There Are Two Sides to Every Layout

While we were at the statue, we posed for a group selfie. We were a bit far from the memorial statue at the top of the hill, but we could see it better with a bit of zoom in the camera.

If this layout looks familiar, it was one of my bonus posts, as I played along with Lasting Memories again. (The link is here.) It will also give you some background on the sketch used.

The right-side layout was made to coordinate but didn't get posted simultaneously. However, the topic was slightly different, as I was venting my frustration with people who do not abide by regulations. Whether it's a COVID precaution or basic crowd control, it doesn't matter. I get very frustrated when I see people ignoring signs posted by the rangers. And this time, I just had to scrapbook it. 

The previous page was made with the Summer Denim and Feeling Bright pages. Since nothing was left of Summer Denim, I pulled some similarly colored and patterned papers from Feeling Bright for the coordinating page. Of course, the orange photo mats and the thin border at the bottom were the same papers. I found the "Covidiot" sticker in a pack of Covid papers and stickers from PhotoPlay. 

Just Plane Fun

In July 2020, Jim and I went on vacation with my sister and her husband. We had planned the trip before COVID-19 and decided to keep our reservation for a beach house. While in the area, we decided to visit the Wright Brothers National Memorial while maintaining appropriate social distancing and masking around others (even outside for me, as you just couldn't be too careful). After getting our entrance sign photos, we drove to the large statue commemorating the first flight, and the camera used to capture the historical event. 

This layout is from one of the Paper Loft classes I took at the Lancaster Scrapbook Convention. The green strip of paper on the left is a pocket where I stashed the journaling box and a small card with the image of North Carolina (not from Paper Loft, but it matched well!). I added a few words and enamel dots to round out the layout. I thought the "Anything is Possible" quote was particularly relevant to this layout.

Homeward Bound

I'm sure you all had similar feelings during Covid. Since we were homebound during the first few months, we would do ANYTHING to relieve our cabin fever and feelings of monotony. So in April 2020, on National Junior Ranger Day, some friends and I vowed to complete a Junior Ranger booklet for one of the National Parks but to do it from home. I had the Junior Ranger book from last summer's trip to the Grand Canyon, so I pulled it out and completed it. I emailed the rangers and told them I would send it in for verification, but they didn't need me to do that. I was pleasantly surprised in June when I received an envelope with my badge and a lovely postcard from the ranger!

I debated the background for this page. I had been making a lot of Covid-themed pages, and that was what I had looked at first. However, since this is more about the Grand Canyon, I decided to pull this sheet of texture paper from the Creative Memories Leave Nothing Behind collection. The postcard took up a lot of room, so I wanted to keep the photos smaller. They did need to be matted, though, because the background paper was a bit "noisy." I chose blue to match the sky portion of the paper and the journal box. The stickers on the journal box are from the CM Covid paper pack (Love Each Other 2). Because the paper was so busy, I didn't need more embellishments besides my "time travel" arrow.

Visiting for Spite?

I was pretty upset by the treatment at the Christmas party at Gateway NRA. So, I decided to go to a different park to make myself feel better. Paterson Great Falls was about an hour away--not terribly close, but since I had quite a bit of daylight left, I made the trip. I started at the visitor center to get an overview. The town's claim to fame is that it was the first PLANNED industrial city. Who planned it? His name is Alexander Hamilton! The falls and the Passaic River provided great power to turn wheels, creating everything from cloth to locomotives. You can still walk across the falls, as seen in my photos below. It was freezing, and the spray coming from the water chilled me to the bone. I returned to the visitor center to warm up before exploring the rest of the city.

This layout is based on this pin (and doubled). I found a sheet of brick paper, which I split to cover the bottom of the pages, and decided on the blue stripe for the vertical elements. I decided to include several photos of the falls--peekaboo pockets to the rescue! I have 2 of them layered and chose to use a waterfall technique in honor of the falls. That means that each photo is layered a bit ABOVE the underlying image. The last embellishment set was made of stickers from the musical Hamilton. Someone at work sent them to me anonymously, and it became the perfect fit for this page.

Christmas Nostalgia

Every year in December, I strive to visit a National Park Site decorated for Christmas. For 2019, I planned a visit to the Sandy Hook portion of Gateway National Recreation Area (at the top of New Jersey). My previous visit focused on the lighthouse, but this time, I headed over to the old army post. Many buildings still stand from when this was an active base during WWII. One of the houses was set for a 1940s Christmas party. I was early, so I wandered the area, looking at the other houses and structures like the cannon.

If this layout looks familiar, you may remember the post from July when it was created. You can revisit the blog entry to learn how I made it.

When the official start time for the public open house came, I returned to the house. There had been a special Christmas party for the volunteers who man the base and the NRA. Many of them dressed in period attire. They reluctantly let me in (I had to show them that the public time had started). Their Christmas party was still in full swing, and I felt a bit awkward "crashing" their party. Nonetheless, they set the times, so I wandered through the house looking at the vintage holiday displays.

