The hardest part of any project for me is coming up with the color/layout. I'd planned on using burgundy and pink florals for this project (Susan's favorites), and I love the hostess set Garden Silhouettes. I had a terrible time coming up with a good layout, though. Splitcoaststampers gallery saved by bacon though, I spent about fifteen minutes looking there, combined elements from a couple different cards, and came up with this. I love it! There's no pink though.
Stamps: Garden Silhouettes. Cardstock: Whisper White, Mellow Musk and Bravo Burgundy. Inks: Bravo Burgundy, Mellow Moss. Accessories: Antique Brass Hodpodge Hardware, Bravo Burgundy grosgrain ribbon, sponge, markers, corner rounder punch, small oval punch, crafters tool kit.
The focal image is inked with markers and stamped, then the edges were sponged with bravo burgundy. The mat is bravo burgundy stamped off once and stamped around the edges. The mellow moss is stamped with two generations of mellow moss ink. The ribbon on the bottom is just a little too far from the edge to use a handheld punch or Cropadile, so I used the anywhere punch from my crafter's tool kit. Fortunately it was in the middle of the day so I didn't wake anyone up with my hammering.
I used to use my Xyron 900 to adhere the covers to composition books when I did these, but lately I've seen too many new stamps I must have so I haven't been able to restock my Xyron. The last couple journals I've made I've used Stampin' Up Anywhere Glue Sticks, and they've worked great. The secret is to be very generous with the glue stick and cover every bit of the back of the cardstock before you adhere it to the journal. One advantage the glue stick has over the Xyron is that you can move the cardstock around for a little while to line it up perfectly which was impossible with the Xyron.
