Butterfly Notebooks...

Recently my sister gave me these big spools of thread that she used for her professional embroidery business that she's getting out of. I didn't know quite what I was going to do with them but as a crafter, who can resist good stuff?
Then I recalled seeing ideas on blog where crafters used thread to create fun embellishments. I had to give it a try on some butterflies that I die cut using Papertrey's Signature Series: Butterfly die. I just wadded up a very long length of thread until it resembled a small rat's nest of sorts with lots of loops. The entire time I was creating these I thought of Josey and her messy buns that she wears often. She throws up her beautiful, red hair into a darling little bun with little sprigs and loops of her curly locks spilling out everywhere. So I think I'll call my string creations "messy bundles" from now on. To finish the embellishment I layered a punched doily from a Martha Stewart punch, a Vintage Button and then tied a long bow through all the layers. Patterned paper for die cut butterflies is from October Afternoon.
I used one of the messy bundle butterfly embellishments to create a notebook. I thought some cheery notebooks might make for some good holiday gifts. The base of my notebook is Papertrey's Rustic White cardstock with a Vintage Cream Notebook. Cardstock was splattered with Mister Huey spray mist from Studio Calico.
I used my Take Note stamp set to embellish a piece of yellow gingham cardstock. A small metal clip and snippet of velvet trim adorn the sentiment piece.
The bottom of the notebook has two strips of patterned adhered to the notebook. A Dainty Doily was then adhered, trimmed and stitched on the edge. I used a Studio Calico Ampersand Mask and Mister Huey spray mist as a final touch on the front cover. This ties in with the little stamped ampersand on the *this & that* sentiment.
I think I'll set aside some time to make a basketful of notebooks to have handy for teachers and friends that drop by this holiday season. In the meantime I have some kits in my Etsy shop if you'd like to try your hand at a few. :) Assembly required.