This layout is based on a sketch, but I cannot find the inspiration (sorry). I used paper from Creative Memories, one of the last sheets in the CM Joy kit. The embellishments are from Graphic 45, except for the car. I had saved that car sticker from the CM Decades sticker pack for the 1940s (and isn't it amazing how it matched the car in real life almost exactly?!?). 

I especially enjoyed seeing the display in the kitchen. The old tins and bottles with original labels were quite interesting. Upstairs, the rooms were set up for the commander and his family, so you see not only the uniform but also what the wife and children would wear and some of their possessions.

The left side of this layout is based on the 101 Sketches book (page 85). I'll admit it's a very loose interpretation. I turned the photos on their sides, and there were fewer pieces of paper between the photo elements.

The right side is based on a pin I've saved for a LONG time! Before the original Creative Memories went out of business, I spent time "pinning" all of the ideas from their blog, including sketches. Those sketches used a lot of smaller photos, and my technique at the time didn't match those (nor was I "reading" the sketches and interpreting them in my own style). I dug into my stash of Graphic 45 papers for this layout (both sides). I've always liked how their papers coordinate with historic home tours. I used a LOT of scraps to put these together, plus some random old stickers from my stash.

Give us Liberty!

The last stop of the day was at Liberty Hall. I had arranged an NPTC Meetup. While we didn't run into each other much during the day, we gathered here for the day's final tour. I set up my stamper near the official stampers and tried to pull everyone together. However, I missed the last tour as club members kept arriving and wanted to stamp! Well, there will be another one next time, I'm sure! Several of us headed to dinner after this to chat more, and then it was time to return to the current year.

This layout is based on one of the CM sketches in the 101 sketchbook (page 60). I am using a collection called Gem Tone, a secret box from a few years ago. I love it for pages with historic homes. It just seems to "fit". The bottom is 1 1/2" strips (again, a great way to use up scraps!) The border sticker across the top covers any slight imperfections in the length. The kit came with a set of laser-cut frames. The one you see above is 1/2 of the frame in the kit. I only needed to highlight one photo, and I could keep the other half for a different page. I tucked the cut edge under the brochure so you cannot see any imperfect edges.

Post #500! Stop Inn

Wow, this blog is on post #500! Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me over the years. I hope you've enjoyed the tales as much as I enjoyed making and sharing the pages with you.

My next stop was this historic tavern. The location was active a bit AFTER the Revolutionary War. It was part of a stagecoach route connecting Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. They recreated the tavern and kitchen from the early 1800s. Another building on site is related to the Colonial era, but while it is preserved, it serves as their gift shop.

This layout is based on Cheryl Even's Sketch #76. I used an ivory piece of cardstock and a long strip of Old CM paper (I'm not sure what pack that came from, but it's probably 2009 or so). I cut another piece of cardstock with one of CM's large custom-cutting system shapes. It's no longer for sale on their site, but keep an eye out, as sometimes they do "retro" sales and bring back classic pieces for brief periods. Replacing one of the photos with a journal box allowed me to add the brochure for the site to the decorative element in green. I then added a 12" border sticker (cut in half so I could use it top and bottom) and a couple of old candlestick stickers, which I think are actually from a formal dining kit 😊. Given it's a tavern, I thought the "Cheers" title fit pretty well. 

No Bread For You!

My next stop was to the Frazee House. This house is undergoing extensive renovations, so there are only photos of the exterior. I did enjoy the story, though I wonder how true it is. Supposedly Betty Frazee was an excellent baker and the British Army, and supposedly Cornwallis himself, came through and wanted to buy the bread from her to feed the troops. As someone inclined to follow the American Rebels, she declined. Whereby the British ransacked her farm and took the bread anyway. True or not, it is that type of story that helped stir up sentiment to follow the Colonials. And of course, history is written by the victors...

If you've noticed, the past few layouts (including this one) include some little trading cards. They were available at the sites and with a shortage of photos, they really helped tell the story! They are all mounted with photo corners so that they can be removed and you can still read the story on the back. 

This layout is based on a sketch from the CM December 2023 Virtual Crop. Scroll to Sketch #1. I had pulled my patriotic materials to work on these pages and this paper was from a secret box. The paper is called "Starlight" and due to the stars, it ended up in the Patriotic box. It was the perfect background for this layout as I wanted something patriotic but also "homey". The quilted background paper fits both categories. I used some of the larger star embellishments as my journal boxes. If you look closely at the gold strips you might be able to see that they are cut with the new Colonial blade for our 12" trimmer. It's a small detail, but it does work!

Outstanding in His Field

I did not know about the next stop--Ashbrook Reservation. It's a local park and the site of a Revolutionary War Battle called the Battle of the Short Hills (definitely missing from my high school history book). If you want to read a bit about the battle, try this website. The stamp and information booth was in front of a local vocational-technical high school. It was quite odd to see tents and colonial-era people milling about there. I had a great talk with the gentleman on duty about people in the area and names from the era with which I was familiar. In his discussion about the battle, we looked over his cannon. And then he picked it up to show me that it was not only not "period" but was painted styrofoam! His associate had been taking photos with my camera and captured the moment that I realized the folly, and THAT was what I wanted to capture on the layout.

