Hello, Crafty Friends!!

 I am so excited to start the new week with Craftwell's new sponsor... Latina Crafter!! I really love the assortment of Stamps and stencils! And today, I'll be using their fabulous stamps with Craftwell's awesome dies, to make this masculine journal and matching pen set for my husband. Awhile back he asked me for one but I never got around to making him one till now... I think I'll surprise him with a just because gift! Because who doesn't like surprises, right?!!

Supplies Used

Cut'n'boss (Craftwell)

Teresa Collins Pocket Dies- Noteworthy, Memory Collection, Thankful Holiday,  (Craftwell)

Anchor Stamp Set (Latina Crafter)

Hey Sailor Stack (DCWV)

Gold Metallic Foil Board (Grafix)

Creative Station with 9" Permanent Adhesive Refill Cartridge (Xyron)

Mega Runner (Xyron)

1.5" Sticker Maker (Xyron)

VersaFine Onyx Black (Imagine Crafts/ Tsukineko)

Composition Book 

Ballpoint Pen

Paper Crimper (Fiskars)

 First, I started by cutting two sheets of patterned paper from the Hey Sailor stack, to measure 9.75"x 7.25". I want this to be really sturdy and stick in place so I ran both sheets through my Xyron Creative Station using a permanent adhesive cartridge. This way I had edge to edge adhesive coverage.

Then, I peeled off the protective backer and applied to my composition book. I used the corner and the edge of the book as a guide so the paper would adhere straight. Then, I rounded off the corners with a scissors.

To cover the spine of the composition book, I cut a 2.5"x 9.75" strip from coordinating paper on the same stack.

To decorate the front of my book, I used my Cut'n'boss machine and Teresa Collins pocket dies, from the Lover's Lane set, out of more patterned paper from the Hey Sailor stack. 

I also die cut these Teresa Collins pocket dies, from the Memory Collection & Noteworthy sets, to die cut gold metallic foil board.

To get more from my dies I like to cut them apart. I cut the doily die in half and tuck the cut edge under other elements. I also cut the numbers apart. Sometimes dies are too long to fit onto a surface and in these cases I'll either trim off the excess or cut them down and rearrange the cuts so that they do fit.

I love using paper stack that not just come with gorgeous sheets of patterned paper but also include sheets with decorative panels you can cut out. these make for awesome pocket page inserts or lovely coordinating embellishments!

I cut out this sailboat form one of these panels. Next, I ran that panel and my die-cuts through m Xyron Creative Station. Then I applied them onto my book front.

That sail boat went perfectly with one of the passages from the Anchor stamp set from Latina Crafter!

I cut out more gold foil paper and used it to frame my passage that I stamped with VersaFine Onyx Black ink. I cut out strip of more coordinating paper and snipped a fishtail to each, just one one side. I ran all my pieces through my Xyron Sticker Maker and mounted my elements onto my book cover.

Now, I just had to make a matching pen to go with my journal... and you know what?? They  are super easy to make!!

Take a ball point pen, you need the kind that easily unscrew on one end, and take your pen out of the barrel.

Then, cut a strip of paper measuring .5"x 3.75" from any of the paper scraps I used from my book cover. Then I ran it through my paper crimper, lengthwise. This help curl over and insert into the barrel. Trim off any overhanging paper that doesn't fit the length of the barrel. 

Insert pen through paper and back into the barrel and screw pen back together.

Tah-dah... Matching Pen!!!

And, here is the finished Journal and matching pen set...