Sally Jean Alexander has a creative notebook with her at all times, and she calls it her 'book-book'.
I call my card idea book my 'notebookie'. My friend Michelle Wooderson, whom I call 'Mishie', encourages card crafters to keep a journal of sketches, and I followed her advice.
Having a notebook with card layouts saves time: find a layout, then pick a color scheme. Try letting the patterned paper of your choosing do the work - let the colors within the patterned paper dictate your color scheme!
My Mishie Notebookie is from Michaels Craft Store, and I decorated the front (it's the front to me - lol). Chipboard letters from Ellen's store were painted with Tim Holtz's Peeled Paint Crackle Paint. Bo Bunny and 7gypsies papers (yeah it's that Catania paper...again...lol) were used with some 7gypsies brads. The round typewriter style alphabet is from Creative Imaginations and the other caps one is Hero Arts - Legacy.
Now if you are wondering why this photo looks like the back of the journal - it is really the front to me. I am left-handed and always had a love-hate relationship with spiral notebooks. Using them backwards makes it easier for me to write in them, as most of the time I use just the left side, spiral on the right.
But, my notebookie is full on the left side so I am going back and using the other, 'right' side too to save paper. :) I use the term 'right' very loosely here...lol... 
I record not only a quick sketch of the card layout, detailing what I determine to be aspects I want to recall, but also from where I found the layout. Sometimes I get ideas from the Pottery Barn catalog (great for color trends), but most ideas come from other paper crafters...and yes, Val, many, many layouts in the notebookie have your name on them - I promise to stop stalking you...someday... ;D
Lastly, I usually sketch the layout lightly in pencil, then go over neatly in a black felt pen, allow to dry and erase the pencil lines...yes my mother potty-trained me too early and I'm anal, but the end result looks nicer/neater than if I tried to do it with pen first. :D
My other journal is an Inchie Notebookie. Would you want to see inside that one? If so I'll detail it in another post along with a few Inchie ideas!! :)
Thank you for stopping by! Clear cards coming up next time! :)
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