This layout is loosely based on this pin from CM's December 2022 Virtual Crop (also on page 58 of the 101 Sketches book). the background paper is one of the patriotic packs from my stash. Since that was in blue and white, it made sense that my mats were red. I chose 2 punches to add decorations--the CM star punch which makes a frame star and gives you the inner cut star, and the rocket punch. Clustering those in opposite corners gives you the flow across the page. The flag embellishment is from a pack I picked up from Paper Wizard. I bought that pack of minis for my Boston photos. I guess I'll have to pick up another pack!

How could you not like the Drake?

My next adventure was in October 2019 for the Union County Four Centuries in a Weekend Event. Union County, NJ is the home of many historic sites with connections to Washington and the Revolutionary War, the Industrial Revolution, and World War 2. Some sites are connected to the Crossroads of the American Revolution historic trail and have National Park stamps. The event organizers also created Union County stamps so we can generally get 2 at each location. Though it is a 2-day event, I had to work on Saturday so I visited just on Sunday and got to only a few locations. The event is held yearly, so I can return for more visits.

My first stop is a home called the Drake House Museum. This house's claim to fame is that during the Battle of Short Hills, George Washington used the front parlor as his headquarters. The photos on this layout reflect the heritage and rooms that are decorated in the colonial style (including a kitchen and medicine cupboard). I also got to pose as Alexander Hamilton's long-lost cousin. See a resemblance? 😁

This layout is based on Noreen Smith's January 2019 1-2-3 layout. I reversed the layout (imagine it flipped horizontally) so that the tall column of photos is on the right side of the layout. I used some of the last of my CM Americana paper packs. It really is perfect for that Colonial Era theme. The papers are layered on light blue cardstock. Flipping the sketch meant that I had a large blue area on the far right. I used a similar scrap of tan paper to cut 1 3/4" squares. Do you see the small square on the top of the left page? That is part of the indicator sheet included with all the CM paper. It provides a look at each of the papers so you can see at a glance if it will work with your photos. I cut that square as it matched the layout best and mounted it. The small bunny on the right is from an 8 1/2 x 11 paper pad I bought a long time ago. This is just the image of what a paper piecing project would look like, but with a little fussy cutting, it too became an embellishment. I had an extra 12" sticker border with those rustic stars that finished off the layout.

Trail's End

After visiting Petroglyph, I drove to Santa Fe to visit with a friend. Near a museum we stopped at was this large statue installation commemorating the end of the Santa Fe Trail. It was more of a commerce route than an immigration route. The statues were quite lifelike, especially in the light of the fading sun. 

This layout is based on a sketch from the September Worldwide Virtual Crop from Creative Memories. I pulled the Wide Open Spaces collection from my stash. The middle section is the paper resembling a saddle; I wanted the horses and cows' paper for the outside. The sprinkle stickers are some very old CM. The journal box was fussy-cut from the mat to fit the space better. The title box on the bottom left is from a sheet of New Mexico mats and works perfectly here.

The next layout is another you've seen before as it was the 3rd installment of my Guest Designer stint for Lasting Memories in October. You can review the story and layout here.

Next week we move back east!

Little Pictures

My next trip was in October 2019. I flew to Albuquerque, NM for a Health Professions Network conference. The timing was perfect as the Saturday after the conference was the annual Balloon Fiesta, so I stayed to see that. I had a ticket for just the morning so planned to head to Petroglyph National Monument later that afternoon. I parked the car at the visitor center and found a couple of interesting items on my walk to the doors.

This page is one of the Club Scrap National Park kit pages that I made. Scroll to layout 11. I only needed this side of the layout as I was starting on the right side of a 2-page spread. You can see the extra photo and journaling box below with the Peekaboo Pocket lifted. I chose this page not only because the photos fit so perfectly, but because of that little set of squares on the horizontal border. I know they are icons representing amenities at parks, but they sort of reminded me of the petroglyphs!

This is an unusual size for a peekaboo pocket. One of the CM secret boxes included an 8x8 paper album and 4x8 pockets to use on those pages. I kept them for my regular scrapbook pages instead.

You've seen the rest of this visit in early October when I served as Guest Designer for Lasting Memories. Just so you can see how it all flows together in the album, I've included the other 2 double-page layouts below. You can see the original post for the Scenic Route layout here.

And here's the link for the post about the actual petroglyphs.

Bonus Post--The Wright Stuff

I thought I would play along with Lasting Memories again this month. Here's a bonus post from a trip to the Wright Brothers National Memorial in North Carolina. This was a trip in July 2020. With Covid running rampant we kept to family outings. My sister and brother-in-law joined us at a beach house nearby and we took a day to do some sightseeing--well distanced as much as possible!

This layout is based on the Lasting Memories challenge #726. They posted a piece of artwork for our inspiration. I looked at the gorgeous colors—orange, blue, green, and yellow—and put them together using the CM Worldwide Virtual Crop sketch from September. Scroll to sketch #7. The papers are from the CM Summer Denim collection with the orange from the Feeling Bright collection. Feeling Bright was a secret box in June 2022. It coordinates so well with the Summer Denim, an advisor-only pack. I love being able to stretch my pages by combining collections! One piece on here is not from Creative Memories. The little die-cut of the memorial is fussy-cut from an 8 1/2x11 Eastern National paper. 

