Resting but not Relaxing

 For this visit, I drove to the Jockey Hollow cabins area. The distance between where the enlisted men stayed and where General Washington stayed is considerable but I suppose they couldn't put all the men in town. They have recreated several cabins and outfitted them with daily rations. The bunks are just boards but I imagine they also pulled in some pine branches to cushion the beds. Up to 12 men in a cabin at once! Perhaps all the body heat helped them stay warm. My favorite photo is the plaster cast of a soldier in his bunk.

This layout is based on an idea I pinned. I used some of the paper from the Deep in the Woods collection from CM. The page is actually quite simple--there are just 3 papers (double-sided) and the squares are 4" tall by 3" wide. I just staggered them across the bottom of the cardstock and topped each with a border sticker that resembled a birch log (hides any non-uniform cuts). I added a journal box from my stash and topped it with a few other stickers. A quick page to end the visit.

Old and New Museums

While waiting for the festivities to start we took time to browse the museum pieces on the upper floor. I've been here before but there are always new details to note. I find historic fashion--whether it be clothes or home decor--fascinating.

This layout is another set of pages that I made from a Paper Loft class using the Euphoria papers. The photos matched the mats a bit better than the Hogmanay pages but I never really worried about that. I didn't add any embellishments and I don't think it needed anything.

The ribbon cutting was held upstairs in the meeting hall and then everyone wandered downstairs to see the new displays. They went into a lot of detail on life in the huts and the general needs of the soldiers. 

If this looks familiar to you, it's because I posted it a few weeks ago as I completed it. Refer back to this post for any information about the layout.

The Non-Meetup Meetup

My next trip was in February 2018. My friend Alan wanted to put together an NPTC meetup event to coincide with the grand opening of the Morristown Discover History Center (a new museum in the lower level of the visitor center). Unfortunately, Alan didn't get the request submitted in time, so we had no official meetup. Still, there were several club members and we enjoyed our tours. They had selfie stations in the auditorium and I had to take a couple of shots with my "best buds"!

You're seeing the left half of the first 2 pages. Interspersed is an 8 1/2 x 11 page that is in a pocket. Now that I'm using top-loading pocket sleeves from CM I have to take everything out of the pockets if I forget to photograph them when I make the layouts. This particular 2-page layout uses another set of pre-made pages from Paper Loft's Euphoria line. The paper in the 8 1/2 x 11 pocket is one of the few remaining pieces of a paper pad with a patriotic (historic) theme. But it was the perfect size to mount the unigrid and the agenda of the day.

Several highlights of the trip--we got to meet the park superintendent and talk about our club with her; we got to meet the reenactors who are a very fun bunch; and there was a musician playing a variety of historical instruments. 

The back of the pocket page is 2 scraps of paper which come from the same 8 1/2 x 11 paper pad as the front side. I thought the layering worked well and the red plaid was just the right size for matting the photos. I also had some historic stickers which complemented the musician photos perfectly.

National Scrapbook Day bonus post! Morristown Grand Opening

 Happy National Scrapbook Day everyone! I'm posting today because I am playing along with one of the Lasting Memories challenges for May. I am currently working on a trip to Morristown in 2018, and you'll hear more about that in a few months. For now, this is the ribbon cutting and a few photos of the newest museum space called the Discovery History Center.

This layout is based on a sketch I saved from Creative Memories. I saved it because Noreen Smith created it! 😀 I used Creative Memories Americana paper for the background and a few of the borders. This was an older kit from 2017 and I only have a few pieces left, but what a great way to use up my scraps! I added a few pieces from Paper Loft's Euphoria papers as well. The stars are from a VERY old scrap pad I had and had to be fussy cut before I paper pieced them together. 

To participate in the Lasting Memories Challenge I needed to use a row from their tic-tac-toe board so I chose the bottom row.

There are more than 2 pattern papers but I think that's OK 😀 The circle became my journal space and I added a punched border in pale ivory to the bottom patterned paper. I hope you enjoy it!

Washington Really Slept Here

 I had an afternoon tour of the mansion and took a little time to see the area around the house as well as photograph the exterior architecture. It's a Georgian-style building from the 1770s. The owner had died but his widow allowed Washington to stay during the winter of 1779-1780. He was here for about 6 months. Martha would stay here as well and of course several other pieces of his entourage,  visiting dignitaries and servants. Mrs. Ford and her children lived in just 2 of the rooms.

For this layout, I dug into my saved sketches and found one from December 2021. I used one of the border maker cartridges to punch a border (as it's double-sided paper, I could use both colors and the border wouldn't disappear into the background.) The paper is the old Cottage line from Old CM. I'm just about done using that pack!

Inside, the rooms have been returned to how they would have looked in that winter (which by all accounts was one of the worst on record for heavy snowfall). Though Washington's bedroom attracted attention, I was interested in the camp beds used by his aides. It gave it almost a circus feel! The kitchen had to feed a lot of people but at least it would have been warm there.

This layout is a kit I purchased from Paper Loft. I thought that since there was a bit of food the teapot theme would work well. I had to fussy-cut the medallion papers but I do like the effect it gave to the borders. 

MorrisTOWN

I live in MorrisVILLE and sometimes I get it wrong and say I live in MorrisTOWN. I don't, but I did visit there. This was the winter encampment for Washington's troops in the winter of 1779-1780. It was one of the worst winters on record. While the park includes some reproduction huts from the encampment, this trip was specifically to Washington's Headquarters in the Ford Mansion. I started in the Visitor Center where there is a video and several rooms of artifacts. I traveled there as it was a special weekend and they had an author doing a reading and discussion of his book based on the life of a slave that was Washington's valet. It was geared to middle-school students so I bought an autographed copy for my nephew Thomas.

This layout is loosely based on a CM Virtual Crop sketch from February 2022. I did the long strips at the top and bottom but did NOT include the large square on the right side. I had more photos to include and did not feel a need to include any more paper. The decorative paper along the top is the rest of my Reminisce paper. It's bordered by some plain brown strips. I debated adding my Cricut cut of Washington. I thought he was too "cartoonish" but as I was completing this at a crop with my Mom and Sister, they assured me it worked fine. And well--there he is.

One area of the museum held paper artifacts such as manuscripts, booklets, and even money. Alexander Hamilton's writings are on display here. In another area, they extend the museum to include a bit of everything else from the revolutionary war. The large oval is a single link from a chain that was used to protect the Hudson River from British vessels. The size and weight were astonishing.

This page is also a layout from the CM virtual crop. This was Sketch #6. I thought for quite a while about what base paper to use. Eventually, I decided on a page from the wedding pack that had a journal appearance. I added a Cricut cut of the quill and ink and that gave it the heritage feel i was looking for. The border at the bottom is again the Reminisce line. I fussy cut the title box from another piece of paper but it layers well with the dark strip.