Today I’ll share a quick tips on how to create a customized Note Pad Cover. You know the cheap kind that have ugly covers but are still great to use? Well, I like those too. But I do think everything that is not already handmade will be better if it’s personalized, altered, or customized in some way…
It is no secret that I love pretty notebooks a lot. But did you know that I also use a lot of wire-bound paper pads or note pads too? I love to take quick, scribbly notes without having to think about how they look, or how to sort it, or in what notebook I’m writing it in. That’s why I like to always have a paper pad or note pad close by.
Quick Notes are important for our creativity!
I think that most notes we write, on a day to day bases, is not the “keep and save for ever” kind, although my journal scribbles are, and therefor I always journal in hardbound, beautifully made notebooks. But some notes, plans, lists and ideas can go into a paper pad with simple tear-out, white, ruled or grid paper.
If you only use a beautiful limited edition Leuchtturm as your bullet journal, you might stop yourself from doing ugly, scribbly notes – the kind that is so very important for your creativity.
Putting pen to paper without a plan is very important when it comes to innovation and planning out ideas. Loose leaf papers or this kind of note pads should be a staple in your arsenal of office supplies! Or post-it-notes. There’s a reason those little things are so loved, right?
I love that this kind of “notebooks” are so cheap, you can get them in a four pack or even in packs of 24 – so you’ll never run of something to jot down ideas on!
As I journalist I write my questions, article ideas and notes in this kind of spiral-bound note pads, and then I cross over the entire page when the article is finished. But I like all my stationary to be pretty, so I customize the cover of each note pad. My note pad is in A5-size, an ISO 216 international standard paper size that is 5,8 x 8,2 inches (148 × 210 mm). In the video below I’ll demonstrate how I did this one.
How to do a Customized Note Pad Cover
I’m starting a series of “quick tips” for being creative on YouTube, and this is the first episode. I’ll be showing you the boring gray note pad I bought and how it lookes once I decorated it a bit with a print from my own instagram images. Here’s the video:
Customized Note Pad Cover tutorial [quick tips no 1 ] on YouTube by iHanna.
If you like the video give it a thumbs up and leave me a comment on YouTube so I’ll know that you want more in this series. If you have any suggestions on what kind of “quick tips” you’d like from me in the future, just let me know in the comments please. I appreciate your help and support. :-)
It doesn’t show in the video, shot a while back, but this is what I wore on the day I filmed. What a very strange combination, right? The pink slippers I painted myself are no longer with us, I throw them out when they started to crackle to much.
I’m pleased with my note pad, and can’t wait to start writing, doodling, scribbling and jotting down stuff in it. Do you have different notebooks for different moods, ideas or moments in time?
PS: If you want to buy a handmade book, with custom pages all through, check this one out.
Take care.
PS 2: Is there a difference between “note pad” and “paper pad”, I used both terms but not sure which one describes this A5 spiral bound paper pad from the stationary/book shop… :-)
Thanks for the fun tutorial!! And the reminder that we can make the seemingly ordinary into extraordinary without having to be elaborate and time-consuming. Now I want to go decorate all of my notebooks! :)
As far as note pad vs paper pad: I can’t find anything definitive. And maybe it varies from place to place (like an accent or phrase that’s specific to a certain region)? (English is hard!) For me, I tend to use note pad when referring to a pad of paper that is bound at the top (and is generally a smaller size.). I tend to say note book when talking about a pad of paper that is spiral bound on the side that I will take notes in or write journaling in (for me, this is usually lined paper). And I usually say paper pad when discussing a pad used primarily for art (whether it be watercolor or sketching thickness, and regardless of binding type). But that might just be me! What do other iHanna readers think?
What? You don’t decorate your notebooks already? Hehe, no you don’t have to but it’s really fun especially if you use images that mean something to you or that are your own, then it becomes more personal. :-)
Thanks for the info about pad vs. book, language is a jungle sometimes.