Papercrafting with Polly

Christmas Gifts

Hello friends. Today I am continuing my papercrafting gift series with some decorated notepads. These notepads are made from one piece each of 12" x 12" cardstock and 12" x 12" decorative paper. I selected double sided decorative papers which made it easy to coordinate the decorative papers on the inside and outside. If you search "paper covered notepads" on You Tube you will see lots of samples with instructions. However, before you start you need to decide what size notepad you are going to use inside. I used Junior Legal Pads and they fit perfectly within the piece of 12" x 12" cardstock. If you select a smaller notepad or even smaller Post-It notepads, you can make your structure with one piece of 8½” x 11” cardstock.

I cut all the cardstock structures from tan cardstock simply because it was available and a neutral color. For the outside covers I selected decorative papers that would work with the flower dies I had selected to use. You can of course decorate the cover with any dies and stamps.

My first two notepads are covered with a bright. colorful striped paper that coordinates with a cactus paper (used on the inside). I matted it with solid blue green cardstock. FYI: The front and inside covers measure 8¼” x 5¼”. You can see the pen on the left in its own slot (more about the pen later). I decorated this first notepad with a flower set from Taylored Expressions mounted on TE's stitched ovals.

Taylored Expressions dies Bloom Where You Are Planted and Stitched Ovals

My next notepad is decorated with the cutest little cactus die from Paper Smooches. I added the sun from Impression Obsession and mounted the cactus on top of a green background cut with Poppystamps stitched landscape die.

Paper Smooches die Cactus; Impression Obsession die Sun and Moon.

The inside of the notepad cover has a tear-off calendar and pocket on the left side and the Junior Legal pad on the right.

I covered the top of the notepad with decorative paper then taped it into the structure with very strong tape, either ATG tape or Scor tape -- both available at The Stamp Act.

The pen is a Pentel RSVP pen (available with the junior legal pads at Office Depot). The pen's black bottom screws off so you can curl the decorative paper around the ink refill then stuff it into the pen's barrel. This was the most challenging task!

The next few notepapds are decorated similarly using Blossom dies from Taylored Expressions and various sentiment stamps. I love the bright colors.

Penny Black clear stamp set Sentiment Collection

Missing a calendar -- ran out!

Taylored Expressions stamp set A Life She Loved

Penny Black stamp set Life's Messages

Taylored Expressions die Bloom Where You Are Planted

These notepads were a lot of fun to make and I want to make several more with themes like Cats and Dogs and more masculine papers. You can also add words like "notes, to do list, and important notes" to the covers.

If you are interested in making one or more of these notepads, call me for a class for you and a friend. I think they will make very useful gifts for anyone on your Christmas list. And don't forget to shop The Stamp Act for all your papercrafting needs and lots of inspiration!

Posted at 09:51 AM in Christmas Gifts, Papercrafting Gifts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Making your first Christmas Gift

August 24, 2016

Hello Friends. Impression Obsession just released two very fun dies that you can use to make Christmas gifts for everyone. The dies make a business card holder, but think "outside the box" as you can use these to hold little note cards, post-it notes or even little items on your desk like postage, paper clips or mints. I am sure you can think of lots of uses for them. The best part about the dies is that they are super easy to put together and loads of fun to decorate. You can personalize them for everyone on your list. These are also a wonderful gift for people like your vet, hairdresser, doctor, and many more! Let me show you the dies first then some samples.

For the business card holder samples I made, I cut the holder from 80lb cardstock and the layers from decorative paper. You can also cut the holder from decorative paper and fold the two together as one piece. In the picture below, the long skinny rectangles are where you put tape and then fold the box onto itself in front and back. Next the sides are folded in and adhered with tape or glue. I cut layers for both the front and back and for the inside too since it shows.

Impression Obsession Business Card die ($41.99)

Impression Obsession Business Card Layers die ($20.99)

For this first sample, I cut the business card die from cardstock and decorative paper and then folded the two together to create the holder. I decorated it with a butterfly (Memory Box).

My next sample is for my business cards so it's decorated with crafty grumplings from Taylored Expressions and a stamp and die set from Paper Smooches (I Heart Art and Paint Easel).

I had to decorate the back of the card holder too!

And just on my card holder, I even decorated the bottom! Don't you love this saying!!! And don't you wish it were true!!

My next holder is for my niece Jennifer, the teacher. To decorate this holder I used Taylored Expressions Little Bits dies Schoolhouse and Globe; TE die August sayings; and Paper Smooches stamp set Smarty Pants.

Jennifer doesn't have business cards so I am going to make her some "From the desk of" card that she can use to write notes to students or parents.

And the back:

My next holder is for my other niece Emilee, the veterinarian. She has both cats and dogs! I used Impression Obsession dies Cat set, Dog set and Puppy set; Taylored Expressions dies Build A Doghouse and Doghouse Accessories; and Paper Smooches die Cat Icons.

And the back of each:

I can think of so many others I want to make: realtor, dentist, business owner, etc.! Start now and you will have lovely handmade gifts for all the special people in your life.

Stop in soon!