Passport to Adventure

Welcome back to my Fall 2021 extended vacation. On Saturday, October 16th, I started making the rounds of the Four Centuries in a Weekend locales. I visited quite a few, but I'll include only the sites that are also part of the Crossroads of the American Revolution trail in the blog. This year, I obtained a passport specifically for the event. This gave me a place to put the "bonus" stamps (as categorized in the NPTC database). Somehow, Union County managed to issue stamps that look just like the Eastern National official stamps. It created quite a conundrum about whether to include them in the database. That has now been settled, as we have added numerous state parks and other non-NPS groups to the database. If you haven't looked at that yet and enjoy collecting stamps when you travel, you should take a look! 

This layout is based on a pin I saved from Creative Life Scrapbooking. I didn't purchase the directions; I figured out the design on my own. I started by using the new CM inks and stencil to create the background paper. On reflection, I should have placed more leaves on the left side closer to the edge. The large acorn on the decorative pumpkin box is there because I messed up one of the border leaves with a pen that was too wet. From the first time I started scrapbooking, I've learned to cover mistakes with embellishments! The pumpkins were made with the CM Custom Cutting System squares and rectangles. I inked the edges for some extra oomph and added small bits of brown for the stems. I used a few scraps of cardstock and decorative paper. The largest pumpkin is cut from the mat that holds the passport. I knew the passport would cover the hole. It's not visible now, but I tucked the passport into a brochure pocket. It was too thick to hold on with just photo corners.

Highs of the Low House

After leaving the East Jersey Olde Towne Village, I headed to the campus of Rutgers University. The entrance to the Cornelius Low House is just beyond their football stadium (and the parking lot was undergoing renovation, making driving and finding the path rather interesting). The home has been preserved as one of the earliest examples of Georgian architecture and one of the few remaining from Raritan Landing (you can't see a river nearby now, but this was a port city in the 1700s).

My favorite part of the visit was the outside. The metal "shadow" figures on the lawn and the birdhouse gazebo were used to tell the story of the families who lived here through the years. Inside, the rooms are sparse, and, as the center of the local Historical Society, the upstairs houses a series of rotating displays on New Jersey life in general rather than focusing solely on the Revolutionary War. The Low Family was divided by the Revolutionary War, with some members ostracized and exiled to England afterward.

This layout is loosely based on one of Meggan and Tessa's Power Hour projects. You can see the pin I saved here (follow the links to the video and download). I had a small piece of Vintage Chic paper left that I used to mat the 2 vertical photos on the left page. I found a similarly patterned paper in my stash to use for the right-side page. There is an 8 1/2x11" pocket between the pages, so I wasn't too worried about making the pages match exactly. The black cardstock background allowed the lighter cardstock punches to shine. That is the Elegant Diamond border punch from Creative Memories, and as of the day I'm writing this, it is still available. The mini journal box was also from the Vintage Chic collection. 

After this layout, I "retired" that collection. That means I put all of the smaller remnants into the stash bags rather than keeping them all together. Journal cards went into the journal card box; any remaining paper pieces were placed in scrap envelopes by color; and any remaining stickers and elements went into the theme folder. Any stickers with words on them are cut into individual pieces and stored in my "Words of Wisdom" binder (in alphabetical order). 

Lasting Impressions

My last stop at the East Jersey Olde Towne was the print shop. I was delighted to find that the printer was a woman! In her period garb and protective apron, I watched her review the print block, discuss setting type, ink the press, and create a handful of flyers and labels for the honey jars in the gift shop. My father owned a print shop when we were younger, and while his press was electric, it worked much the same, so I found myself smiling all the way through the demonstration. And it was a show for just me! Not too many visitors on a Friday afternoon. I bought a jar of their honey, too.

This layout is based on the CM Virtual Crop sketch for November 2025 (scroll to sketch #3). I flipped the layout horizontally so the feature photo would be the printing press and card. Like the schoolhouse page, I chose Graphic 45 papers to complete the design. Notice the label on the honey and the little card decoration--they feature a bee! I had a yellow sheet in my stash that also featured bees, so I knew it was going on this layout. One sheet was enough to create the vertical strip and the horizontal mat. I had previously cut a decoration out of the paper on the reverse side. However, strategic cutting and placement of the photos and cards covered that hole. I bet you'd never know it was there if I hadn't told you. The sketch calls for another color for the borders and the right-side mat page. The butterfly print was close to bees, and I had wanted that darker contrast. Then, to ensure nothing was lost, I mounted both sides on plain white cardstock. A few stickers and other embellishments finished the page. (And I just noticed the red "O" sticker. That fell onto the layout and has since been removed. Not a decorative element!)

