As a crafter I’m always looking at the calendar and planning months ahead. Of course having the Stampin’ Up! July to December 2022 Mini Catalogue close to hand helps. It’s full of autumn and winter project ideas, and I have a few select products already on their way. But for me, whether it’s in my family life or in my craft studio, Christmas starts with a notebook. This helps me organise my thoughts and plans, and for this year’s notebook I had to use the Very Best Occasions Stamp Set.

QUICK NOTEBOOK BACKGROUND

I began buy pulling out a small composition book from my stash. This was labelled 3-1/4″ x 4-1/2″ but was actually a little smaller than that. Past experience has taught me that sometimes the binding isn’t quite straight on these books either and so I have a simple way to ensure my background paper fits. I simply put Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) over the front cover (up to the black binding). Then I slide the DSP sheet up to the binding. Finally I trim off the excess using my Paper Snips, using the edge of the notebook as a guide.

For this notebook I chose a sheet from the Lights Aglow 6″ x 6″ Specialty Designer Series Paper (DSP). It’s a simple pattern but I love how the gold foiling on the paper catches the light. Once the front cover was done I repeated the process on the back cover making sure the pattern was the same way up. A little more trimming and my notebook was ready to decorate.

LESS STRESSFUL OCCASIONS?

As soon as I saw the the Very Best Occasions Stamp Set I knew I’d found the perfect sentiment for this year’s Christmas notebook… “With a little more sparkle and a little less stress let’s make this Christmas the very best”.

Using VersaMark ink I started by stamping the sentiment onto some Thick Basic White Card. Then I sprinkled the sticky ink with gold powder from the Metallics Stampin’ Emboss Powder pack. Next, after tapping off the excess I removed a few stray specks. Finally I melted the rest using my Heat Tool set on 2 (high).

Once the embossing had cooled I punched out the sentiment using the Label Me Lovely Punch. Then I added it to the front of the notebook using Stampin Dimensionals.

Just a few extra touches were needed I began by tying a bow from some white 3/8″ Glittered Organdy Ribbon. Then using a small piece of Tear & Tape Adhesive I attached the bow to the bottom of the sentiment. Finally I added a few Rhinestone Basic Jewels and with that my notebook was ready to use.

It was only afterwards that I realised with a little effort I could adapt that sentiment for many other occasions. I’ll show you what I mean in a future blog post. Meanwhile you’ll find a card project using another sentiment from the the Very Best Occasions Stamp Set in my blog post Very best occasions.

PRODUCT LIST

BUNDLE BONUS – I bought the Very Best Occasions Stamp Set in a bundle with the Very Best Trio Punch (not used today). Buying these two items using the single ‘bundle’ item number meant I saved 10% off the cost of buying the same two items separately. I’ve included a link to the bundle in case you want to explore that option.