Keeping Christmas {Holiday Pocket Journal}

 

Welcome to the August Keeping Christmas Blog Hop! I can't believe how quickly Christmas will be here! Eep! With that in mind, I chose to make 6 Christmas pocket journals/calendars to give as gifts to keep track of holiday planning! Even though I prepped 150 of THESE and thought I'd never want to see one again {LOL!}, I decided that they'd be super fun to make all dressed up in Christmas paper and charms! Before I dive into the details, here is the list of the other Keeping Christmas designers. I can't wait to see what they have created!

Kelly Lunceford (Creator)

 Claire Broadwater

 Lori Tecler

 Nance Salkeld 

 Nina Forsyth

 Marybeth Lopez

 Nancy Penir

 Carol Hintermeier 

The paper collection that I used for the entire project is called Midnight Noel and I found it at Hobby Lobby in the Christmas sticker/embellishment section. I always love when July rolls around and the Christmas crafting section makes a come-back!

I bought the charms from Amazon and they came in a pack of about 100 or so for not much money. If you just search for "Christmas charms", a ton of options are available. I used lobster clasps to attach a spiral jump ring and then the charm which makes it a cinch to add to the elastic. 

I wanted to include a pocket planner in each of the journals. I bought these from Amazon as well and they are a two year journal so you can use it for next year as well! I can usually find things like this at the Dollar Tree, but I sent my husband and he came home with huge spiral bound student planners! LOL! I gave those to my kids to keep track of all of their remote learning things, like Zoom meeting codes, etc. Spring was a learning curve for all of that and now I feel a little more prepared!

But....back to the journals. I measured the planner size to decide how big to make the laminated journal covers. I was hoping to find something 6 inches or smaller so I could get two covers from one sheet of 12 by 12 paper, but these pocket planners were just slightly larger.

The pocket planners came with a floral cover, but were also inserted into a plastic protective sleeve. I decided to cut some coordinating pattern paper to slip inside to keep the journals cohesive and festive.

The other two sections are just like what are inside of THESE and I used coordinating paper for those as well.

I thought these might be fun hostess gifts to give at Thanksgiving, but most people start their holiday planning and shopping long before that. Maybe Halloween gifts? LOL! I'm not sure when I will gift these!

I was thrilled to find the perfect Candy Cane charm in the pack that I bought. It goes perfectly with this sweet pattern paper! The elastic that I use it also from Amazon and comes in a roll of 100 yards and is very economical. If you search for "Cord Elastic" you will find a lot of different choices!

Here's a few more of the pretty charms. I just love how nicely the snowflake looks on the journal on the left side...a perfect match!

I made one for myself, so I can't wait to put it to use organizing and planning all of my holiday purchases and dates to remember. I'm guessing there won't be nearly the amount of "places to go" this year, which is sad. I think navigating the holidays will be difficult for all of us this year! "I'll be home for Christmas....you can plan on me!" LOL!  I think it will help us all cherish our traditions and loved ones a little bit more! Thanks for fluttering by!

Pocket Journal Step-by-Step Visual Instructions

Hello and welcome to friends old and new!! I'm doing things a little bit differently today for a special purpose! I was asked to help create journal kits for the youth group of our church for day camp on Saturday.  I am using this platform to facilitate a visual look and step by step instructions on how the journals are assembled! I so wish I could be with each of you for camp, but please know that I am there in spirit and I hope you have a fabulous day despite things being "different than usual"!  Always remember, you are loved NO MATTER WHAT! 

Each of you will be given a kit with everything you will need to compete your journal! I do need to add, however,that this journal is NOT my design, but was created by my friend and SU! demonstrator Melissa Colledge! I have just used her darling journal as an example to create mine, as well as your kits, so let's get started!!!

The first step is to carefully trim around the laminated journal cover leaving about a 1/16 inch border. You can trim a little closer if you feel like you have a steady hand! The lamination is slippery, so you can actually just slide the scissors carefully down each side, but be careful to be steady! Take extra time to trim evenly around the rounded corners. If you look closely at this photo, you can see there are three score lines; one going directly down the center and two on either side of the center line. You will need to fold these sharply. You can use the edge of a credit card or a bone folder if you have one!