All Aboard!

I next stopped at the visitor center and had the place nearly to myself. Much different than the grand opening! It's a fairly small museum but with a lot of 3D components like the sheds or the boat, you see below. I had not realized that not only did she usher enslaved people north, but she also served as a spy and scout for the Union Army during the Civil War. 

The inspiration for this layout came from this pin that I saved. It uses the 4 squares as the base. The pin reminded me to use some "scruffy" paper for the heritage feel. When I cut my squares I wasn't quite as even as I had hoped, so to hide the flaws, I added the strips to the bottom of the pages (that is Washi tape). The black and white of the Washi tape mimic the coloring of the postcard and the unigrid and helps give balance to the page. Not much in the way of decoration--just one-word sticker.

What's in Store?

My journey continued into Maryland, my destination the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad NHP. I had been to the area when that site opened its visitor center (and you can see that post here). My first stop was at the Bucktown Village Store. This is the site where Harriet was hit by a small weight when she was a young child. That event caused a life-long problem with headaches but is also credited with giving her visions. I had not called ahead so I was happy to find the site open. In fact, the people who man the store were awaiting someone who HAD made a reservation. They never showed up so I benefitted by getting a private store tour. I enjoyed this visit much more as there were no crowds and I could ask questions to my heart's content. I gave them a good-sized donation for the privilege. If you are in the area, don't miss this stop!

For this layout I wanted to use the large General Store cut that I made on the Cricut. The yellow is layered on top and the windows and doors are outlined in black ink to provide some depth. I wanted yellow based on the color of the building but also blue because of the interior. I found a nice sheet of yellow textured paper and a weathered wood paper with a blue tint. By cutting them both at 6" and "welding" them with a strip of cardstock along the seam in the back, I was able to generate 2 pages for the background. The little heart embellishment is an old stencil that I inked. There are a few word blocks from the Paper Loft that completed the layout.

Bay Window

My next set of park visits occurred when I went on vacation with Jim's family in September 2019. We had returned to the Rehoboth Beach area and I took a day to drive west toward the Chesapeake Bay. I drove to the small town of Vienna, MD where the Nanticoke River Discovery Center had a stamp (of course) and a small display of Captain John Smith and his travels. I also visited the nearby waterfront to get a look at the water. It was late morning but a beautiful day to be outside. 

The trail follows the historic route taken by John Smith (yes, the one that married Pocohantas) and his crew in the summer of 1608. He is credited with mapping much of the East Coast and those detailed records, published in England, were the impetus for many to migrate to the New World. In essence, he might more rightfully be considered the man who Discovered America!

This sketch is based on the June 2024 Virtual Crop from Creative Memories (scroll to sketch #2). You can see that I doubled the sketch to reach 2 pages. The paper is from Creative Memories' Serene Water collection. The coordinating cardstock colors include orange. While that is a color I don't use much, it gives the perfect POP to the middle square. As you can see in the directions, there are 4 strips of 3" decorative paper underneath. This type of sketch is a great way to use scraps if you have them. 

Madness in the Desert Part 36--How to Visit a Park That Isn't There

This is our final entry in the Madness in the Desert album! You remember that last week we talked about Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. Near here is another National Park Unit called Hohokam Pima National Monument. Now that particular unit is not available to visit. The village had been excavated and explored, but the Native Tribe asked the area to be covered over. As the NPS says: "Though authorized to become a monument, it is not a designated site. There are no signs, facilities, roads, cancellation stamps, brochures, features, displays, or other markers in place. The grounds are on Native American land and not open for visits."

This is often a bone of contention for our NPTC club members. To provide a way to "count" this park, the club has 2 suggestions (technically a member can count a visit as they deem fit). The first suggestion is the Huhugam Heritage Center in Chandler, AZ. While Jim and I were nearby, it was, at that time, closed for renovations. The original, and still valid method we chose, was to visit Casa Grande. The museum here has a few displays about Pima life and culture, so we have both added Hohokam Pima to our list of completed units. Have you checked this park off on your list? Let me know in the comments below.

I scraplifted this idea from Scrapbook.com. I was getting close to the album's end so I had many scraps available. I layered several in orange and yellow tones on the page. The top border includes some fussy-cut items from a fairly old piece of CM paper. It's supposed to be a fall theme but I've always thought it worked well for Native American designs. I used some punches and other scraps to make the window and the sun designs.

Lasting Memories Post 4--Falling For You

Hello all! I'm serving as a Guest Designer for Lasting Memories all through October! I've been posting an extra layout each Sunday at noon for the past 4 weeks. Each follows the weekly challenge posted at Lasting Memories and I hope you join the challenge! Post your version through the link at the bottom of their post.

For the final installment, we hop into 2020 and my first visit to New River Gorge (which was a National River when we visited but is now a National Park!) Covid was still sweeping the nation but I badly needed a getaway from work. However, where do you go where you can stay away from people? How about a cabin in the middle of West Virginia? So, Jim, I, and his sister Kristen journeyed down for a few days of relaxation and "leaf peeping". On our first morning there we headed to the visitor center. Since no one could go inside, the ranger was under the porch area. We got a few ideas for hikes and then went to the overlook behind the center to see the famous bridge spanning the river.

