Needed A Project...

This past Saturday I wanted to work on a little crafting project. I knew that Maura was busy at her crop all day and since I couldn't be with her in person, I decided to be there in spirit. I had picked up this little journal at Borders for only $4.00. I liked it because the inside pages are all kraft paper! I knew that it would be perfect for the Jillibean Soup patterned papers that I had been wanting to play with. I ended up choosing the Cold Raspberry Collection. Of course, I love the kraft collections and have them all. They have a nice earthy, subdued quality to them which is great for my projects. Here's what I pulled out to start with.

I took both covers off the binding so that I could cover them with the patterned paper. Since I decided to cover the entire chipboard and therefore, covered up the binding holes, I used my Martha Stewart Screw Punch to punch out the holes. The screw punch is the perfect tool for this sort of job since other punches sometimes do not have the reach that is needed.

I finished off the front cover by adding a Journaling Sprout and popping it out to give it a bit of added dimension. I think the real finishing touch though is the little bit of white I drew in the flower centers with our favorite Stampin' Up gel pen. I love how the white just pops on the kraft background. Altering little inexpensive journals and notebooks is one of my favorite things to do.