A little peek into what's kept me away ...

I've missed a day or two of blogging. Have you noticed? Probably not. I try to blog every day except Sunday just to keep the self-discipline going, if for no other reason.

But I've been absorbed in creating these last few days, and I haven't had the time I usually do at night (which is when I usually blog). So here's a peek at what has kept me busy ...



A granddaughter of one of our church members turned 12 last week, and we were having her family over for pizza and games last night. Her mother abandoned the family this year, so her life has been turned upside-down. I wanted to make her something special for her birthday, so I decided to make her a journal and notepad. I was inspired by this project by Taylor Vanbruggen, whose blog I follow.

She used her JustRite Stamper, but I don't have one of those and won't be paying $30+ for one, so I used a 40% off coupon and got a set of acrylic stamps from Michaels that reminded me of the effect you get from a JustRite Stamper. I paid $6.35 for a whole set. It's not exactly the same, but for the price difference, I'm certainly not complaining! I just got creative.



I made my usual composition book, but with a twist: I added string elastic to keep the cover closed. The idea came when I noticed how much the adhesive had warped the cover. I remembered the decorative notebook my daughter had bought last week and how it had closed with string elastic, so I decided to give it a try. After I decorated the cover, I used my Crop a Dile to punch holes in the cover (through the decorations) and set in eyelets. Then I used string elastic and tied knots to keep it from coming through the holes. It works great!



I stamped each page of the notebook, just like Taylor had done. What a great idea!



This part was one of those "Aha!" moments after I saw what she had done with her notebook. This is the same magnetic pad from Target (on clearance - yeah!). I don't have a coil-binding machine. [I have a comb-binder, but it wouldn't work so great for this project.] Instead, I cut a piece of matching paper and made a cover for the notebook. It works for me!

Would you believe these papers were not sold as a set? I got them about two years apart. :)

I hope she likes it!