Once it is folded, you will have created a spine, which will be where the actual journal notebooks are attached. I will show how to do that in a bit!

This is how it should look on the side. You will notice that there is a hole right in the center of the spine. Locate that on your journal for the next step.

In your kit, you have two different pieces of elastic cord. For this next step, you will need the SHORTER piece. Thread the two ends through the outside of the journal spine leaving a loop that is long enough to secure your journal. You may want to scroll up to the first two photos for a visual of what I mean. You don't want this loop to be too tight or too loose! 

Tie a single or double knot with the two ends on the inside. You want to make sure that the knots are large enough so that it won't pull back through the hole! Go ahead and trim the ends when you feel like it is the correct length!

Each of your kits contain 15 pieces of white copy paper. You will need to put these together in stacks of 5 and then fold them crisply down the center. These will be the pages for your journal.

There are also 3 different pieces of coordinating pattern paper. Go ahead and fold those in half as well! These are the covers to create the notebooks for the journals. Once that is done, place the folded typing paper into each of the three covers.

Using a long arm stapler, staple the center crease of the covers and typing paper to secure them together. Staple one near the top and one near the bottom.

Next, you will want to open the journal cover and place one of the notebooks equidistant from the top and the bottom to give you an idea of where the holes need to be punched. You can see that I have made dots with a Sharpie pen to give you a visual look of where they need to be. Make sure the holes are just slightly below the top and bottom of the notebook.

I have included a hole punch for each of your groups so check with your leader to get the 1/8 inch hole punch. You don't want to use anything larger! Punch the three holes at the bottom and three holes at the top.

You can see how the holes should look in this photo.

This part might look tricky, but it's really simple. You will need to cut the larger piece of elastic in half. Starting with one piece, thread it through the TOP middle hole starting on the inside. Move it directly to the left and back through the top left hole. Stretch it down the left side and out the bottom left hole and back into the center. Knot the two end together tightly. Repeat this step, but move to the right.

These three lines of elastic are to secure your notebooks in place. It also allows you to add a new notebook if one gets filled up! You will need to open up the stapled notebook at the center and slide it under the elastic until it rests in the center (where the staples are).

Repeat this step with each of the three notebooks!

Each of your kits includes a binder clip that you can use to secure any of the three notebooks. It's just a fun touch, as well!

Each of your kits include a charm, a lobster clasp, and a spiral jump ring. You will need to put the lobster clasp onto the jump ring and then add the charm to the jump ring as well. It is just like putting a key on a key ring! You shouldn't need any tools or pliers to get this done.

Wrap the elastic around the journal and then add your charm! 

That's it! You're done! I hope you've enjoyed making these journals and I hope you'll take the time to use it! You also have a pen in your kit so you can get going right away! Thanks for joining me today and thanks for fluttering by! 

Traveler's Journal: Welcome Little One

***If you're looking for my Reverse Confetti Blog Hop post, please scroll down***

Welcome to this month's Papertrey Ink Traveler's Journal post! This month the Traveler's Journal team has created our journals using a series of sketches! You can see what the other designers have come up with over on the Papertrey Ink Blog. I decided to create a baby mini album to give to a new mother! It is hard enough managing to take care of a baby, let alone get all of their pictures documented! I can't think of any mom that wouldn't love to receive a book ready to put those precious photos in!

 I decided to keep things cohesive and simple by using the adorable Make it Market Mini Kit: Wee Folk along with the Wonderful Words: Baby Mini stamp set and coordinating dies. The pre-printed papers made this cover a cinch! I cut the cover using Bitty Big: Pale Peony pattern paper and then added the pre-printed panel onto a base of Sweet Blush cardstock that has been die cut using the fabulous Scallop Stackers: Small die. I just love the sweet little detail that it adds!

 I used the Traveler's Journal Passport page blanks as the base to create each of the layouts based on the sketches. The Pierced Feature Frames die made the borders so easy to create!

The Simple Gift Bow die is the perfect accent for this album!

 Since the pictures of the baby will be the star of the show, I kept the details simple and sweet. I used the buttons that are included in the Wee Folk kit and some gold embossing to make it special.

The printed papers that are included in the kit also made it very easy to add some quick details. Most of the images are die cut from the pages of pre-printed animals. 

