50 States Album part 23--South Carolina

Most of my forays into South Carolina were trips to go somewhere else (mostly Atlanta). But one trip was to a conference in Charleston and we took time on our last day to go and see Fort Sumter. This is the first park I distinctly remember picking up a National Parks Passport, looking at it, and then setting it down without buying it. Since we haven't been back in over 10 years, I wish I had gotten my first stamp then! It was February and we were out on the water so it was quite chilly--hence the winter coat!

I struggled with what layout to use. I ended up deciding to base it on one of my ideas for a Civil War theme page (appropriately enough--for Fort Sumter). The brick corners were scraps as is the middle section (it's from the Timeworn Texture pack from Creative Memories). I think the sticker grouping in the bottom right was all I needed for the Civil War theme. The state cut-out in the upper left was a free cut that I found. I liked that it incorporated the shape of the state and the state flag all in one simple cut. The state name was a simple Text Font from Cricut. I've about given up on using sticker letters--I hate having to manufacture letters from leftovers.

The First Layout with a Unigrid

My next recorded visit is a double page about Fort Sumter. Jim and I traveled to Charleston, SC for a conference and took a bit of time to site see before returning home. This is one of the places I distinctly remember picking up the little blue passport book, and putting it down again without buying it.

What is this "Unigrid" I mention in the title? It's the brochure on the bottom right page. When opened there is information on the park and often a map of the unit.

There are not a lot of photos in this layout, but the key ones are there: 1) photos of us with the sign, and 2) cannons. I used more of a "patriotic" feel with this layout as Civil War materials are hard to come by. The borders are part of a tablet of borders that I bought and have a red background with white stars. The 2 photo mats I chose are from a calendar that my sister-in-law gave me for Christmas. Each day was a mat and many of them have additional art in the middle under the photo.

I probably could have matted the photo of Jim since it's the only thing not touching paper. I'm not crazy about the sleeve for the unigrid--it's open on both ends so I think it could easily fall out. Unfortunately my favorite storage for those have been discontinued and I'm afraid if I take the photo sleeve off the page I'll end up with damage.