Vacation Journal

Are you looking ahead to your summer vacation? I am. My family spends a week at a cabin in the mountains of North Carolina with loads of friends. We all have small children who will play all day and there will be wading in waterfalls, hiking up steep trails and lots and lots of roasted marshmallows.

This year I am taking an idea that I got from the talented Lois and making a Vacation Journal for my family to fill in during our trip. I have prepared pages, one for each day we will be gone, and put in spaces for photos and places to write our favorite meal, our favorite thing about the cabin, the animals we saw and the names of the friends who joined us. We also make up a lot of songs and I have set aside a few pages for us to write those down, too. My daughter, Cleo, is 5 and loves to write so I have made large spaces for her to do much of the writing.

I used a 7Gypsies blank board book with rings to make this journal and covered the pages with some 7G papers using the Binder's Tape. I used a few of the Envelopments pocket folds to make nifty photo pockets. I will bring pre-cut squares of lined paper and blank paper and colored pencils for my little artists to add commentary to the journal and some pages taken from my Rhodia pad and an 'adult' pen for my hubby and I to add our words. We'll paste the written on papers in as we write them. I have clipped some tags on and will permanently grommet the tags in their final spots at the cabin. I may use the clips to attach sticks, leaves or other 'found objects' that my girls pick up as treasures.

Lois' original books were actual altered books that she customized for her daughter and sons as they took trips alone. Her children have done this so many times now that they think of it as a natural part of taking a trip; you go away and you work on your altered book every day. She made a page per day and asked her children questions throughout the book ('what did you forget?' 'where did you get lost?' etc.) I think that especially for some teens and adults having a prompt every now and then would be a good idea.

I got all the goodies for my book at Panopolie, of course.

Octopus Necklace take 2

This octopus has a story to tell and it's one of lost hours dreaming of wings to fly above the sea and soar through the clouds. The bird, too, dreams of a different kind of flying, soaring underwater in the dim and liquid depths. This necklace by Madelyn Smoak is a darker take on the eight-armed charmer. My pink and punky version begs for a striped tee shirt and glitter eyeliner; this one might just pull on a sweater and read poems under a tree.
Madelyn's work can be seen here. She's tremendous.

Bug Off and make Bug Pins

These beaded bugs are the kind I like. The don't bite and you can pin them to your lapel or shoulder and have company wherever you go. The wonderful Prep Maynard is teaching folks how to make these bugs here at Ornamentea on Saturday. Call 919-834-6260 to register if you want us to save you a space. I think these bugs make great gifts and great summery accessories. I like the idea of pinning one to a beaded necklace as an accent. You'll make two bugs, and could make a mosquito if you want but why would you?

We have a major mosquito problem our our little corner of the world. Our back yard is a jungle and the buggies know it. Every year when the mosquitoes come out I switch my soap to this fabulous hand-made and yummy smelling bug off soap and I don't get bothered as much as my hubby. He refuses to believe that the soap will work ("bugs don't care what soap you use!") but I can just smile peacefully as he swats his legs. We have a spray on for kids, too, since the soap may be a bit much for them on a day-to-day basis. The soap and spray are made by Moon Dance Soaps here in Raleigh and we sell some of their fabulous stuff here at the stores...lotion bars, soaps and now the Bug Offs. Come check them out.