2 Cute 4 Words

Hello and welcome back to my Hudson River Valley trip of December 2021. On Sunday morning, my friend Melania and I met at the FDR Presidential Library for a visit. It's on the same grounds as the FDR Home historic site I've discussed before, but it isn't part of the NPS, so I'll skip the photos (though it is a nice tour if you get to the area). After finishing the Library, we returned to the visitor center and completed the Junior Ranger books for the Home that we saw on Saturday. The Rangers were kind enough to take our picture with our new badges after swearing us in. 

Usually, when I have only 1 photo of a subject, I print it as either 5x7 or 8x10. This takes up a bit more real estate on the page, but I don't want to overwhelm a photo with embellishments taking up the rest of the page. When I printed the photos for this trip, I didn't realize this would be the only one on a page. Instead of reprinting it, though, I added a 6x4 journal box, treated it as a second photo, and then looked for a sketch that would highlight the 2 components. The sketch is from the CM 110 Sketches book (not the one I usually use, the original book). They created the sketch based on this blog post.

I looked through my NPS stash and found this paper with the rubber stamps on it. While it's likely meant for crafting, it also fits my NPTC life nicely, where we collect stamps from our visits. From that paper, I pulled the green and blue tones. Looking through my remainder scraps from the green folder, I found 2 that would give me the triangle in the corner and a rectangular mat for under the photo. I still had that paper Washi tape on my desk, so I pulled the green star roll to create a border along the right edge.

Think Pink

Welcome back to Staatsburg mansion on my Hudson River Valley adventure. Today's layout is of Ruth Mills' bedroom (the matriarch of the family). Ruth apparently likes the color pink. And it's a HOT pink! EVERYTHING in this room is pink! The photo of her is actually from downstairs, but I thought she would enjoy being paired with scenes of her bedroom. This room includes her working desk for letters as well as a relaxing place to lie down and read. 

This layout is based on Noreen Smith's new 1-2-3 + layout from January 2026. The "plus" is that, in addition to one piece of double-sided patterned paper, you use another piece to create some added elements. For this month, it is a couple of borders and photo mats. I headed to my pink stash and found a paper that was hot pink on one side and white with a light pink pattern on the other. I know you can't see the pattern in this photo, but it's a small polka dot. I pulled this paper from the pink tonal pack CM released a couple of years ago. Mounting the pink on black cardstock helps make the layout pop!

Since I had my pink folder out, I saw that I still had pink "Shortcuts" from Old CM. I had a matching set in the pattern shown above, so I used that instead of punching my own. That left plenty of pink cardstock to create mats for everything. The tonal pack had some matching stickers that I used, but I raided my stash to find the makeup, poodle, and small tower of gifts in black. 

Feast Your Eyes on This

Welcome back to the tour of Staatsburg from December 2021. Our next stop in the house is the formal dining room. Just before entering the dining room, there is a small room for a glass of punch before being escorted into one of the most lavish rooms I've ever seen! The table was only set for about 10 people, but it could be extended to accommodate up to 50! The floor and walls are all marble! (Not painted to look like marble but real marble!) The photos on the right are of the butler's pantry, where staging happened before serving. I loved all the mock-ups of the food that would be served.

This page was created based on a pair of pins I saved (left and right) and a YouTube video that covered various ways to use Washi tape. I had quite a lot of Washi tape on my desk and decided to try to use it up. The bottom row with mushrooms, the middle row of black-and-white diamonds, and the red-and-white stripes are paper strips from my stash. The top is a border punched from gold lava paper (a free pack from CM last year). The rest was truly washi tape. The black stripe at the top is actually 4 strips of Washi tape placed closely together to give a bit of depth. It's sort of like busy patterned paper — once you add the photos, you only see the busy patterns in small spots, so it isn't too overwhelming. What do you think about the matches I made on these strips?

Bonus Post: THIS Title Page

Time for a Bonus Post as I play along with the Lasting Memories Challenges. This week's challenge has a choice of how to make a title, and I chose THIS — letter stickers. This is the title page for an album you'll be seeing in a few weeks for a trip to the Springfield Armory.

