Taking Notes...and Other Anal Things

Sometimes I am the messiest, sloppiest, laziest person (think finishing laundry) and other times I am so anal, it is scary (think I just went back and corrected the typos in Wednesday's post).

I am a notorious note-taker....I find if I write it down, I will remember it (probably without ever needing to look at the note again)...I have notebooks and lists everywhere! Lists for shopping, for unfinished projects, for things that need to be cleaned or completed at work, for ideas on new projects, for what needs to be done in the yard, for scrap-related contest deadlines....and on....and on....and on! I opened a box in my office yesterday only to find several notebooks (partially used) and lists of thing that needed to be done before Christmas 2008...and yes, everything was neatly checked off.

Several months ago I was at a local stamping store (Mainely Stampin'...they are so awesome in there!) and saw a super cute handmade notebook on the counter made by one of the employees there, Martha. I almost immediately went home and made one up for myself to keep track of my scrapbooking supplies. It includes lists of the inks I have, the embossing plates for my Cuttlebug, embossing powders, paints and so on.

This past January my friend asked for one of these notebooks for her birthday. It is a pretty simple, but super cute idea...simply take several large shipping tags and bind them together between two chipboard covers and there you have it, notebook heaven!

Here are some pictures of the finished product for Foxyscrapr's present (hers turned out much nicer than mine (the anal side of me may have to remake mine!):


This is the outside chipboard cover, covered with patterned paper from SEI and distressed with Tim Holtz Distress inks. The center medallion is cut from white cardstock, stamped and embossed with several stamps. I coated the entire cover with Crackle Accents from Ranger Arts. It is hard to see clearly in this picture, but the medallion and cover are glossy with and aged cracked finish. The notebook is held together with two rings that are tied with various ribbons.


The inside 'pages' are tags I cut with my Silhouette. I hand-drew the lines and added stamping at the corners.


Here is a close-up of the stamping (I am still perfecting my stamping technique).


And here is one of the pages "in-action" with a list of the Distress Inks Foxy has...


And finally, this is the inside cover with an important note...Remember to Play Everyday!

So there you have it...Thanks to Mainely Stampin' for giving me the idea and inspiration!