This week's Challenge is LM #725 - Costumes - dress up your layout by adding something sparkly! I chose Sketch #4 from Creative Memories' Virtual Crop this month. The paper is from a 2019 pack called Harvest Delight. It was not the pack I thought I would use. With the challenge of using something sparkly (admittedly NOT something I use a lot), I thought about Hello Autumn from 2020. However, when I pulled that pack I realized I had already used the foiled elements! So I dug through the box of Fall items and found this one. The sketch calls for a 10" piece of paper in the center but I only had 1 full sheet left. I decided that I would use the 4-squares technique in a smaller way. I cut 10" white cardstock (actually the title pages for some other packs I had used) and layered the 5" squares to ensure there were no gaps. Then I used the foiled leaves wherever you see hexagons on the sketch. I was able to trim one photo to a 4x4" square and then trim a journal box to the same size. That fills in for the horizontal 6x4 photo on the right page. All that is left from the pack now is one long strip of white designer paper, stickers, and a few mat cards. I kept those together for now but may decide to donate them the next time I empty my "purge" box.

Madness in the Desert Part 35--The Big House

After watching the movie and exploring the exhibits in the visitor center, we ventured outside (into the heat again) to see the structure. Though it has stood for many years, the NPS is working on protecting it, hence the canopy over the top to protect it a bit from rain and to decrease erosion.

I had thought that I followed a border sketch to create the border across the top of the page. Perhaps I just followed my instincts! The base is plain yellow. The next layer is a strip of the same paper that is featured across the bottom. On top of that are 2 rectangles of blue/orange paper that you've seen on some other pages. The title letters are from a set of 2 punches my mother and I bought at a scrapbook yardsale. I have to say, it looked like a good idea at the time but they were actually rather difficult to use to create the few letters I needed. However, they WERE the right size!

This has been a tourist site much longer than it has been in the National Park Service, and consequently, there is some defacement. Though as that happened in the 1700s and 1800s even that, in some sense, is historic.

This is ALMOST wallpaper. It's 2 pieces of 6x12 paper. The burst at the top reminded me of sunrise/sunset. That set the mood for the sienna tone across the bottom. I wish I had let more of the landscape show. I used a few photo corner stickers on the upper right photo. They do NOT help adhere the photo to the page. They just give that old-fashioned look. Do you like putting stickers on your photos? CM materials are safe for photos so it won't do them any harm.

Madness in the Desert Part 34--In Ruins

On the morning after our Saguaro visit, I dropped Jim off at the Air Museum for a 2nd day of exploring (I was spared that, and had planned a trip to Coronado). However, I barely made it out of the parking lot when my phone rang. The thunderstorm of the night before knocked out power to the museum and closed it for the day. We had already checked out of the hotel, so it made sense that we meander our way to Phoenix where we would fly out the next morning. So we visited the Western National bookstore north of Tucson and then decided on Casa Grande so I would still get another new National Park unit. 

If you have even a smattering of Spanish (as I do, and to which my sister Lisa will attest), you know that this translates to Big House. The people lived in the area over 4000 years ago and the origins of this building remain a mystery. There are hints that it might have been a celestial observatory but it might have been a storehouse or religious site. Additional walls create a surrounding plaza where trade and crafts such as pottery making likely happened.

I had trouble fitting in all that I wanted to on this page, so I chose a 12x6 peekaboo pocket to add the brochure and (as you can see below) a couple of extra photos.

This layout is based on a sketch from my Scrap Your Stash class with Noreen Smith in 2020. The base page is a sheet with a mild yellow tone and I then added a couple of strips of coordinating paper from the CM "Shades of Yellow" paper pack. Luckily, I had a few stickers that matched the items in the photos, so it was a simple layout.

Lasting Memories Post 3--A Day at the Museum

Hello all! I'm serving as a Guest Designer for Lasting Memories all through October! I'll be posting an extra layout each Sunday at noon for the next 2 weeks. Each is following the weekly challenge posted at Lasting Memories and I hope you join the challenge! Post your version through the link at the bottom of their post.

Still from my New Mexico trip in October 2019, this layout features a museum I went to near Santa Fe. My NPTC friend Robbie lives near there so we met to get a few stamps, and this museum covers 2 different trails. Some of the displays were lovely examples of colonial life such as furniture and religious icons. Then there was the display of Paul Pletka's art. Some of which I found quite disturbing. I told Robbie that it was her fault if I had nightmares after seeing that gallery!

Today's challenge is LM #724  - Harvest - be inspired by those growing crops by using ascending sizes of paper strips or shapes OR use a colorful ombre design. I used a sketch from Cheryl Even for this layout. I had remnants from several collections here but the floral print is some of the last of the Creative Memories Mexico theme pack. the cactus border is from that pack as well and I cut it in half to spread across the layout. I liked this sketch as it had room for a large 5x7 photo. I inadvertently made that size when I stitched 2 photos together to show the living space all at once. The outside of the museum is a postcard I purchased in their gift shop.