I used the Tag Sale #7 die for a lot of the different photo mats. I really like that they have the four slits in the corners which will make it easy to slip the photos into. I also die cut the word baby quite a bit for this journal. I love the font and size, which works great for the titles.

You can see how I used the same photo mats here again with the slits. Simple and easy, but perfect to get the pictures added!

I used some simple die cuts and stamping on this page to mimic the cover of the journal, but added in the stamping on the side for some added interest! I can't wait to give this to a new mom! Thanks for fluttering by!

Traveler's Journal: Vintage Santa Christmas address book and cover

***If you're looking for my Reverse Confetti Blog Hop post, please scroll down***

Welcome to this month's Traveler's Journal post! This month the team has busy been working on creating some fun covers for our journals and/or some clips and embellishments! I just couldn't resist working on an entire Santa themed project that is perfect for the season! For my project, I have created a Traveler's Journal Address Book that is specifically made for me to use to get all of my Christmas cards addressed. As a card maker, I'm sending out cards on a regular basis and always searching for addresses. Unfortunately, I only need some of them at Christmas time. This will be a place for me to have them all together. I love that with the Traveler's Journal: Passport Page Blanks I can add more pages if I need to. I also created a fabric cover and a few clips for my book, which I show further down.

 Isn't this fabric the cutest? I found it at my local fabric/quilt shop when I was buying fabric for handwarmers. I didn't have a clue what I would be making with it, but I knew it needed to come home with me! LOL! I'm so glad it got used on this project, because it turned out so well and it is so useful! The fabric is called "Swell Christmas by Urban Chiks for Moda. It is so yummy! I'm running out of time to get other projects made with it! Eek! I measured it so that it is the exact dimensions as the Traveler's Journal: Passport Cover. I contemplated adding some grommets on the spine to thread it like a regular journal, but decided that it wouldn't be necessary since my address book is the only thing going inside.

I sewed on a large Sweet Blush Vintage Button and some elastic cord to secure the cover. I love all of the variations in buttons that you get in each bag. This particular button had silver reinforcements around the holes which gives it some extra detail that I love!

I went to the Post Office so that I could get some stamps. The local Post Office has a display of current stamps that are magnetic so that you can see them when you get up to the register. I spotted these Vintage Santa stamps and was beyond thrilled! Aren't they PERFECT for this project? Not to mention my love affair with these particular Santa images! These bring back so many fond memories of my childhood Christmases! Anyway, I asked the clerk if he still had the vintage Santa stamps and he said, "No...we don't have anything like that." (as I'm staring at the magnet that shows that they clearly DID or DO have them). I replied that I wanted these stamps and picked up the magnetic board. He said,"That is SANTA!" I said," I know...vintage Santa". LOL! I said," Ya know...old-fashioned? " He chuckled and said that they did! Whew! I clearly can't use befuddling words like "vintage" these days! LOL!

I added a pocket on the inside of the cover that is the perfect size to hold a book of stamps. Now I want to go back and buy every last Santa stamp so that I will never run out! LOL!

The address book is created using the same measurements as the page blanks cover. I just made my own using Vintage Jadeite cardstock. Look at me, using confusing words like that again! LOL! I decorated the cover using images from one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE sets; Santa Stationery. 

I also added a strip of felt that has been die cut using the rickrack border die. Rickrack also brings back fond holiday memories. My mom made us felt stockings with rickrack trim and I always LOVED them! The address book is tied up with red baker's twine.

I wanted to make a few clips so that I could use them with my book. Oftentimes I will rip off a return address when a card comes if I don't have that particular address. This way I can clip them inside until I can get them transferred, or just keep them with the sender's handwriting for nostalgia. 

Many of you know how much I love shrink plastic. I wanted to use the large Santa image from the Santa Stationery set, so I stamped it in red ink onto the shrink plastic. I die cut them using a circle die cut and then used my heat gun to shrink them. I made two so that it would be double sided. The bow clip that you can see at the top of the book is created using Pure Poppy Saddlestitch ribbon. 

The paper ones are made using some other images from the Santa Stationery set.  I used the Postage Die to die cut the Santa stamp image. All of these are hot glued onto paper clips that are slightly larger than normal. I did use a glue dot for the shrinky dink because you can see the hot glue through the two layers. I had to make two, so I know! LOL!