Good Old Golden Rule Days

Another building I visited in the East Jersey Olde Town Village is a one-room schoolhouse. This one is of stone construction. I typically associate these with the frontier and assume log cabins, but this one was made of sturdier stuff. The desks were all paired, and each had its own slate tucked into a well at the front.

This layout is based on one of the CM sketches in the 101 Sketch book, page 52. I turned the sketch 90 degrees because my photos were all landscape. 

I used a base from the Copper and Kraft paper pack (an advisor-only pack). The pattern reminded me of the Graphic 45 papers that make up the rest of the layout. I've finally come to the last of my historic school papers and embellishments. I really liked that little rectangular photo of the kids going to school next to my journal box. That captures the essence of the time period perfectly! The title elements are from the Copper and Kraft kit as well. A little brighter than I would have hoped for, but it was the right sentiment for the title. 

The bottom row border is supposed to be a series of books. I first struggled to find that punch because, well, it wasn't a punch! That's one of the cutting dies I had purchased. Once I realized that, I created 2 segments to place side by side to form a border. I need a less busy pattern for the paper. Neither the books nor the little counting phrase was 12" long, so I filled in the left edge with another embellishment image. Not strictly school, but young girls, and that worked for me. 

Half a Door is Better Than None

Welcome back to my tour of East Jersey Olde Towne Village. We finally come to the areas that were staffed. I enjoyed talking to this housewife about her daily life. The house has a small garden to the side, though most of the plants were well past the harvesting stage. I liked that they had included a half-door, and she was standing in the doorway awaiting my visit! The tour covered only the first floor and focused primarily on the kitchen, which was fine with me. 

This layout is based on one of the CM Virtual Crop Sketches from November 2025. Scroll to layout #2 (I turned it to the right). November 2025 was also a Secret Box opening month, and I always buy those kits. This one included the border maker cartridge you see on the right side of the 4" strips. I wasn't sure that the 3 strips would align correctly when stacked, so I carefully placed them on the paper holder as I wanted them on the page. Post-it notes help to hold paper in place if you need more stability. The brown border sticker is a leftover from an older kit in my stash, but I thought it worked well with this layout. There were also leftover buttons and hearts, which reflected the homey feel of the photos.

Horsing Around at the Blacksmith Shop

Welcome back to my tour of East Jersey Olde Towne in October 2021. The next location I visited was also unstaffed — the blacksmith's shop. I've seen forges working at other parks, so I didn't need the details, though it is usually a nice program. Additional rusty farm equipment was just outside the barn, so you get a whole idea of all the items they had to work on. Lots of horseshoes are lined up as well.

I based this layout on one of the CM virtual crop sketches from November 2025. Look at sketch #1 (I doubled it for this layout). I wanted to focus on the red barn and the brick chimney. The background paper is cranberry cardstock, and I had 2 matching pieces of brick paper for the mat area. I punched the barbed wire fence with a CM Border Making Cartridge. I trimmed off one link so that it fit just over the mat area. I found a mat with a distressed gray pattern and trimmed it into 4 equal segments. By tucking those under the brick paper, it looks like a single long piece extending across the page. Saves paper that way! I found a border sticker that I cut into short lengths to use as a title, and then mimicked that effect by putting my journaling on white write strips on the right page. A few stickers from the CM On the Farm pack rounded out the layout. 

Up a Steep and Very Narrow Stairway

This blog post is a continuation of the Indian Queen Tavern tour. The upstairs is more reminiscent of family life than of an inn, but it still houses some wonderful pieces. I especially liked the piano (which might be a harpsichord, I forget the details). The stairway itself is a special historic artifact. The period style called for a very sturdy yet winding, narrow staircase. This saves room in the floor plan, but can be treacherous on the climb. Watch your step if you visit!

