of service for a girlfriend weekend and I'm not sure we will go back to a hotel again. We gave up daily housekeeping, but found a fabulous condo, with 24 hour concierge services, that didn't require sharing rooms and suited us perfectly.

Our sweet Bella is almost fully recovered and thrilled to be free to roam the house again. I had to laugh at my daughter very seriously assessing her last night and determining that there was no reason Bella couldn't sleep in her room once again.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie


16 comments:

  1. Jacquie, love how clever you used the dies! Can't wait to try your ideas! So glad your reunion was a happy one. Nothing better than girls that enjoy each other!

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  2. Love your take on the notebook. So clever to adapt the cover. Sounds like you had a fabulous girls weekend. I'm in the process of planning one for my college friends, and I used HomeAway to book a house (they call it a mansion!) in La Jolla. A little nerve wracking, but I think it will work out just fine. I'm encouraged by your experience.

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  3. This is so clever and the closure on the bottom is great. I see that you were in Chicago recently. That is in my backyard. Hope you had a great time.

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  4. Jacquie, this is simply beautiful! I love the colors & the fabulous design!
    Great creativity! Well done!

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  5. This is so fun...I really love your take on this MIM>

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  6. C-l-e-v-e-r!! This is fabulous! :)

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  7. Love the way this notebook closes, so clever!
    Sounds like a fun and crazy weekend,glad you found a nice place to stay finally!

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  8. Super idea to use the vase and parentheses to create a tab for your cover. Love the colors and design as well.

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  9. Such a pretty notebook- I end up writing on backs of envelopes or any scrap paper lying around!

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  10. great idea and your notebook looks pretty!

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  11. Clever notebook cover, Jacquie! Love how you personalized each of the inside pages too...great notebook!

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  12. Such a great notebook. Love your colors and your take on the challenge.

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  13. Jacquie, your notebook is so beautifully done! Very cool how you used your dies to make the closure

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  14. Lovely stamping on the cover and love your idea with the extended cover. Might use your idea! thanks for the great inspiration!

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  15. Jacquie, this is wonderful! Love it inside and out! Great notched design!

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  16. So pretty, Jacquie ... great colours and what a brilliant idea for the closure! Anita :)

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