Flower Pocket Notebook

Just in time for spring! I have a Flower Pocket Notebook to share using Eileen Hull's versatile Pocket Notebook Sizzix die.

My mother always kept a small flower garden by the edge of our driveway where there was full sun.  I grew up helping her in this little garden, planting, weeding and watering.  To this day, I love working in my own gardens thanks to my mother's early teaching. 

This was the inspiration for the cover of my Pocket Journal and although I left the pages blank, I will probably fill them with photos of my garden, garden poetry, or maybe notes about what I'm planting.

First, I'll show you my finished Pocket Notebook and then a photo tutorial of how I put it together.

It's a lovely size - 4 1/4"x 6 3/4".  Mine is 3/4" deep but you can make it deeper- I removed some of the binding since I only added 2 signatures as you will see below in my tutorial.

I used 3 colors of wrinkled seam tape for the simple closure, tying them in a big loopy bow. 

The ribbons match the colors I used in coloring the cover.

There are two signatures of 4 pages each, folded in half and held in with black elastic cord.

The woodgrain on the inside covers continue the feel of the outdoor garden.

I adhered the ribbons to the binding with some ScorTape so they wouldn't fall away from the notebook when opened.

Here are some photos of the easy process of putting this notebook together.

I die cut two covers out of Little Sizzles Mat Board.  Then I sponged the outside binding areas with Black Soot Distress Ink.

I adhered a piece of 7" wide Botanical Rhapsody washi tape from Altenew on the fronts of both covers cutting it large enough to wrap it around the edges to the inside to be sure the washi tape doesn't lift off. Then I colored in the flowers and leaves on this black and white washi tape with Copics. 

The Copics give it such a nice soft coloring.  I dried the covers briefly with my heat tool.

You can compare the difference of just black and white on the left and colored on the right.

I didn't want a really wide notebook (mine is 3/4") - so I cut off one section of the binding on each cover as shown.

I adhered some wood grain patterned paper to the inside covers.  I cut the paper using the die so they are just the right size and also have the holes in the correct places.

I layered the bindings over each other, matching up the holes and glued them in place. I put the elastic down through a hole on the bottom right, back up the hole on the bottom left, up the inside of the binding, down through the hole on the top left, and back up through the hole on the top right.

Then I knotted the two ends.

There are many ways to string a journal to hold the signatures in.  This is just one way. It looks very clean on the outside using this method.

I cut 8 pieces of watercolor paper 8"x 6" and folded them in half so each page is 4"x 6".   I made two signatures of 4 folded pages.  I took each signature and slipped it under one of the cords in the middle of the pages

Here you can see the two signatures held in with the elastic.  You can easily add more pages just by slipping them under the elastic.

A very easy process to create a lovely Pocket Journal using any theme!

Paper:  Little Sizzles Matboard - Sizzix, watercolor paper - Canson, Marble Paper Pad - JoAnn.
Ink:  Ranger Distress Black Soot.
Accessories:  Pocket Notebook Die - Eileen Hull/Sizzix, 7" wide Botanical Rhapsody washi tape - Altenew, Copics G28, YG17, Y17, RV21, black elastic cord, wrinkled seam tape, Tombow Glue, ScorTape.

Album of Birds and Bird Poems - Eileen Hull's Pocket Notebook

Today I'm sharing a project using Eileen Hull's Sizzix Pocket Notebook die. 

I have always loved birds.  Growing up, my mother would always point out the different birds around our home and she would hear their song and say "oh, there's a cardinal or a bluejay".  To this day, I keep year round birdfeeders in our backyard and love to identify the birds that come to feed.

So I decided to make a notebook of birds!

First I will share photos of the covers for my Pocket Notebook and all the pages inside.  

Then I will share a few process photos.  

WARNING - lots of photos to follow!

I used papers from Wallflower Paper Stash by Tim Holtz/Idea-ology for the covers, using the pieces that featured birds.

The finished Pocket Notebook measures 6 1/4" x 4 1/8" - this one is 3/4" deep because I cut off some of the binding and used just 2 signatures, it can be 1 1/4" deep with 3 signatures.

Front cover.

Back Cover

I stamped 'of birds' on this vintage Album image for the first page.

I used free vintage bird images from The Graphics Fairy.  They are on the right side of each page.

I Googled bird poems and found lots of free images with quotes and poems about birds. They are on the left side of each page.

I added vintage lace and die cut scallop edge strips to the images

I layered various shaped die cuts behind many of the bird images.

