Christmas Planner

I just finished making this Christmas Planner for Mum. The construction is based on one I made with Dyan Reaveley at AFTH last year and it pretty easy to make. I thought I'd share information on how to make one in case anyone is interested.

You'll need:
-Some 6x6 Christmas papers (I used some old Papermania ones)
-A4 cardstock (I used Stampin' Up! Old Olive and Very Vanilla)
-Chipboard or mountboard - two pieces approx 6 1/4" square
-Bind-It-All and o-wire
-Optional: pearls, a holly stamp and swirl stamp, a computer to generate titles, border punch (mine is Fiskars), ribbon.

1 Cut covers 6 1/4" square from chipboard and cover inside and out with papers. As the book is slightly larger than 6x6" there is a border on the covers all the way around and I used two different papers on the inside cover.

2 Add a punched border, ribbon and computer-generated title to the front of the book. Don't add the pearls and bow at this stage - do this after binding.

3 Create the pockets from A4 card - you can get two pockets from each sheet. Cut in half widthwise and score and fold at the 5 7/8" point to make a pocket. I cut a notch from each to make it easier to get the notecards in and out (a tip from Dyan's class I referred to above).

4 Decorate the pockets. I stamped each of the pockets with a SU Rollagraph holly stamp and added a strip of red paper to decorate. The back of each pocket is covered with a trimmed piece of the 6x6 paper. Computer-generate titles for each of the pages (mine say cards, gifts, food, money, plans and misc) and add these.

5 Bind the book with an o-wire - I just punched once as it is lightweight and this saves on wires but you could punch all the way down if you prefer.

6 Make little pages to put into the pockets inside the book - the recipient will write their plans for xmas on these. The beauty of this is the tags can be replaced so the planner can be used over and over again. I simply stamped So Swirly (SU) over them in Old Olive ink and rounded the corners.

Eh voila! I hope my Mum likes it - it is at least useful (she doesn't always appreciate my crafty efforts...).

Also entering this for Charisma Cardz Challenge as it's red and green!