Tropical Travelogue Valise & Passport

Hi!

Here's a Graphic 45 project that I put together today, using G45's Tropical Travelogue collection. Since there are so many gorgeous colors and patterns in this paper line, I thought I would focus this project on some of the pretty black and cream papers first. [BTW: I apologize for the dark/harsh lighting in these photos -- still working out the kinks in my new craft room.]

Tropical Travelogue is all about escaping to a warm, exotic place - so I thought it'd be fun to pack up my imaginary bags and passport and create this vintage travel set!

My valise was one of two wooden purses that I picked up from Creative Crafts in Corvallis, Oregon. I had painted it white several months ago in hopes of using it for a dear friend's nursery. Well, I felt the paint smell, while faint, wouldn't be good for her new baby - so I scrapped it and used the second, unfinished purse for my baby project. Ever since, I've had this white wooden purse hanging out in my craft room - until now. 

To create my valise, I first inked all the painted surfaces with Tim Holtz's Distress Ink. I then covered the front and back with Jungle Fever. I used three strips from Tiki Voyager to create a border and two accent pieces. The thin cream-colored strips are scraps from Tim Holtz's Vintage Lace die. The gorgeous cream-colored flower strip is from Petaloo. (I was so inspired by the Graphic 45 and Petaloo blog swap back in December, I just had to pick up as many different kinds of Petaloo flowers as I could!) I then attached a Bo Bunny trinket and a piece of Exotic Destination paper with an Idea-ology mini ball and chain set.

What's fun about this project is the inside ... I designed the interior to behave as a little suitcase, so you can store little trinkets and memorabilia inside, such as my Tropical Travelogue Passport. To create this little book, I used images from Exotic Destination along with some sand-colored mesh ribbon, one of many neat blog candy prizes I won from Gloria Stengel.

For the inside, I glued a couple strips of Tiki Voyager to the edges. I then cut two pieces of Jungle Fever paper and glued both pieces inside. My suitcase straps come from some black ribbon that I also won from Gloria's blog. I glued four pieces over the Jungle Fever paper. 

Lucky for me, I had just enough black ribbon so that each one could be tied with a bow!

Hmm ... I see it stores my Tropical Travelogue passport just fine ... but can it hold some other stuff? How about some matches, an envelope, and a wedding invite? Not sure if the wad of mesh ribbon will fit ... 

I think there's definitely room for the ribbon - and some more matches, some scripture pocketcards, and my passport:

Everything fits!

There you have it, an exotic little valise to store some of your favorite island memories, and a passport to match. Thank you for looking!

Supplies:

Graphic 45 - Tropical Travelogue paper

Petaloo flowers

Tim Holtz Idea-ology ball & chain

Bo Bunny trinket

Distress Ink