2018 Convention Part 11--Rain Rain Go Away

Sunday morning our club had planned to have a Ranger Talk focusing on the life of Frederick Douglass in New Bedford. Mother Nature had other ideas and due to the rain, the walk was canceled. Instead, we met in the visitor center and looked at the displays while we talked about the life and times of Frederick Douglass. While we did that I also had a chance to complete the junior ranger books for both the New Bedford Whaling and Frederick Douglass in Massachusetts.

For this layout, I turned to an older Virtual Crop sketch from Creative Memories. I turned the sketch 90 degrees so that I could use the 3 photos for the park brochure. There was just one photo of me in my rain poncho in front of the museum so I highlighted that (see the photo below). I wanted to include both of my junior ranger books so I chose to add a large (6x12) Peekaboo pocket. I used a piece of coordinating paper and attached the brochures with photo corners.

The vertical border is from one of the border maker cartridges. I punched 3 borders total--one in ivory as the front piece. I then layered black "shadow" strips to the left and right. To save paper you can also cut one in half and "stretch" it across the item.

2018 Convention Part 10--Food and Fun

During the convention meeting, we had a short break where we served cake and punch. I also had my scrapbook on display so people could look through it (I think it was the 2016 convention from Philadelphia). 

The left page above and the right page below are the 2 sides of one layout which you can see here. Scroll to layout #2. I was making these pages while on vacation so continuing to use the nautical theme even though it's not truly nautical photos because that is all that I had with me. I used some of my Graphic 45 papers from an old line called "By the Sea". I added some CM papers that coordinated so I could get the mix of the blues and the reds. Otherwise, it would look like someone bled all over the pages! I wanted to include the program/Stamp Pad so I needed to use a pocket page. That gave me a little more room on the back to add more dinner photos below.

After the meeting, many of the attendees attended the President's Dinner. We were fortunate this year that one of the superintendents came. As the president, I asked him to join my table, and I enjoyed our dinner and talk.

By the time I got to the back of the pocket page, I was running out of scraps! I ended up trimming this blue gingham into 2 rectangles with a small gap between them since it would not cover the entire surface of the cardstock. The note cards I used for journaling were from a pack that I won in a different Graphic 45 contest.

2018 Convention Part 9--the Meeting

It's time to talk about the convention meeting! We gathered in the auditorium of the Whaling Museum. Registration was just outside under the whale bones. As people came in they got a name tag, ribbons designating the region in which you live, and the number of parks visited if over 100. Other ribbons exist for new members, charter members, and those attending their first convention. It makes for a great icebreaker when meeting new people.

This layout is based on challenge 8 from the September World-wide Virtual Crop. I surprised myself by being able to trim all of the photos to 4x4 blocks without losing any of the details of the image. I trimmed a mat card (bottom right) to fill in the last spot. I had hoped for a journal card there but nothing looked right so I journaled under a photo. The vertical photo in the sketch was replaced with a slightly larger block to accommodate the name badges for me and my husband. The row across the middle is comprised of small blocks punched from a variety of mat cards and scrap paper, all with nautical themes. It was a great way to use up scraps.

One of the highlights of the convention meeting is awarding club members. On the left page, we awarded those who completed "Platinum" status--that's visiting all of the national parks in the country by the date of their last visit. A few people have had to extend their quest as a new park was announced before getting to what they had hoped was their last park. There are over 400 park units (including not only the BIG national parks like Yellowstone and Yosemite, but battlefields such as Gettysburg, seashores, historic homes, and monuments). It is definitely an achievement! 

On the right page, we presented David Kroese (Cardinal Dave) with the Dennis Bandley Award. This was named in honor of one of the charter member's husbands who was always helpful to other club members. Dave had posted a humorous anecdote in the forums about meeting a mountain lion. When another club member realized that Dave was going to get the award he wanted to also present him with a stuffed mountain lion. It was a great addition to the event!

This layout is Challenge 7 from the CM Virtual Crop. The papers and stickers are from an older National Scrapbook Day pack. I've bought extra of the paper over the years to make all the borders in the original kit but decided against the borders later. Now I'm just using the papers to finish beach pages or party pages based on the colors and decor. I chose the pink/coral background based on the shirts we wore at the convention (the North Atlantic ink color is sort of yellow/orange). The brown banners across the top are stickers from the kit.

Bonus post--What Sharp Teeth You Have

Hello all! I'm cropping this weekend and took time to post for the Lasting Memories Challenge #675--Thankful for Die Cuts. This layout is part of a long vacation I took in September 2018. I am on an air boat ride in the Everglades and in addition to the great landscapes and flowers, we saw lots of Alligators! You can see in the bottom right photo how close they came to the boat! You'll see more of this trip in a few months.

I based this sketch on an October 2023 CM Virtual Crop challenge. I'm using up an older pack of CM papers and embellishments called Cool Serenity. I loved the die-cut leaves in the pack and it was a great match for the edge circles in the sketch. The border across the middle of the pages is one of the Border Maker cartridges. I thought the grass journal card matched even though it's probably supposed to be more for sports and front yards. In this context it certainly matches the sea grass.

