Colorado Road Trip 2014 Mini Album....the supplies

My family + 3 other families are headed to Colorado soon for a fun Summer vacation. I've got the making of a mini album in progress so I thought I'd share my supplies that I have set aside for this project. 

The Gossamer Blue July kits were packed full of products that were simply perfect for the look I was going for.  Our vacation will include lots of ATV trails, road side stops by flowing creeks, white water rafting, picnics and nature hikes.  I wanted lots of florals, nature and fun prints + some road trip embellishments.  Here's what I selected....

First up was this beautiful assortment of patterned papers.  These come from all the various kits + the 6 x 6 Open Road Crate Paper pad from the July Bits & Pieces Kit. 

 The sticker embellishments were right on track for my mini album.  The chipboard alpha and October Afternoon label sheet is from the July Main Kit.  The Open Road stickers from Crate Paper are in the July Main Add-On Kit.  The Studio Calico phrase sticker sheet is from the July Bits & Pieces Kit and the Pink Paislee Switchboard alpha is from the July Life Pages Add-On 3 Kit.

 I dug through my stash of Gossamer Blue stamps, choosing sets that had travel and foodie images.

 I have lots of little tins packed full of travel, floral and label images.  These are tucked into the various July Gossamer Blue Kits.

 For my mini album, the Studio Calico Handbooks are becoming a favorite.  I'll be using the Chocolate Handbook this time along with different size page protectors. A fun discovery is that the We R Memory Keepers 2 x 2 Photo Sleeves and the 4 x 4 Photo Sleeves fit the rings of the Hand Books. I'll also be trimming some other Project Life page protectors down I'm sure.  I love mini albums to have lots of different size page protectors and things like pockets, etc.

 I really love the Crate Paper Open Road Journaling Cards that are included in the July Gossamer Blue Life Pages Main Add-On Kit.  I'll pair them with other GB journaling cards and ones that I create on my own for some fun title cards.  You can see a peek of some title cards I created in advance.  I love the feel of this album....lots of muted nature colors, some quirky alphabets like what you might see on old hotel signs with the big arrows pointing to the hotels and snippets of road trip and nature themed embellishments.

 Totally fun and I can't wait to add in my vacation photos & journaling.

 I packed up a few vintage storage items with my kit supplies.

 When I return from our road trip I'll have everything waiting for me.  If I have enough space I'm hoping that I can fit our 2013 Colorado trip photos into this album too and just divide the two events with index labels or title pages.

I'll be updating the blog with progress photos of my mini album so stay tuned.  Be sure to shop the Gossamer Blue kits this month if you like the feel of this album.  I'm so pleased with the selections in this month's kits. So, so perfect for my album theme.  Are you headed out for vacation soon?  I'd love to hear your plans for documenting your Summer trips.  

Road Trip Mini Album....taking it on the road

So, you've got your supplies and album all ready to go. It's road trip time! Let's talk about taking your supplies on the road with you.

One of my new loves is vintage suitcases. I use them around the house to store various items and I think they make the neatest display pieces. Check out this lovely from Pinterest below.

{photo from my Pinterest site}

I'm hoping to bring home a suitcase full of memories myself so I'm using one of my own vintage suitcases to pack up all my supplies + my Road Trip Mini Album.
Here's all my goodies tucked inside.
I've got my beloved Washi tape...
All of my necessities like my alphabet stamps and tools......
Can't forget the album itself.....
All tucked neatly inside. Keeping organized is key.
With my album tucked safely on top.......
Everything safely stored inside and ready to roll.......

A traveler. Ready to make some memories.

Ready to road trip, baby!!

{photo from Pinterest}

This concludes my Road Trip blogging, folks. Hope you have enjoyed my ideas. If you ordered one of my Road Trip Mini Albums, have fun with it!!

Road Trip Mini Album....supply list

It's road trip time and you want to take along your Road Trip Album. You've got lots of pages added + the embellishments are ready to be added. So what do you take along for supplies and tools? Part of that depends on what you really feel you'll be able to accomplish with your album on your trip. Part of it depends on how much space you have. Just like packing for any other trip, taking a minimalist approach is best. But since I've never been very good at that, I'll show you what I may or may not have packed to take. ;)

