altered notebook sleeve

last week, i went to national bookstore podium (which is probably one of the few unclogged bookstores these days, back to school time kasi) to get my kids school supplies. i finally found stocks of the little Mead notebook i like to carry in my purse. i like it because, it's small, it has widely-ruled pages (i do not like narrow rules) and it is thick (has 200 pages). unfortunately, before i use them all up, they get all dirty and the corners get scrunched up from being tossed around in my messy purse. so i thought i'd make a sleeve for it.

i remembered Cabbie's envelope and card project made out of the Making Memories foam stamp plastic packaging. I still have some so i thought this might work for my purpose. since the container was bigger than the notebook, i had to cut it up so it would fit snugly. i simply retained one side of the plastic container with all its folded corners and duplicated it on the side i cut away. i then folded it to match the left side by scoring lines on the plastic so it would fold easily and crisply.

i had to duplicate the notches on the plastic so the sleeve will close up again. i thought this would be better than just gluing it back together. Walla! the notebook now has a sleeve...now on to altering it....

ok, i must admit i got too engrossed with the project to stop and take pictures while it was being done so let me just show you the finished project photos here and i shall just outline the process in case you are interested to know.

1. i used Mod Podge Clear Gloss to adhere the printed paper (cut to size with added margins for folding in) of the cut up plastic case. the paper i used here is some kind of pretty printed kraft wrapping paper.
2. then, also using the Mod Podge, i pasted the cut out paper with the words Enjoy the Journey, the vintage car, and the stamped and heat-embossed gold butterfly(which i had done in advance)
3. on the other side, i rubberstamped the musical notes with Ancient Page black dye ink then i stuck on the Craft Express butterfly sticker and the 3 Prima flowers with the AAS letter brads and the dragonfly brad.
4. i wanted the flowers to have a pearly sheen so i coated them a bit with Making Memories Pearl Acrylic Glaze.
5. glazed everything with Mod Podge Gloss.
6. i had an after thought of adding more stamping but since it had already been glazed, the dye ink i used on the paper earlier will not work anymore. hooray for StazOn (which will "stay on" any surface), i was able to add the French script stamping you see by the vintage car.
7. i then added the ribbons, adhering them first with Glue Dots to make them stay in place.
8. since i found out i liked a matt finish better, i used Mod Podge Matt-Acidfree Glaze instead as an all over final coating. i coated the ribbons with it too to seal and protect it from eventually fraying.
9. after several minutes of drying, i attached the strap with the notch using Fastenater staples. i made this strap by cutting out the section with the big notch on the flap of the Making Memories foam stamp plastic packaging since it already neatly locks with the hole on the front of the sleeve i made.

here's the backside

and here's the front with the notch

all done!...i have a pretty new notebook sleeve and giving myself a pat on the back for my first altered and Mod Podged project.