2018 Convention Part 8--Arty Facts

Before we get to tonight's layout, I wanted to let you know that soon there will be MORE of my blog to enjoy. I have so many layouts made and waiting to be shared that I'm going to add a Tuesday drop each week. And you never know when I'll be participating in a challenge that will give even more bonus posts! Hope you are enjoying this! Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts about the blog.

And now back to our convention trip!

The museum has the most impressive display of scrimshaw. There are cases and cases of everything from decorated busks (used to go inside corsets) to cane toppers and even the musical instrument fret! Amazing what you can do with bones and teeth. I think I could have stood in there for hours just looking at all the items but we had to keep moving to get to the convention setup.

This layout is based on one of the Virtual Crop challenges from September 2023. Scroll to Sketch #5 to see the design. I used some texture pages for the 11" square. Although it's oyster shells, I thought the pattern resembled the scrimshaw. Using a dark background and another lighter tonal paper to sandwich the shells helped to keep the paper from overwhelming the layout. I used a light gray to punch the rope borders and added just 2 clusters of stickers and word art. The tonal paper was light enough that I could journal right on the page.

The last stops on the tour included some period clothing. I love this dress! The museum details who wore it and how the dress changed as it moved through the hands of several family members. We also had a chance to step onto the balcony to see the harbor. Imagine that it was filled with whaling ships as it would have been in the 1800s!

This layout used the same virtual crop, but this time was Sketch #10. While the sketch calls for banners of 9 and 3 inches, you won't get any space between the 2 parts. That's why I trimmed them to 11". To ensure that all of your banners match, stack the papers and cut them all at once. I flipped the pages so that my vertical photos were on the left. This is a very versatile sketch. You could use all vertical or all horizontal--just duplicate the layout suggestion for that side.

2018 Convention Part 7--A Whale of a Tale

 As part of the board, and this year as president, I've found that during conventions there is so much to be done for the meeting that I don't always get a chance to explore and visit as much as I'd like. This year we made a special tour time of the Whaling Museum just for the board and the volunteers. This was early enough that we had time to set up after the tour and still look at all the amazing displays. Entering the museum, you immediately get a sense of size as you look up and see the large Right Whale skeleton hanging from the ceiling. The photos on the left page show you this from 2 angles. The inner skeleton is a baby whale. And look closely at the left photo--that's an accurately sized heart model on the floor!

I made this layout to complete one of the CM Sizzlin Summer Challenges. You can catch the replay on this YouTube video. I created this page while I was on the 2023 Convention trip! Have any of you scrapbooked while traveling? I've learned a few tricks for packing and selecting items that will allow me to take a bag of supplies to just about anywhere! But I didn't have a tag punch with me. No problem, I cut the decorative pieces along the bottom row with a trimmer and then notched the top 2 corners with the 2-way corner rounder. Now they looked like a tag! It was one of the tips I got from Noreen's video.  You'll see the sketch that I followed for the right-hand page in the video. By adding a mat to the middle photo spot I had plenty of journaling space. Doubling the sketch allowed me to add the brochure on the left.

We had a tour guide, which was great as that kept us on pace to see the museum and still finish in time to set up the convention. She took us to a room where there was a full-sized whaling ship! Yes, it was a huge room but at the same time, I kept thinking that the ship was too small to catch a whale!

This layout was based on a sketch from the September Worldwide Virtual Crop by CM. Scroll to sketch #6 to see the design. I also completed this layout while traveling, but this time to the Corrigan family beach house in September. In fact, I was able to complete a dozen more pages that week. I would secure a space for myself at the dining table after dinner and complete a few pages when we had a quiet evening at home. You'll see here that I also doubled the sketch to create a symmetrical 2-page layout. I again used a mat card to fill in for one of the photos (once on each side). The papers came from several nautical-themed packs I had but still coordinated nicely!

2018 Convention Part 6--Religious Freedom

Touro Synagogue in Newport was the next stop on the bus trip. This is designated as a National Historic Site but is not one of the NPS units, most likely because it is still an active congregation. The history of the community is one of perseverance and faith. I do recommend taking the guided tour to hear the entire story. The most notable occurrence in the congregation's history is their concern for religious persecution after the colonies won their independence. Their letter to Washington and his reply is reprinted today to demonstrate what religious tolerance should be for everyone. Copies are available in the visitor center. When I visit active houses of worship, regardless of the faith, I tend not to take a lot of interior photos as it can be considered disrespectful. In this temple, they did ask us to refrain from photos until the end and to take photos only from the rear of the building. The vertical photo on the left page is my photo. The remaining images are all postcards that I bought in the gift shop.

This layout is based on one of the CM Virtual Crop sketches that I saved. The paper and stickers are from a Judaic pack that I purchased from CM a few years ago. When it was first sold, two of my fellow advisors held a class to help those unfamiliar with the Jewish faith to understand what the designs were and why they were included in the pack. I'm very glad I took that class as I felt much better choosing the papers and stickers to correspond to the sketch. Now the red matches the photos but is really supposed to represent pomegranates for one of the holidays. You don't see the fruit on the tonal paper so I think it worked well for a non-holiday layout. A special thanks to the Rabois (friends of mine from the NPTC) who also looked over this after I completed it and assured me that I did not inadvertently make a faux pas on any religious icon usage.