The Inside Story

I took a guided tour of the house. Here, you can see both the main floor and the upstairs bedrooms. Some lovely objects were on display, such as the purse and fan used by the lady of the house. In the dining room, the table was set for a fancy dinner. Yes, they did have pineapples, though they were rare in the 1700s. It denoted a family with money who could afford to import them. 

This is another layout from the CM March Virtual Crop. Scroll to layout #4. I chose papers from the Gem Tones collection (a previous secret box offering). I have been using this for historic homes for a while and am getting close to the end (truthfully, I had to create multiple strips of the base papers and layer them on a base of white cardstock). That's why the banner on the right is from a secret box in 2023 called Sweet Blossom. It's not a perfect match, but the tones were close, and I liked the floral stickers in the kit (they were made to be stacked). Since I needed 4 borders, I used 2 matching stickers for the top and 2 similar ones for the bottom (both from the Gem Tones collection). 

Bonus Post--Broccoli For Breakfast

 Hi all! I am playing along with Lasting Memories today. To fulfill the challenge, I created this page that is part of my July 2021 beach trip with my sister. (You just saw the first post Friday night.) It wasn't a stop at a national park, but a breakfast that I had with one of my NPTC friends, Deb. I was staying close to her house, which she noticed when I posted my location on Facebook. The next morning, we met at the Cracker Barrel located next to my hotel. She surprised me most by ordering a side of broccoli for breakfast! I had to take a photo of it, and of course scrapbook it! 

Lasting Memories is having a series of sketch challenges this month (MY FAVORITE!) I realized this combination of photos would work well with challenge #747. I had purchased the Cracker Barrel paper from a vendor at the Lancaster Scrapbook Convention. I originally planned to use it for a Thanksgiving dinner with Jim's family, but somehow that never materialized. But it became an excellent base for this layout. I used scraps from my stash for the yellow and brown rectangles. I did trim some green paper for the photo mat. I wanted a touch of green to highlight the broccoli. Some of the stickers came from that same pack, but the brunch stickers came from a sheet I got for Christmas. The little broccoli stickers on the plate at the bottom left were from a VERY old CM family reunion sticker pack. To complete the layout, I punched out a few trees from a scrap of paper with leaves on it. It gave me a two-toned effect, resulting in what looks like broccoli spears. I tucked them at the top of the layout to keep the green moving around the layout.

Hitting the Trail

My next adventure was in July 2021. My sister and her husband invited me to spend a week at the beach in Oak Island, North Carolina. I agreed, and on July 2nd, I started heading south. My first few stops concentrated on the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail. I've visited several locations on this trail before. You can find information about the trail on the NPS page here. You can click the label at the bottom to find more entries related to this trail on my blog.

So what does Ker Place have to do with the good Captain? Likely nothing. 😀This house is the main location for the local historical society, making it a convenient place to store a stamp (which, to be honest, I had to hunt for through the kitchen to get my ink). A sign near the waterfront (about a mile away) references the Trail. As his travels were in the 1600s and this house was built in the late 1700s, the Ker Family never saw the expedition. However, I will regale you with my scrapbook pages because I got the stamp here.

This layout was created for the March CM Virtual Crop (scroll to sketch #1). I was in a hotel room in Washington, D.C., but I had brought my scrapbook supplies with me in two cases. The papers I chose came from the Our Moments collection. I did not include a photo of the facing page. I added an 8 1/2 x 11 pocket for a brochure about this house (front) and 2 other photos (an interesting piece of carved wood in the basement and a mastodon tooth the owners had found and was on display). But these 3 photos summed up the entirety of the visit (though there is another post with the lovely interiors). 

What a Block House

My last entry for Fort Larned is this blockhouse. Initially, it was meant to be a defensive position (which begs the question of why there is no fort wall if you thought you needed a defensive position). That's why there are slit holes in the top of the building. However, since they realized that wasn't necessary, they changed it to the prison building. You can still see the shackles attached to the floor below. The door on the floor originally went to a well, and tunnels were used to go to the other buildings. That was closed off, and it became solitary confinement. Yep, spend a night in the hole!

This layout is based on a sketch I saved. I initially found it on the gallery at Scrapbook.com. To create this page, I used a piece of brick background paper (which resembles the building). I then took a piece of brown texture paper (I think it's supposed to be leather) and cut a large circle. I cut the circle to place part of it in the upper left and the other in the lower right. I then trimmed off any overhanging paper to create some photo bases. I found some scraps in grunge style along with a border sticker of the rope and stars (a nice Wild West sheriff feel?) to create the banners. The journal box is a sticker that originally had a phrase at the bottom saying "for being too cute". Clearly, I did not need that! I trimmed the bottom and purposefully roughed the bottom edge to match the top. I put that on some lined paper for a little journal box.

Like the Hat?

I was surprised to see the schoolroom, though it makes sense that some of the officers would have children with them who needed to be taught. According to the sign, even some enlisted men would take lessons there. If they already knew how to read and write, they might learn advanced topics for the military, such as Morse code.

For this layout, I followed a Pin I had saved. I made the red shape using a large CM Custom Cutting System square. I wish they had a guide to make the shape more like the one in the sketch. I tried turning the template sideways, but it didn't give me the look I hoped for. I added a border to the top of the page and used a similar sticker to create the edging for two photos. A few other stickers from that same page (old CM Cottage, I believe) and this page was done. 

