DIY Midori-Style Notebook | Tutorial

Hi everyone!  Christine here today to show you a tutorial on how I made my own Midori-style notebook for my Midori Traveler’s Notebook!  If you’re not sure what a traveler’s notebook is, I googled some images for you.  The original traveler’s notebook was created by Midori in Japan.  It is a leather cover with a series of elastic bands.  You can include from 1-5 or so notebooks inside it, and use it for scrapbooking, journaling, list-making, sketching/drawing, or anything else you want!  You can even use it as a planner.  The Midori-branded notebook refills are slightly pricey and also very plain, so I thought I would make my own notebook refill with Evalicious goodies!

These are the main supplies I used to make my notebook.  Some 8.5x11 cardstock for the cover, and filler paper for the insides.  A ruler, paper trimmer, rotary trimmer, long-reach stapler, and ink and stamps.

I measured my authentic Midori notebook that came with my Midori leather notebook cover.  The cover is about 8.75” x 8.25”, or 22cm x 21cm.

I trimmed my cover cardstock to the size above.

Then I trimmed the filler paper down to the same size.  I used Hammermill 32 lb. color copy paper, because that’s what I have on hand and it’s nice and thick so pens won’t bleed through to the other side.  Yes, I’m very picky about writing paper and I love this paper.  It’s very smooth.

I stamped the cover cardstock with various Evalicious stamps.  I used Field Notes clear stamp set and Happy Note stamp set.

I spaced the stamps out for the front and back cover of the notebook.

Then I folded the filler paper pages in half, using a bone folder to get a good fold.

I unfolded both the cover and the filler papers and lined them up and secured them with binder clips.  Then I used my long-reach stapler to staple the middle seam of the notebook all the way through.  If you don’t have a long-reach stapler, you can unfold a regular stapler, put a mouse-pad or eraser underneath the papers, and staple it through and bend the wires shut on the other side.

Now you have a notebook!  But wait, the inside papers are showing past the cover, due to the thickness and the folding.

I trimmed off the paper overhang with a steel ruler and a rotary trimmer.

Then I added a label from This Way Snipsnip Labels to the cover.  Once I start using the notebook I’ll stamp or fill in the title and dates onto the label.

I slipped my new notebook into one of the elastic cords inside my Midori traveler’s notebook.  Now I have two notebooks in there.

I love how the stamped images look on the front cover of my notebook, all lined up down the middle!

I can’t wait to start using my new DIY notebook for my Midori!  I hope you enjoyed this tutorial on how to make your own refill notebooks.  Now go forth and make notebooks, it’s addicting!

Christine

Evalicious Products Used:

Field Notes Stamps

happy note stamps

this way snipsnip labels

Making New Memories | Inspiration

Hello! This is Rachel here with my very first blog post as part of the new Evalicious Design Team! I’m a big fan of Evalicious’s Puffy Stickers, so I did have a hard time stopping myself from using up a whole pack of puffy stickers on this project. Ha!

Being a crafter who has a strong obsession over Traveler’s Notebook, I made myself a new insert for the new year which is barely 3 weeks away. OMG. Where has all the time gone to? It is a good thing being a memory keeper, at times when our brains couldn't recap on the past moments, we have our albums, journals and notebooks to go to.

This Traveler’s Notebook insert has a kraft paper cover with a dimension of approximately 11cm x 21cm, which many of us identify this as a regular size traveler’s notebook insert. I couldn’t stand how bare and sad-looking it is, therefore I dolled it up with pretty papers, old old storybook pages, paper bag, washi tapes, stamps, mist, puffy stickers, paper clips, ribbon, some machine stitches and called it my own, the one of a kind notebook. Plus, I pulled out a piece of vellum with cute little camper prints on it, laminated it, glued on a piece of wood venner, and VIOLA it turned into a handy page marker for my traveler’s notebook!

Psst.. put your eyes on the back cover. Are you able to spot the secret compartment I created using the red polka dots paper bag? I folded the paper bag into half, trimmed off the bottom sealed portion, punched a semicircle, and there I have another pocket on the inside of my notebook insert. I like to have pockets in my notebook inserts, where I can keep little notes away and have easy access to them.

I had fun altering this notebook insert, and I very much hope that this little project of mine gave you some inspiration to work on your plain and sad-looking notebook (if you have any)!

Here’s me signing off for now, but I’m looking forward to my next round of project sharing!

