My 3-D swap for Convention

As if I don't have enough to do in the next few weeks, I have joined not one, but 2 swaps for convention! One is a Wow! card swap, and the other is a 3-D item swap. I need to make 21 of each swap project, so I've got to get cracking!

Today, while my daughter was napping, I sat down and decided what to do for the 3-D swap. This is what I came up with. This little notebook measures 3"x4". I bought the Spiral punch, thinking it would really help me do these in a lot less time, with a lot less trouble. What ended up happening is this: I punched my 3"x4" piece of cardstock with the spiral punch, and it didn't line up! The holes of the notebook are closer together than I can make with the spiral punch. So I spent almost an hour trying to make that punch work for me, and in the end, ended up using a 1/8" circle punch (I don't own a small square punch) and then cutting slits to get the coils in. ARGH!!! Oh well, I figured out that spiral punch will work on a larger notebook (I measured it against another one I have that is about 6"x8"). I then went punch crazy, and decided I wanted to make "spots" out of 1/16" and 1/8" punched out holes for the giraffe. Then I used the 1/4" punch for the "NOTES" letters, and the 1/2" punch for the Celery background. Holy circles!!!

So, it took me 2 and a half hours to make this one, but now that it's done, I think it'll only take me about 20 minutes per notebook. I also want to decorate a pen to go with it, but I haven't been able to find any with clear lids that I can put paper into. I've heard of some beaded pens, so maybe I'll check out how to do those...

By the way, what do you think of the ribbon covering the coils? Too much? I can't decide. My husband says he likes it better this way, but I don't know if I should trust him (isn't that always the way? "Honey, which shirt should I wear?" "The blue one" "I think I'll wear the pink one!") Heehee! :) Tfl!