You'll Like This a Bunch!

Our last stop in the Chatham Manor gardens is a series of grape vines. I just liked the look of them. They are not historic. The family that currently owns the rest of the plantation land does make Chatham Wine, but there are so few vines here that I'm not sure this would be enough for them to bother with. It may just be that the NPS gardeners put them in to tie in the current family business. This ends my trip (and the album). Next time we'll start the 2021 NPTC Convention!

I based this layout on one of Meggan and Tessa's Power Hour layouts from November 2024. I chose the Vineyard Escape papers from Creative Memories, which were initially a gift with purchase. There is a photo paper in that pack that looks EXACTLY like my photo. But instead of choosing that one for the base, I chose one that was more of leafy ivy. The contrast is then from a paper that I believe is supposed to be red wine. This came with a small collection of die-cut embellishments, including the little journal box. I liked the brick top of it because of the brick walk in the photo.

The View is Incredible

For this entry, we continue our examination of Chatham Manor. When you walk around to the back of the house, you can see the magnificent view of Fredericksburg. I'm surprised the Confederacy didn't claim this as their headquarters first! In addition to the lovely view and the grounds, there are 2 History Trees. I hadn't heard of Catalpa trees before, but these trees have been dated to the time of the Civil War, although they were much smaller then. The intervening years have tested them, and they are nearing the end of their lives. One of them is actually supported with a metal brace. I encourage you to go and see them while you can! Imagine if they could talk....

I based this layout on Sketch #4 in the CM May 2025 virtual crop. I am using a very old CM paper line called "Enchanted". I was actually hoping to use it up, but I still have a little left, which should be enough for one more layout. The papers are heavier and resemble cardstock. The reverse of both of these is also textured. For that reason, I've had trouble in the past getting other papers to adhere to the textured side of the paper. When I attached these, I used the Max Strength Tape that CM offers. And it works! Red is a highlight color for this collection, and as I aimed for a Spring-type layout with a bit of floral design, the red rose punch (one of the Border Maker Cartridges) fit the layout perfectly. I fussy-cut the flower on the right page. I punched the wispy red flowers from some of the mats and papers, then mounted them on circles punched from darker papers. There were a few square enamel dots to help round out the embellishments.

The Castle on the HIll

We're still working through the pages on Fredericksburg National Battlefield. My next stop was north and UP. Chatham Manor sits at the top of the hill overlooking the city. For that reason, it became the perfect headquarters for the Union Army during the battle. After the battle, it also served as a hospital, featuring nursing care from notable figures such as Clara Barton and Walt Whitman. Due to COVID, the house was closed, but I could walk the grounds.

For this layout, I used the Spring Medley Project Recipe. The papers were from a bonus pack called "Unbe-Leaf-Able". Essentially, the directions create the borders along the bottom of the page. The darker loops are from the Spring Leaf border maker cartridge. They are attached to the paper on the back using repositionable adhesive. I had to punch 4 borders to make it work. I matted a few photos and raided my stash to find a few floral and butterfly stickers to accent the page. Did you notice the photo corners on the brochure? CM had offered a special pack of photo corners with various colorful designs. The green ones worked particularly well for this brochure.

The Silence After the Battle

This week, we continue my visit to Fredericksburg Battlefield. My last stop in town was the National Cemetery (just beyond the wall where the reenactors were). There are a few monuments here to generals and other commanding officers, but of course, there are many graves of the soldiers killed here. Although not as grand as Arlington, it is still a worthwhile stop on the tour. 

This layout was loosely based on a pin I saved. I decided to use wallpaper instead of cutting up strips of various papers, as I had already pulled the Civil War page from my stash. The cannon page on the right wasn't sold as a companion page, but it worked out nicely. The silhouette of the cannoneer isn't on the paper; it's a die cut I bought for my Civil War pages. I found one good sticker that fit the page in a CM military pack, but I don't have a lot of good embellishments. If you have ideas about what would work, please drop them in the comments.

The Blue and the Gray--together again

This continues my trip along the Sunken Road, though now we've climbed the hill to Marye's Heights. This is where the Confederates were stationed, and there are cannons in place to show how powerful this spot was! As I arrived, there were 2 reenactors set to discuss the differences in the Union and Confederate soldiers' provisions, uniforms, and weapons. I'm always impressed that the reenactors wear period-appropriate clothing (WOOL!) in the hot summer months, just like the soldiers did hundreds of years ago. These 2 had terrific stories and entertained us for about half an hour.

