Tiny notebooks.......

Well.... my sad yard is still sad.. but not quite so sad.... I've managed to work out there a little bit and pulled and cut and broke off all of the dead stuff from last year! We also took bags and bags of yard debris to the dump. How exciting! More on that later...........

Lately though, I've been on a roll making little notebooks... yes.. little books to hold notes.... first I made some just for me, and then I decided they were so handy, I'd make a few for gifts.  See the one on the far right with the pink flowered washi tape? That was my first little 'wing it' project that I made several months ago. I was just playing. I've already filled up the inside with my most favorite "go to" projects!  I was always digging through my pile of notes or trying to find the item I wanted to make on YouTube.. now I have them in my handy dandy "note" book.

I even added tiny photos of the finished project on some of the pages!

For this little booklet, I just cut a bunch of white cardstock into 3-1/2" by 5-1/4" pieces, made two little covers and put it all together with brads. so easy and durable. The heavier cardstock holds up really well with all the use it's getting. I printed out my directions on the computer, sized to fit each page, and then glued them onto the pages.

Now to move on to something a little fancier! You know me... I can't do "plain" and "simple". I found a really cute YouTube project from Scrapbookingwith ME entitled Mini Album Card which, to me, is not really a card, but is a little booklet that is super easy to make and has a few pages that I decided I could add pockets to in order to hold more notes.

So here's my first attempt at her little "card"... this one was for me.. for more of my favorite notes and project details:

I used one of my pretty pieces of cardstock (you only use a 6" x 12" piece) that I've been hoarding for years!  I added pockets to the pages (a little 1-1/2" by width of the booklet, glued onto the bottom of the pages). I slipped in many pieces of computer paper to write my notes on...... and added a few pretty tags here and there "just because" I love tags!

My next booklet.. just for "me" mind you.... I made a little taller and thinner. These card/books have 3 basic hinges where you add one piece of pretty heavy designer paper, but on this one, I added extra paper to each hinge.. so instead of 3 pages, I ended up with about 9 pages.. plus I added a few sheets of lined notebook (leftover) paper into the hinges also. This was one is plumb full of blank note papers to write on. Love it....

I used up a bunch of some of my old scrapbook papers that I've had in a pad I bought probably 6 years ago. I'm TRYING really hard to use what I have.. use up my scraps... "use it use it use it". That's my new mantra.

So for gifts, I made a little notebook for my sister who loves to sew and quilt:

This one has an elastic "belly band" to hold it closed, as it is fairly thick with tags and note cards.

There are also some pretty tags scattered throughout... in the pockets. They are all free printables that I found online here and there.

...........and then I made one for my 3 year old great nephew... don't know how much he'll play with it, but I thought he might enjoy the little tags and pictures I put inside..... and he might have fun taking things out and putting them back in..... I hid a couple of little tiny envelopes inside with messages inside...... for all I know he'll tear it up! but oh well.... it was fun to make.

Who could resist monkeys and robots?????

My husband's granddaughter just had her sixteenth birthday, so I made a little "note" book for her, filled with tags and places to write all those secret notes a 16 year old needs.

The butterfly paper was so pretty... all glittery... but you can't see it in the photos. 

 I did some doodling on the center white "hinges".

Hidden envelopes here and there............ 

.........an envelope tucked in the back with some money inside! What else does a 16 year old want???  I used my We Are Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board to make all of the little envelopes. I just love that tool! I use it all the time.

I made one more darling "note" book but forgot to take pictures! It's for a beach dweller friend and it was so sweet and "beachey". If I can get her to take some pictures, I'll post them. The tags inside are just wonderful and fun!

This post is long enough I think... so will hopefully post  a few pictures next time... of my not-so-sad garden.... but really.. there is not much blooming yet. We are having such a long, cold Spring.. if you can even call it Spring. At least I don't have to look at all the dead stuff now....

Memories of last summer........

Take care all.......