London Calling

My boss and her 13 year old daughter are off to London today for a week, armed with a travel journal that I made for them and a supply of pens, double-sided tape, a glue stick and a pair of scissors. I made this journal using the skills I learned in Mary Ann Moss's Remains of the Day class, which you can read about and/or sign up for here: http://dispatchfromla.typepad.com/dispatch_from_la/2009/11/the-latest-pure-experimentation-online-class-has-arrived.html

For the cover, I cut out fabric letters to spell "London 2010" and sewed them on in such a way that they sit together when the journal is folded shut. On the back side, I sewed on a picture of Queen Elizabeth I, because all 3 of us have been sharing Phillippa Gregory novels lately and reading all about the reign of the Tudors. I enclosed this picture in clear plastic since it will probably take a bit of abuse - when the journal is closed, this picture is on the bottom.

Inside, I made a bunch of pages with lots of blank space for journalling and added all sorts of maps and pictures of London and the places that I know they are planning to visit, like The Tower of London, Greenwich, Hampton Palace, Windsor Castle, the London zoo, Stonehenge. They're also hoping to see the play "Wicked" while they are there (I'm so jealous, I've wanted to see this play for ages and so far I have missed seeing it in Toronto, London and NYC over the past few years! Although I just heard the other day that the play is based on a book, so I'll have to check that out - it sounds like a great story about the evolution of evil), so I included a page for that too. Throughout the journal, there are also lots of pockets in which to save brochures, postcards, ticket stubs and whatever other memorabilia they might collect on their travels.

I had a lot of fun making this journal, both because I find it is enjoyable to make things especially for certain people and because it was so well received. I can't wait to see how it looks when they get back! It was also fun because it gave me a chance to reminisce about my last trip to London and reminded me how much I'd like to go back some day soon. Luckily, I had a bunch of stuff saved from my last trip to London two years ago, so I had lots of material available to use.

I gave the journal to my boss yesterday and she really liked it. She told me today that when she took it home to show her kids, they thought it was fabulous and were really excited about it. Her 11 year old son said he thought it was the best present I could have possibly given her. High praise indeed!