I based this layout on a pin I had saved. Noreen Smith made the original pages you can see in this pin, but she only posted a photo of the design, no directions. I tried to emulate her style from the one clue in the original post—it's all from one sheet of paper. I chose the last piece of paper in my Literary Romance collection and used the woodgrained side. I started by cutting an 8" square from the center of the paper. That piece is placed as a diamond on the right side of the layout. The remaining piece of paper is turned so the corners hang over the left page edges. I tried to center the paper as best I could, then turned it over and cut off the sides, leaving me with the 4 corner elements for the right-side page. I couldn't tell whether Noreen meant the center mat sections were also from the same sheet of paper, but I don't think they are. For that reason, I found 2 8" square remnants in my stash and used them to mount the photos in the center of the pages. The title element and the corner stickers on the left page are from Creative Memories. The remaining embellishments are from the Paper Loft collection.

In the Inn

Welcome back to my extended fall break from 2021. The first building I walked through in the East Jersey Olde Towne Village was this tavern. It started as a private residence, but with the addition of rooms and remodeling, it eventually became a tavern and inn. The first floor focuses on the tavern portion with the bar room and dining room set up for travelers. As with many other locations, Washington is reputed to have dined here on his journey between New York and Virginia. The manikin below is supposed to represent him. I love that they included a mock-up of the food served, too!

This layout is based on a Club Scrap layout that I saved. The link to the layout sample is here. I found a link to the PDF directions that include the cutting guides (email me if you would like a copy). I chose papers from Paper Loft. Isn't the teapot design simply the best fit for the background? The directions call for several decorative papers. I used 1 sheet for the stripes, 1 for the border bases, and 1 for the small squares. The green tonal paper didn't precisely match the teapot background, so it creates the visual separation needed for the layout to work. There are a dozen 1" squares on the layout. You could use all one pattern, or use this as an excuse to use up a variety of scraps. Just make sure the tones match. The small journal box and the other embellishment cluster were remnants I found in my stash pile.

It Takes a Village

My fall 2021 vacation extended through the weekend, though my husband returned to our home. Union County holds its Four Centuries in a Weekend event on the 2nd weekend of October. I planned to attend those events, but since they don't start until Saturday, I used Friday to schedule visits along my travel route. New Brunswick, NJ, is in Middlesex County (not far from Rutgers University), so I made plans to pick up a few more stamps there. The East Jersey Olde Towne is a collection of buildings that would have been found in Colonial America, but like the Appalachian village in the Great Smoky Mountains, gathered from various sites and moved to a central location. They have a regular supply of living history actors, and I got to meet several of them.

This layout is based on one of the CM Virtual Crop layouts from October 2025. Scroll to layout #1. The secret to the long strip that flows off the bottom of the page is to use 2 mats that are 4 1/2" x 6 1/2". You need to pick 2 that match and tape them together in the middle (you'll cover that with the photos). That gives you 13 inches of length, so you can position it with the ends just hanging off the sides, then trim the excess. I also used some paper from the collection (I'm using Legacy of Love again) because there were decorations in the middle that I wanted to cover, and it wasn't quite covered by the photos, as they were trimmed to 5 1/2" long each. The base is a sheet of  Hot Fudge Brown cardstock. I gutted the middle so I could use it for the mats on the smaller photos. There is a companion page on the right with the village map, and there will be lots more journaling as I go, so I was OK with the small journal box under the photo.

Lasting Memories Guest Designer Week 4 (Mount Gulian Front to Back)

Hello everyone! I'm guest designing for Lasting Memories throughout September! This is my final entry, but you can review the previous entries from the past few weeks. Each one followed the weekly challenge posted at Lasting Memories, and I encourage you to join the challenge! Post your version using the link at the bottom of their post.

For this challenge, I moved to my December 2021 trip to the Hudson River Valley. There are numerous vintage houses in the area, and many of them are decorated for the Christmas season. One of the houses I visited is Mount Gulian. This home is over 300 years old. When we arrived, we were early for the tour, so I walked to the back of the house to explore the grounds. Or did I? Interestingly, this house was located on the river, and so the "back" of the house is truly the FRONT. People traveled mainly by river when the house was built, so they arrived on this side of the house. The side I entered, which is NOW the front, was originally the back door. Amazing how things change over time.

