The Waiting Game

Welcome back to my March 2022 trip to Harriet Tubman's birthday party. Our group clustered in the parking lot waiting for the ranger. Allan (second person on the left with his hands in the air) arranged this meetup and thought we had a ranger coming to talk to us. None of the houses were open for tours yet, though there is a small visitor center. It was also locked, though. These photos are actually from 2 trips out to the homestead (before and after the downtown Auburn center), with the same results. Lots of standing in the snow and waiting for a ranger who never appeared. But you know, when it's my NPTC friends, we can enjoy ourselves anyway!

This layout is based on a 1-2-3 from Noreen Smith. It was posted on the CM blog in 2016. The papers are from another old CM pack, and I'm not completely sure of the paper pack's name. The pack had an all-over design on one side (the circles you see as the larger sections), but the other side had a pre-printed border, making it difficult to use as a traditional 1-2-3. No worries! Just use the cutting guide with other pieces of paper and get the sizes you need. I chose to use the chevron strips for contrast here, and I think it worked out well. I thought the snowman sticker matched me because of the beanie hat with a pom-pom.

The North Star

In March 2022, I traveled north to Auburn, NY, for a meetup with my NPTC friends. The Harriet Tubman National Historic Park scheduled a celebration of her 200th birthday (or nearly — no one really knows her exact date of birth). Friday, I drove up, and the weather was fine. However, Friday night, a winter storm came in, and I watched the parking lot from my hotel room as several inches of snow accumulated. Saturday morning, I cautiously headed out to our meetup location. Harriet Tubman lived in this area after she ceased her work on the Underground Railroad and spying for the Union during the Civil War. The white building is her home and has been registered as a National Historic Landmark. The ladies in the blue-and-yellow tops are from a group that holds walks to support civil rights. They held one in the area for the birthday celebration, and we found them at the homestead that morning. I was impressed that they walked in all that snow. 

This layout is based on Noreen Smith's February 2026 1-2-3+ layout. Truly. I know if you look at her demo, it's not quite the same. I flipped the left and right pages, then rotated the right page 90 degrees because I had more horizontal photos. I used a sheet of paper from a very old CM paper pack called Reflections Winter Additions. The Plus paper is a sheet of lichen cardstock that I used to make the snowflake punched borders and the photo mats. The stickers were from a different collection, but matched pretty well. The stickers in the kit didn't really match my theme. The bonus from using that particular border maker cartridge is that you get little snowflakes punched from the middle of the circles. I adhered those with a Xyron sticker maker.

Top 3!

 Just a little self-congratulation. My little mice made one of the top 3 picks for the Lasting Memories April Challenges!

On the Quad

Hello again from Springfield, Massachusetts! This is the last entry in my blog for the Springfield Armory meetup in December 2021. The album continues with my visit to several interesting museums in town. Please come see me to view the pages of the Dr. Seuss Museum and even a Friendly's original restaurant display! 

After completing the visitor center displays, I walked outside and toured the different buildings remaining around the perimeter of the quad. The larger homes housed the Armory Commanders and their families. The longer buildings served as offices, laboratories, and even manufacturing centers. This was a major employer during WWII, with over 13,000 people participating in the effort — many of them women. Some of the buildings have been converted to use as the community college with classrooms, gymnasiums, and auditoriums. The rest are not open for touring at this time. After our tour, our group headed to lunch. Come back next time, and we'll look at more wintry weather as I head north to Harriet Tubman in New York.

This layout is also based on one of Noreen Smith's April sketches from Scrap Your Stash. Our goal for this challenge was to use mats from our kits. I chose a Bo Bunny set of papers called "Mamarazzi," which is about how family photographers take so many photos that they become part of the press! I liked the distressed tones of the paper. There were some cut-apart sheets that I used for the mats on the bottom left and bottom right. The other mats under the photos are just trimmed papers--though that certainly uses up the stash as well! Now that I remember I own this, you may be seeing it more on historic buildings!

