Water Water Everywhere

Today, we continue with my NPTC Convention Trip to Washington, DC, in 2021. The stamps for the Navy Memorial that you saw in the last blog post are inside the Navy Memorial Visitor Center. They have a small museum downstairs. I initially thought the statue represented the iconic image from Life Magazine of a World War II sailor returning home and kissing a nurse. It's not far from that, but it has a more family-friendly feel to it when seen from the correct angle. There were also a few displays of diving gear and life on some of the naval vessels.

I started creating this layout by reviewing this pin from Split Coast Stampers. If you're a regular visitor to this blog, you're likely familiar with my frequent use of sketches by Cheryl Even. I discovered that she had initially created sketches for the Split Coast Stampers group. That's a message board where scrapbookers challenge each other and display their work. I scrolled through their gallery and found all of Cheryl's early sketches, pinning them for future use. As I considered which papers to use, I realized I wanted a nautical feel, so I pulled a recent bonus pack from CM called "Boat Life." It's just 6 pieces of paper, a few mats, and some embellishments. The stormy seas background was exactly what I wanted for these photos. The paper came with the borders printed at the top. All I had to do was mat the pictures and the title card and add a little journaling.

In the Navy Memorial

Happy Independence Day, everyone! How appropriate that we are using patriotic-themed papers and photos in today's blog! This entry continues our exploration of Washington, DC for the NPTC 2021 convention. 

After leaving the National Archives, I walked back to Pennsylvania Avenue. One of the stamp locations is connected to the US Navy Memorial at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 7th Street. There is a large circle in the middle. It's tough to tell from the ground, but an aerial view would show an image of the globe. Around that circle is a bas-relief sculpture depicting historic moments in the US Navy from the Revolutionary War to the present day. There is also a Lone Seaman statue. There are several of these around the world, and I've now seen 2 of them (one in Normandy). If you've seen any, let me know in the comments below!

This layout was one of my 1-2-3-4 Pack Classes. I cannot show you the sketch, but the overall technique created the 2 banners at the bottom of the page and the 1" borders across their middles. After layering in the photos, I realized that I had some large chunks of blue at the top and bottom. I also had a scrap of paper with the 2 borders diagonally printed across the page. I cut them and rearranged them to be horizontal, layering the pieces where the pattern overlapped. (Another solution to that problem would be to use those 1" borders across the top for some extra interest.) Those gold and white borders were the best additions, though. Since the borders had some gold tones, I could add the gold anchor sticker (a recent addition to my stash from a goodie bag exchange on my latest cruise). The paper for the banners was from a CM pack specifically themed for Washington, DC trips. I love it when their paper matches my trip so perfectly! 

No Relation

We are continuing with my exploration of Washington, DC, during the 2021 convention for the National Park Travelers Club. On Thursday morning, I had scheduled a tour of the National Archives. I was awake far earlier than I needed to be, so I leisurely made my way down to the building. Along the way, I came to this statue of Major General Winfield Scott Hancock. To the best of my knowledge, he is not related to either Winfield Scott or John Hancock. At the time, I was not sure what he was known for or why there was a statue of him. My investigation later revealed an impressive resume, including a notable distinction at the Gettysburg battlefield. If you want to read more about him, start with this page from the National Park Service.

I based this layout on a Creative Memories Blog Post. I noticed that Meggan Jacks had created a video of her version of this layout, so I decided to play along. Well,  I started a bit before turning on her video. Trust me, you want to watch her video before tackling this layout. She has some great tips on avoiding my mistakes. (If you can't see them, I'm not going to point them out.) 😀 I used papers from the Bedazzled Geometrics pack. There are no embellishments for that paper, so I pulled some mats from my stash and then opened the Rainbow Binder to look for blue-ish embellishments. I thought the laser-cut remnants of the stars worked well once I covered some of the uneven edges with the title words.

Back to the Future! Or at least 2013

Hello from Scrap Central! As you read this I am at my yearly getaway weekend with my family and friends. We'll be creating new pages and I'm sure some of them will appear in a later blog.

