Monday, December 8, 2008

Growing in Unity Day One

Good morning!!! I don't know about you, but I can hardly believe it is December 8th already!

I am hosting Growing in Unity this week! So check my blog daily, December 8th through 12th for a project using fabulous Unity stamps!!

I would have loved to feature Christmas themed projects for you, but I only have ONE Unity Christmas set, so that won't get me very far. Instead, I'm going to offer up my ideas for little Christmas gifts you can make up quickly to give to family, friends or others you need gifts for!

Today's gift is a notebook set. This is a variation on something I've been doing for years. I found these fantastic notebook sets on clearance one year after school started, and I stocked up! Now, any time I need a quick gift, I pull out a set and get busy! You can use any spiral notebook, although the double spiral like this is easiest for removing the covers, which you will need to do.


I take the covers off by opening the metal rings a bit. I use Mod Podge to attach patterned paper that I've trimmed to size. For this project I chose an American Crafts paper in Unity's colors of brown and turquoise. After the glue is dry, I sand the edges with a sanding block, to kind of melt/blend the paper into the cover. Sometimes I ink the edges, for a distressed look, but this paper is so clean looking, that I left the edges bare. Then I add my stamped pieces and embellishments and put the covers back on! If I need a matching pen, I cut a small piece of matching paper and roll it around the ink tube of my RSVP pen, and stick the ink tube back into the pen. DONE!! Sometimes I add ribbon to the spirals, but again, I was going for clean today. Which kind of makes me wonder why I added the flowers and bling!!! :-) I actually made these for some fellow Unity lovers . . . for my Unity Secret Santa and one of the Unity DT . . . I'm wondering, did you get them yet? :-) I'm kind of bummed by my picture . . . these are MUCH prettier IRL!!!!

I hope you enjoyed today's gift!! Come back tomorrow for more!

31 comments:

Tracey said...

This is beautiful!!

Lisa Hetrick said...

Jess,
I love these. The colors are so beautiful. Great start to a great week. Lisa :)

Gretchen said...

Very pretty! I love the clean look too- that paper is gorgeous!

Kristen Carll said...

Jess these look beautiful! Hope the week goes well for you! Yay for you for having Unity week! :)

Unknown said...

I LOVE these!!!! what a fabulous gift!!

chickadee3357 said...

They look adorable Jess! The paper is super cute and I love the idea of putting it around the ink tube.

Michelle said...

Very pretty project...love the blue & brown combo & the butterfly.

Unknown said...

These are so fab!!! Love the colors of course! What great little gifts!

Ashley Newell said...

This is gorgeous Jess! I love it! What a cute little gift this would make!

Angela said...

Those are very pretty.

Jacqueline said...

what a beautiful gift!! Way to kick off the week!!

Robynccgirl said...

Beautiful Jess! I can't wait to see the rest of this weeks posts!

Joy said...

these are gorgeous, love the colors, the stamps, the DP, everything

Ravengirl said...

This looks fantastic! I would never have guessed that it was so easily created! Thanks for sharing!

jan farnworth said...

what a great gift for a lucky someone.

Maren said...

Love this! So perfect!

JazzyH said...

Great projects

KindredEsprit said...

Great gift set! I like how the label is off centre and goes off the cover of the lil notebook! I alos love that you used some American Crafts paper!!!

Unknown said...

Jess, these are great! I love all the different stamps you used and the papers! I can't wait to see what is up for tomorrow! TFS!

Kerry said...

These are beautiful and I love the matching pens!

Jenn said...

I always forget about those pens, thanks for the reminder, love your notebook and pad.

Brooke said...

wow jess!! i LOVE your notebooks.. they turned out simply GORGEOUS! that paper is lovely.. and works perfectly with the stamps you chose. i also really like how you used only half the journal box stamp on the small notebook. FANTASTIC projects!!!!

Sara Henton said...

Gorgeous! I love that paper

Maria said...

Awesome job Jess! These notebooks are fantastic!

Amy said...

Love these Jess!

FibreJunky said...

I really like these! The spousal unit is not going to be pleased..I'm going to keep an eye open for a good sale so I can stock up on a bunch and he hates to have more "stuff" come into the house. Great gift idea and fab use of Unity stamps.

Michelle (aka mybelle101) said...

BEAUTIFUL, Jess!! I love the combination of DP and stamps you used, and the way you only used half the label on the smaller notebook! Great gifts! :)

Marilyn Hitterman said...

Beautiful and artistic covers for these store-bought pads of paper! I love brown and blue together.

Jessy said...

Jess- what a beautiful project! Love the colors and how you created the covers. Great gifts!! Im going to have to try this out!! :)

Lee said...

GORgeous!!! I'm definitely gonna have to try these spiral binders!!!!

Kathy H said...

They turned out great Jess...