Beach Vacation Junk Journal

Memories and more Memories

We rented a van and took Jess and Neal and the grand kids to the Gulf Coast early last fall. We had an old-fashioned family road trip with messes, crying, car games, naps, good food, bad food, hotels, fights, beach days, shopping, walks (runs in the rain), sightseeing, laughs, smiles, and lots and lots of memories. Oh, and a hurricane named Gordon that took away some beach time, but gave us a couple fire alarms and quite an adventure.

I made this junk journal before, during, and after our trip. I just finished it today (the day I wrote this, not the day I posted it). It might get some more doodling added, but it could be done, so I'm classifying it as a "done" project.  Here are a few pictures of the finished book.

Look how thick and chunky this journal is!!! I love a chunky journal. I used the small Dylusions journal and the outside is made with Tim Holtz's Distress Oxide inks, splattered with water.  

I also love, love, love when ribbons an tags, an other "stuff" sticks out from the edges of  the journal. I added lots of ribbons and tags that would go behind the confines of the book. There's a sand castle charm, and the light blue rubber thing is the bracelet from a hotel we were supposed to wear to use the hotel's amenities.

I'm only sharing a few pages, but this is truly a junk journal. I followed no rules and used so many types of papers and embellishments. I even used four different types of photos. (1) regular prints from my digital SLR printed on my home photo printer; (2) phone pics from my Pixel XL printed on my home photo printer; (3) Fuji Instamax photos from my Fuji Instamax Mini automatic camera; and (4) phone pics from my Pixel XL printed on my new HP Sprocket 2nd  Edition. I intend to do a blog post on my Sprocket soon. 

So many fun memories. It was Finn and Shae's first time at the beach, and they loved it!

I can't begin to name all of the products I used. Those palm tree stickers are OLD. I have a painted inked background here with Dylusions, some misc. B&T papers for pockets, and some newer chipboard stickers. 

Junk journals are a great way to use up miscellaneous items in your stash of products and a great way to be creative. There are no rules. We have another big vacation coming up next September, and I'm already looking forward to starting my journal!

Pensacola Beach Layout

 

I made this layout with CTMH B&T paper from the Skylark paper pack.  I printed the large beach photo 8"x10" and matted it on craft paper, leaving the bottom margin larger.  All the smaller photos are matted with CTMH White Daisy cs.  The wooden pieces are CTMH Badge Buttons I stamped with various beachy images.  I found the blue plastic flip flops in a stash of "beachy stuff" I have.  I like the classic "scrapbooky" way the smaller photos are placed on the page.  Since the upper right photo and the water tower in the lower left clearly show where we were, I didn't add a title or journaling.

More scrapbooking layouts coming soon!

We've been traveling again!  This time we drove to Pensacola Beach, Florida.  I love this classic sign and can't wait to scrapbook it.

We stayed at the Margaritaville Beach Hotel, where my toenails matched my surroundings.  CTMH's new Seaside B&T papers are going to coordinate great with these vacation pages.

Here's a few more pics:

Jess and Neal went with us and had a great time too.

 

Sunsets are always beautiful at the coast.

 

Does it look relaxing?  It was!

 

We also spent some time in the Gulf Island National Park near Biloxi, Mississippi:

Neal and Jess are on a boat ramp on some bayou waters in the park.

 

 And this shot is an alligator pond, complete with alligator floating in the middle. 

 

I hope to get my unpacking done and start scrapping these memories soon!

Junk Album - Part 3

This is Part 3 of my Gulf Coast Vacation Junk Album.  For the blog entry of the first part of my junk album, click HERE.  To view Part 2, click HERE.

Scrapbooking time at the beach is always fun and easy.  The next several pages of my junk album are from our time spent in Pensacola Beach, Florida.  I used CTMH's Footloose papers and coordinating embellishments and cs for the most part.  Since we stayed at the AWESOME Margaritaville Hotel, I punched holes in a postcard I bought at the hotel gift shop and added it to the album.

I added a picture from the hotel on the back.  The right-hand side background is stationery I took from the desk in our hotel room.  I attached it to cs to make it more sturdy, and I stamped on the flip flops.  Do very many hotels provide stationery anymore?

The left side of this page is actually the front and back of our two free beer coupons that we received in our room.  What?!--didn't we use them?  I was more into margaritas and hurricanes, and Tom is more of a Bud man.  Plus, there were free margaritas in the hotel lobby the first day and free beer the second, so we didn't really even need the coupons.  Our room keys were on lanyards (very handy for the beach and a great keepsake), so I punched holes in the plastic protector, then slipped one of our keys in it.  The right side shows our room.

More pictures of the hotel and beach.  Of course I kept the "Do Not Disturb" sign and added it my album.

CTMH's Posterboard Alphabet continues to be one of my favorites.  This time I stamped the letters right on some photos of the gulf.  I kept the horizon line in about the same place and lined it up when I attached the letters to the page.

I used the envelope that coordinated with the hotel stationery I used earlier to make the small pocket page that says "Life's a Beach."

Here's the back of the envelope (actually originally the envelope front because you can see the return address) and the insert.  Part of the insert is from a hotel notepad. 

...And the other side of the tag.  The right-hand page is the "letter" from Jimmy Buffett from our hotel room.

Next are yet more beach pictures and a hotel brochure stuck between them.

Some pages from the Landshark Landing bar, along with some journaling and doodling.

And lastly, some pages from a restaurant in Pensacola Beach not owned by Jimmy Buffett.  It still had a pirate/beach theme though.

Next pages:  Orange Beach, Alabama

Pensacola Beach Layout (H2H Scrapbook Challenge)

I tried the H2H scrapbooking challenge for the first time.  The layout was simple, but it turned out perfect for the few pictures I had.  I used the reverse side of the CTMH Wings paperpack--a totally different look than the front side, for a very "beachy" color palette.

Here's page one (in a horrible photo--sorry for the lighting).  The shells, palm tree, and sandcastle are cut from my cricut.  I think it's the second time I've used that thing, and the other time was for the shells too.  The top paragraph of the journaling tells what we did on our day trip to Pensacola.  The second paragraph are Jimmy Buffett lyrics to Frank and Lola.  (The song is about Pensacola and we ate at Frank & Lola's restaurant in Buffett's hotel (left pic).)

Here's page 2 up close.  I used my favorite alphabet, CTMH's Delightful Alphabet for "Pensacola Beach."

Here is the challenge's sketch of the layout:

More Vacation!

Looks like snow, but actually it's the white sand beaches of Gulf Island National Seashore (Gulf of Mexico on the left and Pensacola Bay on the right).

 
 
 
 
   

 
 
 
 

Some driftwood I liked the look of:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lulu's!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After leaving the beaches of Alabama and Florida, we headed to Biloxi for a night at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.  This is our room.  We had a great view!