Wednesday, May 30, 2012

California Here I Come!

Hey Friends I just wanted to share with you my new travel journal - just finished it tonight. We (all 8 of us) are heading out to Newport Beach in a couple of weeks and of course I need a travel journal to take along with me. I knew what style of journal I would be making - I have made this a couple of times before and it serves me very well while I am traveling. I even taught this style of travel journal last summer at the store. Anyhoo - I knew what I wanted to make and I knew the color scheme I wanted to use. I wanted to use all light neutrals and a little bit of blue. I am trying very hard to challenge myself to use more whites and creams and less blacks. As you can see that didn't happen here. I actually tried very hard and sadly I made one using those light neutrals - I hated it, it ended up in the trash. But even though this is not what I set out to make I am very happy with it!

I found some vintage postcards from Newport Beach online and used them in a few places in my journal, including the front cover. I used several different paper lines in this book (Prima, G-45, 7 Gypsies, even some very old Karen Foster from my stash). I was able to complete the whole thing without buying anything! I had everything I needed in my HUGE stash.

 When you open it up you see a journaling pad on the back of the front cover. I made the lined paper on my computer. There are 16 pages in the pad for me to write on while we are away.  On the right, you see the multi fold-out pages. Wait till you see how many fold out there are in here!
Below you see pages 2 & 3 - these pages are great for saving all of that trip memorabilia
 Next you see page 2, the center and page 4. More room for memorabilia and the center opens up to a flip album for photos
 Here are pages 5 & 6 the center and page 4 again. Page 6 has a fun pocket for more goodies to go in.
 Now you see pages 5 & 6 the center and pages 7 & 8
 Here is a close-up of the center. You can see some of the vintage postcards here on the flaps
 This is the photo flip album that sits behind the flaps on the center page
 This is the journal standing up. This is a big book but it folds up nice and compact for traveling. The closed book measures 8"x9.25". It stays closed with a chain closure.
 This is a close-up of all of the embellishments on the front cover. Vintage postcard downloads, G-45 postage, Lace trim and old buttons, Prima pearl swirl, Tim Holtz ornate bookplate and hitch. The chain closure hooks onto the hitch and I hung lots of charms and a few pearls on the chain.
I hope you enjoyed looking at my journal with me. I also hope you will be encouraged to make yourself a journal of some sort for your next trip. It is a fun and relaxing thing to do each night before bed in the hotel room. And it is very rewarding to have your whole trip "scrapbooked" by the time you get home! Well, all except for your photos. I don't know about you but I have boxes of trip memorabilia from past trips that I collected and saved through the years, expecting to scrap them and never did. Five years ago when I started making journals for my trips I find that collecting and saving the trip stuff is so much more meaningful. I take simple supplies with me when I travel (a pen, a 3x5 travel office kit, a Tombow tape runner and some clear adhesive hinges) so that I can attach everything each evening in my hotel room. It is such a joy to look back at these journals, to read and see the story of each day while it was fresh in my memory.
Can you tell I love a travel journal? Can you tell I am trying to talk you into loving them too?
If you are interested in knowing how I made this you an check the tab at the top for Kits and Instructions for sale. I have the instructions for 2 similar journals there for sale (the Disney Journal & the Look What I did on my Summer Vacation Journal).
Well that's all for tonight - Till we meet again. . .  

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