Craft Hoarders Anonymous September Blog Hop

Here it is, the day you have been waiting for! Welcome to the Craft Hoarders Anonymous September Blog Hop! The Hoarders Crew has been hard at work, de-hoarding and creating! Hop along and see what they have made!

My blog is the first blog in the hop! After visiting me, hop over to Vicki Robertson's Blog next! For the full list of Bloggers, see the list at the end of this post! There are 20 ladies, with amazing projects to share! A few of the designers are giving away Blog Candy! 

I dug into my VAST Graphic 45 paper hoard and created an altered composition book. Since September is the official "all kids are back to school" month, I thought I would make something useful...and pretty!

I not only hoard craft products, I also hoard office and school supplies! We are a homeschooling family, which is my excuse for hoarding notebooks and such! I only have one child still in homeschool, but I still buy a lot of composition books! I cannot resist them and when they are on sale for 99 cents, I mean, who can resist?!

I have a HUGE stash of Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutante paper. And...they re-released this collection this summer...so...I have even more now! Time to de-hoard some of it!

I added four dividers to the notebook, along with lots of pockets. It makes the book lumpy and hard to close, but I love a lumpy, bumpy, fun notebook! Especially one that is all steampunk-y!

I chose a standard-sized composition notebook - 9 3/4" x 7 1/2". I like the black spine, so I did not cover that with paper. I kept the front plain, by covering it with the amazing paper, a punched border, and a metal handle. I found a package of little handles at Hobby Lobby last weekend, and bought the last pack! I wish they had more! So I could hoard them! {I know, I know!} I resisted adding a bunch of flowers to the cover...because you know I love to junk stuff up with flowers! 

I used some of the paper to decorate the inside cover and added a pocket. I chose a few of the chipboard elements from Graphic 45 Olde Curiosity Shoppe, another collection of which I have a vast hoard. You can still find some of this older collection online, if you have time to search for it, and perhaps pay a premium to get it!

The notebook has 100 pages, which made it easy to divide it into 4 sections of 25 pages each. I created the divider pages by first die cutting a tabbed piece using a VERY OLD Sizzix die (File Folder #2), similar to THIS die by Jillibean Soup. I attached the tabbed folder to the pages before covering the notebook page with decorative paper. I then created a pocket with more paper. A sticker made a fun divider section heading.

I found tags and journaling spots in the various paper collections that I chose. I used paper and other elements from Steampunk Debutante, Old Curiosity Shoppe, Artisan Style, and Rare Oddities for the project.

I glued two notebook pages together, and then added the decorative paper to the back, creating one divider page. For this page, I added a punched trim along the side, but I only glued the edge to allow space to tuck in some journaling spots. 

I skipped 25 pages and then added another double-sided divider page.I used a circle punch to make a notch in the pocket. I added another chipboard element and stuffed the pocket with journaling spots. The ruler paper from Rare Oddities makes me smile!

This is the back of the second divider page. You cannot have too many pockets!

The third divider page has a side pocket made from a strip of the decorative paper. 

And the back of the divider. I love the alphabet paper from Artisan Style!

The last divider page is also a side pocket made from one of the large images in the Steampunk Debutante collection.

I used small images to make "holders" on this page. The "pigs fly" tag is hilarious! 

I created a pocket page on the very last page of the notebook. 

And one last pocket on the inside back cover!

Here is a view of the whole cover. I adore the floral papers in the Steampunk Debutante collection! It is very hard for me to cut them up and use them! 

I hope that you enjoyed my first Craft Hoarders Anonymous Blog Hop post! Come back October 5th for the next post!

Make sure you visit all the ladies in the group. They have some AMAZING projects to share. A few of the gals have Blog Candy to give away as well! 

Craft Hoarders Anonymous Blog Hop List:

Gloria Stengel (you are here)
Vicki Robertson
Debbie Seyer
Ginny Nemchak (on vacation, hop on to Pam's Blog)
Pam Bray
Jacquie Southas
Glenda Brooks
Amber Milone
Tracey Sabella
Donna Idlet
Bonnie Garby
Nancy Dynes
Wendi Robinson
Teresa Horner
Kathy Clement
Jan Ennenga
Barbara Rankin
Karen Zueger-Brownell
Marisa Job
Christy Houser

Composition notebook: Staples Office Supply
Cardstock: WorldWin Papers black
Decorative paper: Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutante, Rare Oddities, Artisan Style, Olde Curiosity Shoppe
Stickers: Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutante, Olde Curiosity Shoppe
Chipboard: Graphic 45 Olde Curiosity Shoppe
Punches: Stampin' Up
Metal handle: The Paper Studio Spare Parts
Brads: Tim Holtz Idea-ology Long Fasteners
Trims: Really Reasonable Ribbon noble peacock seam binding, black burlap string
Die: Sizzix File Folder #2
Adhesive: Scotch 3M ATG tape, glue