Outer Banks Mini-Book ~ Signature II

The second signature was sewn into the right side of the gatefold album, again I fastened it into place using a pamphlet stitch. I used a lot of scrap papers creating this album and it was so much fun to find myself rubberstamping and playing with paper again. I think it shows ;)

I left room for observations...

included a postcard and added a map of the Outer Banks area. A rub-on circles the word "Corolla" and the map is accordian-folded to preserve the integrity of the small 6" x 6"book.

Another photo from the resort's website and a variety of rubber stamped images and text, along with some of the local telephone numbers that we may or may not need.

Also, located within the Corolla area is the historic Corolla Village, which features a quaint, small town restored schoolhouse that is on the National Register of Historic Places so I designed several pages for photographs and journaling to be added after our visit.

I was stoked to learn that the Corolla Light Resort won 2010's NC Resort of the Year. The map printed off below is actually an interactive map on the resort's website. I printed them off to assist me with correctly documenting everything... hopefully anyways!

The Grille, an oceanfront restaurant located within the resort,

aka "Crabcake Heaven"... another photo from website.

I created a pocket to hold another map that I printed off the resort's website. It is a map of the entire resort area, which our beach house is located within.

Print of map, unfolded.

Researching the area, I learned about Corova, a twenty mile area north of Corolla, where the wild Spanish mustangs roam free...

All of the above photographs were taken from travel brochures discovered online. I'll be adding photographs that we take once we get there which will help to assist in personally the mini-book just for ourselves.

This Rhonda Ferrer stamp pretty much sums up how I feel about going! I'm so ready!!! The next portion of the book focuses on the beach house itself... It's name is "The Lush Life" Let's hope it lives up to it, LOL!!!

I printed off the online photographs of the house and created a small accordian album to house them altogether.

Released from it's tie closure...

and stretched out...

One of the amenities of the Corolla Light Resort is the Community Trolley. Trolley Stops are located within the community, although one can easily walk to everything with just a little bit of enjoyable time doing so...

A tri-folded enclosure houses the trolley map {printed from website}, a stamped tag and a few accents complete yet another page. The beach house we've leased is located within the Lighthouse Villas area of the resort, so I printed off another map of the area. I'm certain these will come in handy in helping us to reach our destination! ;)

I also left a couple of pages for journaling and more photographs, as we, ourselves physically visit the area and get to experience all the sights and sounds ourselves!!! I cannot wait!!!

I may end up creating a few more signatures to add to this mini-book. It has already became apparent that that is a lot of information to pack all in to one place and did I mention that this only covers the one area out of many that we plan to experience while on the Outer Banks. Stay tuned...You may just see more here real soon....

Outer Banks Mini-book

I began by altering a Basic Grey Gatefold Mini-Book by removing the pages and creating two new signatures within the book using a pamphlet stitch to attach the signatures to the book's structure and cover. Adding additional pages allowed me to cover a lot of territory and details for our upcoming Outer Banks, NC road trip that I'm certain that I don't want to miss.

To help remind me of some of the places I desire for us to go and visit, to some of the things I'd love to do while we are spending the week there, I saved and printed off some of the pictures that I've used here from some of the actual travel brochures we'll be sure to pick up on our travels, with promises of being "more than just a beach".

Visiting and hoping to see the Wild Spanish Mustangs in the Corova area is probably #1 on my MUST Do list! We will be staying very close to that area, just a bit further south in Corolla.

Therefore, for this signature I focused mainly on that area of the Outer Banks.

The beach house we've leased is located within the Corolla Light Resort area and we will have access to all the amenities the resort offers. I've decided Don and I deserve the "Starring Roles" in this production as we spend our days at the beach, charting our own course as we navigate through the days trying to savor each and every moment of our time spent there.

Visiting the Lighthouses is another MUST See/Do... located within Corolla is the Currituck Beach Lighthouse and is one of five on the Outer Banks. Seeing them will most definitely be "A Wish Came True".

I created a card style closure to hold a few pictures of us and room for some journaling about our adventures.

A K&Co. rub-on, a Cricut cut, and a Corolla tab help decorate the pages.

Another page with room for pictures and journaling...

I've already added my list of things to do!



It is here within the mini-book that I focused my attention completely on the Corolla Light Resort and Corella area. The photos were printed from online brochures and their website to provide me a visual add as well as to serve as reminders of the time we will be spending there.

I created a small accordian style booklet to hold a lot of important information all in one place. Location, physical address, directions, Main office, Sport Center, Maintainance, and Security telephone numbers and a printed email with information from an online friend.

Another page for photographs and journaling to be added...

The Outer Banks area a group of barrier islands along the Eastern coast of North Carolina, the Currituck Sound on the west and the Atlantic ocean on the east... promises to provide the best of both worlds!

Another couple pages for notes, photos, and whatever else.

Names of places within the Corolla area...



March Madness

 March definitely seemed to me like it came  "in like a lion and go out like a lamb." this year.  It seemed to me to be taking its and Mother Nature's good ole time getting here...then turning cold and blowing those brisk Northern winds over the Ohio Valley. To add further to our already sunshine-deprived spirits, we were supposedly blessed with warmer Southern breezes that blew up from the Gulf, containing a lot of moisture which resulted in even more snow, sleet, rain, and any mixture of all of the above.

Many areas of our state were under flood watches and warnings as the Scioto River spilled from its banks. Even the Spring date on the calendar seems to be a bit off with all the below average temperatures we've experienced this year.

Thankfully, over the years, Don and I have become about as accepting of this as we can be under the circumstances and have use our time to make plans and prepare for the upcoming summer months, as we intend to enjoy them fully and most thoroughly.

Don has been working diligently on building his dunebuggy and I'm happy to say that it is now street legal! Now if it would just warm up so we can truly enjoy it... ;)

I've been staying busy with our normal daily routine, getting a slow start on the Spring housecleaning, and dreaming of days at the beach. What began as a dream, has slowly evolved into become a reality as I browsed and searched online, so many different areas to choose from, and I finally setttled for visiting one place I've always desired to go... the Outer Banks of North Carolina! So, I began researching the area and just so happened to stumble upon a great deal for a beach house for a week! Upon contacting the realitor, making a reservation, and finally on to signing the lease... so we will be making a road trip to Corolla, N. Carolina in May! I'm so excited!!! I can hardly contain myself...  just wait til you see what I created with all the information that I've already gathered. I can't promise it will make the weather any better wherever you are located, but I can say it sure helped to pick up my sagging-Spring spirit! :)