A Cook's Notebook

 Yep, it's another traveler's style notebook, but this one is for a cook.  It's bright and bold, and has lots of my favorite color in it, RED!  I chose red because it is a hot summer color and more on that in a minute.

 I used Sizzix's Heartfelt Journal designed by Eileen Hull to cut the cover and papers from Graphic 45's Home Sweet Home collection.  The cover is cut from chipboard and I used matte medium to adhere the papers and seal them so that the cover could be wiped clean.  I assure you that I will slop something all over any cookbook that I am using!  Layers of design paper, pretty lace adorning the spine along with knife and spoon dangles (the fork is MIA apparently!), flowers and a gingham bow all work together to make this such a pretty cover with a homespun look.

I am entering this in the Frillie  and Funkie Blog Good Old Summertime Challenge that my friend, Kathy Clement is hosting.   The challenge is to create a project that shows what you love best about summer using summer colors (remember why I chose red?)  Well I must confess, I do not like summer.  I hate hot weather and I retreat to the AC in the summer.  In fact the neighbors have inquired of my husband if I was still alive.  Ha ha, he tells them if they will look in the garden at 6 am, they will find me.  Yep, I can be found most mornings in the garden up until maybe 9 am and then I am in the house for the day, as in enjoying the air conditioning!  However, in the spirit of meeting the challenge, I will tell you that I do love my garden and that is all that I love about summer.  The reason I love my garden is because I LOVE all the fresh produce that I harvest all summer long.  Baby butter beans, southern peas, potatoes, squash, zucchini, green beans, tomatoes, blue berries, peppers, jam, pickles, relish, salsa, I freeze and/or can as much as possible all summer long.  Eating all that "good stuff" is what I love about summer!

Inside the front cover, I wish you Bon Appetit (diecut with Cheery Lynn Designs die)!  On the right you can see the cover of the first of 3 signature inserts.

Inside the back cover.

I made 3 signature inserts for my notebook. 

  One has a collection of some of my go-to recipes.  They are mostly good old fashioned southern type casseroles.

I fussy cut some things from the design paper to decorate my pages.

Back cover of the 1st insert.

 The 2nd insert has just lined pages in it so that you can record your own recipes.

Pocket on the left to hold collected recipes, maybe torn from a magazine or jotted down on scrap paper.  

Back of the insert cover.

And the 3rd insert has pockets for recipe cards and I'll add some cardstock for saving photos.

On the left I've tucked in some blank recipe cards and on the right I made some tags that can be used for recipes or notes.

These journals are so much fun to make, I am loving them!  The die for this journal is selling like hotcakes and they are hard to find.  The Funkie Junkie Boutique had them in stock at the time of writing this post, so check there if you're looking for this die.

Ok I am getting this in just under the wire as the challenge ends tonight!  Better late than never I say. The Frillie and Funkie Blog has great fun challenges, why not check it out sometime?