Crafter's Companion Travel Journal

I have some Crafter's Companion announcements before I get started today.  This post is a tad long, so settle in.

The Crafter's Companion Design team has a contest going on between the designers and you can win too!  If you live in the US (sorry it's not open internationally  :(), consider becoming a follower of the CC Blog.  If you do become a follower, email Bindy (bindy@crafterscompanion.com) and say:

"Hi! I just became a follower of Crafter's Companion.  Jen (JLJ Designs sent me)."

You'll be in a drawing for a $100 gift certificate (wow, wow, wow)!  to spend at the Crafter's Companion store.  You'll be helping me because the designer with the most "referrals" gets a spending spree as well. 

Be sure to check out the Challenge Blog.  This week we're giving away Deserve a Treat from the SWALK collection.  All you need to do is leave a comment!

Now for my project.  When I saw these new Stamp It stamps, I immediately thought travel journal.  Now, I've been on a crafting spending fast this month, so I pondered how to make a travel journal using things I already had in the craft room.  I started with a 12x12 piece of heavy card stock (it was dark green, but I covered it all up).  I had some pretty purple parchment stationary from my wedding (keep in mind this was 13 years ago!) that I decided to use as the pages.  The stationary was 9" x 6.5", so I made my cardstock cover 10"x7".  After cutting the rectangle, I used my Boxer Board and Ultimate Tool to crease it down the center of the long side, making the book shape.  Then, I covered both sides of the paper with Mod Podge and torn papers from my stash.  I did this in two steps allowing one side to dry before doing the other.

Now it's time to decorate.  I stamped Destination on brown card stock and Mod Podge-ed it to the front with a paper flower behind it.  When that was dry, I added tulle, buttons, and flowers.

Here's the inside, where you can see the torn paper detail.  For the parchment pages, I stamped Compass on the first pages and used the other stamps at "random" through the book.

Here is the very inside of the book.  You can see Destination again and also Faith Birds.  It was a little tricky to get the staples in the center.  I turned the empty box that the parchment paper came in upside down and opened up my stapler so it was flat.  I put the book on the box and stapled through the pages and the box.  Then I gently pulled the book off the box and folded the pointy ends of the staple down.

I have two more journals to show you, so be sure to come back tomorrow and Wednesday!

Happy Crafting!