Love,

Rach

Evalicious products used:

Talk to Me - Puffy Stickers

Gold Misc Shapes - Puffy Stickers

Arrow Love Shape Clips

Field Notes Wood Veneer

Photo Shoot Round Tags

Just Us SnipSnip Page Tabs

Oh What Fun Clear Stamp Set

Daily Routine Clear Stamp Set

Field Notes Clear Stamp Set

Honey, I Shrunk The Stamps!⎪Inspiration

Hello there! This is Sam to share a fun way to use your Shop Evalicious Stamp set. Some of you may have seen me posted on Instagram about me making those little charms using Shop Evalicious stamp sets and shrink plastics. So today I am going to walk you through my process of making these cute little charms and also ideas on how I use them on my planner and Midori Traveler Notebook.

So to shrink your stamps (no pun intended) you would need these:
1. Shrink plastics (I have them in white and clear, got them from Art Friend Singapore)
2. Stamp Sets (I used this, this and this) and Acrylic block
3. Inks (My favourite is Staz On here, and I will explain further later)
4. Heat Gun / Oven to bake the plastics
5. Scissors
6. Circle Punch
7. Crop-a-dile
8. Paints and Markers

Firstly, if your shrink plastic sheet is smooth, you would sand one of the smooth side so that the texture will hold the ink / colouring. My plastic sheets come with one smooth and one texture side, so I didn't have to sand the plastic sheet at all. 

Punch various sizes of circles using circle punch - I used 1', 1 3/8' and 2' here.

And here are the inks I tried and I like Staz On the best.

P.S. My Staz On is drying up as I have had it 5 years ago, so it doesn't ink well. But thats okay, we can go over it with a sharpie or Zig marker. But this step is rely optional as the ink will turn out darker once shrunk. 

From left to right: Staz On, Ranger Archival Ink, Brilliance, VersaFine, Verscolor and Prima Resist Chalk Edger.

Close-ups of the stamped image before I heat it up: 

Staz On, Versacolor and Prima doesn't bleed  but the rest bleed, especially Ranger Archival Ink (although it doesn't show here)

Punch a small hole using your crop-a-file before heat up the plastics or send them to the oven. You gotta be careful not touching the stamped image else you would have smudge the inks like mine show below.

I placed mine into a baking tin that I got from Daiso and heat it up with heat gun. I seriously couldn't imagine my life without my heat gun. It might look wonky in the process but don't worry, just keep calm and keep heating it up. You can use a tweeter or craft stick to hold the plastic while heating up. Once done, use something to flatten the plastic while it is still warm. I use a glass jar tand it works well in flattening the plastic.

And here's the result.

• Staz On: It doesn't smear before / after we heat it up.
• Ranger: It bleed and smear badly, even after we heat set the ink.
• Brilliance: It smears a little before heating it up. Once heat up, it doesn't smear and it is perfect.
• VersaFine: It smears a little before heating it up. Once heat up, it doesn't smear and it is perfect.
• Prima: It doesn't smear before / after we heat it up.
• Versacolor: It smear badly before and after we heat up the plastic. But after heat up, you can actually clean up the smudges with wet wipes. The colour will not be as vibrant as we normally stamp on paper.

 I re-stamped all the images with thee three inks that smudge / smear/

And here's the end result! I love how tiny this little charm is! It shrunk from 2 inch circle to 3/4 inch circle. 

The stamped image with versacolor looks perfect after we clean it up with wet wipes.

And now, move on to the advanced part: create a water-colour effect / ombre colour effect on your shrink plastic. I use Tim Holtz Distress Stains and Distress Paints. I prefer Distress Paints over Distress Stains as the paint is permanent once its dry on the plastic and doesn't react to water much.

I draw paint stokes using the mediums below and quickly add water to the paint strokes to make the water less opaque. You gotta work quickly s the Distress Paints dry up real fast.

Then wipe away all the excess colours. Do not worry if the paint strokes look really pale here. Once the plastic shrink, it will look more vibrant.

Stamp and cut the image. Remember to punch hole before heat up the plastic. And use 3/16' hole punch (not 1/8') else the hole might turn out too small.

Once shrink, the colour looks more vibrant right?

I spent hours making these and I had so much fun. And now the fun part is add them to my projects!

I added jump rings and handphone straps to make them into keychains / handphone charms.

 I added it on the front of my Midori Traveler Notebook cover.

And also added another set to my Kate Spade Planner zipper.

These tiny cameras look so cute together <3

I also use my Fox stamp from Typo and added jump ring + chain, hang it on my Kate Spade Planner pen loop.

Added a clasp to the plastic and add it to my Swaroski crystal pen. You can also do the same and add it to your bag charm or Thomas Sabo bracelet.

I have fun making these cute little charms / shrink dinks. Hop you enjoy my step by step process too!

Thanks for looking.

Evalicious Product used:

• Oh Snap! Clear Stamp Set
• Photo Op Clear Stamp Set
• My Favourite Stamp Set
• Conversation Stamp Set

XoXo,

Sam