Mini alphabet stamps. If feasible I would carry these with me everywhere. I would sign my checks with them. Sign my signature with them. I love them that much. These are from Hero Arts, my favorites. A date stamp is great for adding the dates below photos, to tags, journaling blocks, etc. If all you're able to do is jot down some notes on sticky notes, stamp the date and stick them to a page. At least you'll be able to keep the days straight. Be sure to take along an ink pad. I like a basic black pad.
Cutting tools. Since taking the big paper trimmer is not in the plan, take along a small pair of scissors to trim brochures, tags, ribbons, etc. Hole punches are nice so that you can add items to your album which uses the metal binder rings. A corner rounder can be used to add some detail to pages, tags, brochures, business cards + more. Circle punches are a fun and easy way to add accents to your pages and tags. You may want to punch out a certain part of a photo or brochure or menu and just add a little snippet instead of a large item to your album.
Writing tools + more. Journaling pens and Sharpies to keep track of all your memories, stories, places visited, etc. Cotton twine is also nice to tie on tags. Small clothespins can hold little items in place before they get adhered. A pack of sticky notes is a good idea for taking notes and marking pages.
Adhering stuff. A basic tape runner with a new refill is a must. My Tiny Tim stapler will be right by my side for adding in quick items. Washi tape is functional and decorative, a big bonus. One roll would do well, eight rolls would be splendid!
Transporting. It's a good idea to have all your little embellishments + tags tucked away safely. I tucked all my goodies into clear card sleeves that have adhesive flaps. Now this is a lot of stuff, definitely more than needed for one road trip. But I've collected items from both of the road trip albums I offered up in my Etsy shop + more of my own personal stash. I'll have lots of goodies for future road trips too.
More packaging. Probably a good idea to package inks and anything liquid separately just in case altitude changes or temperatures cause lids to pop open. I also packaged my basic tools like pens and scissors and sticky notes in a card box for easy reach.
That's a lot of stuff. If you want the bare basics, you can always take a small pencil case with just scissors and adhesive. It's all up to you. Stay tuned tomorrow as I show you how to pack it all up. I have a special find that excited to share with you!

Road Trip Mini Album....fun stuff to add to your album

Here we go again for more Road Trip Mini Album fun! Today it's all about shopping your stash for fun items to add to your mini albums. Or perhaps items to look for the next time you're out junkin'. You never know where you might find some good stuff.

Here I have a nice collection of stickers and die cuts....carnival tickets and Smash journaling cards...canvas tags...all good stuff to tuck into your journals.
Old road maps are becoming a favorite collectible item for me. I find them here and there on my little shopping ventures. Great for making full pages, pockets, envelope liners, punched circles, etc. I love these flash cards of the states that I found too. Will definitely be adding these to my road trip album.
Another of my favorites are these to/from vintage Dennison labels. Perfect for jotting down your destinations and where you've been. I added a little sticker or tag to each of mine. Also here is a grid index card with carnival tickets stitched on. Cancelled postage stamps are also great additions to add to your mini travel albums. The metal rimmed tags are another favorite of mine. I'll be adding a bunch to the shop soon.
Vintage travel postcards. So fun to find a box at an antique shop and just pull up a chair. I'm still searching for one with an Airstream camper. Anyone? Bueller?
And don't forget to pick up some postcards from your current trip. Write some journaling on the back and you've got an instant memory. Want the postcard cancellations on them? Just drop them in the mail with your address on them. And don't forget to send a postcard to loved ones. Our great, great grandkids will want to find them in an antique shop some day!!

Other items to collect on your trip: receipts from gas stations, paper menus, hotel brochures or notepads, national park brochures, chipboard drink coasters, labels from pop/beer bottles, packaging from road trip snacks, clothing tags, paper napkins, coloring pages from restaurants, business cards, sacks from fast food restaurant.

How to add them to your travel album: add the whole thing or...punch out a circle, cut out a square.....use mod podge or staples.....back a tag.....fold or create a pocket.....tuck in a pocket or sack....take a photo of grouped items then trash the whole lot. Get creative!

What other fun items can you collect while on your trip?

Road Trip Mini Album....more altered items from the kit

Hi there, hope you are enjoying my road trip posts this week. Today I'm back with a few more altered items from my road trip kits. I reached for a lot of my parcel tags from Etsy shop for my own personal kit + there are lots in the kits that were sold. They make the easiest journaling pieces. I altered these with stamped journaling lines...I think the girls will find it easier to write on lines than total freehand in case they join in on the fun....also some added stickers, Washi tape (my new love) and carnival tickets. I threw some cotton twine into my road trip box so that I could easily add the tags to the album. I could also attach them to pages with tiny staples, more Washi tape, regular adhesive or simply add them to a ring of the album.
Here I used some machine stitching to fancy up a few of the stamped tags from the kits. A little flower sticker cut in half + a punched circle from a map + a little Washi tape never hurt anyone. :) kept the tags simple but was able to add a little embellishment here and there. We are crafters after all....it's our job to fancy things up. I also added a few little strips of cardstock to the road rip sign. Great place for a little title, a date, etc.
And here's the piece of clear cardstock that came with the kits. I stitched on two layered circles and that was it. I think clear cardstock is such a fun piece to add to my journal kits. You just never know what's going to end up on piece. I wonder what special little memory item will make its way onto mine? A photo? A receipt? A pretty portion of a menu? Who knows? Remember, you can also use paint and rub-ons and stitching to these clear sheets too. Lots of fun possibilities.
So what fun things will you do to alter your kit items? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Be sure to leave links to photos in the comments section.

