One of my favourite colour combinations is blue and white. There’s something very elegant about these colours, whether it’s a dark navy or something lighter. So I was very excited to see the new Countryside Inn 12” x 12” Designer Series Paper (DSP) in the Stampin’ Up! 2023/2024 Annual Catalogue. As well as white and Night of Navy, the patterns use Balmy Blue, the returning Misty Moonlight, and new 2023-2024 InColor Boho Blue. Some of the patterns are geometric, while others feature flowers with an assortment of birds and animals.
SIMPLE START
While most of the patterns in the Countryside Inn DSP are fairly small, there’s one that’s much larger. As soon as I saw it I knew it would be perfect to decorate a 5″ x 8″ ruled notepad I’d found. So I started by creating a cover for the notepad using Misty Moonlight Card. After cutting a 5″ x 11″ piece I scored it at 8-1/2″ and 8-3/8″. Then I folded the card along the scored lines and sharpened the creases with a Bone Folder.
Next I cut 4″ of 3/8″ Night of Navy Bordered Ribbon and folded it in half to create a loop around a mechanical pencil. With the pencil close up against the side of my notepad I used Tear & Tape Adhesive to fix the ends of the ribbon to the back of the pad towards the top. Then I wrapped the Misty Moonlight card over the top of the pad and fixed it to the back with Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow), sandwiching the ribbon ends.
Now I wanted a sentiment for the front of the pad and immediately reached for the Go To Greetings Stamp Set. Using VersaMark ink I stamped the largest “Just A Note” sentiment onto a 1-1/4″ x 4″ strip of Night Of Navy Card. Then I sprinkled the sticky ink with white powder from the Basics Embossing Powders pack. After tapping off the excess powder I removed a few stray specks, then I melted the rest using my Heat Tool set on 2 (high).
COUNTRYSIDE FLORAL
It was time to decorate the cover on my notepad and for that I chose the largest pattern in the Countryside Inn DSP pack. I cut a 4″ x 7″ piece along with a 4-1/8″ x 7-1/8″ piece of Night of Navy Card. Then using liquid glue I mounted the DSP onto the card layer before attaching it to the the centre of the notepad cover.
Finally I cut a 1-1/2″ x 4″ piece of Misty Moonlight Card and glued the embossed sentiment on top. Then with the layered sentiment glued 1-1/2″ from the bottom edge of the DSP layer my pretty notepad was complete.
I must admit that I often struggle to use larger DSP patterns but this one was the perfect scale for my notepad. What’s more, having made this I’m now less afraid of using the pattern on other projects in the future. Perhaps I should jot down my ideas in this notepad…
Meanwhile, while I go to work on my final 2023/2024 Annual Catalogue sneak peek, here’s a quick sample of all the designs in the Countryside Inn DSP. There’s twelve patterns in all, so you get two each of the six double-sided heavy-weight 12″ x 12″ sheets.
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