Because I was making the journey there by rail, I chose to recreate this pin I had saved to make my title page. I had purchased the Graphic 45 tablet called "Come Away With Me" many years ago, and I was happy to use up some of that material. The bottom of the page is a Graphic 45 calendar page, which I purchased separately. I bought a dozen of them, intending to make a calendar, and they've been sitting in my stash. I liked the idea of just using the edge as shown in the pin. Instead of photos, I used one of the cut-apart sheets and found the 4 boxes that make up the title image. It references not only the train I took but the industrial age of the armory I was about to visit. There is a matching sticker sheet with the letters, so I could spell out my title and two chipboard embellishments to round out the page.

Tree-mendous!

Welcome back to the December 2021 tour of Staatsburg Mansion. As we moved through the house, we came to the front door. Yes, we had to enter from the rear, so we didn't get the full effect that someone visiting the family would have seen. But this would have been quite impressive. This area includes the large staircase to the second floor, and the Christmas tree extends up into that space! I don't know where they found such a large tree, but it was beautifully decorated. The rest of the room is also set up for receiving guests, including the decanter on the sideboard. The Titanic headline in the newspaper is a little out of place, though--that happened in April! 

When planning this page, I knew I wanted to make a tree as a large element. I turned to this layout that I saved from Creative Life Scrapbooking and then purchased the instructions through their website. I think the directions could have been clearer, but essentially, you take the CM candy cane border maker cartridge and make strips that become the tree's branches. The directions called for 4 strips, but clearly, you need at least 7 or 8 to make the tree. The tree is punched from sequoia-colored cardstock and is backed with a lighter green (scraps, so I don't know which color). 

I mounted this on 2 squares of decorative paper from the Recollections paper pack. I pulled a long photo mat in gold. I used the center and an oval custom cutting system shape to create the tree skirt, then used the small ornaments from that card as decorations on the right-hand page. I completed the pages with ornament and gift stickers from my stash. The Merry Christmas title square is also from the Recollections tablet.

THIS: The Mouse House

Welcome back to my December 2021 trip through the Hudson River Valley. One of the cuter displays at Staatsburg is this collection of tiny mouse-house vignettes in several rooms. I don't think they were items that the family displayed. I believe the historical society uses them for a scavenger hunt for kids to keep them engaged during a "boring" house tour. Each vignette was placed in the "big" room, similar to the display (e.g., library, parlor, bedroom). 

I created this layout based on the CM Virtual Crop from February 2026. This is sketch 1, which I doubled to create the 2-page spread. Luckily, Lasting Memories is having a challenge this month featuring "This or That". For week 1, "This" means to follow a sketch while "That" means to scraplift one of the designers. "This" was too easy! 

The background papers are beige cardstock, while the punched stockings are Cranberry cardstock. The small green squares are from my stash of Plaid papers (not entirely sure which collection, since when I'm left with one or two sheets, they are "recycled" into other parts of my stash). The white triangles are also plaid (though you may need to zoom in to see the detail). My favorite part of the layout, though, is the use of the cut circles to create little mouse faces. The original sketch meant them to be hearts, and if you look through the CM Virtual Crop Facebook pages, you will see a million variations on those details. I added some small grey and pink circles for the ears and used a marker to create the eyes and nose. 

I found the Vellum quote from "Twas the Night Before Christmas," and since it mentioned mice, I thought it was the perfect addition to the layout. You can see that I moved the squares and mouse heads to the bottom of the page, rather than the middle, as in the original layout. That left a little space at the top, and to continue the poem's theme, the shadowy laser-cut border of Santa and his reindeer was a great addition. The final touch, and the final nod to the poem, are the stockings. Not just the border, but the stickers spread across the layout. 

Deck the Halls

 Welcome back to the Staatsburg Estate. We took a self-guided tour of the house. There were docents in nearly every room, so if you had questions, they could answer them. The left page shows their library — dark wood and furniture. A cozy room for reading. The right page is the parlor. Much brighter and "feminine" with lots of floral sprigs around the room. 

This layout is based on a sketch that CM posted only on the Virtual Crop Facebook page. Noreen Smith (my idol) retired from her position as Creative Manager in December 2025. To thank her for all she has done, they sponsored this mini challenge. The overall sketch is one of the Simple Page Kits Noreen designed. This demonstrates that if you like a kit, you can replicate it with paper from your stash! I chose Seasonal Sightings, a Christmas pack from a few years ago (2022). There was a bonus pack called "Write On" that included cardinals and other papers. 

