Smashing New Orleans

 Technically this is probably not your typical smash book for various reasons... the main one being that the idea of the smash book is to take it with you and fill it with all your bits and pieces whilst you travel... well, I wanted to make one and use up all the bits that I had hoarded from my trip to New Orleans so it wasn't going to be filled during the trip but after the event.  I used chipboard for the covers and 1" o'wires and bound it with my Bind It All.

 I always buy lots of postcards when I go anywhere... sometimes it is the best way to get a good pic!

 I bound some of them as individual pages and used the backs for photos or journalling. Pockets are another good way to be able to hold all the brochures etc that you pick up while on a trip.

Maps are also quite fun and the right hand side of this is a map folded. 

I added pics and journalling to the back of the map to strengthen it. 

and you can mark the places you visited and where you stayed. 

I kept ads of the restaurants we ate in and photographed the menu of the local alligator place but didn't actually eat in there!  

 Both these pages have pockets to hold tags with photos.

 Fold outs are always handy for adding extra bits and pieces.

 This is the page opened fully.

 This page has a pocket of sorts... made from the chipboard covers you put on your hot drinks from places like Starbucks.

 I used the back of the postcard for a photo and added a thinner journalling page.

 Another pocket formed by folding and glueing which has tags and leaflets in it.

 I had to laugh because the museum had less African masks than I do...

 Normal pages with a postcard bound in the middle.

 Back is used for journalling.

 I kept some adverts and used these on the pages.

 Another pocket page for leaflets.

 Made this postcard into a pocket and added some tags.

 Photos and journalling of the cemeteries - nobody is buried under ground in New Orleans because of the risk of flooding.

 Postcard back for journalling and photos of the Mississippi.

 Rear of postcard for photos and journalling.

 Large photos of the city.

Another of the coffee holders made into a holder for tags.

I Changed My Mind...

I'm female, I think it is our prerogative to do so? (ok, I had to check the spelling of prerogative as it ended up with a squiggly red line under it, I left out the first r because that is the way I say it)!!  Last week I was just starting on making a recipe book with October Afternoon papers and a Bo Bunny chipboard layered book and once I got started I realised that it was perfect for the late '50's early '60's photos I have of my family, so that is the route I went.  Only one small problem, the said photos are in a cardboard box in my scrap room back in Scotland.  They are pre-digital, obviously, and I have a horror of losing them so I don't pack them up and transport them about with me. So it's another of those little projects that will have to undergo completion when I finally stop hopping about the world.

I really had fun with this, love the colours and the designs of the papers and think it looks quite 1950's in style.  I cut a chipboard half apron (with some little wooden pegs clipped to the frill just like Mum used to do when she was hanging up the washing) and attached it to the front and used the ribbon ties to wrap around the back to keep the book closed. Added a little 7Gypsies drawer handle to the corner which is similar to the ones we had in the kitchen and dangled some little chipboard circles from it.

Now the Bo Bunny layered books only have 6 pages so I had to use pockets and pull outs to increase the 'real estate' for putting the photos in.

This page I made an envelope with tags inserted into the top.

Another envelope used sideways for tags inside and behind.

A corner picture with tags slotted into it.

I added a fold out to increase the space for journaling and pics.

This is it folded open and you can see a mini layered book inserted in a pocket.

This is the mini version.

Lovely big bright corner pocket for large tags.

This is another pocket with tags slipped into the side.

These are the tags, space on the back for photos and journaling.

This page has a concertina fold out.

Plenty of room for photos.

and the other side.

Another pocket with large tags.

Oh look... another pocket!

These are the tags, love the ad papers.

Final page has a pocket with tags.

Recipe Book

I figured that if I actually found recipe that turned out pretty good and I didn't want to lose them in the 'junk' drawer in the kitchen (please tell me I am not alone in having one of these drawers that everything appears to end up in) that a recipe book might be a good idea!!

So my trusty BIA to the rescue I have made this version, which is great as it has pockets for pages so I can just stuff a card with recipe inside the pockets and not lose them!

I fell in love with this DCWV stack called 'Sweet' - perfect for the theme! :)
Little pull out tabs that I can jot recipes down on or stick cut outs from magazines onto.