Configurations Vacation Book

I thought I'd surprise my friend Teresa on her birthday with a scrapbook/shadow box from our road trip to the Gulf Coast last year.  Her birthday was a month ago, so it really is going to be a surprise.  Anyway, here's the end result:

Most everything is either from CTMH or Tim Holtz.  My basic idea came from the book Tim Holtz showed during the CHA show this winter.  The newspaper-like tape on all edges is Tim Holtz.  The papers are all CTMH:  mostly the "Surf's Up" paper pack with a little bit of "Dakota" (the worn boards paper).  All the stamps are CTMH.

This is a view of the inside of the box.  I like that it's a shadow box so you can add shells, matchbooks, and other 3D objects, but it still has a cover, so if we don't want to display it, it slides onto a book shelf nicely.

Here's what the Configurations Book looks like when you get it--naked.  You can move the boxes around in any order you want or remove some, but I liked the original pattern.  Next I covered the edges of every box with Tim Holtz tissue tape:

And all the other edges of the Configurations Book:

Next, I covered the flat surfaces with patterned paper.

Cut the paper just short of the length/width of the book, so the tape shows around the edges.  I also distressed all the edges of every piece of paper.  I added ribbon around the book for a bow closure.  I glued it under the paper on the cover and on top of the papers on the back and spine.

The back of the book with the ribbon on the outside.

The ribbon on the spine of the book.

I used different coordinating patterns for the backgrounds of the boxes.  I glued the three shells on their respective boxes with CTMH Liquid Glass.  There's also a matchbook and a bit of letterhead from hotel stationery.

Here are all the photos added.  I also included some CTMH embellishments from the Surf's Up pack.  The large box on the right is for a mini book.

I made sure the cover was flat, because I want it to fit on a bookcase without being damaged.  The pennants are a SU punch, but I used CTMH paper.  The baker's twine is glued behind the pennants, but they hang free at the ends.  The words & numbers are all CTMH stamps.

This is the little mini book inside the cover.  I made the "door handle" out of a square button and a bead, which I affixed with Liquid Glass.  I was careful that the door handle landed in the center of a box on the right side, so the book would still close.  I made the book with several pieces of cs, scored down the left side and stacked and glued down the left side.

I added pictures from each day of the trip on the inside, along with some coordinating stamping, and computer-printed journaling.  I couldn't help but add a picture of me & Tom with a note that we are some of the "most awesome friends ever."

I included pictures of some of the favorite food and drinks from the trip to give a complete feel of the vacation.  You can see the embellishments at the top of the inside cover, which fit inside a box to the right when the cover is closed.

 

I like to use white colored pencil to highlight stamping on darker papers.

 

 

 Here's the mini book on the right side.  Again, it's just a few pieces of cs scored and taped together along the top.  The embellishments and stamps are CTMH.

Two holes in the top of the book make it slip right over these hooks.  I can't remember their exact name, but they're Tim Holtz Ideaology pieces.

I didn't permanently secure the book, so it still slides off the hooks in case my friend wants to do some of her own journaling in here.

And the inside of this book.  Plain, but I thought I need to leave her some journaling areas too. 

 

 

(I can't get over Mark eating those raw oysters--Yuck!)

 

Here's some more pics of the finished project: 

I didn't glue down the individual boxes.  You could, but they stay in pretty well by themselves.

You can see in this photo that all my tape isn't sticking down perfectly.  That doesn't really bother me.  I like the look with the wrinkles and loose bits.  It could be remedied with some white glue or more careful taping technique, if the messier look isn't your style.

 

It did take some time, but this was a really fun project, and I plan to do more.