December Daily® 2018 | Days Five Through Nine Using A Travelers Notebook

I'm super excited to finally share my December Daily® Days 5-9 from our trip earlier this month to New York City.

We ventured to NYC because it was Simon's choice for a 16 year old trip. He gave me a list of the things he wanted to do and see and we stuck pretty close to that with a few other things added in that the rest of the group was excited about as well. It was a family trip that included my Mom, my sister Jessica, my niece Gabrielle, Simon, Elliott, Katie and me. We had an awesome time seeing all that we could see over a couple days. Simon's favorite was seeing the Statue Of Liberty. Mine was seeing Hamilton.

I shared my initial idea and a walkthrough of this TN (travelers notebook) in my Foundation Pages post for 2018. This idea was an excellent solution for me to document this time we were traveling.

Here's my basic documenting method for this project:

• Before Travel: Set up travelers notebook.

• During Travel: Use the notebook to write down stories for each day day (basically a recap of what we did each day) while we were traveling, take photos, collect some ephemera that could be used in the project.

• After Travel: Print full page vertical photos, add some ephemera, write up an "I want to remember" page, and add a few embellishments.

If you are interested in learning more about my approach generally to travel memory keeping I invite you to check out my Travel Product Play workshop.

I love how this turned out. The overview video below includes an in-depth look at the process I went through after we got home from the trip. I used the Canon Pixma MG7720 for printing all the photos used in this project.

Here's a look at how I brought it all together:

My MInd's Eye Starry Night Pattern Paper was used as the cover of my TN (travelers notebook). A red label sticker from the December Daily® Sticker Bundle was added on the outside.

For the "NYC" I used my Mixed Alpha Stamp Set + green (Willamette) ink + a rolling date stamp below (this was all done before we left as part of my Foundation Pages for my 2018 album).

Before we left, but after I posted my Foundation Pages, I printed up this itinerary and added it to the album. I used the Large Travel Words 4x6 Stamp Set to add the word "adventure."

Make sure to check out the video at the bottom of this post to see the actual process I went through. Essentially I do all the words and photos first and then at the very end I add in a few embellishments. The chipboard heart here is from the Be Merry + Celebrate Chipboard Bundle.

Words + photos for the win. Setting up a place for words + photos in advance of the trip? Also winning.

My embellishment strategy was super simple: add word/phrase stickers to most of the photos. I love keeping it super simple like that and limiting the supplies I have access to when I'm finishing it all up.

Joy chipboard circle is from the Be Merry + Celebrate Chipboard Bundle.

This trip was so awesome. All his favorite movies coming to life.

I loved incorporating things I picked up along the way like this sheet from Shake Shack. It's the liner they use on their trays and it worked great as another page in my album. I cut it to size and folded it in half and it became a page. Large plastic circle is in the December Daily® Main Kit.

In the video you'll see my use a long-reach stapler to staple these two plastic circles in place.

This paper was from The Color Factory which is an awesome temporary exhibit. If you are in or around NYC just go.

I added in a sheet of vellum to create another page. I seriously loved adding this vellum page and will definitely do that again in future TN projects. It was great as a home for a few additional photos that I punched using a 3 Inch Circle Punch. The "our story" circle sticker was from a past One Little Word® product collection.

On the back I was able to repeat that same circle shape. I also added one of the clear plastic circles that were a recent Add On option for Story Kit™ subscribers.

Photos for the win.

For this page - which is the opposite side of the vellum - I cut out the bag I received when purchasing a book at the Statue Of Liberty. Super fun to cut that out and add it right onto the vellum.

On the backside I used my 3 inch punch again for another photo of some of our group.

Seeing the Statue Of Liberty for the very first time in person was really moving. I would totally visit again.

We made the climb up to the crown which is TINY. I had no idea how tiny it was. I held Gabrielle's hand the whole time - or maybe she was holding mine.

And the blue sky. Man. Hard to beat that.

Definitely had to include a few photos at the airport. Our trip home was a super, super long day of hurrying up and then waiting.

I really loved taking just the little bit of time it took to jot down those initial handwritten fact-based pieces of our adventure.

And I also loved coming back home and writing out a list of things "I want to remember" that are more from the heart reflections vs. facts about the trip. Having both these two styles of journaling within this one project makes the whole thing feel complete for me.

Love these guys.

Katie and I basically decided this should be an annual adventure and it should be our office Christmas party. Ha. I don't know if we will actually be able to make that happen but I love the idea. There is so much to see and do in NYC. This trip was really focused on the things that Simon wanted to see and do (his 16 year old trip) - which was just fine with all the rest of us. Also, we got our super puffy coats at Target (Champion brand) before we left and we LOVED them for the super color temperatures.

On this second to the last page I cut up little pieces of the ephemera I brought home to create this organized collage. Bits and pieces for the win.

I finished up the album with another building/sky shot and a circle punched photo of our group taken by my Mom.

A couple things to note:

• I initially thought I would be stapling the pages all together to create the binding. It ended up way too thick for that. At this time I'm just leaving it how it is as it seems to function fairly well when I flip through the pages (you can see that in the end of the video below as well).

• Big thanks to my friend Jess for suggesting this as the way to tackle this piece of the month. I loved doing something different within the album and I loved being able to just experience the trip and have a plan in place for the storytelling when I got home.

• I want to say a big thank you to the community for giving me the freedom to do something a little different within this project.

VIDEO OVERVIEW

SUPPLIES

• December Daily® Main Kit

• 3 Inch Circle Punch

• Ink Jet Vellum

• Word Phrase Stickers from past Story Kits™ + other projects

• December Daily® Variety Sticker Bundle

• Canon Pixma MG7720

• Story Kit™ Envelope (to hold the TN in my album)

• Gold Number Stickers

• My Mind's Eye Joyful Collection Starry Night Pattern Paper (used for the TN cover)

• Avery Index Tabs

• Rolling Date Stamp

• Mixed Alpha Stamp Set

• Green Ink (Willamette)

• Green Washi Tape

• Large Number Stamps 6x8

• Paislee Press Wishlist Stamp Set

• Be Merry + Celebrate Chipboard Bundle

• Long Reach Stapler