Mini Book Purse

The other day I spent some time organizing my marvelous selection of 12 x 12 designer papers, as well as my smooth and textured cardstock.  Usually I purchase 2 packages of each designer paper just to make sure I have what I need for classes.  As I was looking through all of the beautiful designer paper it suddenly occurred to me that in only two and a half months all of this paper will be discontinued.  Yikes!  What that means to me is that I need to get really busy and start using it up!  Although I can usually sell most of the retired papers, I would much rather use it and let my customers enjoy the beauty of Stampin' UP!'s quality DSP.  One of the things I'm going to do in my next class, coming up March 17th, is to let everyone use a piece of designer paper to make an envelope on the new diagonal plate that was made for our scoring tool. That should be fun! 

One of my favorite designer papers is Mocha Morning. Not just because Starbucks' Mocha (decaf, skim milk) is my drink of choice, but because I love everything about the colors; Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Soft Suede and Early Espresso.  Don't they even sound wonderful? 

Today's project highlights some of the Mocha Morning Specialty Designer Paper.   The particular piece used here has a rich look and feel with the raised black flocking.  Isn't this the cutest!

The book is one of the mini composition books which you can find at Target, and possibly at the dollar stores.  I measured one inch in from each outside corner, drew a line between those two points and cut.  Then I just lined up a few pages at a time and trimmed them close to the cover cut.  It really didn't take much time at all.  You could probably take them to a printer and have them cut if you have a bunch to cut at once, but really, the hand cutting method works just dandy and is free.  I didn't realize at the time that the punch that I used for the clasp is retired.  But you could substitute with what you have on hand.  I used a festive black glitter brad over the 1" crumb cake circle.  The Satin Black Ribbon handles were just tucked inside and adhered to the front and back cover with a Glue Dot.  The final touch is a small piece of Velcro under the clasp.  Just adorable!

I hope you enjoyed today's post!!!