Papertrey Ink Traveler's Journal - Accessories & Embellishments

This is my second post today. For Reverse Confetti's September Release Hop, click HERE.

It's Traveler's Journal day over on the Papertrey Ink blog! This month's feature is all about accessories and embellishments. Right up my alley!

I had so much fun tricking out my Traveler's Journal with all sort of additions that are both pretty and functional. The first thing I wanted to make was a charm for the elastic closure. I wanted it to be durable, so I reached for some felt and searched through my stitching dies. I ended up finding this little football shape with coordinating scalloped mat layer in the Stitched Ornament: Classics die set.

On the white scalloped layer, I die-cut two slits for the slide using a die from the Coin Purse II set. 

The plain layer is cut from Spring Moss felt, and the monogram is cut from Lavender Moon felt with the letter A die from the Sew Stylish Alpha I die set.

I also decided to embellish the Outer Cover with some die-cut florals from the Grand Botanicals die set. I used Simply Chartreuse, Winter Wisteria and Lavender Moon felt plus white card stock for the detail layer. These felt diecuts are adhered to each other and to the cover with fabric glue.

Next I wanted to add some bookmark charms, and I found a really easy way to do them. I tied a length of True Black Baker's Twine to the inside elastic and then tied some felt buttons from the Bitty Button Stack die set to the ends.

Here's a closer look at where the twine is tied to the elastic.

When the bookmarks are placed, the little flower buttons hang out from the bottom like little charms. So pretty!

You'll notice I added a second layer of felt to the inside of my outer cover. I did this mainly to make the outer cover sturdier, but it also allowed me to stitch an accessory to the inside cover without the stitching showing through on the front. Here, I've added a simple band that I die-cut with one of the Stitched Tray: Rectangle Trim dies, and I'm using it for jumbo paper clip storage.

By the way, to add that inside layer, I first die-cut a second Traveler's Journal: Outer Cover in white felt, then just trimmed about an inch to the left and right of the spine. I machine-stitched the two layers together, leaving the edge next to the spine open for a pocket. 

Here's another look at the clip storage and the bookmark charms.

Last, I spotted these little button closure loops in the Coin Purse II die set, and thought maybe I could use them for pen/pencil storage. These loops won't work for all pens, but they do work for smaller pens, and they're perfect for my mechanical pencil.

Dies: Traveler's Journal: Outer Cover; Traveler's Journal: Page Blanks; 

Stitched Tray: Rectangle Trim Die; Stitched Ornament: Classics; 

Bitty Button Stacks; Grand Botanicals; Coin Purse II; Sew Stylish Alphabet I

Other: Aqua Mist, Spring Moss, Fresh Snow, Lavender Moon, Winter Wisteria, and Simply Chartreuse Felt; white thread; True Black Baker's Twine

That's it for me today! Be sure to visit the Papertrey Ink blog for links to all of today's Traveler's Journal projects!