Magical Teacher Notes - Di's Digital Challenge

For this week's challenge at Di's Digital Designs, I explored a new technique: notebook binding. About a year ago, a member of my church gave me a Heidi Swapp Cinch that they had picked up at a rummage sale. I had often admired these devices in stores, dreaming of binding my own albums or notebooks, but I never made the purchase. I was thrilled to receive it and immediately ordered the binding combs online. However, the Cinch sat unused for a long time, as I struggled to find the time to research how to use it and, admittedly, felt a bit intimidated by it. Finally, I gathered the courage to tackle this challenge.

For this project, I used Di's "Clever Kitty" image from her shop. The moment I saw this adorable image, I knew it had to be colored with a magical theme, as the glasses the kitty wears reminded me of a certain famous magical student. This week's challenge theme is "Hand Colored," so I colored the image using my Ohuhu Alcohol Markers. To decorate the notebook, I used papers from Echo Park and some lace from my stash. I also used chipboard for the notebook cover and glued several pieces of brown cardstock together for the back.

I researched how to use the Cinch and found it surprisingly easy. I regret not trying it sooner. I decided to create a notebook for use in my classroom to keep daily notes for attendance, lunch count, milk count, etc. I found a template I liked on Canva, printed 45 double-sided sheets, and cut them to size. I am thrilled with this project and cannot wait to use it in my classroom this year.

Thank you for reading! I hope this inspires you to join this week's challenge and get creative with your coloring.