Up, Up and Away - A Club Scrap Blog Hop

It's been a long time since I organized what I think was the last unofficial blog hop in 2011 (was it really that long ago? - wow!).  Hetty has graciously stepped up to organize us once again with Club Scraps help, and I'm happy to participate!  This month, we're all featuring projects using the newest Club Scrap collection, Up, Up & Away.

Many of my paper creations solve a problem, and this is no exception. Paul and I have started figure skating, and there are tests that are printed up in a lovely spiral softcover book.

I'd like to keep this in my skating bag, but I'm worried that it will get a bit rough over time.  I remembered that the quick jot journal from Club Scrap had a lovely wrapper for a book, and I've adapted that before for a different spiral book, so I decided to use that design for this book.

I started by making a pocket (see my tutorial) out of some scrap paper and making sure it was the right size.  Because of the size of the book, the back of the pocket is only a partial back, so I wanted to make sure that everything slid nicely and fit before I did it for real.

Then, I made a prototype of the book using papers from the Bistro kit.  I used an elastic closure (see my tutorial) to keep the book neat and tidy.

I like this prototype (the Steppin' Out stamp makes such a cool background, although I did a bit of double stamping by accident on the front!), but the spine is a bit too large, making the overall book a little "floppy."

Finally, I made my real book with Up, Up, and Away paper.  The blue ribbon is a bookmark so I can mark my place when I'd like to.  I was inspired by Lisa to mix and match my kits.  The red paper is from the Study in Red collection (I wanted to use a cardstock rather than the text weight red in the kit), and the stamps are from Stratosphere.  It's a little tough to see in the photo, but I used versamark ink to stamp the swirly pattern all over the red paper. I really like how they pair.

The spine is nice and snug now and the book opens so nicely.  I used the bright blue paper from Up, Up, and Away for the pocket and inside cover, although you only see a peek of it in these photos.

I hope you enjoy all of the inspiration from the rest of the Club Scrap bloggers this month.  I hope to see you next month for another installment.  Come back next week for a very exciting announcement!  I've been keeping a secret for a while now....

The exciting news for this week is that I passed two figure skating tests this weekend for the Dutch Waltz and Canasta Tango. It was a fabulous experience!

Visit Deb Weller at Deb Duz Scrappin' for the next blog in our hop, and here is a list of everyone who is participating.  It's going to be a fun day!

Club Scrap Creates starts us off at http://clubscrapcreates.blogspot.com

Pat Huntoon at http://www.patstamps.blogspot.com 

Julie Heyer at www.capecodscrapper.blogspot.com  

Ron Perry at http://randomdoorways.blogspot.com 

Roni Johnson at http://inkstainswithroni.blogspot.com 

Deb Charlesworth at http://liftbridge.blogspot.com/ 

Deb Weller at http://debduzscrappin.blogspot.com/ 

Jill Pechauer at http://jmp1022.blogspot.com/ 

Tricia Morris at http://theefficientcrafter.blogspot.com   

Hetty Sanders at http://craftchaos.blogspot.com 

Kay Williamson at http://kayskeepsakes.blogspot.com 

Cathy Gray at http://cathyjgray.typepad.com/the_artful_gamut/ 

Anne Marie Healey at http://artfullybalanced.blogspot.com 

Anne Hunter at http://crzymomstidbits.blogspot.com/ 

Shona Gibson at shonascraps.blogspot.com