Monday 18 July 2011

Travelling Man

My baby is leaving today - despite his corset and meds and his mother's misgivings!  Today is the start of his epic journey through the Far East, taking in the sights of India, Vietnam and Bali and several other countries besides.  I've made a Smash Book to help him and his girlfriend document their adventures.

I've used up scraps of ancient papers, some free wordart printed onto cream card, some old CD wallets, some cut-down manilla envelopes and some 6x4 journalling cards.  All cut up, decorated, folded into pockets, and bound with my friend's Bind It All.  The closure holds a pen in place so that they can always jot down some notes and is made from a brad, 3 eyelets and a hair elastic - here's how!

The tabs are decorative rather than functional; plenty of pockets for tags with extra writing space.

Free WordArt to brighten up the odd page; manilla envelopes for BIG storage space.

Cut down CD wallets provide see-through storage for smaller items like tickets; secured with home-made twine.

Hoping that they find lots of low risk activities to fill the pages with - and that they come home safe and sound in September!
That 3rd eyelet is upside down under the brad,
creating some space between the brad and the front cover for the hair elastic.
ETA: My traveller has returned with his book filled with memories here!

16 comments:

Scrappy~Sarah said...

Perfect, totally fabulous - all the best to them for their travels.

Mary B said...

That looks fab, hope they write lots of things in there and all the little momentums added to it will make a good thing to look back on.

Alison said...

Great book to have given them...hope they have a great time!
Alison xx

Denise said...

That's a lovely book you've made them. I hope they enjpy their travels and September will whizz round x

Anonymous said...

Another lovely project and a great item for them to take with them

JulieJ said...

Who needs a smash book when you can make something that good. That's cracking.

Winnie said...

Wow, the book looks amazing! I'd love to see it completed when they get back from their trip. Hope they have a fab time, despite only just recovering from his accident!

Anonymous said...

Fab book. My big ds (18) is going to Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam for 6 weeks and will be back in Sept for a few days then off to start Uni. Any tips would be appreciated!
Mandy

Sian said...

I'm having a catch up today - I see you have been creating with a passion while I've been away!

Thanks for noticing the feet yesterday - some folk might have tried to photoshop them out, but I thought I'd like to see them in the picture years from now.

Best of luck to your boy off on his travels

alexa said...

Hope he has a lovely time ... and that it gets recorded in your lovely, lovely book. Those pages are beautifully put together.

Missus Wookie said...

Gorgeous book - hope he has a wonderful time full of interesting (but safe) adventures that don't muck his corset up too much :)

Eleanor said...

Perfect papers, colours are so right for the location. Hope you let us see the finished book when it brings them safely home!
Try not to worry, this is such a valuable experience, they will grow enormously.
Elx

Anonymous said...

Wow, the stories that book might have to tell one day. And what a good Mom you are to give them such a unique and special memory keeper.

Sandie said...

This is a lovely Smash book, Jemma. I've just made a simple one each for my grand daughters to take on their holiday. I hope your son & his girlfriend have a wonderful time & fill the book with special memories.

Lisa-Jane said...

Hope they have a great time and come back safe and sound. We travelled to those countries about 9-10 years ago and you can certainly keep in touch a lot better now. What a fantastic book to help them record their journey.

sixofone aka Leah said...

What a lovely book. I'm sure your son will love it and bring back amazing memories