Decorated Notebooks     Written by Design Team Member - Shirley Fyfe

Decroating the front cover of a plain notebook can make for the most beautiful & personal of gifts.  Infact, why stop at plain notebooks?  What about Diary covers, Compendiums or even a personal Journal.  The possibilities are endless and it can be a great way to use up small scraps and include any number of embellishments and techniques as well!

The 3 samples I am featured in this article have been created using spiral hardcover notebooks that I have picked up from Safeway (Woolworths) for just a few dollars.  They measure approximately, 16cm x 22cm including the spiral.

In my 'Travel' example, I have cut a piece of pattern paper measuring 14cm x 21.5cm - this should fit perfectly onto the front cover, allowing for a thin border of the original cover on all sides.  I find that by doing this, it improves the wear and tear on the actual notebooks and that the edges remain more intact without the need to apply a sealer.  Don't attach the background piece to the notebook at this point in time - you can more easily hide any brad prongs, stitching ends or ribbon ends if you keep it separate.

Note: If desired, you could dismantle the notebook and adhere a larger piece of pattern paper over the full surface of the front cover and wrap the ends to the inside.  It would then be a simple matter of re-punching the holes and re-assembling the notebook before continuing on with the decorating.  This is of course a little more time consuming but you can 'coverup' any uncomplimentary notebook colours by using this technique.

Once you have your background paper organised you can then begin the decorating process and add any embellishments, fabrics, ribbons, stickers, etc. that you would like to!  I've used some simple Paper Tearing, handstitching, Charm, Blossoms (from Scrappit), Making Memories Clear Defined Sticker and some Junkitz Alphabet Buttons (from Scrappit) to decorate my 'Travel' notebook.

My 'Martine' notebook is very simple in design with a busy piece of pattern paper being the main focus, and some gorgeous Daisy Braid (from Scrappit - I just love this stuff!), White Buttons, Making Memories Gameboard Alphabet (from Scrappit and which were painted and coated with Dimensional Magic) and a Poemstone sticker for the letter 'A'.  Like I said, very simple, but very effective!

In my last example, 'Friendship', I have used 2 pattern paper & 1 cardstock scrap pieces to create my background - I told you these were great to use up that ever growing pile of scraps!  I've also used some more of that gorgeous Daisy Braid (from Scrappit) and some other mauve blossoms that I had in my stash.  A couple of clear Making Memories Defined Stickers, some handstitching and some Liquid Beadz (also available from Scrappit) along the torn cardstock edge, add a lovely feminine feel to this gorgeous notebook.

As you can see, the possibilities are really endless . . . I'd love to see what creative ideas you come up with too, so please feel free to share some in the Scrappit Gallery!

Enjoy!