All About That Bake

The next stop on the tour was the bakery. Bread was part of the standard ration for the soldiers, so all those loaves you see lining the walls represent the amount needed DAILY! In addition to the large ovens, there were HUGE dough troughs. I cannot imagine the amount of dough in one batch, much less working it all by hand! I made bread without using a mixer once. And only once!

This layout is based on a sketch that I saved from October 2021. I don't always think about trimming my photos this small, but I realized my photos would cooperate with this layout. The base page is brick to mimic the brick of the ovens. I recently bought a few sheets of Made with Love (a retired CM paper pack) at a yardsale so I chose the butcher block paper for one of the strips and the black paper for the other strip. The third photo was a trimmed journal mat from that same collection. The embellishments on the left side of the page were from a recent bonus kit called "Baked with Love". I had an extra set since I make so many food pages. At the top of the page is a piece cut from a quilting block. I learned this technique at Farmhouse Memories. I don't often use cloth in my albums, but this flour canister was a good fit for the layout. You use a sticker paper to bind the fabric so that you don't get loose strands when you cut it. 

Tool Time

Another building held this tool and forge area (it also housed the ambulance). I wish I had visited when the rangers were doing a living history presentation. This room could have been much more enjoyable with someone working on a wood project or fixing horse tack. 

This layout is based on the March Power Hour layout from Meggan & Tessa. The paper is a page from the Painted Prairie. Tessa's layout used almost all of it. Reminiscent of how Noreen Smith uses double-sided paper to make the pages interesting, we cut 4" strips off each side of the paper, trimming both to 8" long. The "bare" corner is then accented with a 12" border cut into 4" lengths. I chose a laser-cut horseshoe border from the Wide Open Places collection. Additional embellishments came from the CTMH western pack. I matted the photos with a dark green cardstock to help them pop from the page a bit. An extra step that Tessa recommended to provide visual interest is to use a corner-rounder on the three outer corners. 

General Hospital

 I was very excited to find the medical ward. It was brighter and cleaner than I expected (though the cleanliness may just be for the tourist's benefit). Each bed had a tag listing a soldier and his diagnosis (along with some additional information). There were many different ailments and injuries, but this one with Cholera caught my interest. A stretcher I hadn't seen before was in the surgeon's room next door. It's a hand-carry model with a hood that can be raised to keep the bright prairie sun off the wounded person's face. 

Did you know that Creative Memories produces a "Project Recipe" for every collection they make? I recently started adding them to my Pinterest boards, so I remember to use them. This is the Project Recipe for Wide Open Places, which is the paper I used for the layout. (You could use any paper for the layout, so theoretically, you could use this layout for a wedding using a more formal paper.) Though the theme of the photos is the medical ward, I didn't look for anything related strictly to medicine. I kept with the Western feel I've used for this portion of the album. 

Home on the Range

After leaving the visitor center, I started walking around the buildings. My first stop was the barracks. I love that they have all the gear lined up and ready. They have this designed to hold about 69 men, though a room that size supposedly could hold 119 (not sure if that counts the orderly room in the numbers or not). Nearby is the kitchen and mess area. I thought the cups had an "evil eye" symbol, but then I realized it's just an upside-down cavalry logo. 😁

This layout is from Club Scrap's Western Pages kit. I believe I had previously mixed the pages because the left page is the left page from layout 7/8. The right page is the right page from layout 1/2. To complicate this further, I turned the right side page 90 degrees. I wanted to use the photo mats already placed for my vertical photos. I also wanted to use the horizontal photo to cover up the saying (mostly because it didn't fit with the photos but also because the wording was now sideways). The pages aren't EXACTLY even with the woodgrain paper across the bottom, but you only really notice it in this photo. The album separates them a bit, so you won't notice. I added a few pieces from my stash. I really wanted to title the page "Home on the Range," and I had that printed on one of my papers, so I trimmed it to fit. The vest and chaps are so old I have no idea what company they are from.

No Fooling! Not So Happy Trails

This year, April Fools is on the same day as one of my normal posts, so while it isn't a bonus this time, it IS a No Fooling post.😀

Inside the visitor center is a pretty extensive museum. In this layout, I focus on 2 groups who were key to the history of Fort Larned, but both of whom were treated rather poorly. The Buffalo Soldiers were stationed at Fort Larned for a time, though eventually, they were moved farther west. Their presence was not appreciated by the white soldiers, and frequent bullying and fighting erupted. Additionally, the Native Americans were forced off their lands, and skirmishes occurred frequently related to raids on the Santa Fe Trail wagon trains or to misunderstandings between the Fort commanders and the Tribes. I was impressed with the technology in the museum. The photos below show a hologram inside of the teepee. She recounted stories of her history for the visitors.

This layout was made during one of my Saturday morning classes. It is another 1-2-3 sketch from Noreen Smith, but it is from a class where I cannot share the sketch with you. This is one sheet of double-sided paper. I chose this paper from the Wide Open Spaces collection as I liked the diamond pattern side and wanted that for the Native American portion of the layout. I liked that I could alternate the prominent patterns on each page with this sketch. That way, the Buffalo Soldiers in their blue Union Cavalry uniforms would be on the blue plaid side. Additional embellishments came from Close to My Heart (the Rough and Tough title) and another sheet of stickers I had purchased with Native American themes.