Travel Journal Prep - WIP

In a few weeks,  I'm taking a trip with my Investment Club to Charleston, South Carolina.  I wanted to prepare a journal ahead of time to have a place to record things while I am there.  Also,  I won't  feel so overwhelmed in completing this journal when I get back. 

This is a work in process that I have been working on the past few days and I wanted to share my progress with you.  More embellishments will be added along with lots of journaling tags and spots, but here we go:

All of the photos that are in this journal I printed on my home printer from a search online of photos of Charleston.  I do not have sources for the artwork and photos,  but if someone recognizes the art as their own, please let me know and I will be happy to give credit.  

As you turn the front page, I found this cute "map" that I have a journaling card tucked behind.  On the right side, there is a fold out with plenty of blank space for pictures or journaling.

On the next pages, I added clear transparency sheets as pockets and embellished with white paint and a die cut.  I'll tuck pictures, receipts, and whatever else there.

 While we are there, we are going to go to a Gospel Brunch, so I thought it would be fun to decorate the page on the left with a Hymnal page.  The small blue page flips open to reveal a journaling spot.   On the right is plenty of room for journaling, and another spot for tucking papers in.

The green page below will probably get more embellishing.  As I mentioned, this is a work in progress, and I'm just thrilled I got this far.  Usually, I'm last minute Annie trying to get my act together and running out of time.  How nice it feels to already have this much ready to go!

The page on the right has a couple of pockets to tuck receipts, notes, whatever into.  The plain cardstock behind the larger pocket will most likely be jazzed up a bit or covered with more cardstock and a tab before the trip.

 The large journaling page with the bird makes me happy, and so does the graph paper on the right.  I recycled a big yellow mailing envelope as a page and I'll probably put some maps in there.

 On the left page below, I used a recycled manila file folder as a fold out and covered one side with a vintage dictionary page coated in gesso.  On the flip side is more graph paper.  Again, lots of room for photos and journaling.

For the last set of pages, I used a recycled coffee cup insulator to be used as a little pocket on one side and left the other side primarily blank (for now).

Finally, on the back cover, I used this picture of an iron gate and I'll probably add some lettering or something.

So, there it is - my work in process. I hope you enjoyed seeing it before it gets all filled with fun ephmera from my trip. As I said, I'll be working on more tags, journaling spots, and embellishments up until my trip in late September.  When I get back,  I'll share the complete journal at that time.

Feeling neglectful...

I can't escape the feeling of being neglectful of things. I haven't blogged much at all this year and I know I'm going to regret it later because I so like to go back and see all that the year held.

However, our year got off to kind of a rocky start.  Phoebe was sick, and then we had the water leak and had to undergo major construction on our first floor.  The stress of that mess and then the getting unpacked and settled back in took much of my efforts and left little time or even patience for other things.

Then, our spring was cold and I didn't feel much like getting outside to do anything in the flowerbeds, and just overall felt like I needed a break from things.  Plus, with all rain, the mosquitos are pretty bad this year.  So, our yard has suffered and it makes me sad.

Although we have had plenty of beautiful butterflies and hummingbirds, (they don't mind the sad state of things) I haven't even taken many pictures of them this year.

Time has flown by and it seems summer is coming to an early end.  The good news is that now I may actually be able to get outside and spruce things up a bit!

I've done some organizing projects, painted our master closet,  and have done a few crafty things but it's time to get my butt in gear.  I'm starting to get excited about fall and Halloween and have a bunch of things planned for the house, the yard, and for crafting.  Let's see if I can be a better blogger too.
:)

Weekend in Dallas

Last weekend, Doug and I traveled down to Dallas to attend a work related function for his company.  The North Dallas branch is merging with the Oklahoma branch and this was a "get to know each other" meeting.   Honestly, I didn't want to go, and kind of complained about it several times leading up to actually getting there.  I just wanted to stay home and get a few things done around the house. But we went and ended up having a nice, relaxing weekend. 

  We stayed at Hotel Zaza in Dallas.  This summer, the hotel opened up it's new bungalows which are adjacent to the actual hotel. Our group was the first to actually stay in the bungalows.

  Each one is decorated a little differently, and the bungalow we stayed in was so comfortable, we wanted to move right in. This was one of our two sitting rooms.

Sitting on that beautiful sectional, we could watch one of the three big screen TV's here in our suite. 

 Looking from the other direction in the main sitting room, there was a little kitchenette complete with a microwave, coffeemaker, espresso machine, and mini fridge.  Behind the wall of the kitchenette was another seating area which was adorable.

 There were two full marble bathrooms which were gorgeous, and this was our bedroom.  Two veery comfortable queen beds with luxurious padded crown headboards, and of course another huge TV.

On Saturday, the guys went off to play golf,  and the ladies got to pick a spa treatment.  I had a wonderfully relaxing massage, and then went back to the suite to take a nice nap. Saturday evening, we reconvened outside in the courtyard of the bungalows for a magnificent dinner.

Hotel Zaza knows how to cater to their guests.  The food was fabulous the entire weekend, and the staff is on top of their game. The main hotel was very trendy and by the looks of the pool area on Saturday afternoon, it's a place to be seen.  I didn't venture out there - too hot and too crowded, but the bungalows were quiet, and very relaxing.  Overall,  I would highly recommend this place, and we were definitely happy we went.