I love jotting down random thoughts and ideas. Getting only a few hours of sleep per night plus chasing after a toddler and cranky baby means I forget…. A LOT!
I love notepads… especially pretty notepads. So here we go:
Materials I used:
◦ 4- 12x12 patterned cardstock (I got 8 journals out of this, you could also ust 8x11 or any other size depending on what size you want your journals)
◦ 48- sheets white paper
◦ 4- 8x11 White cardstock
◦ sewing machine and thread
◦ a little elbow-grease $
Let’s get started:
◦ Start by cutting out all the paper. (I measured my journals to 8x6. This left me with 8 journal tops and some extra scraps.)
◦ Take your scrap piece and measure it about 2 inces by the height of your journal (mine measured 2x8).
◦ Stack your paper as follows: White carstock, 12 pieces of plain paper, fancy cardstock. Then fold your 2 inch piece in half, this will be the “binding”:
◦ Place the fold against your stack of paper:
◦ Set your stitch length to the longest your machine allows (if you don’t, the paper could get too perforated and tear out more easily)
◦ And sew:
◦ Here is where the “elbow grease” comes in, I had to manually turn my side handle to sew. The foot pedal just wasn’t getting the job done like I wanted. It takes time, a few wigglies of your arm and maybe a bad word or two. BUT it looks much better manually turning your side handle than using your foot pedal.
And VOILA you’re done!
◦ Add any embellishments you see fit, I hand stamped the back of the journals and the lower right corner of each page:
Wrap with some twine (or in my case yellow yarn), and you’ve got a great, unique gift for anyone who loves to write, doodle or is just plain forgetful!
Hope everyone enjoyed there weekend!
# kristanlynn
