50-states part 29: Washington DC

How appropriate that the post for the weekend of Independence Day features our Nation's capital! There have been so many trips to DC that it was hard to find just a couple of photos to highlight. I ended up choosing one of my visits to the National Mall when I got to have a book signed by my favorite author--Diana Gabaldon. The other image is from the monument on the Mall that means the most to me--the WWII monument (honoring my grandfather).

The idea for the layout came from this page. The background paper with the faint image of the US in gingham is a sheet from Creative Memories "Star-Spangled" paper pack (a retired line). It was actually a remnant from another project but that was perfect because I could add the red and blue borders. The top border is one I had made YEARS ago. I either found an idea sheet or blog post and copied it with what I had available. The strip across the middle is vellum which helps soften the dark navy blue of the paper. I planned to use that for some Cherry Tree visits but hadn't used it by the time I got to this page. So I used the cherry tree elements to carry through onto the journal box. Pink is a nice match for the bright red and also tames the dark blue. Quite patriotic on multiple levels.

50 States Part 28--Washington State

Jim and I have been to Seattle twice each. But only once together! This page focuses on both of my trips. The photo of us at Boeing is actually a green screen photo but when you tour you cannot take a camera so it's the only way to get a photo of the massive plane construction complex. In downtown Seattle, I took a selfie with the Space Needle and I think it was a great addition to the page. Lastly, on the left is Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park. It's a massive park and I enjoyed my stay but I'll have to go back to see more!

This layout was based on an idea I saw posted on Facebook. This page uses all the same elements but by adding the mountains behind the city border, it makes it "Washington" even more! This page could have skewed patriotic but I think the bottom border keeps it in a vacation feel instead. The top border uses the CM Border Maker Cartridge system. The 2 bottom borders are free-standing border punches. Layering punches is a great way to change up the feel of the border. I left enough space at the bottom of the city border to add the title.

50 States Album part 27--Virginia

Virginia, as anyone who has driven the entire length of I-81 knows, is a VERY long state! We've made quite a few trips over the years, especially when my uncles lived near Charlottesville. This page features one of my solo trips to the beach where I stopped in Richmond for some touring to break up the trip to North Carolina. That's the Maggie L. Walker NPS unit. The other photo is from Mabry's Mill which is along the Blue Ridge parkway. I highly recommend a stop at the restaurant near here and if you can get the blackberry cobbler--do so!

My inspiration for this layout came from this page. The cut-out of the state was one of my trickier bits of fussy cutting. I did have the Cricut cut the outline shape in blue. I mounted that on white and fussy-cut around leaving a small border, then mounted that on red and did the same thing.

I found it amusing to place a sticker of "We the People" just like the original (which hardly ever happens) but then augmented with some civil war and colonial stickers I had on hand to demonstrate the age of the state. The small informational piece on Maggie Walker is from the Eastern National scrapbook kit. I had cut a framed piece out previously for Clara Barton so this was an easy way to add more detail on a rather obscure historical figure.

50 States Album Part 26--Texas

This was a trip from May 2015 when I went to a surgical technology conference in San Antonio. We also took some time to do additional sightseeing and we drove to the LBJ ranch and the state capitol in Austin.

The inspiration for this layout is from this page. The giant Texas image is perfect to me because EVERYTHING is bigger in Texas! The state name is cut on the Cricut. The background paper is a piece of paper from the Paper Loft. The remaining stickers are from a package of Texas stickers from my stash. The stars are punched from some leftover paper and cardstock.

50-states album part 25--Tennessee

We've had a couple of good trips to Tennessee. This one was the road trip to Mississippi for the NPTC convention. We sort of went backward--we drove to the bottom of the Great Smokies and drove through the park going north, exiting by Pigeon Forge. Then we had to head south again to Mississippi. Still, the park was a lot of fun, even if I about killed myself hiking up Clingman's dome! 😊

This is a fairly simple page, though it was modeled on this page. It helps that Tennessee is a LONG state and so it spreads across the middle nicely. The background paper is just an old piece of CM with pale stripes. The title and state shape I cut on the Cricut. The stickers across the state are from a Junior Ranger sticker album I received as a gift. The journal box is from a sticker pack I bought featuring the park. I had already scrapbooked this trip (see this post) so I was glad to be able to use up more of the stash.

50 States Album part 24--South Dakota

Another layout based on our summer 2017 "Great Western Loop" trip for the National Park Travelers Club convention. These were just 2 of the parks in South Dakota. We also went to the Minuteman Missile complex, Wind Cave and Jewel Cave. But these 2 do say "South Dakota" the most I think. My favorite mental image was in the Badlands and Jim was so intrigued by the structures we had to stop the car so he could go out and touch the rocks to see what it was all about.

The inspiration for this page started with this idea. No, it doesn't really resemble that page. What I took from the initial layout was the rope idea. I started looking for a rope theme and found a paper similar to this one (but a little curvier). Since I was looking for a rope across the page, I cut off a single strand. Since I had ruined the paper I decided to cut out more strands and then started playing with them until I figured out the rope border was really all I needed. The state shape became a mat this time. The Mount Rushmore die-cut in the upper left is a Cricut cut from a cartridge I own called Destinations. The title under our photo at Mount Rushmore is from a sticker pack someone gave me.

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.