Love the thought of creating more mini albums? I'll be adding the basic supplies to my Etsy shop soon.:)

Road Trip Mini Album....getting the stories down

Hey there, I'm back today with more good stuff from my Road Trip Mini Album. If you're taking your travel albums with you to work while on the road, one of the most important things to do is have journaling cards ready to grab & write. The purpose is NOT to create the pieces and parts of your mini album while on the road but rather have everything ready to go so you can jot down the stories very easily....and then get on with enjoying your trip.

Here I have a few journaling cards that I made from Becky Higgins' Journaling Cards. Love the grid pattern on them + the rounded corners. I also stamped a bunch of phrases from Ali Edwards' Technique Tuesday stamp sets onto plain ol' index cards. Cut them to whatever size you want, round the corners, paint, add embellishments, etc. I like to start out with plain ones and I'll embellish as I go.
Here I've stamped arrows from Papertrey's Get to the Point stamp set + a Label Basics die with journaling lines + added in a little Washi tape to a small sack + some labels on a glassine bag. I stitched around all the little cards.
To the label sheets from the kit, I added lots of stamped phrases + words. These will be great to reach for when I need a little title for a page of my mini album. You can also use the blank labels for journaling. Just keep adding them in rows and write a few lines on each label. I even splattered a few with spray mists.
Okie doke, that's it for today. Have a great weekend everyone! Stay tuned for tomorrow because I'll be back with more Road Trip Mini Album goodies.

So tell me......for those of you that purchased the album, have you dug into your supplies? Are you planning on taking your album with you on a road trip?

For those of you that have taken mini albums on the road, what are your best tips? Did you actually scrapbook.....just collect items and tuck them in the album to scrapbook at home? I'm curious to see how much I'll really be able to get done while on the road.

Road Trip Mini Album....altered kit items

Back with more road trip fun! Today I'm sharing a few items from the kit that I altered and embellished. Starting with an envelope that was stamped with words from Ali Edwards' Technique Tuesday stamps.....I added a map embellishment above the words + colored in some of the words with Copic markers + added a label die stamped with the word *inside*....I'll stamp the contents in the label once some goodies get stuffed inside. Splatters from October Afternoon mists add a little color to the envy.
When opened up, you can see that I used the Papertrey envelope liner die to line the envelope. I love the little details like this. Snatch up a few old maps on your next junkin' trip.
And these are my favorite altered pages from my road trip mini album. On the left I used one of the folded ledger sheets and stitched the sides to create a pocket. The vintage service station receipt was added before stitching to create the pocket top. I also stamped a small tag and stitched it to the top of the pocket page. This side will hold gas receipts we collect on our road trip.

On the right side, I included some mileage type patterned paper + added the year. Here we can keep track of our total mileage, gas mileage or any notes about vehicle stuff we incur while on our trip. Another small tag was stitched to the right page which says *our Chevy Trailblazer*. I'm going to snap an Instax shot of the vehicle so we'll know what vehicle we took on this trip. Some of our best road trip memories as a kid was riding in the old, white car. No seat belts, there was a bump on the floor of the back seat and someone was always asleep in the back window. Probably no air conditioning. We yelled because *he touched me!*. My parents threatened to *pull this car over*. And we all survived. Good times, great memories.
And this simple page features a tag that was stamped + has a handwritten title using Sharpies. A sticker from the Studio Calico sheet from the kit was stamped with *ha ha ha*. On this page, we'll add funny stuff that we heard or saw or said along the way. Speaking of funny stuff, have you been to a county fair lately? Oh. my. Lord. The people that come out of the woodwork + the stuff they wear....or don't wear....is a little scary. We'll be near Mt. Rushmore right when the Sturgis bike rally is going on. Can't wait to see that!
Here's to a great road trip, everyone. Stay tuned the rest of the week as I blog more ideas from my road trip mini album.

Twitter: If you follow me on Twitter (left hand side of the blog), I will be doing some Twitter updates along the way.

Etsy shop: I'll be leaving the shop open so orders can be placed.....however I've put a vacation notice on my front page stating that items placed between now and the 12th will not be shipped until August 13th. I've received some new items in the last few days and will be updating the shop when I return.

A big thanks to: My mom and dad for always taking care of our cats, watering the flowers and taking care of the house while we're away.