Since there was a birdcage as one of the room elements on the right, I felt justified in spreading cardinals around the layout. For the banner element at the top right, I trimmed one of the decorative mats and kept only the ornaments — nearly the same thing! The title is from that card, too, but trimming it meant I didn't have to reserve 4 1/2 x 6 1/2" of space in the corner. 

It's All Greek to Me

Welcome back to my 2021 Hudson River Valley trip. Today, we look at the next house we visited, called Staatsburg. This house is a Greek Revival house--I mean, just look at that portico! It screams Greek Temple. This front entrance is not used by the public to enter the home, so my friends and I walked around the outside to see the details. They decorated it with simple wreaths, and the windows were filled with massive nutcrackers about 5 feet tall.

This layout was created using the CM Virtual Crop sketches from February 2026. Scroll to Sketch #4. I continued using the old CM Reminisce Christmas papers. I had 2 of the green papers left. One of them had to be the base of the right page. The sketch shows an 11 1/2 x 11 1/2" square. Because you cover the right edge, you can get away with a smaller piece of paper — just use the border to seal the 2 pieces together. On the left, I cut the inner circle from the other green page and used the remnant to create the 2 "triangular" pieces at the top and bottom. I trimmed those at 45 degrees and then slipped the tan papers underneath — there's no reason to cut those papers, and you end up with a perfect seam that way! The entire left page is mounted on white cardstock for stability.

Fit for a Queen

Welcome back to the December 2021 Hudson Valley trip. Today, we finish the Home of Franklin Delano Roosevelt by looking at the guest quarters. The 2 rooms shown below look fairly standard for the period and much like rooms in traditional homes. So would it surprise you to know that the royalty of Europe, including King George VI, Queen Elizabeth of England, and Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, stayed here? So did Winston Churchill! I'm sure it was very different from their palaces at home. I wonder what they thought of the accommodations.

This layout is based on one of the sketches in the CM 101 Sketches book (page 61). I returned to the Homestead collection, which was down to just scraps. I used a piece of charcoal cardstock as the base and one strip of paper to create the peekaboo strip on the right. Under that strip is layered several border stickers and a couple of laser-cut borders. A final laser-cut border was cut in half and placed under the edges of the paper to extend the element. Both photos were double-mounted on the mat cards from the collection. A few final stickers complete the layout.

FDR the Boy

Welcome back to my 2021 Hudson River Valley tour. We are continuing our look at the Home of FDR. Upstairs, there is the room where he was born, as well as the room where he lived as a child. This page focuses on the childhood room and the bathroom adjoining. It is the privilege of the oldest son to have this room, and Franklin passed this on to his sons as well. But it is now restored to how FDR would have had it as a boy, including books he collected, framed prints, diplomas, and little trinkets.

This layout is one of the most basic standard layouts. When you have 4 items, 2 vertical and 2 horizontal, you can mimic this layout quite easily. By alternating the directions, you create a visual circle that takes the reader's eye around the page. When I realized I had 2 vertical and 1 horizontal photo, I grabbed a horizontal journal mat to finalize the layout. I chose this historic sports-looking card from the Graphic 45 collection. I like to think that, as a youth, FDR would have been interested in sports, and this card is about the right time frame. I used some of the Homestead collection for the remaining elements. Depending on the size of your photos, you will likely have room for a border at the top or bottom. I used this laser-cut border from the Homestead collection to finish off the page. The arrangement leaves a large square in the center, which is the perfect place to put a title sticker!

Grow Up

Welcome back to the 2021 Hudson River Valley trip. Today, we continue exploring the FDR home in Hyde Park. As you enter the house, the entryway and foyer contain many souvenirs from the Roosevelts' world travels. Large cabinets from Asia and Europe, even a gong. Added later, after the home became a tourist spot, was an interesting statue of FDR as a young man. Not shown in a wheelchair, but not showing his legs either. Interesting juxtaposition of ideas.

This layout is one of Club Scrap's Industrial Evolution kit. Scroll to layouts 7 and 8. When I saw the quote spread across the pages, I thought it was a good match for the life that FDR led after being diagnosed with polio so young. I manipulated the mats a bit by turning 2 of them to horizontal positions and using one of the smaller ones as a journal box.

