Notebook & Beaded Pen Sets

I took a break from my making-jewelry obsession to make a few altered composition notebooks with matching beaded pens. I like making these because I can do a lot in front of the TV :)

I made these for my craft fairs last year too and sold out of them so y'know--had to make more! (I sell them for $7 if you're curious. When I sell them alone, the beaded pens go for $2.50.) I always stick with Stampin' Up! designer papers, ribbon & stamps for these because everything coordinates easily,which saves me a lot of time when creating in bulk.

The first set is from the retired Rockabilly Specialty Paper (with tweeners in mind). My seven year old son wants the rock star one of course. That stamp is from the "Little Something" retired hostess set.

This second set uses the retired Good Morning Sunshine paper & coordinating stamp ("Cheep Talk") & retired rub-ons. I also used the Scallop Circles #2 die & the Circle Scissors Plus.







This last one uses the retired Raspberry Tart paper and more dies--SU! Birds & Blooms Sizzlet and SU! Sweetest Stem embosslit.

Few nitty gritties...some people make these by folding the paper over and then covering the inside covers. I simply cut very close to the edge, adhere (with SU! glue sticks), trim off excess and sand the edges. My 5 year old daughter has a notebook I made a year ago and it's withstood her um, lack of order without coming apart so I stand by my methods. My year old pen has held up well too.

I use Pentel RSVP pens--some people roll the paper up and insert it inside the pen. I didn't think you could see much of the paper, so I use sticky tape (the 1 1/2" wide Scor-Tape) to adhere it to the outside of the clear barrel and then use the tape again to adhere the ribbon & then clear micro-beads. SU! now sells Sticky Sheets so you could also cut those to size and use them too. Be sure not to adhere the bottom of the pen while making these because then you can't open them to refill the ink (one of the main selling points of these pens!) Also, add the paper & tape with the cap on--otherwise, you might not be able to close it all the way if you take it off. I also use sticky tape (the 1/4" kind) to adhere my ribbon to the notebooks.

Finally, I love to add some final bling to my images so if you look closely, you'll see I added Stickles to the first two sets and colored half-back pearl embellishments to the last one.

Notebook & Beaded Pen Sets

Post-it Holder & Matching Beaded Pen Sets

Have I mentioned how much I love Freecycle.org? Last year I scored a bunch of acrylic frames (6" x 4") from someone & this year I had a revelation of how I could use them: post-it holders! This was my first time making these things but I'd heard of them from so many crafters through splitcoaststampers.com.

I LOVE making them. I just used a piece of designer paper & then adhered a cardstock block so I'd know where to attach the post-its later. Then I made some kind of matted stamped or rub-on image to match & adhered it on the paper. Put that into the frame & then added the post-its, ribbon & generic dew drops directly onto the frame. The finishing touch is a beaded pen made from matching designer paper. I almost sold out of them at my first craft fair so I went out & bought more frames to make more for my craft fairs this weekend.

Come find me at Fox Mill Elementary in Herndon on Sat. Dec. 6 from 9-1 & at the Herndon Community Center on Ferndale Rd. in Herndon on Sun. Dec. 7 from 10-4!

Post-it Holder & Matching Beaded Pen Sets

Beaded Pens

I know it's only August, but I've started getting ready for the holiday craft fair season by making various projects to sell. (I'm trying to get a bunch done before the new catalog & school craziness starts. Plus, I'm going to try to hold more events at my house this fall, which'll keep me busy!--Go to the "Classes" link above for more details or email me!!)

Anyway, I decided to try my hand at "beaded pens"--a lot of crafty ladies say they sell well, so that's good enough for me. I think they should be popular with tween girls who seem to love little things like this--my 4 yr. old daughter certainly tried to abscond with a few!

I stamped on Avery labels (cut to fit) using the "Always" stamp set. You need smaller images for this. Then you wrap sticky tape (I used a 1" width & then added a 1/4" width cuz I'm too cheap to buy the full sheets). Roll in clear microbeads. I finished it off with coordinating 1/4" grosgrain or twill ribbon. These are Pentel RSVP pens by the way.

I tried silver microbeads with these. I'd found some Scotch tape that's meant to hold up posters & small frames super cheap; they were thicker & cushiony, so I thought I'd try a different tack. First I put on the rhinestones, then rolled in the beads. For some of them, I filled in the gaps with glitter too. They're pretty darn sparkly in person.

Here's another variation--with these, I used Designer Paper (the retired "Cerise"), then covered composition books to match so I have a set to sell. The designer paper is trickier than the labels because you have to put the sticky tape on both sides to make sure it adheres to the pen. At first I tried running the paper through a Xyron Sticker Maker but that wasn't sticky enough. I figured that out when I saw them "splayed" open the next day---Horrors!! Anyway, that's why I'm not making as many of these :) Covering the notebooks is super-easy (shhh!). You just cut the paper a tidge bigger, glue stick the back (the SU! glue sticks rock for this!), stick it on the notebook & then gently sand the edges so it looks perfect. Then embellish. I used ribbon to hide the "seams" where different papers meet.

Finally, here's my favorite--made from the now retired Designer Paper "Enchante" I believe. Of course, it was my daughter's fav too, so well, you pick your battles, right? Besides, after I gave it to her, I saw that I'd put stuff on upside down! Too funny. I stamped the flowers using my markers on the stamp (from "Carte Postale"--now retired--I tend to use up retired stuff for craft fairs & the retired sets I keep are my favs anyway). The purple pen was my very first attempt--I used all purple glitter on it (sticks pretty well, actually). That is also now in my daughter's possession.

Okay, so the new Catalog is coming out on Monday, August 11!! There are tons of promotions going on with it too ($99 starter kits! 15% off a bunch of new sets!) Be sure to visit my SU! website for more details!!

Beaded Pens