My youngest
daughter has discovered her wanderlust.
Last year she drove over 6000 miles cross country by herself because it
was something she just had to do and a promise she made herself after an
extended hospital stay the previous summer - long story and one for another
blog but you can follow her journey on her blog - http://manythe6000miles.wordpress.com.
I think she has great promise as a writer but then I might be a little biased
on that part. This year she had to do it
again but this time she only went as far as the Grand Teton National Park and
she brought her girlfriend along.
Before she
left last year I made for her a travel journal to take with her. Gathering ideas I found on the web, I crafted
a 5x7 zigzag folded book. I added a lined
notepad for journaling, envelopes and pockets for receipts, memorabilia, etc.;
a sketch pad and tabs to attach post cards.
I was surprised at how well it turned out.
This year I
created a second one for her girlfriend and of course I couldn’t resist re-styling
it a little especially after seeing how the first one stood up against the
elements of traveling and camping. One
of the major items I had to upgrade was the adhesives I was using. I think I have now hit on the right
combination of the Tombow Tape Runner, Scotch
Quick-Dry Adhesive and red-line tape.
These seemed to work better in the second version. I eliminated the post cards tabs and added
more pockets for storage.
I also upgraded the clasp to something I had in my
inventory. Not sure what brand or where
I got it though. The front cover is a
paper covered piece of cardboard with a store bought picture frame. I love the Smash book/Recollections supplies
for these. With the finishing touches of
washi tape and some journaling tags it was ready to hit the road with the
girls. From what I hear it held up well
and now contains treasured memories.
You start with 4 - 12x12 sheets of card stock in any color or pattern you
want. I used a solid color in both of my journals and covered the front cover
with a piece of patterned card stock.
For the first journal I used an actual map I cut out of an old road atlas.
For the first panel/cover of the journal I cut a 5x7 piece of card stock
with a 2” tab on the right. I scored the
edge of tab for easier folding and angle the edges for a cleaner finish (this
will be used to attached the cover to the next panel), a 5x7 piece of cardboard
(used as a stiffener) and a 5x7 piece of patterned card stock with ½” tabs all the
way around & scored. Glue the
patterned card stock to the cardboard insert folding over the tabs. Attach the cover to Panel number 1.
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Using the sketches below cut the remaining panels you will need, scoring
all tabs.
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Prep the
panels for assembly:
Panel 2:
Flip the bottom tab to the back side to form a pocket and glue with a thin line
of glue along the edges.
Panel
3: Flip the bottom tab to the back side
to form a pocket and glue with a thin line of glue along the edges.
Panel
4: Flip the bottom tab to the back side
to form a pocket and glue with a thin line of glue along the edges.
Panel 5:
Glue in a full pocket on front side, purchased or hand-made. On the back side attach your sketch pad. You can purchase a sketch pad that fits but I
made mine.
To make the
sketch pad I cut down a bunch of pages from an old sketch book that had blank
pages to 4-7/8” x 6-7/8”. You can cut as
many as to you to get the pad thickness you want. I then machine stitched the top (3/8” down)
of the pages without thread to create a perforation at the top of each page –
on my machine I could do 4 pages at a time.
I glued the pages together above the perforation with my Tombow Tape
Runner and I attached a header that I edge punched along the front edge. I attached the assembled sketch pad to the
back side of Panel 5 with red-line tape.
Panel 6:
Glue together with Panel 7. You can
insert another piece of cardboard between if you want the back cover firmer.
You are now
ready to assemble your journal. Assemble
the cover (panel 1) to panel 2 using the 2” tab on the cover (I used red-line
tape for this). Between panels 1 & 2
attached the journal. I purchased an
inexpensive 5x7 journal at an office supply store and removed the front and
back covers. It had a plastic stitched
spine that I hand-stitched in by using an upholstery needle, I then added a
little glue for good measure and made page marker using floss and beads.
I then
glued panel 3 to panel 4 and between the panels I stitched in, down the center,
a 6-1/2” x 9-1/2” manila clasp envelope.
Then cut the envelope in half creating 2 envelopes, one has the clasp
end and for the other one I slit the bottom along the edge with my exacto and
punched a partial circle out of the top so it was easier to open and use. By stitching it down the center of the two
panels it leaves the envelope loose from the panels.
Next I
attached panel 5 to panels 6/7 using the 2” tab on panel 5. I then put the finishing touches on the
journal like the front clasp with a ribbon tie and I added a few embellishments
inside on the pockets, etc. to personalize it.
This was a
rather involved project but it was a lot of fun and the second one went
together much faster and better than the first one. I hope you like it and want to try making one
of your own. If you have any questions
or comments please feel free to post them here.
Thanks for stopping by.