The rest of the downstairs is shown below. You'll maybe remember this from a bonus post I made for Lasting Memories in early February.

Hyde and Seek

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone! Welcome back to the 2021 Hudson River Valley trip. Our second stop of the day was the Franklin D. Roosevelt home. This is where he was born and grew up. He kept it as an adult for a country house getaway. He and Eleanor are also buried here. The grounds include the home, some barns, the graveyard, and his Presidential Library. Today's visit is just to the house.

This layout is based on a sketch I saved from Noreen Smith's 2018 Scrap Your Summer Stash Saturdays event. I'm sure I've used this sketch before, but its versatility makes it easy to reuse endlessly! I continued using the Recollections paper pack. The best part of this sketch is that you can use your scraps. It takes just two 10x5 strips and one 12x2.5 strip across the middle. Want to dress it up? Add some borders above and below the 12x2.5 strip. Or across the middle of the strip. 

Dollars for Bowling

Welcome back to Lyndhurst, part of my December 2021 Hudson River Valley trip. Behind the main structure are several outbuildings. This one was a recreation hall that featured a bowling alley. The ball return was primitive, and it looks like they just used cushions to catch the pins. The photos are not too bad, considering we couldn't go inside and had to take them through the porch windows!

This layout was made during a Paper Loft class at one of the Lancaster Scrapbook Conventions. It had been a 2-page layout, but I used the other portion on a different page. I like the argyle pattern for bowling. It has a very 50's feel to it. I added a few bowling embellishments from my stash. I liked that some of the stickers matched the shape and size of the banner pieces. 

Puppy Love

Welcome back to the 2021 Hudson River Valley tour. This layout features more of the upstairs bedrooms at Lyndhurst. The photos on the right and the bathroom are Helen Gould's room — the lady of the house. Her room is extra large with a seating area. I love that they included a small stuffed dog in a wicker bed in the display. I also like the table with room for books surrounding it. If it goes missing, check my bedroom. ☺

I based this layout on the Serenity Project Recipe from Creative Memories. I used the same border maker cartridge as the recipe, but returned to the Recollections paper pack for the decorative papers. I chose a green print with pinecones and a red floral print. They looked great next to each other as whole sheets. I'm not as happy with how they are cut and arranged into the alternating borders. But sometimes, done is better than good. I found a few small embellishments in my stash that matched the layout's color and tone. As we approach the end of the tour, little journaling is needed, so I wrote directly under the photos.

Starry Night

Welcome back to our look at Lyndhurst Mansion. Today's layout features upstairs photos — two different bedrooms and a unique relic of the building's original communication system. At the bottom of the left page, the "hole in the wall" was the original calling system. If one of the ladies of the house required a maid or other servant, they would call into that tube to summon someone! But the best feature upstairs is the starry night ceiling in one of the bedrooms. It's designed after a similar feature in a French chapel. Also on display is an original Tiffany lamp! 

I created this layout based on the CM Virtual Crop from December 2025. Scroll to Sketch #4. I focused on the blue ceiling and kept to my old CM Reminisce papers. The subtle design of the snowflakes complemented the photos. I used one sheet of paper across the middle. The borders along the edges are coordinating paper ribbon from the same collection. Some green-toned papers from the pack created the horizontal borders. I found a remnant of a journal box in a design that matched the fancy ceiling, so I immediately put that to use! A little dark blue cardstock was used to create the mats. Notice I changed the direction of one of my photos on the left. That left a bit of the cardstock mat, so I moved the smaller photo of the call box into that space. Remember that the sketch is a starting point, not a rule to follow. Make the layout work for you.

The Art Gallery

Welcome back to the 2021 Hudson River Valley tour. The last family to own Lyndhurst, the Jay Gould family, was made rich by the railroads. They collected many great paintings from their travels in Europe and displayed them in this upstairs gallery in beautiful vintage frames. With its vaulted ceiling and stained-glass window, the room is a work of art. 

I created this layout based on the January 2026 Power Hour with Meggan and Tessa. Incredibly, I finished one of their projects in the month they presented it! I selected a piece of plaid paper from one of my Christmas collections and layered the cut pieces onto gold cardstock. Because the photos are so detailed, I didn't want many embellishments. I chose the journal box with a touch of holly and a few holly-and-poinsettia stickers. I thought the title sticker with "reflections" was a good fit for this theme. It was hard to take a decent photo of the stained glass window in the daytime--postcards to the rescue! That's why I always stop in the gift shop on my way out of a tour.

