COMPOSITION NOTEBOOKS or JOURNALS

Another excellent way to use retired Designer Paper is to cover Composition Books to be used as special notebooks or journals.  Here are three that use a combination of retired and current products.  I know that you can adapt any of them to the use of current products and hope these may give you an idea or two. For the back and the insides of the covers, I use either Designer Paper or plain card stock, depending on what I have and want to use. These three all have DP of different designs from the front cover but from the same package so that they coordinate well. That's what I like so much about Stampin' Up!  Coordinating colors and designs are so easy and look great.



PRAYER DIARY

I needed a new Prayer Diary where I keep my prayer lists and follow-ups along with notes about cards sent and other communications that apply.  This is an altered Composition book using Rose Red Designer Series paper from a year or two ago.  The alphabet is the retired Brushstroke Alphabet.  The ribbon looks that looks white in the photo is actually Pretty in Pink 1/4" grosgrain. The darker ribbon is Rose Red.

If I use this template to make another covered journal, I will make the panels a little larger to show off the variety of designs in the papers.  My original thought was to leave the larger space and sprinkle small hearts on it, but when the rest was assembled, they made it look way too busy, at least for my taste.

The back cover is plain Rose Red CS while on the inside covers, I used the additional patterns of the designer papers.  Now that I've used most of the retired Rose Red DSP, it is time to order the current one. I can't believe that I will actually order some more DSP - I have way too much in my stash.  You'll be seeing more of it as I continue to use it up. 

Happy Stampin'

More covered notebooks

Here are a couple of notebooks. They are such fun to do, and you can make them as simple or as complex as you wish, just like cards.

Shades of Spring Designer Paper is used for both of them.
This is a little spiral bound purse notebook and matching pen. In addition to the Designer Paper, I used the 5/8" satin ribbon found in the Occasions mini catalog and the Elegant Eggplant 1/4" grosgrain ribbon. The stamp set is retired Brushstroke Alphabet and the note is (gasp!) a non-SU stamp. This notebook currently resides in my own purse.

This one uses Orchid Opulance as the base color. The flower is from the Pretties Kit. It started out white, as do all the flowers in the kit. I sponged the largest petals with Rose Red and Orchid Opulance, the middle layer with Rose Red and the top one with Pretty in Pink. The half pearl in the center is also from the Pretties Kit. Ribbons are Whisper White and the two pink ones are also Stampin' Up! ribbons but retired colors. If I hadn't had them in my stash, I would have sponged more white ribbon with Rose Red and Pretty in Pink. The silver cord separating the colors is usually available in the Holiday mini catalog, but I find that I buy enough to use all year long.

Joy Journal

This altered Composition Book was intended to be made for the church Bazaar but, as you can see, I missed by just a skosh when fitting the cover. Unfortunately, it was not repositionable. I don't feel comfortable putting it on the sale table with the error, so decided to keep it for my own Joy Journal. The bow got a little squashed in the scanner but you get the idea. This example uses last year's Christmas DSP as well as Letterpress Alphabet stamps, also retired, and retired ribbon. The retired products are just fine for a sale item or a personal item. I will make another journal to donate. I also plan to make a set of cards using this lovely paper from last year. Because these are retired products they are no longer available for purchase, but I hope the sample gives you a starter idea for your own creation. It's a very simple template but the pretty papers make it attractive.

Covered Notebooks

I need a little notebook for phone numbers to keep by my phone. It seems everyone has a home number, a work number, a cell phone number.... well, you get the idea.

This is one of those little 8/$1.00 spiral notebooks that come on sale occasionally. When I get the Trio punch, I'll add a bouquet or two of Perfect Plum to the side strip. I used the Friendship stamp from Think Happy Thoughts because most of my phone calls are with family and friends. The Designer Paper, Parisian Summer, is lovely and much prettier than shows in the photo. It looks washed out here, probably because it is so subtle.

The second notebook is one that I tore off the wire binding and used the Crop-a-dile to punch holes in the top. The alphabet is Brushstroke Alphabet, which is retired, but I still like it.