Journals Part 1

Okay.... so don't pass out. I am actually updating my blog TWO days in a row! I've had a couple of inquiries into my journals. I've made about 8 of them over the last couple of weeks. A couple of them I forgot to take pics of. But I've split the journals into 2 posts. I'll show you a few today and a few tomorrow.
I LOVE making cards, but I have to admit making gifts and altered items is my favorite thing to make!
ETA- I started with Composition Notebooks. I recently found some with brown spines on clearance at Staples. A great find!
The first journal was for Sweet Eloise of my TOPS group. She liked a purple journal I had made previously. Since NO 2 journals were alike (due to the fact that I have only one piece of each paper) I made Eloise's journal different, but close to the other design.
The next journal was for Ellen. I painted the spine with white paint and made hers PAISLEY. I do love PAISLEY. Here is a close up of her name and a little paisley diecut. The next journal was for Miss Christine. She is the oldest member of our TOPS group. Somewhere between age 80 and 90. She's still spry. These lovely K & Co papers seemed perfect for her and I stamped and embossed a Psalm to go on her journal.Since I made so many of these, I learned a few things along the way! On some of them I used Mod Podge and on others I ran the paper through the Xyron adhesive. I preferred the Xyron. The Mod Podge sometimes bubbled or made the paper tear. It was hard to apply it evenly.
And at first I used my corner rounder before adhering the paper to the journals. But I learned that using an exacto knife and trimming the corners AFTER adhering worked better.
Also, filing or sanding the egdes gave the journals a finished look and helped get rid of the adhesive gunk.
I used my new Cuttlebug alphabet to personalize the journals. I LOVE having an alphabet die set! Definitely one of my favorite Christmas presents. Thank you, Jake and Megan!!!!
I'll show you the rest tomorrow!!
Blessings~
Angel