TECC66 & altered gift

I made this using this week's Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge sketch. I had colored this TGF Hero Ian a couple days ago with the intention of making a card for a gal who's husband is in the army and as soon as I saw the sketch I knew it would be perfect. I hope she likes! Colored using copics and paper peiced his camo!

I've been trying to figure out the perfect gift for my just turned 13 yr old nephew. He's extremely special to me and means the world to us. He's the sweetest kid you'll ever meet b/c when I asked what he wanted, he said to me, just make me a card Auntie, I love your cards. So, I thought what could I make him with my craft and I remembered at Christmas time he showed us a book he was writing and I thought Aha! I'll make him an altered notebook to continue his passion for writing. I love the way it turned out. I didn't want to embellish it too much b/c I wanted it to remain masculine and "cool" - I hope I achieved both. I chose two sentiments that I think will be positive & encouraging to him. He is also learning to play the guitar so I was excited to find that in one of my many paper packs to add just a touch of depth. I bought the notebook at Staples for $2.50 which was much better than $10 that Archiver's wanted for a smaller one. Sometimes the papercrafting store is NOT the better choice for price! LOL