I've also asked crafty diva extraordinaire May Flaum to join me on this week's adventures, and she'll be sharing her own take on travel scrapbooking starting a little later this evening. Be sure to stop by her blog throughout the week to see what she has in store for you!
Today I want to start off with what for me is the most fascinating topic in travel scrapbooking- scrapbooking on the go, or the process of making a travel scrapbook while actually on a trip. I'll be taking a more in-depth look at my actual process (and the results) for making albums while on travel tomorrow, but today I wanted to share three of my favorite sources of inspiration for travel mini albums. Though these are all examples of scrapbooks made on the go, the principles and ideas presented in each of the linked posts could absolutely be extended to traditional travel scrapbooks and layouts.
Ali Edwards
Ali Edwards' Scrapbook on the Road downloadable course is one of my favorite travel scrapbooking resources, period. Her $14 instant download class is an incredible value, containing full-color PDFs and more than two hours of video showing the step-by-step process of how she creates a scrapbook on go. She covers her methods in-depth, showing the complete before and after of a mini album she created while on a trip to Mikonos, Greece, and she gives some great tips and advice for travel scrapbooking in general along the way.
Ali's blog is also a great place to find out more about her amazing travel documentation projects. This post covering a family trip to Italy is a great example of how she combines words and photos to tell the stories of her trip.
Amy Tan
I've loved Amy Tan's travel mini albums ever since I took her very first online class (hosted on a private blog) last year. That same class is now available as an instant download at Big Picture Classes, and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves mini albums and wants to learn how she makes those adorable mixed-paper mini albums (the same ones now being marketed by American Crafts). And, while readers may be most familiar with her albums in this format, she has a huge array of mini albums on her blog (including an amazing Hawaii vacation mini).
Elise Blaha
I have to credit Elise Blaha for showing me how accessible mini albums can be. Her simple philosophy (I mean, what can be easier than binder rings and a few sheets of coordinating paper?) makes it incredibly easy to put together a mini album with relatively few supplies at the beginning, and then lots of "found" items added along the way. Her Kauai mini album is the perfect example of this, and her minimalist travel tool set inspired my own travel scrapbooking kit (that I'll be sharing tomorrow). You can find more of Elise's mini albums here (some are travel and some are not, but all have something that can be taken away as a travel scrapbooking less), and if you're interested in taking a class from her, you can download a PDF of her Big Mini Workshop (yes, I did take it and I loved it!) here.
I hope you're ready for a super fun week of exploring many aspects of travel scrapbooking and memory keeping! I'll be back tomorrow with a pair of posts, including a brand new mini album!