07/23/19 - " (the) Visit"

*Note I created this page just prior to my unintentional scrappy break, just forgot to post it*

A 2-page

Traditional Traveler's Notebook Spread

Nope, it's not your imagination...you have seen this before, well at least the bottom half.

If you saw my original post, you may recall that I said my book was getting too full and bulky to fill up both sides of each page (and you may also recall I said I didn't like the look of the blank side).

Original layout:

I was just going to let it go, but then decided to reach out for "expert help".
I asked a fellow TN Scrapper, who has been scrapping in TNs a lot longer than I have, and who is also a scrappy designer, how she is able to use all her pages and fill up her books without them being too bulky?
Her answer? She removes some of pages from the TN before she starts. Less pages means less bulk and more freedom for play!

Unfortunately I learned this trick after already filling up this TN pretty well.
But I still went in and removed some blank pages best I could. It did cause the book to fall apart a bit as the bulkiness of the completed pages made it difficult for me to re-staple it but with a bit of perseverance... and lots of regular tape and washi tape (LOL)… I was able to get it back together again, though I must admit the tape is a bit unsightly, but sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do! Though, I did also have to tell my self to just "breathe" because I did have a momentary melt down when I saw the book fall apart (thanks my OLW)!
I know better now going forward.
And I just made sure not to put the tape on the actual photos in case the tape started to erode over the years, which I believe it generally does.

But enough about that!
For the new page I used some washi tape that had been sitting in my stash along with bits and pieces from the same Echo Park collection I used for the original page.
I also added a button to match the bottom button to help tie in the 2 pages and make it look more like one.
I also added the date. I wanted to stamp it but neither of my roller date stamps had 2012 on them; it was either before or after ::doh::!
The page is not 100% to my liking, but it definitely makes me feel much better about the previous blank space!

Now I know another handy trick to working in TNs and am looking forward to creating in them more!

BTW - this is the same book I recently said I was finished w/… I'm happy to say I was able to include 13 layouts in it!

Additional Product:
-Elle's Studio
-Kelly Purkey