FCCB Challenge #39 - Gifts Galore

I have been making these journal/stationary sets for years, but this is the first year that I've been able to use my Cricut to make them!  They are so fun to make, and a great way of using your "stacks" that already have paper that is meant to coordinate.  And when you wrap them up in cellophane they look so pretty!

There are 5 items in this gift set:

• A journal, which is an embellished composition book.  I always stock up on these when you can get them for $.25 at back to school time.
• A 2 year calendar/planner - I usually buy these at Michaels, and I think they usually are available starting in September  - sometimes in the dollar section, sometimes they have a separate "calendar" section.  You need the ones with the clear covers that you can slip off. 
• An embellished notepad.  I try to pick these up at a dollar store.
• An embellished Pentel R.S.V.P. pen
• A bookmark - which is basically an embellished paper clip.  In the past I have used the enormous, long paper clips but they are getting harder to find and are expensive.  So this year I switched to these cool round ones that I found at Office Depot.

 The trick to making these is you have to have the right glue.  For the embellished notepad you pretty much have to have the Glue Lines or Terrifically Tacky Tape (narrow) to keep your cardstock in place.  For the journals, I have used an assortment of liquid glues like Tombo, Scotch, Martha Stewart's gel adhesive, or even contact cement.  You can't use Monoadhesive or a glue stick - it just won't cut it.  Of coarse with the liquid glue you have to make sure that you don't have too much or it's going to cause your paper to ripple.

If you would like more specific instructions, just leave a comment with your email address.  Don't forget to spell it out using "at" and "dot" instead of "@" and "." so you don't have to worry about people you don't want using your email address.  We'd love to see you over at the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge blog for this week's challenge!

Cricut Cartridge:  Sweet Treats
Cardstock:  DCWV, AC Cardstock

 

I have had a number of people ask for more detailed instructions, so here they are:

Directions for Embellished Composition Book

The directions are going to vary somewhat depending on what brand of composition books you get.  I always get the ones at Wal-Mart.

Spine:  9 ¾ x 5

Front upper right:  5 ½ x 4 ¼

Front lower right:  5 ½ x 5 ½

Front long strip (next to spine):  9 ¾ x 5/8

Front short strip:  5 ¾ x 3/8”  except if you’re planning on using a punch, then you’ll want it wider.  I started at 1” and then trimmed to my liking.

Back:  9 ¾ x 5 ½

Here are some more suggestions:

• use good quality cardstock because the liquid glue will soak through the lighter weight stuff far too easily, EXCEPT…
• It is easiest to use paper on the spine.  Cardstock can be a little tricky to wrap around the front and back of the spine.  It can be done – what I do is rub the cardstock width-wise along a sharp edge (like a counter-top), and that helps create a curve that you can ease around the book.
• Remember, these dimensions may vary slightly depending on the size of your composition book

The notepads and calendars vary a little too much in size to give measurements there.  Just remember, measure twice, cut once!