I'd like to preface this post with a friendly PSA: 

BACKUP YOUR PHOTOS!

Rick and I went on a what was supposed to be a 7 night cruise back on the Allure of the Seas with Royal Caribbean in September of 2017. Hurricane Erma had other plans for us and we found ourselves stuck out in the Gulf of Mexico for 10 days. Not the worst of all places to get stuck during a hurricane I guess. 

To keep this long post from getting quite longer, I never downloaded the photos off of my phone because I had plenty of space on it. Fast forward to last year when I went to upgrade my phone. Due to a technical glitch, I lost EVERYTHING on my phone. Photos, voicemails, texts. Everything. Luckily I had uploaded the photos to my Facebook page and was able to download them from that, but they're not high res so I'm unable to print any large photos. *sad face* I will be stealing some photos from Rick, but I was the one mostly taking all of the photos. Which is why some of them may be a little grainy or the color not quite right. Anywho, moving on. 

BACKUP YOUR PHOTOS! :)

While I love the smaller 6x8 format, I knew I collected some large pieces that I did not want to cut down so I went with a 9x12 Color Theory album from Studio Calico that is no longer available. Super bummed because I loved all of the colors they offered. SC seems to be getting rid of more and more stuff. What are you guys doing over there?

Before we even left I went through my stash and pulled anything that looked tropical, screamed vacation or made me think of the ocean and palm trees. Most of it is from Studio Calico with a few pieces mixed in from a Michaels run.

I snagged the welcome folder from Royal Caribbean and used that, plus the envelopes that I brought with me to store all the bits and bobs I collected throughout the trip. When I got home I simply cut it in half, punched holes and was able to add it to the album.

One of the main things I wanted to showcase was the daily Cruise Compass we received every morning. It lists all of the activities for the day, the weather, what port we would be at and more important stuff to know. 

Another thing I did to make sorting easier was to cut those yellow slips of cardstock and slip them in each new day to use as dividers. Eventually I think I'll purchase some Avery tabs and use those. But these will do in a pinch.

These sticky hole punched tabs came into heavy use for this album. Love how they match my color scheme.

As with my PNW album, I'll be setting this one up so each day has the same layout of page protectors. Here's how I've configured this album:

* Full 9x12 to include the Cruise Compass 

* 6x12 page protector

* 9x12 divided page protector- a mix of 9 pocket and 8 pocket

Some days might also have items outside of the pockets, as with the layout above.

I also plan on doing a 'Today's Adventure' 4x6 card each day from In A Creative Bubble. It's part of the Recorded Journaling Cards No. 8 set. Each day will also include a Jetsetter Country Card and you can find the set here.

Mexican pesos for the win! I always try to include some coins or paper currency whenever I travel to another country.

Royal Caribbean did an amazing job keeping us updated on the ever changing itinerary. I added some sticky tabs and added that to the album as well. (Note, it changed two more times after this letter was delivered to our room.)

I love how this album us turning out, even if it is driving me a little crazy.

When we were in Jamaica I kept the cap off of my Red Stripe because I knew I wanted it to have a home in my album. I used some pliers to flatten it down a bit and then glued it to the gold dot transparency.

Another fun thing to add was my leftover vouchers from the casino on the ship. I also added my Starbucks sleeves and one of my Bingo cards.

So. Much. Stuff. 

I always make sure to gather business cards, keep my room keys, keep tickets, or in this case a straw wrapper heart that one of the servers at Johnny Rockets made for me.

To finish this up, I still need to go through 3 days of photos, purchase some more 9x12 page protectors, do my journaling and get everything printed. I'm also thinking about doing a walk through video when I'm done since this album is so large. WAY too many photos for a normal post.

To check out what else I'm working on, click here.

Hope this post gently nudges you in the right direction to get your projects done!

Happy scrapping!