This quote says "I always wonder why birds stay in the same place when they can fly anywhere on the earth.  Then I ask myself the same question" - Harun Yahya

This quote says "Hold fast to dreams. For if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird, that cannot fly." Langston Hughes

This quote says "So I let her go, for it was unfair of me to keep her. It was the hardest thing I'd ever done but I knew it was right. She was a bird I caged that had forgotten how to fly but dreamed of clouds when she closed her eyes." Atticus

This poem says: "Be like the bird, who pausing in his flight on limb too slight feels it give way beneath him, yet sings knowing he has wings." Victor Hugo

I stamped and die cut various feathers for the last page.

And now here are some photos of how I put my Album of Birds Pocket Notebook together.

I cut the Pocket Notebook cover twice and the latch pieces once out of matboard.  I ended up using the piece on the top right for my closure.

I squeezed some of Eileen Hull's Blends 2 ink colors onto my craft mat - Bay, Nutmeg and Gold thinking these would be good bird egg/nest kinds of colors.

I sponged the mix of colors on the inside of both covers and along the binding areas on the outside of the covers.

I cut and adhered pieces of patterned paper on the outside of the covers not covering the bindings.

I cut off one section of the binding on each cover since I just wanted two signatures in this Notebook so the binding didn't need to be so wide.  I punched another hole in the center of the left piece to line up with the center hole on the right piece. 

I  thread a loop of gold elastic cord through these center holes for my closure.

I used a piece of gold elastic cord to hold the signatures in the Notebook

Here's how the cord looks on the outside.

This shows the piece of gold elastic cord I knotted through the middle hole for the closure.  I cut a piece about 9" long, folded it in half,  made a double knot in the middle so it wouldn't pull through the hole and put the two ends through the hole to the outside.

Here's the closure loop on the outside. I added a bird charm on the cord and then thread it through the holes on the closure piece.  I stretched the cord  around the cover to be sure I had enough to go around but still hold it tight and then knotted the cord to the other other end.

 The sentiments stamped on the front and back of my covers are from Fine Feathers, a retired set from the now closed Waltzingmouse Stamps.

Now to the pages - I cut 7 pieces of patterned paper 8"x6" folded in half to make 4"x6" pages.  I made 2 signatures - one with 4 folded pages one with 3 folded pages.   I used Tim Holtz Wall Flower Paper Stash papers choosing papers with bird images and pattern images in blue and green colors.

I sprayed the front and back of each of the pages with Ranger Distress Oxide Spray in Vintage Photo.

I downloaded free vintage bird images from The Graphics Fairy and copied them onto a Word Document resizing each one to fit on  my 4" x 6" pages.  I printed them on white card stock.

I also did a Google search for "free bird poems" and found lots of bird quotes and poems that I downloaded, copied onto a Word Document and resized to fit my pages.

I die cut various frame shapes out of Rustic Cream cardstock and sprayed them with Ranger Distress Oxide Spray in Vintage Photo.  I placed these behind most of the vintage bird photos.

I die cut lots of strips of a scallop edge out of Rustic Cream Cardstock and sprayed them as well.  I added these, along with some vintage lace I had in my stash, to the edges of the bird quotes and poem images.

I love looking through my Album of Birds and reading the bird quotes on the pages.

Thank you so much for taking the time to look at all my photos - I hope I have inspired you to make a Pocket  Notebook featuring something YOU love -  maybe fill it with family photos, images of flowers, horses, dogs, or cats.  Perhaps you would make a Pocket Notebook full of favorite quotes or Bible Verses or just blank pages to record your thoughts! 

It's a lovely size of 6 1/4" x 4 1/8" so easy to carry around with you.

Stamps:  Fine Feathers - Waltzingmouse (retired), Mini Formal Snap Stamps Alphabet - Karen Foster (retired)
Ink:  Obsidian - Altenew, Versamark, Soft Stone - Papertrey Ink.
Paper:  White Little Sizzles Matboard - Sizzix, white cardstock, Rustic Cream cardstock, Vellum card stock - Papertrey Ink.
Accessories:  Pocket Notebook Die - Eileen Hull/Sizzix, Noted Scalloped A2 die, Noted Pinked Die - Papertrey Ink, Mini Cabinet Die, Large Oval Die - Movers and Shapers/Tim Holtz/Alterations, Stitched Mats Rectangles - Lil Inker Designs, Fine Feather Die set - Waltzingmouse (retired), lace edge die - no name brand, gold elastic cord, vintage lace, Ranger Distress Oxide Spray Vintage Photo, ScorTape, Tombow Glue, Eileen Hull Blends 2 Color Box Inks Bold, Bay, Nutmeg, bird charm Adornments: Treasures -Tim Holtz/Idea-ology, gold embossing powder - Ranger, free digital images - The Graphics Fairy,  Googled free Bird poem images, water mister, craft mat, sponge.