Study Hall

Welcome back to my December 2021 trip through the Hudson River Valley. The next room in the Lyndhurst Mansion is the study. Again, it is decorated for Christmas with some greenery. The room is small but would be big enough for an afternoon tea or a brief visit. 

For this layout, I wanted to use the border you see along the top. I made this many years ago, and I thought that the greenery on the squares would match the room. I don't have any more of the tan diamond paper, but I did have some black diamond stickers. I mounted them on a strip of cranberry cardstock, then added a strip of striped paper down the center, mirroring the top border. That gave me a nice open area on the page to display the photos and the title box cut from the Recollections paper pad. Not much journaling was required, but I added a quick note with a white gel pen to indicate the room name.

Floor to Ceiling

Welcome back to my 2021 trip to the Hudson River Valley. This post focuses on one of the parlors at Lyndhurst Mansion. Each year, they hire decorators to create a Christmas feel for the tour, though some parts of the mansion naturally lean in that direction. In this room, there are painted allegorical scenes on the ceiling. You can see one panel below. The room overview and the other side of the ceiling are in a peekaboo pocket.

I based this layout on one of the Creative Life Scrapbooking Holiday layouts from 2024. Melissa Ullman has a video on creating the wreath using the CM Custom cutting system. I started to use the Recollections paper pad for the background and the wreath components (including the journal box in the middle). You might be able to see the pad at this eBay site. The red borders are washi tape, and the red bow is a very old CM die cut. To give it a bit more sparkle, I painted it with one of the CM Shimmer brushes. 

Chasing Shadows

Welcome back to the 2021 Hudson River Valley Christmas tour. You will recall that Lyndhurst was the site for the exterior shots of the TV series Dark Shadows. Inside, we were brought into this lovely room, where a manikin wore a dress reminiscent of that show. And as our guide explained, that's exactly why it is there! So many people come to see the outside that they designated this room for that show as well. But that has NOTHING to do with the family who lived here and does not reflect any of their decorative styles or clothing choices. Still, it's a lovely dress and room.

This layout is based on a pin I saved related to a Project Life blog. Click on "visit site," and it will take you to the place I originally found it. Click on that link, and you will find yet another blog using the sketch. It's wonderful how versatile it can be, and you can see some additional ideas for how to use it. I chose to use some old CM papers called Reminisce Winter. The pack was made in the early 2000s, and though double-sided, both sides were similarly colored. For example, the dark blue had one side with a border print and the other side was also dark blue with an all-over print. Still, I was able to use the blue and green with a roll of paper ribbon to create the background components. They are layered on Autumn Hay Shimmer cardstock. I used a couple of mats to create the fan spray of strips behind the photos. They are 6 1/2" long, so I joined 2 and hid the joint behind the photos! The title block is from another older CM collection called "Noel". Though the colors are different, both have a "heritage" feel to them that worked well with the topic.

American Gothic

Welcome back to my December 2021 trip through the Hudson River Valley. Our first location on Saturday morning was Lyndhurst. If this structure looks familiar, you might have watched the TV show "Dark Shadows". The exterior of this building was used for that series, though none of the interior rooms were used. This 19th-century structure is one of the best examples of Gothic Architecture in the US. The mansion (dare I say, castle?) is vast, but so are the grounds. There are additional buildings behind this building, and a couple of miles of road and trails leading through the estate. I was joined by friends Melania and Allan on Saturday, so you'll see several selfies of us through the layouts. 

This layout is based on a pin I saved (which I doubled). As I put this album together, I planned to use a tablet of heritage Christmas papers, but since we were outside and there was a baby sled, I decided to go with a more wintry theme here. I liked the blue and silver elements in the sketch and tried to replicate them with silver background paper and remnants from the Silver Bells pack. The silver cardstock is so old that it's 10 x 12. I "welded" the blue paper to the silver to create the 12x12 background I wanted. The old CM Reminisce Winter pack also came in handy for the thin borders and the small tag cluster in the bottom right. I made that tag many years ago and finally have a chance to use it! I used the CM custom cutting system to create the large bracket shape, helping to frame the papers.