Important Lists - A Slip on Journal Cover by Gill Humphrey

This is my third post in a series I am doing for the Journal Templates set 2 that launched recently as I hope that they will help you move from basic to better or may be basic to customised and give you lots of confidence to use them in your makes. I am most definitely NOT a planner person but do think that being able to provide your on the go bought planner with a custom made cover is a great idea and also would make a relatively inexpensive prebought planner base into a very special present for a friend.

Obviously the size you need to make depends on the size of the planner you are intending putting in it - That's Crafty has a lovely one for The Craft Store launch of Liz Wheeler Template 2 collection - it measured approximately 5 3/4 inches wide and 8 1/4 inches high which is in reality the biggest one that will fit in this make using the Journal It template set by Liz Wheeler.

To make the base I used A3 card stock and drew round the large template scoring the center line. I then used my template to cut two smaller pieces using the 2nd notch in to guide the width I required - No having to get a pesky ruler out as Liz has done all of the measuring for you.

Ro decorate the journal cover I used papers from Summer Flowers collection. I added paper to the inside of the cover base and then adhered the two smaller strips in place at each end. To ensure the planner slots in you will need to add glue only at the very edges and I found it helpful to add clips to hold it securely in place whilst the glue set. I then added a strip of  Tyvek to the edges folding it over to reinforce the joins and also added a strip along the spine on the OUTSIDE of the cover. Then it was a case of adding paper panels to the surfaces from the paper pack. Careful cutting allowed me to use two 12 x 12 sheets of cardstock to cover all of the surfaces. On the front I then added a panel of white card 5 1/2 by 7 1/2 inches followed by patterned paper cut to 5 1/4 by 7 1/4 inches. Then a further white panel 4 1/2 by 6 1/2 inches and more patterned paper cut at 4 1/4 by 6 1/4. I cut a tag from the paper collection, stamped my title using the Plan It stamp set and then added a Summer Flowers chipboard die cut embellishment that co-ordinates with the paper collection as shown in the picture.

I chose to alter the booklet and to do this took the two straight dutch tab templates and used them to cut down the right hand side of the pages with the book open. You simply flip the two templates over to create the lower two tabbed areas. This created 4 distinct areas in my planner. I used the Plan It stamp set to add a heading to each area and then a floral element from the paper collection. 

I used additional stamps to define the pages as follows:

- To do - numbers and then hand drawn lines using another template in the set

- reading - I left blank so that I could add lists/ comments etc as I felt like unconfined by boundaries

 

- meal plans - I added the days of the week one to each page side (I did remove one page and you can safely do this providing you leave a tiny amount of the page close to the binding).

- crafting - I added the months of the year with two per side leaving me space to plan what crafty cards/gifts I might need to create over the course of the year.

Finally I made a couple of envelopes using the templates. The first of these tucked in the front cover pocket is "held" close with the weight of a die cut chipboard circle and by being placed in the pocket. The one in the back pocket has brads added using the guide holes in the template to ensure they line up and then adding twine to weave between the upper and lower one. 

Finally I added a long length of ribbon around the spine and secured with a bow - this serves two purposes. Firstly I made sure that there was enough length of ribbon for it to also go round the width of the album if the user wishes to keep in closed and secondly it allows another book to be slid in place if the replacement is too small or too large to fit securely in the pockets.