Sunday, November 20, 2011

Gift idea: round note pad with a 3D Flower

A little gift idea that is hopefully something out of the ordinary
that you can make (with supplies you already have)
for someone on your gift giving list, any time of the year:

Round note pad with 3D flower mel stampz

A round note pad with a 3D flower.

But the part I like best about it is that it's sized to fit
inside an antique silver pedestal dish:
fit notepad in a silver dish mel stampz

The dish has a 5 inch width or diameter so the note pad
is about 4 inches in diameter.

You can find all kinds of little dishes at secondhand shops
(made of silver plate or glass or any other materials)
and create your own note pads to fit them.

The flower is sturdy since it's made of140lb watercolour paper:

7 fit notepad to a silver dish

And the notebook covers are made of doubled-up watercolour paper
circles -- which makes for a nice sturdy material
(like chipboard only far easier to cut with a circle cutter).

The covers are hinged on ribbon so it's flexible for opening & closing:

notepad inside crop

The inside pages are cut from copy paper (acid-free but so affordable)
They are tied in with thin satin ribbon, so the note pad is refillable.
(Giving extra pages along with it will mean it can be a keepsake).


...make a round note pad
(in a silver dish):


  • 140 lb watercolour paper or thick cardstock
  • digital patterned paper (or regular patterned paper)
  • copy paper & a circle cutter
  • seam binding ribbon, hole punch
  • paper piercer needle & thread
  • a 3D flower. This one was made with...
  • ...watercolour paper, IO damask stamp...
  • ...clear embossing powder, heat gun, & distress inks
Here are all the pieces used to make this round note pad:

! Pieces for round notepad_stitched circles of printed digi on watercolor paper & smaller pages

Large flower to decorate the cover
Front cover: numbered 1 & 2 in the photo above.
Back cover: numbered 3 & 4
Inside pages: numbered 5

1b create pieces for the front of the round notepad-stitched circles of printed digi on watercolour paper

Step 1a) Make the front & back covers

1a) Make the front cover:

A) Cut & paste a snippet of a digital pattern big enough for two circles or use patterned paper. (I used this good morning digital kit and recoloured it green.)
B) Print onto 140 watercolour paper for texture & heft.
C) Cut out the circles.
D) Add stitching, if you like, hiding the ends on the back.
E) Add some seam-binding ribbon to the back of one of the 2 front cover pieces

4a take pieces number 3 & 4 (back cover pieces)

Step 1b) Make the back cover pieces:

A) Print a solid colour onto watercolour paper.
B) Cut circles & punch holes for tying in the note pad pages.
C) Pierce & stitch around the circles, if you like.

To assemble, make a ribbon hinge...

1a Make a ribbon hinge with the 4 cover pieces

...sandwiched between the double cover pieces.

2 sandwich two pieces around seambinding & add adhesive to one side of the seambinding that sticks out

Step 2) Sandwich the two front cover pieces around two pieces of seam-binding ribbon. Add double-sided tape to one side of the seam-binding that sticks out.

3 remove backing of doublesided tape, make a V with it & hold it with your thumb

Step 3) Remove the backing of the doublesided tape. Pull the ribbon down to make a V shape with it & hold it with your thumb. (Note if the ribbon is too tight the cover won't open so leave a little room for play).

4a take pieces number 3 & 4 (back cover pieces)

Step 4) Take those back cover pieces (above) ... and...

4 Lay it onto the inside of the back piece & affix the doublesided tape. Lift it up to add rest of back cover

Lay the sticky ribbon piece onto the inside of the back piece & affix the double-sided tape.
Lift it up to add rest of back cover.

5 press the second part of the back cover on

Step 5) press the second part of the back cover on

6a Make inside pages - Cut circles slightly smaller than cover & punch holes in top to match holes in back cover

Step 6a) Make the pages. Cut pages slightly smaller than the covers & punch holes in the tops of them (to line up with the holes in the back cover).

notepad inside crop

Step 6b) Tie the pages in with ribbon (so it's a refillable note pad).

