My daughter, Katie, approached me a few weeks ago with this sheepish request. She had a project due on Monday to create a journal for Juliet (based on the Shakespeare play). Her English class had read the play and a writing assignment required the students to imagine a journal written by one of the star-crossed lovers. They were given permission to be creative in the process. The question from Katie was "will you help me?" Ahhh, yes!
We started with a browse through Pinterest pins for ideas. Katie found
this example that she really liked. Next was a selection process for patterned paper/color scheme. I had recently purchased (on discount from my LSS) a paper pack of
Authentique's Grace collection. Katie quickly decided that the soft peach, pink and mint green of this collection coupled with gold and cream was just the right mix of romantic. I was home one day over the weekend when she was out with a commitment and die cut a bunch of leaves, ornamental die cuts, and flowers for her to choose from. Here's what she ultimately selected and pieced together:
- Brown cardstock floral icon using my Heartfelt Creations Ornamental Add On die.
- Mint green patterned paper leaf and swirl die cuts using my Spellbinders Floral Flourishes and ODBD Fancy Foliage dies.
- Dark green cardstock leaves with my Heartfelt Creations Delicate Asters leaf die.
- Pink patterned paper flowers using my Heartfelt Creations Delicate Asters dies.
- Frame die cut with Juliet printed out from the computer using my ODBD Ornate Borders die.
- Floral patterned paper border from the Authentique's Grace collection.
- Pearl accents and a pearl swirl from Michaels clearance bins.
- Mint green ribbon from the local ribbon store (been in the stash quite a while now).
- Everything edged with a bit of Vintage Photo Distress Ink and most edges worn using my Tim Holtz distress tool.
The book was made by stapling the computer printed pages (figure out how to get those puppies printed double sided on 1/2 of an 8 1/2 x 11 paper was... challenging) inside a cardstock cover. The staples covered by the patterned paper both in the front and in the back. Simple, effective and didn't take a lot of time. After we'd made the cover, we didn't have much time left!
I think I might have had more fun than Katie. At least I thought that until the report was turned in and Katie came home with the same sheepish grin to tell the story of how her teacher responded. Apparently Katie was part of the group that was singled out because they "put in a little extra effort". Truthfully, Katie's writing was mostly what she was singled out for. Here's a sample:
The cover was shown to the class. Too bad it's totally not-cool to be pleased by this kind of attention in high school. She did tell me the story though, high praise and a kind of real 'thank you' from your teenager.
From the too proud mama.
The most interesting part of making this card was making the shadow for the framed sentiment. I used another pin with these instructions to get me there.I cut the frame out of white card stock three times, slicing the pieces apart as shown.
I used four pieces to glue to the back of the die cut out of yellow
patterned paper. This is a fantastic technique for making matting
behind metal dies that aren't nesting. I think it really makes the front of this card. 
On the inside, I layered some matching patterned paper from the
collection and colored card stock creating a small space to write a
heartfelt note.
