I was inspired by a thread on the
Papertrey blog to make some covered notepads for my next craft fair. There's a tutorial on
Nichole Heady's blog with a
downloadable template but of course it's sized to fit the pads
Papertrey Ink sell and I've not been able to find any of the right size here in the UK. Then I saw
Joyce had made a lovely notepad using Jotter Pads from a certain supermarket beginning with the letter T ! Its not somewhere I like to shop but needs must....... so I
sneaked in, bought 10 (only 30p each) and
sneaked out again before anyone noticed me!
I worked out a template quite easily and just in case any of my lovely UK followers would like to make some pads too I thought I'd share it. The pads are just under 3 inches (7.5
cms) wide and 8 1/4 inches (21
cms) long, which is exactly the
width of a sheet of A4
cardstock - how handy is that! So you need one sheet of
cardstock per pad. Score along the long edge at 3 inches, 3 1/4 inches and 6 1/4 inches.
My scoring board isn't long enough to score right across the
cardstock but it was easy enough to extend the line with a ruler. I did use Nichole's template for the curve of the pocket. I printed it then cut out the piece, placing it along the 6 1/4 inch score line and tracing round with a pencil. It needed to be elongated a half inch to make it look right - you can see this in the photo.
Its easiest to cut the curve with a scissors and finish off along the score line with a knife.
(A hint here - I've found it much easier to decorate the cover at this stage if you are going to stamp or colour directly on the cardstock.) Fold and crease the scorelines with a bone folder or a ruler and stick down the pocket flap with some double sided tape along the bottom. I found that a small piece of tape at the top of the pocket just next to the fold makes the flap lie a bit flatter.
Then cut off the front of the Jotter and attach it to the cover with more double sided tape - quite a lot of tape is safest - I used three strips. See how nicely the pad fits.
Then all you need to do is decorate to your heart's content. I made 5 this morning and hope to make another 5 tomorrow.
I like to add a little matching stamping to the pocket flat too. I hope you can follow all this - if anything is not clear please do ask.
Oh and thank goodness I've got something for my Make-a-Month challenge now.
I was inspired by a thread on the Papertrey blog to make some covered notepads for my next craft fair. There's a tutorial on Nichole Heady's blog with a downloadable template but of course it's sized to fit the pads Papertrey Ink sell and I've not been able to find any of the right size here in the UK. Then I saw Joyce had made a lovely notepad using Jotter Pads from a certain supermarket beginning with the letter T ! Its not somewhere I like to shop but needs must....... so I sneaked in, bought 10 (only 30p each) and sneaked out again before anyone noticed me!
I worked out a template quite easily and just in case any of my lovely UK followers would like to make some pads too I thought I'd share it. The pads are just under 3 inches (7.5 cms) wide and 8 1/4 inches (21cms) long, which is exactly the width of a sheet of A4 cardstock - how handy is that! So you need one sheet of cardstock per pad. Score along the long edge at 3 inches, 3 1/4 inches and 6 1/4 inches.
My scoring board isn't long enough to score right across the cardstock but it was easy enough to extend the line with a ruler. I did use Nichole's template for the curve of the pocket. I printed it then cut out the piece, placing it along the 6 1/4 inch score line and tracing round with a pencil. It needed to be elongated a half inch to make it look right - you can see this in the photo.
Its easiest to cut the curve with a scissors and finish off along the score line with a knife. (A hint here - I've found it much easier to decorate the cover at this stage if you are going to stamp or colour directly on the cardstock.) Fold and crease the scorelines with a bone folder or a ruler and stick down the pocket flap with some double sided tape along the bottom. I found that a small piece of tape at the top of the pocket just next to the fold makes the flap lie a bit flatter.
Then cut off the front of the Jotter and attach it to the cover with more double sided tape - quite a lot of tape is safest - I used three strips. See how nicely the pad fits. 
Then all you need to do is decorate to your heart's content. I made 5 this morning and hope to make another 5 tomorrow.
I like to add a little matching stamping to the pocket flat too. I hope you can follow all this - if anything is not clear please do ask.
Oh and thank goodness I've got something for my Make-a-Month challenge now.
These are just lovely, Ann! Thank you so much for sharing how you created them. Very nice!!! :)
ReplyDeleteGorgeous note pads Ann - I am sure they will fly off the craft fair shelf :D
ReplyDeleteLove your work! I was wondering whether you will be at Llanasa Craft fair on 23rd July? I was your first customer at the last one ;-D
ReplyDeleteThey are beautiful, I never worked with paper, maybe another day......
ReplyDeleteThanks for your compliments all - and Linda C, I will be at Llanasa. A week to go and I'm already panicking! Email me if there's anything in particular you want.
ReplyDeleteThese are just so gorgeous Ann. Whomever gets to buy them will be very lucky.
ReplyDeleteLinbyx
You notebooks are lovely Ann and they all look so differnt! Thanks for the tutorial and good luck at the craft fair.
ReplyDeleteHugs
Carol x
Super job on making all of these. Everyone with a different cover. Love it!
ReplyDeleteHello Ann,
ReplyDeleteyou did a wonderfully professional looking job of these. They are beautiful.
I won't tell if you don't! :) Lovely stuff as always. Sweltering here! Good luck with the craft fair, wish I was there.
ReplyDeleteLiz
These are great Ann, thanks for sharing! I've got something similar coming up at a local village fair and so far have done little or nothing save book a stand and pay the deposit! Thanks for the inspiration...
ReplyDeletewow, great!!!!
ReplyDelete