A Diamond in the Rough

Welcome back to the Harriet Tubman meetup in Auburn, NY, in March 2022. Not far from the cemetery where Harriet Tubman is buried is this old church. In the 1800s, Harriet Tubman helped found it and often worshiped here. It covered several different denominations. It lay dormant for many years before the NPS started renovating and restoring it. While we were there in 2022, the renovations had just begun, and you can see how badly it needed help. Preview of coming attractions — by 2026, the church will be back in fine shape and open for visitation! I will have to plan a trip back to see it again.

This layout is based on a sketch from the CM Virtual crop in May 2026 (scroll to sketch #2). I used a very old paper pack from CM called "Be Bold and Flourish". The bottom papers had large circles previously cut from the middle, so they worked well as the base, with the peach paper layered in the middle to cover the gaps. I had enough other scraps to be able to create the four 2" squares on the left and the photo mats. The butterflies on the left are cut from a sticker border that  I found in my stash. There's no real reason to put the butterflies there, I just wanted something in the squares, and I think they fit best!

A Grave Situation

Welcome back to the Harriet Tubman Birthday celebration in March 2022. One of our friends from the club helped Melania, Allan, and me to find Harriet Tubman's grave in the very large cemetery in town. It was a snowy walk, but we wanted to pay our respects to her. There are a few other famous people buried here, but we'll save them for a warmer day!

This layout is based on one of the sketches from the April 2026 CM Virtual Crop. Scroll to sketch #3. I thought the wavy borders at the bottom worked well for a cemetery full of snow-covered tombstones. I chose an older pack, Winds of Winter, to complete the layout. The papers are not your traditional winter decor (it's more about rain than snow). This paper pack was originally made for our Australian advisors, but they chose to re-release it here in the US the following year. Since the papers were a little on the muted side, I chose a nice royal blue cardstock to serve as the base.

Snowbirds

Welcome back to the March 2022 visit to the Harriet Tubman Historical Park in Auburn, NY. After the celebration in the visitor center, our group headed outside to the Harriet Tubman statue for our official group photo. My friend Melania came a little later, so  I had a separate photo with her too.

For this layout, I used one of the CM Project Recipes for the "Flurry of Fun" kit, but used the "Glacier" paper pack. I didn't have the mitten border maker cartridge (yes, there are some I DON'T have!) Instead, I chose the boots, but that meant they needed to go across the bottom. I thought there was already so much snow in the photos that I would punch the boots from the lighter side of the paper and mount them on a dark blue wavy-cut strip. Since a few of the bird stickers in the pack were wearing winter weather gear, I added them to the layout as well.

Happy Birthday!

Welcome back to my March 2022 trip to New York. The event that spurred the NPTC Meetup was the 200th anniversary of Harriet Tubman's birth. Born enslaved, she has no record of her birthday, but most historians agree it was in March. The NPS picked the 12th for the event, with music, speeches, and even specially decorated cookies (which were quite tasty). Most important for us at the NPTC, a special stamp was created. You can see Allan getting one of the first impressions of it in his passport!

This layout is based on a CM Advisor Instructional pamphlet from 2023. I have a pin of the front page saved here, but you can also email me if you would like a PDF copy. Since we were celebrating a birthday, I grabbed my birthday stash and looked for an appropriate collection. I chose a Fast-to-Fabulous paper pack that was originally meant to celebrate New Year's. The sketch called for 4 paper strips measuring 1 1/2". The pre-printed paper had a brown, blue, and green print measuring 1 1/2"! I just needed to find a touch of coordinating paper to make the other 2 strips, which I found in the Candlelight paper pack. I used the reverse for the right side of the layout. Because Shutterfly cuts their photos just a tad under 6" wide, I used a border sticker to cover the gap between the 3 photos and the paper. It also brought a little of the brown into the right page. A little more brown came from an old journal mat that I trimmed to 4" wide.