The usual dilemma–resolved
Once again I’m trying to think of practical and effective ways of recording the trip. In this case, our four night stay in Hong Kong, which generated a few bits of ephemera which I wanted to assemble in some way. I’d intended to keep a scribbled journal whilst we were there, to maintain it as we went along and stick bits in it with washi tape there and then. I couldn’t see how I’d have time to spend on it once we were home. So, I packed the bare minimum of pencils, tape and a mini stapler and a new little moleskine notebook.
Or so I thought.
When we arrived, I opened it up to find I’d already used it a couple of years ago, in Sweden. How silly of me not to check before we left!
So, there we were. Before we’d even left the hotel, I was bleating that I needed to buy a notebook from somewhere…anywhere.
Now, you’ll appreciate that I am indulged by my family when it comes to things like this, but I try hard not to push it. It wasn’t fair to take up half the first morning on a shopping trip to find a stationers and so I went with the flow. Made do. Managed. Until my hero spotted a notebook in the gift shop at the Nan Lian Garden, which I agreed would do nicely, thank you.
Except it didn’t really. The paper quality was so poor that it crumpled almost as soon as the page was open. And the binding was flimsy. And though I tried to clip some cuttings in it I could tell, it wasn’t going to work. So, I simply scribbled, made notes and put all the ephemera into a bag to bring home.
(By the way, do you see that clipping? I'm a goat...note "spending spree is justified" ?? )
Today, I assembled the lot into one of these which I bought ages ago with this exact intention. It owes a lot to Heidi Swapp’s Memory Files, but was simpler and way less creative! I hadn’t time to dwell on too many decorative features because I just wanted it done.
So here we are. Edward’s birthday trip to Hong Kong, January 2014.
No need to open every little page and flap – you get my drift? I cut open the bottom fold of the file folder, because it’s actually a kind of pocket and until the bottom is cut off, it doesn’t open like a book. Once I’d made that cut, some of the “pages” were a little loose, so I had to make a few adjustments before I started. But it worked well, allowed me to insert some extra pages as necessary and I would do something similar again for a short trip.
Next time, I’d think ahead and use more of those newspaper cuttings and suchlike as background material. In something like this, it’s not necessary to have every square inch visible, but it gives the right kind of flavour to the page and photos and other stuff can be layered over it all.
The whole thing is quite sturdy, opens up comfortably and best of all, on this rather dreary Sunday at home, it’s DONE!
Now, to work out what I’m going to do for the next trip….