Looking forward to: Time with all my reds, a change of scenery, new adventures, new memories......and cooler temperatures!!

Road Trip Mini Album....days of the week

Hey there, back again with a quick little post to show you how I made numbered day embellishments for our road trip this summer. I started with these two Martha Stewart punches (available at Michael's) + some old ledger paper from my stash. Each punched circle was stamped with mini alphabet letters from Hero Arts.
Day 1 uses a punched & stamped circle from the kit. Day 2 uses a carnival ticket. Day 3 uses layered, punched circles. Day 4 uses a white tag with a mini staple + stitching. Day 5 uses a metal rim tag (coming to my Etsy shop soon). Day 6 uses a small manila parcel tag + a Studio Calico sticker from the first road trip kit.

Very easy to assemble and took very little time. These will be fun little markers for each day of our vacation. I'll probably just staple them onto my pages with my Tiny Tim stapler.

Sooo.....any road trip plans for you this summer? Whether your road trip consists of a one day trip or 2 weeks on the road, it's all FUN!! I know I probably won't fill my mini album with one trip's worth of stuff so I'm hoping to keep a few pages open for an upcoming road trip to my sister's house in western Kansas. A weekend of quilting fun for the girls + hunting for the boys & reds. I'd love to hear what you have planned!

Road Trip Album...our destination + 4

(photo from Bliss blog here via Pinterest)

Hey there, today I'm sharing more from my Road Trip Mini Album. One of the first pages of my mini album will be a destinations page. I stamped a small piece of patterned paper with sentiments from Ali Edwards stamps from Technique Tuesday. On this page I'll probably put a few sentences together about how excited we are to take another family vacation together + I'll add a small Instax photo of our family just before we pile into the SUV on the first day of our road trip.
The little tag that says *Us 4* was made from my White Tags along with mini stamps from Hero Arts + a kraft chipboard #4 + machine stitching. Now I know the grammar police might say I need to say *we 4*....but I liked it better as *us 4*......like "just us 4".

I also found a vintage postcard of Mt. Rushmore which I was just thrilled about. I used a punched circle accent from the kit and stamped on *Mt. Rushmore or Bust*. On the back of the postcard I think I'll add a little history about Mt. Rushmore. Always good to read up on the history of the places you're road tripping to. Tip: Sometimes it's hard to get a good shot of landmark sites....purchase postcards and add them right into your mini albums. The photos are beautiful and you can add journaling and photos to the back. I love them!
Throughout my road trip album, I want to use the number 4 which represents the number of people in my family. Here I've taken a large metal rim tag and die cut the number 4 from it using the By the Numbers dies. I layered this onto a piece of paper and added some lettering with my Hero Arts mini stamps. I will use the positive #4 on a different page in my travel album. I also punched some ledger paper and stamped on the #4 from Get To The Point along with die cutting some old maps with the Angled Labels Die Collection dies. I'll be having more metal rimmed tags in my Etsy shop soon.
I also thought these Three People stamps from Hero Arts would be fun to use on Becky Higgins' journaling cards from Project Life. I stamped them with Smoky Shadow ink from PTI and then added our names using the large(Printer's Type Alphabet) and small(Printer's Type Lowercase Alphabet) alphabet sets from Hero Arts. I love these little alphas and will be using them lots in my mini albums for journaling.
Next up I revved up the old, vintage typewriter. Have I told you how much I love vintage typewriters?
I picked out several paper pieces + a tag from the kit and typed *my favorite thing today was:*. Each of us will take a turn to write our favorite thing about a day of our road trip. If you zoom in closer, you'll see that I added ribbon from the kit with tiny staples + machine stitching, regular machine stitching to underline the phrase and Washi tape. Great little journaling pieces that I know I will love because the album will have a bit of each of our handwriting.
That wraps up today's little peek into my Road Trip Album. Stay tuned because I'll blogging more Road Trip posts the rest of the week. I've got them all scheduled and you're going to love them! Loads of information for your road trip inspiration.

On the side: Thanks to all you wonderful folks who ordered Jordan's House on the Hill artwork pieces, she is $30 shy of earning enough money for an iPad 2. We're road tripping to the city to buy one before our big trip! She is wayyyyyy beyond excited and so am I!! I'm helping her with the remaining amount she needs + I'll throw in a case and some screen protectors for an early birthday present.

Did you know: Josey informed me while sitting at the tire place the other day that MOM stood for "Made Of Money". I did not know that. Now I do. I guess to her, it's probably true.

Good vibes for a road trip: You can Google search road trip songs and a big list pops up + Pandora has it's own section for Road Trips. We will be jammin' our entire road trip.

Okay, check back tomorrow for another road trip post.