This layout is based on the CM May 2025 Virtual Crop (Sketch #3). Because of the Confederate clothing, I wanted to use the Burlap and Lace collection, one of the CM Secret boxes. The bottom of the 2 pages has that nice textured paper featured and a green pattern that also fills the mat section. I only had 1 border sticker left of the buttons, so I used that at the top and split it between the 2 pages. The remaining borders were mostly lacy butterflies and banners that didn't fit the layout. I looked through my Civil War stash to find something more suitable. The cannon stickers were the perfect fit. The small 3x3 squares and the remaining stickers and flowers were all from my stash and represent a few disparate collections. But the overall tone matched well!

Innis House Nice?

We are continuing my visit to Fredericksburg and the Sunken Road trail. The next house on the trail still stands and was present during the battle. If you look through the windows, you can still see the bullet holes in the walls! The Sunken Road was a commerce path, and the residents built the stone walls to keep the road passable for the various wagons and horses. Much of the wall has been reconstructed, but the segment in the photo on the bottom of the left page is original. That wall was part of the union's defense--which they badly needed. Though it seems ludicrous to attack the Confederates on the hill (look at the angle to the top of the hill where that red brick house stands), this was one of a few places that had any chance of splitting the Confederate lines. But all attempts failed, unfortunately.

This layout is based on a CM 110 Scrapbooking Ideas and Sketches book sketch. It differs from the one I usually post (it was their first book and didn't have a contest to use it). The sketch in the book has an example, which correlates to this post on their blog. I continued with my use of the Our Moments paper pack. The yellow dot paper on the borders is from the Silver and Gold pack, as I had used all the gold tone paper from Our Moments. It's a pretty close match! You will find that many of the CM packs will work together, so you always have material to make it work. I liked the house mat and wanted to use that for this layout. I was happily surprised to find that the paper had already been cut with the correct angles for the roof! I added a small piece of dark brown paper for the chimney and the wi-fi sticker from the Staycation pack for the smoke (which was a trick I LOVED about the original layout). I needed 2 sets of borders, and I only had one of the house border stickers in the Staycation pack. I remembered I had the house border maker cartridge and punched 2 from bronze paper.

You Sunk My Battle Road!

Welcome back to the blog. We're continuing my trip home from the beach in July 2021. After leaving the Jackson Death Site, I headed to the main visitor center for Fredericksburg Battlefield. A trail leading from the parking lot takes you on a short walk through much of the battlefield sites. It's called the "Sunken Road" and you can see from the photo below that it's at the bottom of a hill. The trail eventually climbs the hill as well, but you'll see that next time. One of the first stops is the outline of a house that stood during the battle. The lady of the house stayed in the building (or so the story goes) through the battle and would even go out and tend to the casualties, giving water and dressing wounds (or at least she did for the Confederate soldiers). 

I used the Project Recipe made for the Archivers collection several years ago for this layout. I don't have more of that pack, but the Our Moments papers filled in perfectly. In the original design, that large rectangle on the left page was a waterfall of photos, but for me, it was the perfect place for a unigrid. I liked adding the brown cardstock but found it too dark for the unigrid, so I added a mat of light brown houndstooth to help it stand out. That semicircle was a remnant in the pack, and it just felt right, so I added it! 

When is a Shrine Not a Shrine?

We return to my trip home from the beach in July 2021. My next stop was to a place I had seen markers for during the 25 years or so that I had traveled with Jim's family to the beach, but had never stopped. It had always said "Jackson Shrine," and I assumed it was some small statue to him--I never realized it was part of the National Park System. This is technically part of the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial National Military Park.

This is where Andrew "Stonewall" Jackson died from injuries sustained in battle at Chancellorsville. Ironically, he was shot by Confederate soldiers who mistook his scouting party for a group of Union Soldiers. He was wounded in the arm and hand, and of course, in the 1800s, infection was the real enemy. His arm was amputated, but he eventually died from pneumonia and never made it farther from the field than this building (an office on a plantation). What I like most about this site is that it has changed names to the Jackson Death Site, and the focus of interpretation includes Jackson's time here as well as the story of the Chandler family and the enslaved people living on the plantation. So yes, it's worth a stop!

While the basis of this layout is from a pin I saved (with the left and right sides switched), I am also playing along with Lasting Memories. Challenge #750 is one of this month's tic-tac-toe boards. I chose the bottom row of circle, two patterned papers, and a die-cut border. The papers I chose are from Creative Memories' "Memoirs Memories" pack from 2019, with embellishments from the Our Moments collection (2022). Some other embellishments are from the stash, including the circle, which was mounted on foam squares. There are a few more circles in the enamel dots strewn across the pages.. The laser-cut border on the right was strung on a border sticker. The matching border sticker is along the left page to help tie the colors together.