Ghost of the Paramount Ranch

My trip through the Santa Monica Mountains included a stop at the Paramount Ranch. Many western movies have been filmed here, so if it looks familiar you may have been there through film. Sadly, between the time of my visit and today's post, the area was engulfed in one of the California wildfires and most buildings were destroyed.

When I arranged my photos, I wanted to keep them all but they would take up most of the page. So I chose background paper that would not "mind" being covered up. The left page looks a bit like leather but has no other pattern. The right page was mostly dark with just a boot and some hay--and that's what's revealed in the arrangement.

Of course the other way to get a lot of photos on the page is to use Peekaboo pockets! I do like the bottom 3 because it makes me feel like I'm on the street again.

The visitor center is WHERE?

I continued my visit in the Santa Monica mountains with a trip to the Satwiwa visitor center. I was a little daunted when I found out the parking area was a bit of a hike from the building. The rattlesnake sign did not encourage me. Still, I made the walk easily and spent some time at the site watching the movie and seeing some of the arts and crafts classes for kids.

The left page of this layout is from the CM Virtual Crop. I used the Explorer and Travel Log packs to create the layout. Since I had a second page, I used the scraps from the left to make long mats on the right. The left border is a sticker. The journal box is a bit of white ruled paper that I enhanced with some stickers.

Here's your sign, Hollywood

Another group of stops we made was to visitor centers in the foothills of the Santa Monica mountains. Those photos are on the right but I made them part of a double-page layout so you also get to see the Hollywood sign. It was a real challenge to find a spot to take my photo (bottom) so I added a postcard of the sign for good measure.

This layout is another challenge from the CM virtual crop. You can see the sketch on this page. I used paper from the Travel Log pack (paper, stickers, and mats). It makes it so easy to coordinate the items as the kits have a mix of matching tones.  Once I choose the elements, the page comes together fairly quickly.

Mission: San Gabriel

My next trip after Pipestone was actually our 2014 NPTC convention cruise. That album has been shared, so if you want to look chronologically, go to this post.

In September 2014 I went to an HPN conference in Long Beach, CA. After the conference, I traveled a little north to the Los Angeles area. I met up with a club friend who lives nearby and we made several drives around town to get stamps. One of the stops we made was to Mission San Gabriel--part of the Juan Bautista de Anza trail. It's a lovely church and still in use (as we tried to not disturb the baptism going on there).

The left page of this layout was created for the Creative Memories Virtual Crop. You can see the sketch here. The paper is from a new line called Memoirs and Memories. The sun in the center is cut from the center of one of the matching mat packs. The right page uses a mish-mash of older items. The paper is 10x12, so by stacking the photos on the left I hide the fact that it doesn't reach the edge of the page. The border on the right is from the older Archiver's line. The mat is from a Vintage pack from several years ago. I added the title of "Timeless" to the top. It's light in color so still not very prominent. The journal box is from a Club Scrap pack. When I originally cut it my blade was dull and so the edges are pretty rough. On the other hand, they look really rustic and I think that matches the page!

Pipe Dreams

In April I went to a conference in Sioux Falls, SD. After the meeting, I drove to the next state over (Minnesota), and visited Pipestone National Monument. The stones of the park have been used for centuries to create the ends of peace pipes and have been found across the US indicating trade with a variety of other Native American populations. The stones are still quarried and in addition to pipes they carve fetishes and other decorative pieces. It was nice to see one artist actively working in the visitor center.

This sketch uses a 1-2-3 layout from Noreen Smith. The paper is from the CM Textiles line and the stone pack. I used that paper for all 3 of the layouts for this trip and it really helped tie the pages together. The journal mat is a very old CM piece from a Croptoberfest kit and while it really isn't the same stone as either what is being shaped in the photos or in the paper, it still fits.

This set of pages includes stops along the Circle Trail within the park. In addition to the quarries, there are waterfalls, lakes, flora, and fauna. It's a great place to just walk around.

I used another 1-2-3 sketch and you can see it on Pinterest here.

For the left page of the layout, I had 2 photos of quarries and I was struggling with how to identify them. Peekaboo pockets to the rescue! Looking above the left photo is of the Indian Joe Pit. Then you flip the page over and...

It's the Exhibit quarry and Indian Joes' pit is hidden!

The last set of pages shows some of the other interesting stones--including some historical graffiti on the bottom right page.

This last set of pages uses yet another 1-2-3 layout from Noreen Smith. The tree sticker is from an older CM pack of autumn-themed stickers but it seems to work well with the tone of the page and the tribute hanging from a tree in the upper right photo.

And again, Peekaboo pockets help tell the story. The photo on the front says "look through here" and the photo underneath is actually my camera focused through the hole so you can see the Oracle Rock. A little journaling underneath and the page is complete!