This week, our theme is to use plaid paper! When I think of plaid, I typically think of Christmas, so I went through my park-related photos and found this trip to the Hudson River Valley, where we toured old homes decorated for the holidays. I went through my Christmas stash and located some plaid papers. I followed this idea from the CM blog to create the borders at the top of the pages. I picked a few plaid mats to highlight the house and break up the green at the bottom. The large poinsettia was also one of the photo mats, but I fussy cut the image from the middle.

Little Things Make a Big Difference

You will recall that I've been featuring my visit to the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office location. My final pages provide a closer examination of the preserved items. The most important artifact is the photo in the left-most circle. That's the infamous letter that made its way through the layers and "tapped" the workman on the shoulder. Other relics include everyday items such as salt, brushes, stationery, and the original gas lamp tubes. The socks (middle photo on the left) were collected to be given to soldiers when they were being repatriated from the prisoner-of-war camps. Clara and other ladies who assisted her would collect, clean, and darn them so that they were serviceable again. 

This layout was made for the CM Virtual Crop in June 2025. I opened my new package of Legacy of Love papers and embellishments as I knew the tone would match the historic accent of the photos (everything seems to be brown in historic context, doesn't it?) You can get a look at the sketch here: Sketch #4. The left and right edges use a ledger-like paper. I wanted to use that as a long journal box on the left side. The next set of strips is a combination of pieces punched with a border maker cartridge and 1/2" strips of paper. The scalloped edge is a laser-cut border from the embellishment pack. A few other stickers were used to create clusters around the page, and it was done. 

Missing in Action

We are continuing to review the layouts for the 2021 Washington, DC convention. My next stop on my travels was a visit to the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers office. In 1865, Clara was appointed by the government to coordinate the efforts of locating prisoners of war, recovering wounded, identifying the dead, and matching them with the families who were searching. For over three years, she occupied rooms on the third floor of this building, using them as a storeroom, office, and lodging. After she left this location, most of her supplies were still stored here. Nothing was moved through the early 1900s. In 1911, the building's owners were worried about mandated updates due to safety concerns (if you haven't read about the Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York, I encourage you to learn more about it). Their solution was to board over the entire set of stairs and rooms on the third floor. For 85 years, no one knew there was anything more than the first and second floors. In the 1990s, the building was slated for demolition. One of the workers felt a "tap" on his shoulder and when he turned around, an envelope was poking from the ceiling. This led to an exploration and the rediscovery of these rooms. Deterioration had occurred, so they spent several years restoring the space to its original appearance as it was when Clara Barton used it. It is now a museum, and definitely worth a visit!

This layout is one of the Paper Loft layouts I made at a class in Lancaster. The large, folder-shaped mat was initially intended to serve as the base for a mini album. I don't usually need that, so I used the base as a mat (there's a peek-a-boo pocket on top, so it could be a mini album). I added the wood-toned journal box and then used a similar paper to mat the vertical photos on the right. The title area is one of the Civil War trading cards. I mounted it with photo corners so I can look at both sides.

Here's a look at the upstairs rooms. They arranged the furniture much as Barton would have used it in the late 1800s.

This layout should look familiar. I posted it as a bonus post on June 14th. You can read about the layout creation here.

Bonus Post--Lost and Found

Hi everyone! I'm adding a bonus post today because I'm participating in the Lasting Memories challenges again. This layout includes photos from the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office in Washington, DC. You'll see more of this in a few weeks as I take you through the 2021 NPTC convention. As a taste, this was an office space used by Clara Barton to help track prisoners of war and other soldiers wounded in battle during the Civil War. Her office was boarded up with all of her belongings in the early 1900s, and it was almost 100 years later when it was discovered again. This page shows some of the furnishings restored to their original rooms.

Lasting Memories' challenges this month include a list of paper sizes to use. You can see the details of challenge #753 here. I was pleased to see that Cheryl Even took those sizes and created a sketch based on them, along with the other rules of the challenge. I used her sketch as the basis of my layout. I pulled a variety of papers from my Heritage box to create the design. I struggled to find a title until I discovered the sticker about believing in miracles — given the history of this space, I think it fits perfectly!

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!

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.