Mini Memo book & keychain

Thanks for all the nice comments - I'm feeling a little better now :o)

For all of you wondering what to do about some quick and easy stocking stuffers or go-along gifts, turn one of these...

...into one of these!

The notebooks are small - about 4 1/2" x 3 1/4" and lightweight so they travel well in a purse, pocket, bookbag, etc. Below is one I made and started using last year, just about this time. It is well-worn and probably needs replacing, but it has served me much better than I thought possible, and I still have blank pages left to fill in! LOL I jot down EVERYTHING in it while I'm out and about - short errand lists, addresses of houses with amazing front yards, spur of the moment info I want to put in a permanant file when I get home, a recipe someone shoots from the hip, directions, etc. I even find myself making little lists (wishes, goals, nonsense ;o) while I'm waiting in line somewhere or sitting in an office waiting for an appointment.

These mini composition books are the easiest thing to cover. Just measure the height of the book in front of you (there can be a bit of varience) and more than double the width. I like to draw a pencil line down the exact center of this piece of cs which would be the center of the binding so I know where my design should be centered. Figure the binding will take up 7/8" on either side of this line.

So just decorate this cs any way you'd like, then use the stickiest double-sided tape you have to wrap it around the original book. Line up the top and bottom as you can trim the other edges later.

I added a crochet thread bookmark to the one shown so you'd want to tape this to the spine before attaching the spine cover. Make sure if you attach tags, etc. that they will actually hang below the book when closed, as shown. I used to have a butterfly charm on mine but it got torn off long ago so now I just have a thread hanging there! Use super-sticky tape for the spine as well, and don't be afraid to score it with a really round embosser first so that it doesn't want to pop apart later. I used suede paper on the cat one, and crumpled and inked regular heavy cs on the other.

I sponged my edges after I had trimmed up the edges flush with the pages.

The keychain shown was from the Kid's Camp bins at JoAnn's last summer. The back center pops out to add the photo, artwork, etc. Both the notebook and keychain sets were made for a boutique that friends and I participated in last November (ask me if I ever want to do one of those again soon LOL - great time with friends, not so much money involved ROFL!)

Cat and background stamps are Stampin' Up!, Meow is PSX, pawprint is All Night Media, and quote is Wordsworth. The crown and collar are highlighted with metallic silver pen and the cat's nose is a pink rhinestone :o)

Thanks for looking!