Notepad & Pen Holder

Don't you just love this fabric? It's the Stampin' Up! fabric that I mentioned in my previous post that coordinates with that beautiful designer paper on the card. I think I might have to order some more of this because it's just fabulous! So the project above I'm simply calling a notepad & pen holder because that's exactly what it is! I needed a quick gift for my sister-in-law & this is what I came up with. It's similar in theory to the crayon wallet I made for my niece, except this is the adult version. I love notepads, I love pens, I love making lists, I love taking notes, etc. Yes, I'm a dork like that! So I love this little project! It will hold a notepad, a couple of pens or pencils & even has some extra pocket space for some stamps or receipts or any other small pieces of paper you want to stick in there.

Like I said, I needed something that was pretty quick to make so my first thought was to simply use felt for this project. I love felt & I have a ton of it right now! And it hardly took any time to make the notepad & pen holder using felt, but when I was done I just really was not happy with how it turned out.

Here's a photo:

Cute, yes. But I didn't like how the cream-colored felt was so sheer & it was also very flimsy. I knew that it probably wouldn't hold up well if thrown into a purse or diaper bag. I decided that I had time to make another one, this time using cotton fabric & lining it with a heavy-weight fusible interfacing as well. Well, I LOVE how it turned out. And this one is very sturdy! I love the dimension of the felt flower on the front & I love the pretty satin ribbon that ties it closed.

Here's a photo of the inside:

After I took the photo above I just kept looking at that ugly notepad! The part where it says "Top Flight" was driving me nuts! So I decided to add a strip of coordinating designer paper to wrap over the top to cover it up. And now it looks even better!

Here it is:

Now it's ready to give away! This is another one of those great, simple projects that I can't wait to make for myself too, when I have the time! I hope my SIL likes it!