Not music you can dance to

Welcome back to my tour of the Springfield Armory from December 2021. One of the highlights of the visitor center is this large rack of muskets, called the Rifle Organ, created in the 1840s. It's meant to be storage, though it was created specifically to impress (the original order was for 36 of these cubes — arranged in one room, it would certainly be a sight). The poet Longfellow and his wife visited, and his wife compared the long barrels to those on an organ in a church, and the moniker stuck. It impressed them in the wrong way as she declared it a "death organ". Nonetheless, that's where we decided to collect for our group photo for the meetup. One other interesting photo is tacked on here on the left. If you zoom in, you can see some of the spectacular fails of guns that exploded either during construction and testing or, unfortunately, during use by a soldier.

I created this layout during Noreen Smith's Scrap Your Stash virtual crop weekend at the end of April. She created 8 sketches for us and encouraged us to use our hoarded supplies. For this one, the goal was to use up collections that had just strips of paper left. I chose the CM Legacy of Love collection, and yes, it's getting low on paper! I felt the banners on the left needed something to "seal" the edge, so I added a thin laser-cut border to the top.

Big Guns

Our tour of the armory included watching the video. Inside the theater is a long row of large machine guns — another product of Springfield. I'm not a gun enthusiast, but I have to say the visitor center kept my attention.

This layout is based on Noreen Smith's April 2026 1-2-3-Plus sketch. I found a sheet of green stars-and-stripes paper in my military stash and realized that by just cutting it in half, I would get the same effect as her layout. I layered those on gray cardstock, then chose a sheet of camouflage paper for the mats. I looked through the CM collection called "Through the Years," which has sets of paper and stickers from all the decades of the 1900s. The title sticker and "Vintage" sticker came from the 1920s-30s kit. The gun stickers were from my military stash. 

The displays continued with an overview of the materials needed for the World Wars. I liked the statues of the soldiers, defining how the uniforms and weaponry changed in just 20 years. You might remember this from a few weeks ago, when I posted it as a bonus entry for the Lasting Memories This or That challenges.

You can click on this link to go back to the original post for a description of how I put this together.

Gearing Up

Welcome back to my Springfield Armory trip in December 2021. Our group met a ranger inside the museum, who provided a tour of some of the displays. This armory has existed since the late 1700s, so the machinery has undergone many upgrades over time. What we saw was close to the mid-1900s (WWII era). By walking around the gears, we could examine the various pieces of guns and other armaments that were built here. In the early years, guns were built one at a time, with a single craftsman creating all the components. As the industrial age progressed, guns were made to be interchangeable so that a broken part would not render an entire gun useless. 

This layout is based on one of Meggan and Tessa's Power Hours from January 2025. I thought the chevrons would provide some movement around the layout. I chose one of the last papers from this paper pack (and when I remember the name, I will tell you). The gray side with the lines was perfect. The reverse side had more of a floral look, but once it was cut, it was less noticeable. It sort of looks like coffee stains. I chose a gear-border maker cartridge for the edges and a few additional arrow stickers for embellishments. I thought the "All Together" title was appropriate, as you can see our group listening to the ranger in the first 2 photos. 

Is there a Field of Springs?

Hello and welcome to the kick-off of my December 2021 trip to Springfield, Massachusetts. Yes, December 2021 was a big travel month for me. One of the NPTC club members grew up near Boston and planned a trip home over the holidays. She decided to hold a club meetup at Springfield Armory. It was a site I hadn't been to previously, and I found that I could easily take the Amtrak Train to the city and walk to the park! That piqued my interest, so I planned a little getaway. The blog will feature a few layouts from the trip, but there was much more that I saw around town during my weekend visit. If you have a chance to go to Springfield, plan for at least a couple of days. 

This trip will, of course, get its own album. You might recognize this page from my bonus post on April 12th. Refresh your memory here.

On Saturday morning, I walked up the hill from my hotel to the Springfield Armory site. As you can see, the weather was nice for New England in December! The Armory was not quite open when I got to the bottom gate. As this was my first visit, I didn't know where the main entrance was, so I took photos here and kept walking up the hill. The land is now shared with a community college, so I knew that area would be open, and I was right. It added many steps to my journey, but it gave me a chance to see the quad as I approached the main building. 

