A Journal for Isabella

My good friend Sharon asked if I would create a journal for her granddaughter, Isabella. Lucky Isabella is going on a trip to Costa Rica with her family in January.... What Fun!!!
The size of the journal is 5 1/2 x 4 1/4". I cut the covers from mat board and painted them with various colors of blue (Isabella's favorite color) and silver paints. After they dried I used a set of acrylic stamps that appear to be various textures of snake skin. I stamped each side of the front and back covers using silver ink and then embossed with a sparkly type of embossing powder. I outlined the edges of each of the covers with Marvy Metallic Markers.... in blue, of course! Since I have loads of stuff on hand... I didn't have to look far for various embellishments to adorn the front cover. I bought the monkey a while ago... just because it was a good deal. And now, I had the perfect project to use it with. The metal letters for Isabella's name were silver, but I wanted them to stand out from the cover of the book so I colored them with alcohol inks. The letters used for 'Costa Rica' are brads; I cut the prongs off and used foam tape to attach them to the cover. The dragonfly and the keyhole are also brads that I cut the prongs off and then used glossy accents to attach.
After stamping and embossing the inside front cover I painted a grunge flourish and glued it to the inside. Then I found some metallic words that would work well for this journal. I colored them with the same acrylic paint I had used on the grunge flourish and glued them inside the front cover also.
I typed the information about when and where Isabella would be while in Costa Rica, and that the journal was a gift from Grandma and Grandpa, and then printed it on yellow paper. I attached it to the first page of the journal along with the "Costa Rica" logo I found on the internet. I cut pages from bright blue cardstock to use for the first several pages of the journal.

I was fortunate to find a map for both areas in Costa Rica that Isabella will be exploring. What a great opportunity for her to visit this interesting country. After printing the maps, I mounted them on the bright blue cardstock in the front of the journal.







As I was researching the areas that Isabella would be visiting I happened upon some pictures of this volcano; it will be very near one of the resorts that she'll be staying at.
One of the metallic words I had laying around was "fantastic"; I thought it was a good choice for this page.




The inside back cover was also stamped with a texture stamp and embossed. These snake skin textures were fun to work with and seemed appropriate since Isabella is going to be vacationing in a rain forest.
Another grunge flourish was painted and glued to the cover as was a metallic word, "fun".
The pages of the book were cut from watercolor paper. Isabella will be able to journal her thoughts or draw pictures of her adventures.


And here is the back cover... nothing special here. The same acrylic colors were used to paint the back cover and once that was dry I stamped another one of my texture stamps and embossed.
The journal is now in 'Grandma's hands and will be given to Isabella just a few days before Christmas.. for her birthday.
I hope she enjoys it and is able to fill the pages with loads of fabulous experiences from her trip to Costa Rica.