Christmas Gifts – DIY Books!

I’m excited to finally share with you what I’ve been working on for weeks!  Each year for Christmas, I love to give my direct reports (those who have signed up to my team directly with me) a small gift as a token of my appreciation to them and to hopefully convey that I value them and they are important to me.

Earlier this year, I made up some little books (in kits) as part of a youth retreat where the kids made the books and used them for the weekend. They were such a hit!  So I’ve taken that idea and expanded upon it.

I made eight different designs:

The first ones I did were a mixture of Timeless Elegance and the Typeset papers.  This one proved to be the most popular, both in classes and as a gift selection.

Feel Goods is one of my most used word stamp sets and you’ll see I used this Lots of Labels Framelits over and over in the books.

Each book has 4-5 tabs down the side on varying pages as dividers within the book.

This book is made with the Pretty Petals Stack, a set of 6×6 papers. Rather than cut them down, I let these books be bigger.  The 16 or so pages inside are a mixture of printed papers and coordinating cardstock.

All of the books had matching pens, too.

You’ll notice a number of Sneak Peeks on the books, like the words and enamel dots on the above.

The Farmer’s Market papers are SO rich and yummy – I could use this wood print all day long!

Do you notice the cool leaf die cut?  Yes that’s coming in a few weeks and is a “must”!

My youngest daughter, Sofie (13), asked to take a few pictures.  The more artsy ones are her, as above.  🙂

The Go Wild Stack is another 6×6 one and very popular.

There’s that Lots of Labels, the Feel Goods, and that Leaf Die again!  I’ve also added some Antique Brads and used the Corrugated White Cardstock, too.

Second most popular was this book, made with the English Garden paper series.  Notice the Sneak Peek Blushing Bride Glimmer paper here, as well as the sentiment stamps.

Pages can be removed, added, or rearranged.  I hope they are used as notes, creative ideas, or for photos.

This book is another 6×6 made with the Cherry on Top series. These papers are generally seen as a birthday set, but you can see here that they can also be quite general.

I like how these turned out!  Fun and happy!

I’ve used the coordinating Cherry on Top Cotton Paper to make the flowers, the Lots of Labels dies again, the up and coming leaf die, and the Friendly Wishes stamp set.

The Bohemian books turned out to be one of my personal favorites.  Whilst the prints are a bit bright for my style, I do love the colour combination here!!

I’ve used the Enjoy the Little Things (coming 5 Jan) for the cover along with the Petite Petals Punch and the Tags and Labels Framelits.

What is that flower??!!

One of the big benefits of being a demonstrator is being able to pre-order (and use!) all the new and exciting product!  Introducing the Botanical Blooms Suite:

I just kept playing with it.

The cool news is this flower, that border die, and the leaf die I kept using over and over are all in the same set (Botanical Blooms)!

This one I’ve done in Hello Honey and sponged Cajun Craze in the centre.  And used vellum along the side.

After all the books and pens were completed, Kjirsti and I then wrapped them up!

Sugar would like to think she helped. She did keep us company though.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this very long post!  It was fun to make these and I look forward to sharing another team gift with my direct team members next year. xxx

For more information about joining my team, please check us out!

Thanks for reading and Merry Christmas!