A new type of recycled journal using old Christmas cards: Part 2

I hope you were here yesterday, because the second part of this book went marginally better than the first part.  At least I didn't spend a week waiting for paint and gesso to dry, only to learn they weren't what I should have been focusing on.  To see Part 1 of how I started this journal, go here.  And if you want to visit the original YouTube video by Jennibellie, go here.

I promised back on Day 3 I would find a use for this recycled file folder.  And here it is, ready to be the inside of this book.  I got the bright idea that if I used the inside left (or top) undecorated/wordless side of two greeting cards, I could start with white and turn those into the outside of my journal.  Then I could decorate the outside of this journal without having to go through the same chore of covering it as shown in the video.  I thought the way Jennibelli covered the journal was a waste of time, paper, and double sided tape.

It didn't take long to sew this piece.  A lot less time, in fact, than watching the video.

Talk about old yarn.  I was given this yarn many years ago.  Since I no longer knit or crochet, it has languished in my ribbon/fiber drawer for all this time.  It may not be ready for the trash bin, but it certainly needed to be repurposed.  And this was the perfect project to put some of it to use.

My friend Sally told me the day before her birthday (March 28) that she couldn't find any note pads because they were all black and blended in with the rest of her house.  I made the offhanded comment that maybe she needed a red one.  That was why I decided to make this cover red.  I used both yellow and red bingo dabbers.  They work well, dry relatively quickly, and cost less than 1/10th what the name brand dabbers made by a certain "unnamed company" cost.  To prove it, I spent $0.59 (fifty-nine cents) on each of these a couple of years ago.

Somewhere along the way, I changed my mind, and decided I would place the red side on the inside of this altered journal.

This one is made specifically for my friend Sally because she is always telling me she forgot something.  Maybe this will help her write things down and remember.

This is what it looks like on my craft table.  It took a long time to make, I made a lot of mistakes along the way, but I finally figured out how to make it my own.

I suspect you would like to see how I changed the inside pages to something I could actually live with.  So welcome to a book to Remember!!

There were four signatures with two cards in each signature, making a total of eight surfaces in each signature.   Doing the math, you can see that is 32 final pages.

Note the stamps I made from styrofoam on Day 11.

 

 

I fear I cut the big hearts in pieces, so they are harder to see.

 

 

Believe it or not, this is supposed to read "Handcrafted by Bleubeard and E."

All that was left was to sew some of my red rosin paper I use to cover my work table.

I know it's hard to see because there's rosin paper behind this sewn gift pouch that looks very similar to the "gift pouch."

Today is Day 14, and along with yesterday's post, I showed how you could recycle eight Christmas greeting cards using white scrapbook paper decorated with homemade spray mists (Day 1) and homemade styrofoam stamps (Day 11), along with some old yarn and a decorated file folder (Day 3).  I then wrapped it all in waste rosin paper from my craft desk.

Of course, I couldn't wait to give Sally her gift.  After she perused it for the first time, I told her that she had given me all those greeting cards and the reason I named the journal "Remember."

 She thought I would be mad if she actually wrote in it, and I assured her I made it specifically so she could or would write in it.  I further told her it would make me much happier if she used it, rather than letting it languish in her purse or home.  That's when she told me she would definitely use it.

I have one more journal of this design I need to make.  I sincerely hope the next one doesn't take as long, because I'm running out of time to finish all these projects.  So many recycled projects, so little time till Earth Day.  Of course, I have to admit, I used a lot of green products in this journal and wrapped up a few projects I started this month.

Please enjoy "Remember."