Madness in the Desert Part 33--Cactus Loop

I had visited Saguaro NP previously but had only seen the park's western side. You can see that post here. This time we visited the eastern end and drove their auto loop (which I'm happy to say is paved!) 

I wanted to make this layout after I saw this post on the Farmhouse Memories blog. I don't use fabric a lot, but they have a few examples that have enticed me to include it. Even though I know it isn't lignin-free, sometimes it just makes the right statement and this page is a good example of that. Farmhouse Memories sells a sheet of sticky paper that you use to stiffen the fabric so that it lies flat and gives you a surface so that you can attach adhesive just like you would for photos or other papers. My hardest decision was where to cut the fabric as I didn't want it to cover the photos. So I ended up cutting off the tops of some of the cacti. There are just 2 photos on this page. The image on the top left is a panoramic postcard I purchased in the gift shop.

Madness in the Desert part 32--Looking Sharp

To refresh, my last post on this trip looked at Montezuma Castle. After leaving there, we finished our drive to Tucson and then spent a day looking at planes. Jim's excitement over that trip was that we would go to the Pima Air & Space Museum, the starting point for a "Boneyard" tour of the nearby Air Force base. All those photos (and there are a LOT) are in the album at home. As they don't focus on national parks, I'll skip them (you're welcome). 😁

After leaving that museum though, we had some time in the early evening so we made an impromptu visit to Saguaro National Park.We did have time for a few photos near the entrance so I could get my sign photo and Jim could pose with the cacti.  

I made these layouts in the spring of 2020 using the Creative Memories National Scrapbook Day kits. Each year, we celebrate National Scrapbook Day on the first Saturday in May (truly--Creative Memories invented this day!) The kit this year featured a strawberry theme. Here's a photo of the kit:

The strawberries were not all that prominent so I was able to show my crop friends that you could really use the pages for anything. The kit makes 2 double-page layouts and the other one I used for some of the photos from the Air Museum. Have you made an unusual choice of pages for a layout? Tell me about it in the comments below!

Lasting Memories Post 2--Historic Pictures

Hello all! I'm serving as a Guest Designer for Lasting Memories all through October! I'll be posting an extra layout each Sunday at noon for the next 3 weeks. Each is following the weekly challenge posted at Lasting Memories and I hope you join the challenge! Post your version through the link at the bottom of their post.

Continuing from last Sunday, this is from Petroglyph National Monument. It seems like you have to walk quite a way along the trail before getting to the petroglyphs, but then they are EVERYWHERE! Some of these are clearly newer than the others (and I do hope that face is historic and not some joker's idea of graffiti). These photos show you just a taste of what you can see in the park. Some resembled the items clearly (like the crosses and maybe that animal). Some were so abstract that I wonder if it was animal, vegetable, or mineral! 

This week we follow LM #723 - Falling Leaves - say out with the old by using an item you've had in your stash for at least two years. I used "Botanical Bliss" from Creative Memories and the date on the package is 2019 so--almost 5 years! (Ironically the same year I took these photos though!) I followed Sketch #2 from the September Worldwide Virtual Crop. There are a few non-CM items here--the title is from the Eastern National scrapbook kit and a couple of the stickers are from the Junior Ranger sticker book.

Madness in the Desert Part 31--The Castle on the Hill

We made our way down to the main part of the park and Montezuma Castle. I can say we were both happy to view the exhibits in the visitor center as it was air-conditioned. Jim felt well enough to join me for a short walk to see the "castle" which is another cliff dwelling but HIGH in the cliffs! I guess I should never complain about my daily commute ever again 😀.

This layout is based on a pin that I saved (and doubled). I was able to use 3 papers for this--2 for the base and one that I tore horizontally to cover the tops. (Had I simply cut it I likely could have welded the 2 halves together, but it doesn't give as much interest as the torn edge.) The 2 ancient pots are cuts I made on the Cricut. If I had the page to do over, I think I would put them both either in the middle or on the edges. It would probably add more symmetry. 

Madness in the Desert Part 30--Well, Well, Well

After leaving Walnut Canyon, we headed south toward Tucson. Along the way, we stopped for a delicious meal (I had elk meatloaf!) and then we drove to Montezuma Well. This is a part of Montezuma's Castle but we are going there after our stop here. Jim did not get out of the car here. With the heat and altitude sickness, he just sat in the air conditioning. I did not want to stay too long but I wanted to explore the park so I walked the loop from the visitor center around the lake and through the scrub brush. Like Walnut Canyon to the north, the local inhabitants eked out a living by housing themselves in caves along the cliffs. Clearly, this was a fortunate spot as there was a decent water source. They were able to create a canal system to irrigate crops. As late as the 1800s, settlers still gravitated to this site to use the dwellings and canal system.

The inspiration for this layout came from a photo I pinned. Instead of making spirals from dot stickers, I chose to cut them from an older paper pack from CM. I've used this pack previously as it has a nature theme to it. I prefer the botanical papers and didn't really know what to do with all the dark brown. I started by punching the argyle borders for the outside edges of the layout. The zig-zag and the spirals were brown-on-brown patterns that I fussy cut. A few other botanical borders gave a little more definition to the page. 

