“Smile” Notebook with the Countryside Inn Designer Series Paper

I have been so excited to share with you this little notebook, and today’s the day! I attended a retreat in Kentucky in April, and I made 80 of these babies to add to everyone’s swag bags. I was able to use up lots of my retired cardstock and beautiful Designer Series Paper, and although it was a lot of work, it really was lots of fun! Now, I’m thinking that I need to make some for upcoming gifts. I already have a friend who wants me to help her make a big pile for Christmas gifts for her friends this year! We’d better get to work!

It would really help for you to watch the video where I made this notebook, in order to get a general idea of how it’s made. This will help you see exactly how it all folds together once it’s scored and folded. I will give you the exact measurements here, but it will be easiest for you to truly see the step-by-step by watching the video.

Here are the measurements:

Night of Navy Cardstock (2 pieces)

1. 5-⅞” x 11”, scored on the short side at 5-½”, and scored on the long side at 2-¾”
2. 8” x 11”, scored on the short side at ⅜”, 5-⅞”, 6-¼”, and scored on the long side at 2-¾”

Designer Series Paper (Countryside Inn paper used here)

1. 5-¼” x 8”
2. 1-½” x 8”
3. 1” x 5” (top decoration for the pad of paper)

First, fold your paper on all of the score lines. In the video, you’ll see the area of the 8” x 11” piece that needs to be cut off, since you don’t need this section. Be sure to cut that part off now, before moving on.

Next, using your Tear & Tape, adhere the 2 pieces of cardstock together. Be sure to really burnish this well, so that the adhesive really sticks! We don’t want these notebooks falling apart!

After the 2 pieces are stuck together, fold the pocket portion up and adhere this also using Tear & Tape adhesive. The notebook sits inside of this pocket,so this step is very important! Here is my Amazon Affiliate link for the notebooks I used for this project. They worked perfectly, and were the exact size I needed for this project!

After the cardstock “book” is finished, adhere the Designer Series Paper to the various flaps of the notebook. All of this is shown in the video. You can see exactly where each piece needs to be adhered.

Finally, you can decorate the front part of your notebook however you’d like! I chose to use the new Circle Sayings stamp bundle, which includes the new 2-⅜” circle punch. I used Boho Blue and Night of Navy ink to stamp the flowers and the sentiment, and then layered this onto my notebook, right on top of a ribbon accent. I used the Night of Navy ⅜” Bordered Ribbon, which matches this Designer Series Paper perfectly!

The last accent I added was some of the Flat Adhesive-Backed pearls. I love these pearls, because not only are they iridescent and shiny, but they are flat! 

After everything is finished, you need to close your notebook. I chose to use Velcro adhesive dots, and here is my Amazon affiliate link for the ones that I purchased. When I made these for my retreat, I used little magnets instead of Velcro dots. I found that the cardstock pulled apart too easily for the little magnets, so I decided that Velcro dots were a much better choice.

I hope you will make a few of these yourself! And, maybe a big pile of them for gifts this year! Enjoy the inspiration, and have fun!

If you loved this project, I hope you’ll check out the other card I made using this same Designer Series Paper. I loved how it turned out!

Circle Sayings Bundle (English)

[161355]

Countryside Inn 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[161467]

Night Of Navy 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[100867]

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[159276]

Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad

[147110]

Boho Blue Classic Stampin' Pad

[161650]

Night Of Navy 3/8" (1 Cm) Bordered Ribbon

[160581]

Flat Adhesive Backed Pearls

[160449]

Tear & Tape Adhesive

[138995]