6 make a flower

Step 7) Make a 3D flower to top it all off!

to make the flower:

A)Cut a piece of watercolour paper to fit the printer: 8.5" x 11" for a standard printer.
B) Print different sizes of a flower shape onto the watercolour paper.
C) On the back of the printed flowers, stamp Impression Obsession Damask Cover a Card background stamp in clear Versamark ink.
D) Sprinkle clear detail embossing powder onto wet ink & heat it with heat gun.
E) Cut out the flower shapes (using the printed flowers as a guide) I made mine just a teensy bit less pointy to get a more rounded look).
F) For a resist embossing look, cover the embossed cardstock with distress inks & water.
G) While the flowers are still damp, shape them with your hands.
H) Stick the flowers together with a good strong glue.
I) To make a center: cut a long strip of watercolour paper; colour it grey with markers or paint; cut a fringe into it & roll it into a spiral; fluff the fringe with your fingers & glue the center into the flower.

Finally, fit the notepad into a silver dish, or what have you...



...and there you have it...

7 fit notepad to a silver dish

a round note pad with a 3D flower to give to someone special,
or to use to organize yourself in style. ;o)

Here's a one page reference guide:



about the supplies



recolouring patterns &
making matching solid papers

You can re-tint your papers to change them to any colour
(how to do that in Photoshop here)

goodmorning paper recoloured & solid pulled

And you can make your own solid coloured paper to match your re-tinted digital patterned paper, by pulling a colour from that pattern with the eyedropper tool in Photoshop & filling a new document or a section with that colour. Then you can print it out & make something nifty.



Hope your week is shaping up to be a lovely one!


20 comments:

Margie said...

This is gorgeous Mel and thanks so much for all the detail and the helpful tutorial to download. Will definitely try this one - it will make a lovely gift if I can bear to part with it!

Bonnie Weiss said...

It's obvious that you spend a great deal of time preparing these tutorials and personally, I appreciate the time you take to do so. This is yet another wonderful one that you have prepared and shared. Your creations must be absolutely gorgeous, in person!

Dawn said...

OMWORD MEL!!!!!!!!!!!

this is absolutely, over-the-top GORGEOUS!!! yummy colors, awesome pics, love the dish!

You've done it again girl... genius!!

xoxo

Unknown said...

This is gorgeous! Thanks for always taking the time to write up fabulous instructions!

Tiffmc said...

I can't believe how stunning this is for a notepad. WOW!!! Thanks for all the detailed instructions to make one too.

Rosana Garcia Hess said...

Awesome!!! I´ll feature on my blog with a link back here
hope you don´t mind
hugs from Brazil
Rosana

vdoyle8 said...

Your talent and generosity is amazing. Thank you so much - your project is beautiful! And the silver dish is a fabulous idea! I am hitting the thrift stores asap. This would be a beautiful hostess gift.

Victoria said...

You are so clever Mel!
I don't know where you get all your ideas.
Thanks so much for your tutorials.
Hope to meet you in Vancouver one day.
Do you teach anywhere?
Cheers,
Vicki

Dotty Jo said...

Amazing! This is so beautiful Mel, Jo x

Ruth S said...

What a gorgoeus gift! That flower is just an eye-popper!
Thanks for the tutorial, Rx

Crafty Loops said...

Gorgeous as always Mel and thank you so much for the tutorial. Lee x

alexandra s.m. said...

BLOWN AWAY once again by your creativity and talent!!!! wow!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you!

Catherine Pooler said...

This is beautiful! Excellent tutorial!

aimee said...

Wow. such a great tutorial i love the idea thanks for sharing xxx

katemade designs said...

So beautiful. I am always awed by your stitched projects, probably because needles and thread frighten me a bit. The side view of the flower reminded me of a water lily, again just beautiful.

Raquel Leal said...

AdorĂ¡vel, beijocas.

Beate said...

Mel, this looks amazing! So soft and pretty.
Hugs and smiles

Allison Rankin said...

Just beautiful. If I had about a thousand years, I could figure out about half of what you make. Let's just hope your blog is active in ten years when I still have time!

sunghee said...

Wow~~!!! My jaw is dropping. So gorgeous. Love the color, too.

Erum Tasneem said...

LURVEEE the bigggg ass flower! beautiful stitching, gorgeous colours and patterns. Another masterpiece!