Repurposed travel journal tutorial! (anncorbierescott)

Supplies-Xyron Mega Runner, 510 Creative Station, Liquid adhesive from the Teresa Collins adhesive kit, Double sided high tack tape, Teresa Collins stapler, Simple Stories-Good Day Sunshine collection, May Arts Ribbons, Studio Calico wood veneer states, Tim Holtz Distress Stain, Sizzix Tim Holtz Alterations Picture Wheel die, Mason Row typewriter stacks stamps, Ranger Distress ink, Archival Ink, EKSuccess Starburst punch

It's summer time and the livin is easy! Like most of you, my little family makes some annual treks every summer. We visit Geoff's family in California and mine in Michigan. two very diverse destinations! Every year I tell myself that I want to really document our travel experiences, and what I ususally end up with is a plethora of photos, memorabila and some really good intentions! I have also, always been intrigued by the freedom a Smash book brings. Last week, a friend of mine, sent me a link to Amy Tangerine's blog to show me these darling journals made from old books, click here to see amy tangerine . Well, you know that feeling of "I can totally make that"??? I'll just tell you, it hit me in spades!

This week, Xyron, Simple Stories and May Arts ribbon are partnering for some creative fun! Simple Stories Good Day Sunshine is the absolute perfect collection for summertime fun! The images are stunning and fun, and there are so many elements (stickers, journaling cards, patterned papers,etc) to create to your heart's content! May Arts Ribbons are second to none, as any paper crafter worth her salt will attest! And you know how I feel about Xyron's magnificent line of adhesives! They hold ALL of my crafting projects together!

So, here is my creation. a repurposed travel/smash journal for this summer's family excursions! This time, I am not giving you a step by step instruction, but how to's for the fun little techniques and lots and lots of photos! I figure you are all so creative you can figure most stuff out from a photo, or you'll just leave me a message with your questions :)

1. I had an old Reader's Digest that I have been ripping pages out of for book pages for other projects. So, I just tore the rest of the pages out and set them aside.

2. With an exacto knife I cut along the crevice, seperating the spine from the covers.

3. With Xyron double sided high tack tape, adhere May Arts velvet ribbon to the front cover.

4. For the interior pages, I cut to size, a variety of cardstock, vintage ledger pages, oversized and regular shipping tags, small flat bags for holding memorabilia,and some of the pages I tore out.

5. Next I punched holes in both covers and all interior pages with my Cinch.

6. Once all items had holes punched, I bound them all together with a spiral binding coil.

7. For a fun twist, I created a few pocket pages with the following technique. On the edge of the spiral binding,I laid down a couple of strips of Xyron doubled sided high tack tape. I cut a baseball card holder sheet down and adhered the strip with the edging to the double sided tape. Now it is ready for some of the darling journaling cards from Simple Stories Good Day Sunshine collection. I made a few of these pages throughout my travel journal.

For my front cover I wanted some fun dimensional elements. My goal was to create lots of visual interest, with lots of fun items, techniques and textures. I dug through my stash and found these darling little wood veneer states from Studio Calico. My travel journal contains trips to California and Michigan-I stained both states with some Distress Stain from Ranger-I love the results!

In the bounty of ribbon I received from May Arts, was this beautiful sheer ribbon with silk flowers attached. I cut the flowers off, adhered them to my front cover and used the wood veneer states as the centers of the flowers.

Other elements that I used for my front cover were Michigan stamp from Kelly Purkey, Typewriter stamps from Mason Row, sequins, merchandise tags, stickers and patterned paper pieces from Simple Stories Good day Sunshine collection. I, also,die cut some of the book pages with the Picture Wheel die from Tim Holtz alterations.

here are a few of my interior pages