Lasting Memories Post 1--Wild Life

Hello all! I'm serving as a Guest Designer for Lasting Memories all through October! I'll be posting an extra layout each Sunday at noon for the next 4 weeks. Each is following the weekly challenge posted at Lasting Memories and I hope you join the challenge! Post your version through the link at the bottom of their post.

This post is part of my Albuquerque trip in October 2019. I chose one of the less popular trails at Petroglyph National Monument as I wanted some solitude as I explored. There were few others on the trail but I did come across some interesting wildlife, including the coyote featured in the camera below. 

For Sunday, October 6th, the challenge is LM #722 - Pumpkins - use at least 50% orange and include something round. This layout is based on a 1-2-3 sketch from Noreen Smith. You can watch the video of her layout here. It's a pretty straightforward cut, but I did make some adjustments. Knowing that one of the paper blocks would be 4x6, I substituted the one from the printed paper with a mat I had from the matching collection. The page that I cut is the one on the far left--it's a page from the Mellow Meadows pack and is a photographic paper. I thought the thin stalks (wheat?) would match the scant vegetation of the trail I walked. I also used a laser cut title over the base cardstock where another mat was to go (Upper Right). I had thought about stretching it across the photos and the decorative mat in the middle but I decided I wanted it to be all one color. I added a coordinating journal box to keep the orange "count" up on the page. Do you think I made it to 50%? 

Madness in the Desert Part 29--Gardens in the Desert

 There was more to see than just the cliff dwellings. I enjoyed seeing the different plants along the nature trail as well as an old foundation from a "pit house". This was the original dwelling spot (recreated now) for the Puebloans of the area. They would migrate down to the cliffs later. They lived in this area for over 800 years.

This layout is a project recipe. I acquired the paper and instructions when someone signed on as a consultant under me. It was a total surprise as I didn't even know the person. So I enjoyed putting the kit together and I liked how it matched the tones of the desert life.

Madness in the Desert Part 28--Cliff Notes

After the Ranger Talk, we wandered the park for a bit. There is an overlook where you can see to the bottom of the canyon. The park brochure shows one of the housing areas along the cliff face. You can see more on the bottom layout. This page shows a better view of the depth of the canyon. We are standing on the rim.

I thought I had followed a sketch for this layout but could not find a copy if I did. I had also been posting on the Scrapbook.com forums and I entered this in the monthly "Use Your Scraps" challenge. You can see that the bottom border is a series of 1/2" strips left over from many different collections. So long as the tone of the papers matches, you don't need to use the same packs (though if you have remnants of a collection this is a good way to use those up). At the top of the page is a paper border from one of the outdoor collections (Adventure I think). I punched the middle paper with a "knock-out" style border maker cartridge for extra interest. This type of punch leaves a "hole" that shows the bottom layer for contrast.

With Jim still a little tired, we skipped walking down to the cliff dwellings but you can see them from across the canyon on a very nice nature trail. On this page, you get a better sense of the scale of the houses compared to the cliff's height! I cannot imagine walking up and down that cliff every day to either work in the canyon or above it.

This layout is from the CM Virtual Crop in April 2019. I know the circles are from an old outdoor pack. I'm not sure where the base paper came from. I used a laser-cut border to create a middle-of-the-page divider.

Madness in the Desert Part 27--Move It

We got to the area where the ranger talk was to take place, but all the picnic tables seemed to be in direct sun, so we moved a couple. It turns out the quickest way to get people to volunteer is for me to grab a corner of a table. Many of the guys jumped up to help move the tables so everyone was more comfortable. (And luckily someone snagged a photo!) The ranger gave a great overview of the site. It's one of the best parts of going to a park site. 

This is a 1-2-3 layout from Noreen Smith and you can watch the video of her cuts and layout here. I liked the space for 4x4 photos but since I only had 2, I was able to fill the middle with a decorative box! The papers are from CM's Adventure pack. I liked the mountain background for the main pattern. Given that my cuts are a little different, I might have used some scrap paper to fill in the left and right sides of the layout. And that's a GREAT way to use your stash! The embellishments on here are not all from CM. The punched arrow border is one of the BMC punches. The chair, the picnic table, and the letters for the title all come from Paper Loft's camping collections. I think there is a scrap from my Club Scrap papers in the 4x4 decorative box as well. One of the 4x6 photos was replaced with a journal box made from a 4x6 piece of arrowhead paper from the Eastern National collection and a journal box from the Club Scrap stash. Didn't it all come together well though, considering it's 3 separate manufacturers?

Madness in the Desert Part 26--A Little Nutty

Sunday morning the club scheduled a Ranger Talk at the third of our host parks--Walnut Canyon. There was a bit of a line to get in that morning but we still had time to stop, along with several of our friends in the club, and get our sign photo. Jim braved the drive out (not much choice as we checked out of the hotel) and joined the group. I'm not sure he was feeling 100% just yet.

