fun in the sun!

i feel like i'm finally knocking things off of my list, including blog posting!  specifically, i really wanted to highlight this little book that was featured on the a muse news blog last week during the inspiring ideas for summer time.  for my non card item i was asked to create a trip journal.  so, i challenged myself to create it from scratch.  i started with the covers, covering two 4 x 6 pieces of recycled chipboard (notepad backings!) with matching pieces of the new cobalt card stock--it's such a gorgeous blue!  i had so much fun creating the title piece using the fancy alpha set, along with various summer images and the tiny numbers from the cupcake builder set.  the sun and the title are stamped directly on the white panel, while the palm tree and surfboard are cut out for perfect placement and a little depth.  the sand is a torn piece of the new wheat card stock--it's a perfect color for sand!  next i moved on to the inside...

since the purpose of the book was journaling, the school lined card stock was perfect for the inside pages.  i wanted two pages per day for a week long trip, so i cut two 4 x 6 pages from each of 7 pieces of card stock--that way, i would have 7 with a top margin to add the coordinating daily titles, as shown above, and 7 without to follow each titled one.  since the backs are blank, you could add drawings, clippings or small photos as you use it.  with that in mind, i bound it all together with my bind-it-all, choosing a larger than necessary wire so that there was room for the book to grow a little.

while the book was pretty complete at this point, a lightbulb went off.  i decided that if you were taking it on a trip, you might want to toss it in your purse, so an elastic band to hold it closed would be a good idea.  a couple of eyelets on the back with elastic strung and tied through are all you need!  of course, i only had white elastic and, while it looked fine, i thought green would look better, so i colored it with the same copic i used on the stamped images and voila!  matching green elastic.  i was really excited about this little book--i think it's so fun to have customized pieces like this for trips, parties, gifts, etc.  oh, the possibilities!

thanks for stopping by...
:) lexi