I based this layout on Cheryl Even's Sketch #64. I liked the 6x4 photo stretched across the bottom, which I could replace with the park's unigrid. Since the gate pillars were brick, I chose a torn piece of brick paper for the bottom border element. The only other decoration is a border of rifles that I cut apart and tucked around the photos. The background paper is a sheet of gray tonal paper from my stash. I liked the texture of the brush strokes, which gave subtle highlights to the photos.

Good Night Lighthouse (and a LM Challenge)

We've come to the end of the 2021 Hudson River Valley tour. At Mount Gulian, we ascended to the first floor of the house. In the Georgian style, there is a pass-through entryway with 4 rooms branching off. This level is more reminiscent of life in the 1800s, including the lavish dinner setting and the scrapbook in the parlor. When you consider how long this house has survived and the myriad "periods" it has come through. It really is a testament to the volunteers' dedication to bringing the past to life.

I created this layout from a page of border ideas I pinned. I chose the top border and punched the poinsettia leaves in 2 different red papers to create the look on the page. They are layered against the holly border punch. I used a dark gray paper for the top edge, so the dark green is harder to see, but I think it works out pretty well. I layered that above the scraps of red and green papers from the Recollections paper pad. The journal box and Noel card are also from that kit. A few poinsettia flowers around the page finished off the layout quickly. This layout fits in with the Lasting Memories challenge for this week. They provided a tic-tac-toe board, and I'm using the bottom row. Stickers include the little flowers at the bottom of the photos on the green strip; 3 patterned papers (red, green, and the gray at the top); and 1 or more punches--the poinsettia across the top!

While the last page doesn't pertain to any particular parks, since you saw the bridge in the opening pages, I thought you would enjoy seeing the sunset photo I took before heading home Sunday evening. The bottom photo is the Tarrytown Lighthouse — or as close as we could get. With all that construction equipment, we couldn't find a path to get us directly to the lighthouse! But it's there in the middle, glowing brightly. Next time, we begin a look at the Springfield Armory, so come back soon!

This page was made using the sketch from the CM Virtual Crop for February 2026. Scroll to sketch #2. I thought that this layout was the right choice because of the lighthouse. I used the angled paper elements to mimic the lighthouse beacon. The layout is mostly cardstock — blue for the base and center layers, gray for the middle layer, and decorative paper from the Nautical pack. I had gutted the bottom cardstock, so I brought the remnant back and trimmed it for the middle. I used the remaining gold shimmer paper to mat the photos. A few lighthouse elements and enameled dots from my stash completed the layout.

Half a Page is Better than None

Welcome back to my 2021 Hudson River Valley tour. We finally move inside the Mount Gulian house. This is the downstairs area, the only remaining original part of the house. The walls have been whitewashed, and the area is set as if it were the mid-1700s, just around the time the house was founded. I loved the way they used greenery and fruit for the table spread. Lovely historic touches on the hearth and a spinning wheel, too.

This layout is based on Sketch 3 from the CM March 2026 virtual crop. Yes, sketch 3 is meant to be a double-page layout. No, this isn't a double-page layout 😁. I only had the 3 photos of downstairs, and this is the right side of the album (the left is the single-page barn you saw in the last post). But the sketch was the perfect fit for the arrangement of my photos, so I just cut it in half! The background paper is more of a white brick than whitewashed stone, but I thought it made a good base. I rummaged through the remaining Christmas papers on my worktable and chose the pop of red for the horizontal photos. The vertical photo is on a green mat, though with just 1/4" around the edge, it may be difficult to see. I had one sticker border left with the greenery and bows. By cutting it in half and repositioning the rounded edge so it faces left, I was able to create the symmetrical borders above and below the red mat.