I made this layout during one of my Scrapbook Retreat weekends. I always provide a sketch challenge for the attendees, and this year it was directions to make this layout. The base page is a calendar page from CM. There is a 7x6 square grid pre-printed on the page. The directions provided the measurements for the blocks. You trim both the photos and the scrap pieces to the given measurements to assemble what looks like a mosaic. There are blank spots above and below so I added some sticker borders to fill the space. A few extra decorative stickers rounded out the page. I think this is the same pattern I used for the Great Western Loop title page and you can see the directions here.

Madness in the Desert part 25--The President's Dinner

After the meeting, we cleared the room and in the fastest turnover I've ever seen, we had dinner at large round tables in the same space. And as I recall, it was one of the best dinners I've ever had. I've had a lot of large gathering meals (either on these trips or at work) and I know how hard it is to get mass quantities of food correct. They deserved my 5-star rating :)

Not much happened at the dinner other than talking among friends. We never have enough time to do that at our conventions.

This is the back side of the Fast to Fabulous page. There were no mat openings, just that lovely large white block on the right. All I had to do was add a journal box and a couple of Cricut cuts (the title of course, but also the steak dinner with utensils). 

On a Roll!

 Woo Hoo! I earned another Top 3 award from Lasting Memories!

I'm posting a link here as you won't have seen this particular layout. It's one from my family album and I posted it on the Scrapbook.com Forums

 In October you'll be seeing additional posts from me as I was made guest designer for that month. I have 2 challenges done so far and I think you'll enjoy them!

Madness in the Desert Part 24--And the Award Goes To...

One of the best parts of being President is getting to hand out the certificates and plaques to our Platinum Award winners and the Lower 48 Completion certificates. The Lower 48 award went to Pat who is a good friend of mine so it was doubly rewarding. We usually have the superintendents help with this award as well.

This page started out as a Fast to Fabulous page. I added a 4x4 photo in the bottom right mat area which left a small section that I filled with more stickers from the Junior Ranger tablet. I also added a border from the Club Scrap kit. These awards acknowledge a lot of travel to the parks so the variety of embellishments is a perfect accompaniment.

Madness in the Desert part 23--Guest Speakers

Our guest speakers included the local superintendent for the 3 Flagstaff parks, one of the rangers, and a Route 66 National Trust representative. I enjoyed all of their presentations. As I may have mentioned previously, the convention coincided with the 50th anniversary of the first landing on the moon. I was born just 6 days later and so it has always fascinated me. Our ranger talk included a discussion on how the astronauts prepared for that mission by using the rocky terrain at the parks to practice with their equipment.

Can you guess the method for this page? If you said "Wallpaper" you are correct! That Route 66 sign was the perfect art for our speakers. Adding the vinyl stickers we got from the Flagstaff parks rounded out the details of the talks. I journaled right on the page as well!

Madness in the Desert Part 22--The Meeting

Saturday is the day for the big convention meeting. As president, I am the emcee. Here's a secret--we have a convention book that has the speeches all prepared!

These pages use the Under the Willow collection. I "earned" this by recruiting another consultant for Creative Memories (though it was nothing I did, the person just chose me!) The Western Region of the Eastern National Passport has green ink. For that reason, we had dark green shirts for the convention. So I went to my green papers and chose this theme for my pages. The page above is just a border maker cartridge along the top and mats for the photos. I wanted to add the Stamp pad but it was blending into the white cardstock in the pocket, so I mounted it on cardstock to give it a little contrast.

This year we had a special room for the kids during the meeting. One of our club members volunteered to host the room and she had games and projects for them so that they weren't bored with our "adult" meeting. They all seemed to love it!

For the back side of the pocket page, I mounted our name tags and ribbons on the same matching cardstock. While I used a different background paper for this page, it is roughly the same type of page with just a punched border at the top. I like my little decorative corner though!

Madness in the Desert part 21--Circle Time

Our group gathered in one of the ball courts for a ranger talk. I believe this is a reconstructed one as they were okay with us sitting along the edges. I had been up at the visitor center as people started gathering so I was able to get the top photo of everyone sitting around the edges. Once I joined everyone I could take some close-ups. Luckily we all share pictures and someone grabbed a shot of me sitting there too!

This is the reverse side of the Fast to Fabulous page shown earlier this week. There were still significant orange tones along the edge. The blue tones matched several of the shirts in the photos. The only thing I added to the page was the title in some small blue letters (that I believe I bought from Current many years ago) and some journaling. Fast to Fabulous indeed!

After the ranger talk, we had our group Junior Ranger ceremony back at the visitor center.

I print the groups as 8x10 size photos. I typically still trim a bit from the top and bottom but I need the width so that you can see all the faces. I'm 99% sure I followed a sketch for this but I can't find a copy of it. Still, it's pretty straightforward. If you calculate the triangle with a 6" side and bottom, the hypotenuse is about 8.4". Trimming the dark brown paper to that size square lets me rotate it to a diamond in the middle. The large photo then crosses that but you can still see the corners. When journaling on a dark color I like to use a white gel pen (not a chalk pen though--the letters get too thick). The Junior Ranger sticker is available from the visitor centers. I picked one up to use on this page.