Mixed-Media Travel Journal {Michael’s Scrapbook Challenge}

As promised, here’s the mixed-media travel journal I created for the Make Every Moment Count Scrapbook Challenge sponsored by Michael’s. I had so much fun playing with the Heidi Swapp Color Shine collection! I was very impressed with the Color shine sprays. The colors are so saturated and very glitzy. Lots of glimmer and sparkle with just a few quick spritzes. The bottles never clogged, which I’ve found to be an issue with other similar products, and I was even able to layer the colors easily. I love the subtle hint of gold on the chevron resist cardstock and I think the flowers are gorgeous! I added a bit of gold sequin trim for an extra bit of sparkle, and a Polaroid-style frame from Heidi Swapp is the perfect finishing touch.

I discovered these fun canvas stickers at Michael’s and thought they would be perfect to spritz with some Color Shine! I used the gold for the banner under the photo on the travel journal. I have a feeling I will be spritzing everything in sight with this fun product! Many thanks to Michael’s for sponsoring this challenge! Be sure to check out michaels.com for more inspiration and ideas!

As if Diwali weren’t colorful and fun enough, The Festival of Lights: A Lift-the-flap Diwali Celebration by Namita Moolani Mehra, illustrated by Darshika Varm, makes it even more fun to read about with flaps and things to lift and pull to see more information or details in the illustrations.

The book is a story about a family getting ready for Diwali and what happens on the different days of the five-day celebration. There’s cleaning, shopping, crafting, food preparation and getting the home altar ready for the big day.

It covers decorating the outside of the house with rangoli, diyas and lanterns, buying sweets to share with family and friends, the sights and scents of the mandir (home temple), getting dressed up in new fancy clothes, the story of Diwali and celebrations with relatives.

Flaps (there are more than 140 in all) give you vocabulary words for different foods and definitions, as well as fun things like what’s inside the shopping basket or where the cat is hanging out. They also help illuminate the story of Diwali, which is the triumph of good over evil as Lord Ram defeated the demon Ravana to save his wife, Sita.

This pretty and colorful book helps kids understand what Diwali is and how it is celebrated, regardless of whether they practice it at home. This would be a nice book to keep in a classroom (it’s rated for kids ages 3-7) or to have at home to teach kids about Diwali even if it’s not something you celebrate. Where I live there are a lot of people from India so we are probably exposed to Diwali more than some other regions of America, but it’s a nice holiday to know about wherever you live.

Combine with the book Diwali and check out some fun lantern crafts and printables for kids to round out your experience.

About the book: 24 pages, hardcover, published 2025 by Wide Eyed Editions. Suggested retail prices $22.99.

Have you read?