Index Card Notebook

Each day prayer requests come across my desk from home via emails, in the news, or friends needing it online. I often say “I’ll pray” and then if I am organized will write it on a scrap of paper – then hopefully have them near at hand when I am praying. Recently it has been on my mind how hit and miss this is. Feeling slack has been convicting me of the need to be more on the ball with it.

A simple notepad probably would have done, but then again I have a bunch of those and it might have got lost in the mix. I also like to create systems.

I wanted something on my desk to quickly write on as the need arose. Then some way of corralling the “scraps” together in a way that made them easy to use at any time. Removing the notes when the prayer had been answered or was no longer needed was another consideration.

Index cards made sense and I could just keep a stack of them right by the laptop. A ring to put them all together so they are easy to grab and take with me, all kept together instead of scraps everywhere. If I write a new request on a card it just remains on the stack at my desk until the notepad makes it back there.

Adding in the tabs made it easy to choose the particular area to pray for each day. Under the front cover are the latest and most urgently needed or special area’s that are on my heart.

You could use this idea for anything. Recipe cards, birthday lists – the idea’s are endless.

Lets get started.

You will need.

• A digital kit of your choice.
• Modge Podge
• Scissors
• Index Cards
• Printer
• Epson Premium Matte Presentation Paper
• Found Chipboard or Heavy Cardstock
• Distressing File
• O-ring
• Ribbon
• Bling – and anything else you want to decorate it with.
• Mounting Tape 3D

I made a template in my photo editor that was basically a 3×5 rectangle then a half circle laid over it where the tabs were to be. Needing 5 tabs they were fairly evenly spaced out. Here is the idea in a screen shot.

Then create mini layouts on each tab and also make a front and back cover. The cover for this one was planned in Photoshop and the layers dragged over to be printed separately. I used two kits plus a element label pack for this project.

The kits are Elise’s Pieces August Grab Bag and Our Story by Kelley Mickus – both delicious kits that are going to get a real work out from me!  Along with those I used Just the Basics: Scalloped Labels from MKC Designs.

This is also my first real successful foray into Modge Podge. Gloss Lustre is all I could get here and after having tried it out a while back it had sat on the shelf. Too sticky and not the right look. Plus I hated streak marks and could not work out how to avoid them. While working on another project with my trusty wood glue the other day I suddenly realised that it could be possible to work with modge podge the same way.

Pouring some into a glass jar I added about a 1/4 the amount of water and mixed it up. I chose to leave my printed pieces all uncut and coated them in one go. Simply slathered the watered down modge podge onto the papers and let dry. Work in one direction and smooth it out as you work. It will look milky white at this point. Mine ended up with one coat on the back, plus three coats on the front. Two coats in one direction and one the other way- cross hatching.

The Epson Premuim Presentation Paper behaved beautifully with all this. Leaving the digital prints overnight to dry before coating helps prevent runs.

The pieces did curl up for a bit but as they dried they seemed to flatten out ok. The white streaks you can see are where it is still drying. This goes very clear when fully dry. I must admit that I only waited about half an hour between coats.

Here they are totally dry and you can see the wonderful gloss on them. Not really a full gloss like layers of laquer, just a pleasing semi gloss finish that was going to help protect this little notebook.

When it was totally dry I cut out all the tab pieces then used the modge podge to “glue” them to my chipboard. Then also put another coat right over the top adhering the whole thing together and sealing the edges. Let this dry and cut each piece out. There are 5 tabs plus a front and back cover.

If you like the shabby look then used a distressing file to rough up the edges a bit.

Add 3D mounting tape to your layers and elements and arrange them in your chosen design. Punch some holes for the ring – maybe even punch an extra hole by making a mistake accidentally on purpose as a design feature. Assemble it all and there you have it – an index card notebook.

Here you can see the layers with the mounting tape. Add some bling and pretty ribbons – see the one going through my purposeful accidental hole on the right.

Next time I might do it on purpose.

You can also see the cross hatching of the modge podge and the sheen reflecting the light back at the camera. It is very solid and hardy too.

Other Articles by Shabby Shaz:

• Australia Day Celebrations: Cupcake Toppers - January 19th, 2011
• Digital Layout to Paper Layout Challenge - July 3rd, 2010
• Digital to Hybrid Layout - June 28th, 2010
• Hybrid Key Holder - May 14th, 2010
• Wedding Gift Frame - March 5th, 2010