Surprises of the Best Kind

Good Morning everyone, today is a very special day for two young children and they do not even have a clue yet, oh I love surprises, don't you?  I have known the kids across the street since they arrived on planet earth.  What fun it has been to watch them grow and go through phases.  They are bright, sweet, loving and this afternoon as their parents put them in the car they will find out they are going to Disneyland,  Jacob has been but Taylor has not, I would love to be a fly on the wall as Jacob explains to his sister all the ins a outs of Disneyland.  I told their mother that I would do autograph books for this wonderful adventure. This post is very picture heavy so today I will do two posts in order to share with you the autograph books. One post for Taylor and then one for her brother's autograph book.

I wanted them to be easy and fun to use, the covers are constructed from chipboard and then overlaid with pattern paper.  The Silhouette was a champion in the entire process, it is a workhorse.  I found Tinkerbell in a coloring book, I scanned it in and printed it out and then used Copics to color her in, the "autograph" is part of an image from the Silhouette Library, I removed it from its other pieces to use on its own and then airbrushed it with Copics.

The inside is nothing more than a series of pockets with a long card blank inserted inside the pocket it was perforated (by the Silhouette) and folds over the top of the pocket.  When the holes are punched for the ring binders this secures the long piece into the pocket which created two pockets one inside the flap and one on the backside, I hav found children like kittens love hiddy holes.  On the top flap of the first page I positioned Taylor's favorite character, Tinkerbell, added some stitching rub-ons and a little sprig to accent the one in Tink's hair. This pockets deliver three places for the Disney Characters to autograph, the top flap, the inside flap, the pocket itself and the back of the pocket, so 5 pages and 20 or more autographs easily.

Inside each pocket I have tucked 8 tickets, 40 in all that, these can be shared with the characters as a thank you, a waitress or waiter or anyone met at the park, Taylors has the Tink bust on the front and the back of the ticket is below.

 This is the back of the ticket stamped with a StampinUp circle thank you stamp.  The autograph book is closed using two of the plastic stick on (sale rack positioners), I inherited these when our local "Paper Zone" closed, I loved working there and still miss it.  I then took a lanyard, I purchased from Office Depot, I cut it top, middle, then with a lighter I singed the ends and used beads to create an adjustable closure, the book is attached to the end clasp that was meant to hold a badge or name identification plate.  You can see that in the first picture.

As sometimes happens, I got carried away and also did an activity, color book for each of them.  It is just a rough construction of chipboard with pattern paper and wired binding.  Inside are coloring pages. 

Of course Taylor's is all about Tink and her friends, the back pages were left blank, and stickers were enclosed so they can create their own stories and fun.

This is the sticker packet, Taylor is just getting to know Barbie.

So then the issue of how does all of this get presented, lol, I found these cute little totes at the Dollar Tree, cut their initials from vinyl, it is not heat treated, so they have been adhered with the help of tacky glue, I hope they stay where they were put, at least for the trip.  So if each of you today who visits, will say a little prayer for safe journey and blessed family memories, I would sooo appreciate it.  Thanks for visiting and have a grand ole day. Hugs