Thursday, August 25, 2011

Getting Smashed

Caught your eye with that one, huh?  Sorry, not that kind of smashed.....the journal kind.  Smash journals seem to be all over the place, and even my round robin journal group is getting into the act.  We'll be sending ours out in the fall, but in the mean while, I managed to acquire a second one (blame those blasted deal of the day sites) and decided to use it as my travel journal on the upcoming (yea!!) Tim Holtz cruise.   It's perfect for note taking, big enough to add photos, ATCs, and all the ephemera you collect on a vacation.  But.....I wasn't really in love with the covers.  This is what it looked like straight out of the bag:


I thought the red was too.....well, red.  And the kraft colored cover is OK, but kind of blah.  And I don't feel the need to walk around as a Smash Book adverstisement, so the logo had to go.  The design on the cover is not printed, by the way.  It is embossed.  Now that, I thought was cool.
 
An hour or so later, after applying many layers of ink and paint and torn up paper, and stencils and stamps...... this is what the cover looks like now:
 
 
Definitely more "me," and I'm happy.  I copied the cover of our class schedule from the cruise documents Scrapmap sent me, and that is now the "title" of my journal.
 
The back cover is similar to the front:
 

And yes, in case you were wondering, I did also change the color of the elastic that holds the journaling pen/gluestick.  I used black distress stain on that....and on the fabric spine of the book.  Works wonders.  Yes, I know I am a little obsessive about such things.  Don't get me wrong, I do love the color red, but not on this journal.  And if you're wondering why then, did I buy a red smash book, the answer is......every other color was out of stock that day.  I did mention they are wildly popular.
 

31 comments:

Unknown said...

Such a great improvement!
Lee

Elena said...

Wow!!! I LOVE this Eileen!!! I have SEVEN of them!! So guess what I am doing with one?????? Thanks for the inspiration!!

Lillian said...

Eileen that looks so much better...
Love what you did to it...Pretty Kewl!!!
Of course Elena has 7 of em.LOL!!!
xxxxxxxLillian
http://www.canadianscraptramp.blogspot.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mixedmediaart/

Kerry said...

Love your smash book! What an improvement!

Elaine A said...

Hi Eileen -

Your version is most definitely better than the one that you bought. I love how it turned out. I keep hearing about the Smash Books but have yet to get one.

Elaine Allen

Backyard Nature said...

Super idea! I love the book and you will look great on that cruise with it! Have fun!

Kathy Eddy said...

It looks fantastic now Eileen and I know you will fill it to the brim with goodies from the cruise!

Bearcrazyman said...

poI love what you did to this book. I am thinking of giving some of these as gifts this year. Great Inspiration as always friend.

Sue Fraser said...

Eileen you did a wonderous job. I think that's a word anyway!! Huge improvement and no one would ever guess how it started out. Happy travels!

MarciaME said...

Oh I love it! The colors, everything!

Marcia

Marilyn Harris Mills aka Maer said...

I like your book, yours looks so much better....you're going to have so much fun on the cruise you lucky thing!

Marilyn Harris Mills aka Maer said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Vic said...

Love your renovation! It's smashing! LOL

JavaSioux said...

Simply Smashing ;-)

craftyM said...

You are just one amazing lady! Love the EILEEN version best!
Marita

Karen said...

Fabulous !
Love the idea of using it for your cruise. It's definitely a big improvement on the original!

Patzee said...

Stunning tranformation! Love that even the elastic got the Eileen touch!

LaStamper said...

Wow! It is really you now. Great job, can't wait to see it IRL.

Unknown said...

Haven't had time to check out any blogs lately, but I'm glad I caught this one! Love what you did with your journal! Looking forward to seeing it all filled up at the end of our cruise! See you soon!

Mary said...

Love what you did with your Smash book. I keep looking at them and trying to decide whether to get one or not. Great inspiration and now maybe I'll go ahead and get one for a trip I'm taking to NYC and DC.

stampinfranni said...

Love it! And, thanks for the inspiration. It's just the push I've been needing to take the plunge to change mine!

Lori said...

Awesome re-do! Love that cover, and the spine looks great! I've seen a lot of these lately, I suppose I should give it a whirl. lol.
Will be fantastic for the trip!

Shirley said...

I love this Eileen. Can't wait to see it in person on the big ship.

Diann said...

OMgosh..what a grand and much improved smash book for your Tim trip! Your wonderful book makes mine look like it needs additional help. I'm liking the smash concept though. Thanks for sharing and for pushing us all with your inspiration! Diann

inkyfingers said...

Eileen. I love the transformation, so much more individual and arty.

Yvonne

Anonymous said...

It looks great. So much better and personal then what it looked like before you altered it. Now it has STYLE

KAT said...

You can't even recognize that it's the same book - it's Smashing (pun intended :0) )

Oh - I am kicking myself in the ass for not signing up for Tim's cruise the year... Bummed I tell you - have a fabulous time!!!

Debby said...

Oh i really like what you did with this one! You will have to share some of the contents when you are done with your cruise. You are so lucky to be going. Hope you remain safe from Irene!

Lisa said...

I am totally going to do that to mine. It looks SO much cooler!

teri said...

It's unanimous. I'm going smash altered.

Sara said...

Maybe that's why I haven't used my pink one....it looks like the before picture...thanks for zeroing in on the problem. Your's looks great.