A Teeny Brushed Metal Sneak Peek

So today’s project is nothing like what I had planned. It’s not pink, it doesn’t have flowers or a sentiment. It certainly doesn’t remind me of a jacket I had some years ago. I also hadn’t planned to use a new product from the Stampin’ Up! August to December 2020 Mini Catalogue, but a teeny bit of Brushed Metal Cardstock snuck in there at the last minute. In fact the only part of my plan that did happen was I decorated a notebook.

Notebook with faux brushed metal buckles and stitched straps, plus a 'fabric' cover created using the In Good Taste patterned paper from Stampin' Up! #papercraftwithme

SPIRAL BOUND SOLUTION

For the longest time I avoided spiral bound notebooks and notepads. I couldn’t work out how to decorate a cover with the binding in the way. More recently though I’ve come up with a couple of different options and this is the simplest…

First I cut a piece of card the same height as the cover but a little narrower. Today I used Crumb Cake Card. Then using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) I attached the card to the front cover lining it up with the right-hand edge. On the back cover I simply repeated the same process but lining it up with the left-hand edge.

Next I cut two pieces from the In Good Taste 12″ x 12″ Designer Series Paper (DSP) pack. This paper has the most amazing photographed textures and today I chose a coarse fabric design. I cut the two pieces 1/8″ shorter and narrower than the Crumb Cake Card, then fixed them onto the covers using liquid glue.

BRUSHED METAL BUCKLES

I decided to keep the decoration on this masculine notebook very simple. I’d already pulled out the All Dressed Up Dies to use on my original feminine project and that gave me an idea. I could add straps and buckles to decorate the notebook.

Back view of notebook with faux stitched straps and fabric cover created using the In Good Taste patterned paper from Stampin' Up! #papercraftwithme

First I cut two strips of Crumb Cake Card using the long stitched die from the All Dressed Up Dies. These would be the straps for the back and front of the notebook. Next I cut 2-1/4″ from each end of one of the long die-cut pieces. Then with liquid glue I fixed these to the back cover of the notebook with the cut ends against the edge of the DSP. From the other long die-cut piece I cut 2″ from each end and set these pieces aside.

Also in the All Dressed Up Dies are a couple of dies that cut buckle shapes. These are designed to fit perfectly over the long straps I’d just cut. Die-cutting the buckles was my next task.

I could have used plain card, or even Foil Sheet, but I just happened to have some of the new Brushed Metal Cardstock on my desk. The Brushed Metal Cardstock comes in a pack of six 12″ x 12″ sheets; two each of bronze, copper and gold. I chose the bronze and cut out a pair of buckles.

To complete my notebook all I had left to do was slide a buckle over each of the two 2″ strips I’d set aside. Then I put liquid glue on the back of the strips at either end, avoiding the buckle. Finally I attached these strips to the front cover of the notebook so they lined up with the strips on the back.

In no time at all I had a masculine notebook complete with straps and buckles. Now to get back to that feminine notebook I actually planned to make today.