adventure...it's on ~ september skies day book

This little photo was posted on instagram a few weeks back in anticipation of a little urban road trip Mr. Pate and I were about to embark on. Now, a little urban road trip may sound like no big deal to you...but to me it was and is. You see, it had been literally years since Mr. Pate and I had left our children for a couple of nights to just go be husband and wife for a few days. Imagine that!

And I was more than a little excited by this. Then I was more than a little excited to take along the Day Book from Heidi Swapp's September Skies as my journaling companion.

This is a fun little mini album for a road trip or day trip or even an anniversary in the city.

I decided to stick with the rest of the September Skies embellishments and stamps to give it a real cohesive look. Would you like to peek inside? Cause you know I am dying to share it with you.

Inside the front flap is a one of the Wood Veneer's that I misted with both Citron and Navy Color Shine.

You can see here too that I am a fan of cutting up the Word Strips and customizing them to how I need them to fit.

Love the photo stack pages that are added in here. Always happy to have different sized pages that allow sneaks into what is to come.

The book also includes photo pockets sewn right in. I like the see through-ness of those too, and so chose to use a 3x3 photo into the 4x4 pocket. It just works for me.

Please forgive the bit of fuzzy here...learning to embrace the imperfection...ha! I just love this page with the washi and stamps and ephemera from the collection. It was just fun to play with those elements and hash tag our weekend as well as add additional journaling.

The left side here has a flap constructed into the page.

I had a similar photo to the first one that was just sort of clashing, so I decided to hide it a bit but still make it accessible. Yeah...don't ask how my brain works, I am never really sure myself. So I just go with it instead.

Here you can see where I folded back several of the lined pages. I have quite a bit of journaling inside those pages but I did not want them left out open and flat. Folding the page over gave me some creative room for embellishments as well as made for a sort of hidden journaling space.

If you have followed my mini album creating before, you know that I simply repeat layout formats on my pages. This is an example. But you could never really tell because the photos are different and the embellishments are different. Love that.

And right smack in the middle of the day book are pocket pages with extra large tags. Great place for tickets or receipts and other ephemera. Plus I used one of the tags for additional photos and journaling. Such a fun space.

This may be my favorite page.

I love that 4x4 cut away from the Afternoon Breeze paper. Totally captured the theme of our weekend as we explored new restaurants and walking tours and places we had not had a chance to discover before.

There are more pages than these to be found in this mini album. Lots of personal eye candy for me as I loved documenting this trip and remembering our weekend away.

I know all of our hearts and minds are turning toward Thanksgiving and then Christmas soon after that, but these memories give substance to my thankful heart. To many this would have been a simple trip. But to Mr. Pate and I, it represents a time of celebrating 25 years of marriage and all the nuances that represents. It represents long walks and leisurely dinners talking and dreaming and planning and simply sharing our hearts with one another. It represents fueling a few of our loves like beautiful spaces, historic buildings, and old book stores that we linger in for a spell. These memories are what fuel thanksgiving, and I for one have a full heart.

supplies: September Skies Collection: Day Book. Wood Veneer Shapes. Pattern paper: Afternoon Breeze, Dusk Cut Away Paper, Midnight Shadows.  Stitched Banners.  Word Strips. Color Magic Die Cuts. Attachment Kit. Washi Tape. Ephemera. Clear Stamps.  Color Shine: Citron, Navy.