Hello there....hope your Monday is going well so far!
Today, I've got a fun little project to share with you and lotttts of pictures, so get comfy! Here we go!
I've been itching to get my Christmas list all made out including the names of those we need to shop for as well as possible gifts to get them. Each year, I do this but typically I just use a notebook or some such. This year, however, I decided to put together a special little Christmas planner.....something colorful and pretty, compact enough to carry in my purse when I'm out shopping, and yet something that would keep all my lists together in one place. As I started planning how I wanted to put this little book together, I got to thinking that it would be fun to make one for my sisters and my mom as well so that's just what I did.
The photo above is the beginning stages of my book. I started out with a piece of kraft card stock that measures 9 1/2" x 6". I scored it at the 4 3/4" mark and folded it in half to create the cover of the book. Next, I gathered papers that I wanted to include in the book -- regular old notebook paper, patterned papers, card stock in coordinating colors, vintage book print, A2 envelopes and even a medium glassine bag. Each piece of paper was cut to 4 1/4" x 5 3/4".
I made each book a little different by selecting papers that I thought each girl would love. This is Mom's book.
Diann's......she's loved purple pretty much her whole life. :)
And Grace's......
On the front cover of each book, I stamped a woodgrain pattern with my Background Basics: Woodgrain stamp set and versamark ink. Keeping the pattern and ink the same on each book, helped to speed up the process.
To a couple of the pieces of card stock, I added texture with impression plates. I used the Woodgrain Impression Plate on this one. I also did all of the stamping on various pages first. Now all of the pages were ready to be bound together. I waited, however, to embellish the individual pages, until after the book was bound together. This way, I made sure to not have to punch holes thru any of my embellishments.
I wanted a nice and simple way to bind the book together. I didn't want to have to go buy anything special to be able to complete the book.....I really wanted to use what I had on hand. That being said, I chose to simply punch two holes thru the entire book with all of it's pages tucked in place, and then tied the book together with baker's twine. I used my Crop-a-dile eyelet & snap punch tool by We R Memory Keepers to punch the holes -- it made quick work of the job, by punching thru everything at once. Be sure to position your holes at least 1/2" in from the spine, so as to catch all of the papers with the holes. Trust me on this one! ;)
One other tip for you.....when tying the baker's twine, tie it very loosely. If you pull the twine too tight, you won't be able to open the book all the way and have the pages lay flat.
I used the mat stack 3 die as well as the limitless labels dies to create a pretty label for the front of each book, changing up the colors to match each color scheme. The circle tag image is one I designed for the 2010 Holiday Tags stamp set and the mat stack image is one from the All Booked Up stamp set. I hand wrote "Christmas Planner" on each label.
Here's a peek at some of the pages inside my book. A bit of It's Official patterned paper here, as well as another of my tags from 2010 Holiday Tags and some pure poppy card stock cut with a limitless labels die. Inside the front cover of each of my sisters' and moms' books, I jotted a little note to them....just another way to personalize the books for each of them.
Woodgrain impression plate on a piece of simply chartreuse card stock here as well as the butterfly die and a bit more It's Official patterned paper. I also used a paper doily and a little rhinestone for the butterfly. As you can see, I just used plain old notebook paper, cut to fit my book and then I simply write each person's name on the left column. Then I usually pencil in gift ideas. After the actual gifts have been bought, I write them in ink. This can serve as not only a resource from year to year so I don't repeat gifts for people, but it will also be a pretty little scrapbook to look back on from year to year!
Distressed Dots patterned paper, mat stack 4 die, limitless labels dies, vintage cream felt and the Tiny Treats: Christmas stamp set.
Giga Guide Lines 1 impression plate on the left with hawaiian shores card stock. Medium glassine bag on the right (perfect for tucking notes and such into), layered with a paper doily, mat stack 1 label and stamps from the Everyday Treats and Take Note stamp sets.
A bit of vintage book print and some simply chartreuse card stock die cut with my rick rack die.
Here's a kraft envelope with a bit of simply chartreuse card stock die cut with the bookmark topper die and a stamped image from Big & Bold Holiday Wishes. This envelope can serve as a handy little place to store coupons for those shopping trips.
More Distressed Dots patterned paper, ripe avocado card stock, vintage book print and the mat stack 4 die.
More book print and another envelope, this one stamped with Fancy Flourishes and labeled with vintage cream card stock die cut with the fillable frames #4 die and stamped with "Christmas" from Big & Bold Wishes. I hand wrote the word "receipts".
Here's the back side of that receipt envelope. Handy, huh?
You could certainly make your own book much more embellished, or much less....whichever you prefer. I wanted plenty of cute, crafty bits in my book, but I also didn't want it to be so thick that I couldn't easily carry it with me when I shop.
I tied a simple grosgrain ribbon knot around each of the Christmas Planners (plum pudding, hawaiian shores and blueberry sky).
Then, I slid each book into a large glassine bag -- the fit is PERFECT!
To top them off, I added a simple little limitless labels die cut piece of patterned paper (inspired by Mishie's cute packaging) and added a great big threaded button to each! Love this simple -- but adorable -- look! .....AND, it's a great use for those jumbo buttons!!
I gave each of the girls their Christmas Planners yesterday when we got together for a birthday party. It was soooooo much fun watching each of their faces as they opened their little packages and perused each and every page.....and then traded all of the books around to check each one out! Totally made me smile. I hope they're able to use them for their Christmas lists this year.....I know I'm already filling mine up and loving it!
And now, this is the part of the show where I bore entertain you with more pictures of "Blaze", our (new last year) autumn blaze maple. These were taken in the last few days when she was at the height of her color. Since then, she's been losing her leaves....today, there are hardly any left. But we sure have been enjoying her gorgeous color this fall. Not only are her leaves a fabulous red color, but I happen to love her pretty gray trunk as well. Pardon me while I have a "proud mama moment" and make you look at pictures of our "baby". :)
These last two were taken the other evening when the sunlight was just right, almost making Blaze glow. She makes me happy, that red tree of ours.
Thanks so much for spending a bit of your day with me. I appreciate you so much! I hope I've inspired you a little today, to create an adorable Christmas Planner of your own. What do you think? Might you give it a try?
Have a wonderful day, dear friends.
{Christmas Planner supplies}
Paper: kraft, vintage cream, rustic cream, simply chartreuse, hawaiian shores, pure poppy, ripe avocado, It's Official, Distressed Dots, kraft A2 envelopes, medium glassine bag, notebook paper, vintage book print
Stamps: 2010 Holiday Tags, All Booked Up, Background Basics: Woodgrain, Everyday Treats, Tiny Treats: Christmas, Take Note, Big & Bold Holiday Wishes, Fancy Flourishes
Ink: hawaiian shores, ripe avocado, true black, pure poppy, dark chocolate, versamark
Other: mat stack 1 die, mat stack 3 die, mat stack 4 die, limitless layers dies, fillable frames #4 die, butterfly die, bookmark topper die, rick rack die, woodgrain impression plate, giga guide lines 1 impression plate, pure poppy baker's twine, rhinestone, paper doily, black ultra fine point Sharpie, We R Memory Keepers Crop-a-dile eyelet & snap punch tool
