Scrapbooking on the Go

I wanted to make a mini-book for our summer trip. I loved doing the book I made last year for a weekend in San Antonio and I knew this would be a memorable vacation. What I didn't want was to come home to a thousand pictures (1207 to be exact) and an overwhelming project. I know myself well enough to know that at that point it would become a "someday" project rather than a reality. Even if I did tackle the project, I didn't want to be working on it long after the buzz of the trip was gone (like I was with my December Daily mini!)

Of course, it would be fine to just make an online photo album and send links to my family. I do that pretty often. But I really like all the "stuff" that you can collect when you go to a fun event or attraction and I wanted to do something with those items as well. Also, when I scrap on trips it's just more fun. In the past it has been taking things along on family visits so that my sister and I could work together.

But then I found this Ali Edwards article about Scrapbooking on the Road and was so inspired! I decided to put myself together a book and a kit and take it with me. I cut some chipboard covers and cardstock pages to 5x7, used my Crop-A-Dile to punch holes, and put them together for a blank starter book (that's it in the third photo of the Crop-A-Dile post). James found a metal, box-style clipboard at a yard sale (for two dollars!) so I filled it with basic supplies, some embellishments that followed my theme, tools and my book.

I used it a lot! I worked in the car but I found I had other times to use it too. When we're in hotels I end up stuck in the room (or more often in the hall) during naptimes or early bedtimes supervising sleeping children. It was so lovely to have something creative and inspiring to work on. I picked up brochures, maps and little memorabilia along the way and then just puttered with it - cutting out the cool bits to save, making pieces into additional pages, etc.

Eventually I needed photos to continue: hooray for wi-fi! I usually download my pictures often and go through them, picking favorites and deleting the many duds, so it wasn't too much more to check google maps for a nearby photoshop, upload the pics and pick them up on our way to our next outing. Not waiting until we got home for printed pictures made it so much fun.

I found that scrapbooking on the road helped me remember the stories along the way helped me focus on the best of the trip. Sure, we're in the car for hours on end - but I'm doing something I love, with people I love. I thought about the funny things the kids said and did and how to capture them. My mind was occupied with the good and memorable, instead of the little annoyances along the way. I'm so glad I did this and hope to both finish my book and do it again.

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p.s. Here is the finished product!

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