A Valentine's/Birthday Book of Notes

Listening to The 1975 "Chocolate." I heard it on the radio, and I was like, "I have no clue what they're saying, but this is bouncy as crap!" So now it's on my phone.
    Applicable song choice given this post is somewhat Valentine's related. It's also birthday related, since Corey's birthday is on Valentine's day. Y'all may have seen a post or two before about my little mini scrapbooks that I make him, and last year's birthday present for him that had to do with balloons, but this year I trolled Pinterest for cute easy mini-scrapbook ideas so I could do another little "Book of Notes." I got the original idea from Danni over at Oh, Hello Friend: You Are Loved. It was just too cute and fun not to try! This is the fourth reincarnation I've attempted, and given the fact that I'm completely incapable of writing in a straight line, or cut in a straight line for that matter, I think I did pretty great!

    I freakin' love the texture of this paper. I used something similar for the little scrapbooked box I made him for Christmas. I just think it's so fun, and I wanted it to be sort of a neutral backdrop for the main colors I was using, which I sort of want to use as wedding colors - pale blue-grey and eggplant. Since Corey's overseas right now, obviously his present had to be sent by air mail, and when I saw these stickers at Michael's I couldn't resist buying the set. I wrote the "deliver immediately" part, which you can probably tell because it's blatantly crooked. The berry-colored chevron part is a washi tape I found, and the button and beads were scavenged from around the house.

    When you open the book, this is the first thing you see: a cute long-distance quote that I attempted to write like cool typography, but since I write with my paper sideways I couldn't tell just how crooked it all was. The quote on the top left I saw on an e-card from Pinterest and I thought it was hilarious. Then the arrow on the bottom picture is pointing to a little mini envelope with a very inappropriate dirty joke in it (not photographed for obvious reasons). I just wanted something that wasn't as sappy as the rest of the card and that would make Corey laugh since he's stuck overseas for the next five months. The heart sticker came in the same set from Michael's with the "air mail" sticker.

     When you open the long distance quote, you see these two panels. Please ignore how horribly crooked the bottom left is, and the fact that my thumb-print heart was a complete failure. I would've redone it, but the black ink-pad was almost completely dried up at this point and it didn't look as cute without the "Love" frame. The elephant is because I'm Sarah Elephant. Duh. But how cute is that stamp? I've been using it to make these super cute "Thank You" notes for one of my classes and everyone loves them. Plus it's so personalized without being too difficult.

    Alright, now opening the top right flap from the last picture, you get this! The top left is the inside of the flap, a quote from Corey's favorite book and movie of all time. Then under that is a picture of the two of us from after our anniversary dinner this past December. We were both slightly tipsy and exhausted so excuse our weird expressions. Then under that is the note pictured on the right. It's basically just a sweet birthday note.

    This just shows how almost everything works together. The top flap is Corey's birthday and the date that he proposed... I was just trying to make the point that there must be something special about the 14th of the month. Then on the right is the picture of Corey proposing and a little joke about how it was supposed to go - he'd bought a little bottle and put a note in it that said "Will you marry me?" that we were supposed to "happen" upon when walking down the beach. Then the quote sequence on the bottom is what happened after he gave up looking for the bottle his brother had hidden and was prepping to drop to one knee. It was frenzied and fast and so cute. I can't help but smile thinking back on it.
    So there you go! A cute idea if you're into scrapbooking at all, which I'm really not. Just for Corey. But he always thinks they're cute and neat and I know he appreciates the work that goes into them.

Coco's Birthday Balloons

    Sorry for my absence! I know it's been a while, but life has been getting complicated. And by complicated I mean busy. And by busy I mean that I've had little to no motivation to write.
    I know. I'm a terrible person and there's no way that my writing will improve unless I do it every day (which I may have said in the beginning was the primary reason for starting this endeavor. I suck, I know.).
     Anyways, Coco's birthday was last week and mine is next week so we're meeting up this week to celebrate! I ordered him something super special and came up with the cutest idea to package it and give it to him. In hindsight, I realize I should've taken pictures while I was making it and putting it all together. I took one initially showing all my supplies, but I get so absorbed in what I'm doing I forget to pause and take more.
     Those of you who know me personally know I love making things for Corey. Almost every holiday or celebration I make something cute. Frequently something scrapbookerly, although I don't actually scrapbook. He always buys me the nicest things, but I'm broke, for the most part. Making things is how I show I care. Here are a few examples: 

This was my first Book of Notes. I made it for his 21 birthday, last year.

I forgot to take detailed photos of the second Book of Notes, which I gave him upon his return from Afghanistan. (The second page with the heart stitching is Georgia and Afghanistan. Cute right?)

This is from his Exploding Box of Love that I gave him for Christmas. Directions to make it are here. Basically, you open the box and all the side panels fall open. There are multiple layers, but on each one I put a cute little note or something.

    Anyhoo. This time I saved up so I could get him something nice. I won't say what it is just in case he happens to read this before he opens it. But I'll say that it's small enough to hold in one hand. But I couldn't resist making something, too. So this is my little idea.
    Coco loves his puzzles - brain teasers and the like. It's his 22 birthday, so I got 22 neon balloons (sort of transparent, so you can see inside). I wrote down 22 reasons why I love him and stuck them in the balloons prior to inflation along with some confetti. In 11 of them, I put the letters that spell out what I got him. In order to open his gift, he has to first pop the balloons, sending confetti flying and unscramble the letters to figure out what I gave him. I put them all in an enormous bag with his gift box in the bottom. There are even some balloons inside the box with his gift in it, but they don't have letters, just cute notes. I then supplied him with a card explaining the rules with a pushpin taped inside.
    How cute is that? I'm so excited. And I hope all the little notes are a good enough buildup to his actual gift.