Before taking a 24-week look at the NPTC Centennial convention in 2016, I was posting about my Oklahoma trip in September 2012. My next adventure in a National Park didn't occur until March 2013, so that's where we are picking up.

Jim and I had traveled to DC for a Spring Break getaway. I was hoping to see the Cherry Blossoms but we were a bit early (and it was still pretty chilly!) My first stop was at the southeast side of Pennsylvania Avenue at the Navy Memorial.

I made the left page for a Creative Memories virtual crop from this sketch. (You may have to scroll down a little to see it). To me this is similar to the sketch I used to make the Clara Barton page (again, you'll have to scroll a little). This uses the "Brave" pack from CM (now discontinued, and I just made the page in October 2018 so you can see how fast they sell out!). I liked the camouflage background in blue since this was more of a nautical theme. The bottom right flag is a cut-apart mat from the Stars and Stripes paper pack (also discontinued). The blue and red cardstock help to highlight the photos and provide a calm part of the page to put some stickers. The border at the top uses the CM Border Maker system with the star cartridge. The card in the middle is actually a piece from a postcard I picked up at the site. It turned into a nice title box.

After I finished the left page I realized I had more photos to include of the murals. I used another page from Brave for the right side, and stuck to all red mats to highlight the photos. I journaled directly on the paper with a silver pen. The 2 blue stickers (anchor and ship) are ANCIENT CM stickers from my stash. Don't you love the feeling of finishing up using a page of stickers? :) The red stars at the top were the ones punched from the border on the left! How easy to use up those scraps!

Another trip to Washington D.C.

Well, I'm on my 2nd snow day thanks to Winter Storm Stella so I thought I'd post another entry. Today I highlight a trip my husband and I made to DC, or at least the NPS portion of it. I am not including a stop we made to the US Postal museum or the Supreme Court because they aren't an official unit of the National Park Service. So if you want to see those pages, you'll have to stop by sometime!

We visited the brand new World War II Memorial just a few days before the official opening ceremony. This was a great visit and especially important to me as my grandfather served in the Army Air Corps during the war as a flight mechanic. I was especially moved by the wall of stars.

I did not digitally merge my photos of the wall of stars, I just took sequential pictures. (My camera does have an option to allow me to line up the pictures but it isn't perfect). I ended up cutting the middle section in half and spreading the image across 2 pages which I really like. I also included photos of the Atlantic operations memorial as that is where my grandfather served. The red, white and blue theme was a sure-fire win but it's still got a lot of blank areas (and that isn't really intentional dead space).

Our walk around town included a stop at the Old Post Office Tower and we went up to take a look and get the stamp.

Here is another lesson in what to do with 8 1/2 x 11 paper in a 12x12 scrapbook. Cut it into strips and spread it across the page! I actually own a template which sizes the strips appropriately but you can work with just about any size that is effective. On the right is a Creative Memories pocket page. I used that to include the unigrids for the various parks. I only put the name of the city at the top, but I probably could add some decoration to the page as well.

Here is the other side of the pocket page and the beginning of our special Mall experience. You'll notice that the letters I chose for the title are all different shades. It was my attempt to not have to manufacture letters. One problem with sticker sheets is that there are limited letters and once you spell out your first title you are sometimes stuck missing a key vowel to complete the second or third use. I actually like the effect as it becomes sort of an ombre look and goes well with the "wallpaper" I chose to mount the photos.

We were in town for several days as I was there for a conference, so we had evenings and then the weekend to explore the city. It was our second visit to the Mall when we discovered that to enhance the WWII memorial opening, they held an encampment of WWII memorabilia, reenactments, and displays. The stickers used on this page actually came from one of the displays at the event. I carried the green theme through from the prior page but just as accents along the borders. There was quite a bit of green from the grass and vehicles though so not much more was required.

It's nice to know that you can return to a park and see it in a different way over and over again.