Back to Back

Welcome back to the Hudson River Valley tour of December 2021. We've reached the last house, Mount Gulian. This is one of the first houses built in the area, and parts of it date to the late 1600s. The house has burned in the past, so much of the above-ground structure is reconstruction. In this post from September 2025, I talked about the creation of the layout and the intriguing question of which side of the house is the front or back. Take a peek there for more information.

For ease of writing, let's assume that this barn is behind the house--at least it is on the opposite side from where we parked and entered the house! I thought this barn was very charming. Though not originally part of this property, it is true to the time period. They chose to move it by taking it apart, numbering the items, and reassembling it on this property. This provides a better look at what a normal farm looked like as the area was settled. The metal hardware is original, and I loved the old hinges and the "twist" the blacksmith put in the hook latch.

I used Sketch #1 from the CM March 2026 Virtual Crop. You'll notice that I turned the sketch to the right to accommodate my horizontal photos. I thought about the colors I wanted to use on this page, and though I've been doing a lot of Christmas themes, this one said fall to me. The golden sunlight hitting the barn is my inspiration for the color choices. I chose the Burlap and Lace pack (an older secret box) and found a sheet of paper with a wood tone. I mounted that on a sheet of orange cardstock. Since I don't use much orange, I didn't bother gutting the paper in the middle, but it's certainly an option if you like. The center paper is light-toned as well. You don't see much of it. I was able to use the reverse side for the brown "rusty" barbed wire. No, it's not chronologically accurate, but sometimes that isn't really important. I wanted a touch of the western feel here. Using the decorative paper provided a bit of "depth" to the punched borders--more than I could have achieved with just cardstock. That, along with some burlap borders from the kit, made the "frame" for the photos.

Bonus post: THIS is a Star Layout (LM #795)

Popping in on a rainy Saturday to post this layout on weapons of the World Wars. You'll see more of the Springfield Armory National Historic Site in a few weeks. The armory has been in place since just after the Revolutionary War and was one of the largest suppliers of arms to the military between then and the late 1950s. 

I based this layout on a pin I had saved. While the original pin had a more definitive Stars and Stripes approach, my layout picks up on the colors and the diagonal paper cuts. I made those by folding a piece of 12" paper diagonally, then aligning the long fold against the top of my trimmer with the point on the cutting line. It creates a perfect 1/2 page triangle, though you will see the fold on the page. The latest Lasting Memories challenge was to use THIS (stars) or THAT (hearts) on a layout. With a military theme, is there any doubt I was going to THIS? That's 3 of "This" in a row, I wonder if I will pick THAT next week! The thin 1/2" strips of stars also helped me hide the seam of the 2 triangles meeting. A few other star stickers from some old CM military sheets finished off the layout.

No Pictures No Comment

Welcome back to the Hudson River Valley tour from December 2021. Our next stop is called Locust Grove. I was unfamiliar with this house before visiting, but I found out that it was owned by Samuel Morse--yep, the man who invented Morse Code! This was an extensive tour that included the staff areas in the basement. There is a museum next to the visitor center that is included in your admission as well, which goes into some detail on the creation of Morse Code. This house does not allow photography during your tour, so I was limited to just a couple of postcards from the gift shop and the one photo of the Christmas decor that I found when we bought tickets online. 

I made this layout for CM's March Virtual Crop (scroll to layout #4). I flipped the sketch horizontally because I wanted the block of photos to be the beginning of the story, including the brochure and postcards. I used gold paper as the background (I gutted it to preserve the paper). and trimmed the green for the middle. Instead of a third layer of paper, I used thin red Washi tape between the 2 (see — if you leave something out, it is more likely to get used).

I used mostly the Seasonal Sightings paper for this. I chose more of the tonal elements so it doesn't SCREAM Christmas, but it still has a holiday feel. I was playing with items still on my floating table (that's where I store items while I work on a page or album) when I saw the lacy corner. It is black on one side but white on the other, and I thought it added a nice touch to the layout. The ribbon element on the right has a large portion of the white poinsettia border. I used the trimmings to create the corner element on the left page. The lacy stickers along the bottom mimicked the lacy triangle, and that was about all that I needed.

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.