The Great Western Journey part 13--Wait a Minute!

We stayed in the general vicinity Sunday morning because there was a planned group ranger talk at Minuteman Missile NHS. The talk was at the site of the missile silo and I was amazed that you can look directly down the tube into where the missile is still housed. According to the ranger, the clear dome is to prove to the spy satellites that this is decommissioned and incapable of being launched! It was hot, even early in the morning but so worth the trip out to the site!

This layout is based on a November class I took (sorry can't show the sketch). I wish I could show the sketch as the original layout had more vertical photos on the right. But in practice, the squares created a middle section that was very flexible on photo placement. Those squares also provide a great base for sticker clusters to decorate the page. The green colors really had to do with what paper I had with me as I put this together while at a crop away from home!

At the end of the talk we all posed for a group photo. I think the ranger took it for us!

For this page,  I wanted to highlight that big photo of our group. I chose this pinned layout as a base. Now that pin has a lot of circles across the bottom but the idea is that you want to frame the bottom and have some banners on the top. When looking for a theme for the pages I decided that I would move toward a patriotic theme and all of my following pages for this park follow that idea. The large photo allowed me to use up 2 scraps of paper--one at the top and one at the bottom--to frame the photo. I did create a small border along the bottom but the paper with the star print helps create the "cluster" in the original page idea.

After the ranger talk, we went to Wall Drug for brunch and then to the visitor center. The building is fairly new so the "rusty" look of the main entrance is intentional. The most eye-opening display was the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the world as demonstrated by the blue and orange towers (right page below). Many of the club members were there as well and I caught Jennifer's Junior Ranger swearing-in ceremony.

This layout was based on a class that I took and I cannot show the sketch. The main thrust was the pair of borders--one horizontal on the left and a vertical one on the right. I kept with the patriotic theme and was able to use up a paper pack that was pretty old. The border punch on red cardstock pulled the 2 pages together.

The Great Western Journey Part 12--The Big Meeting

Saturday is the day for the formal meeting for the club. As a board member, I have other meetings to attend in the morning. The main meeting for all the members starts just after lunch. We have speakers, trivia, and presentations of various awards. It's one of the best parts of the weekend!

This layout should look familiar. I made this when I was the guest designer for Lasting Memories in July 2021. I had to store this until I got to this album a year later.

In addition to the photos, I always try to save a copy of the program (The Stamp Pad) and our name tags.

I looked to see what photos were left in my stash for this event and there were just a few. While working on this album I was also working on using up any pre-made pages made directly on the CM base pages. I'm eventually going to transition to top-loading sleeves for my pages. My mission was to find a use for this layout that I made from a freebie paper pack. The class I took used the mats to create a layout leaving blank spots for the photos. My photos didn't quite line up as planned, and I needed to fit the program in as well. But the page is done and that's what counts!

The Great Western Journey part 11--Come and get it!

 Time to start album #2 in the Great Western Journey. This post is sort of the "middle" section from Mount Rushmore. Our bus trip took us to Mount Rushmore in the afternoon, then we went to a Chuckwagon Dinner, and then we returned to Mount Rushmore for the lighting ceremony. 

If you remember, I used a printed calendar page for the kick-off page in the first album. I wanted something similar but not exact. I found this image in my Pinterest files and used it to make the page. I did some math to figure out what the dimensions were--most of which I got right. It does help to use up scrap paper! And then I added just a few travel stickers for emphasis. I wrote "Western Journey" and Volume Two was comprised of some old sticker letters (none of which I had to manipulate to get the words!).

The bus pulled up to the dining hall which surprised me. For some reason I assumed there was a hay ride and we'd be eating in the field. This actually was better--long trestle tables full of people! The hall holds way more than our group but it was not overcrowded.

This layout is based on a sketch from one of my classes. The focus of the sketch was the borders and circles. That gave me the inspiration to go with some bold paper as a background. The borders were cut from a bandana square and in hindsight, I probably should have made the borders smaller so no one sees that the sides go "nowhere". The 3 circles provide "quiet" space on the layout which is great for small sticker clusters (using up some old Western theme CM and other stickers) as well as a place for journaling. Tucking the circles under other elements means that if you accidentally cut too close to the edge, no one will know! Unless you tell them in your blog 😀.

There was a process for getting your meal. Everyone received a metal plate and you walked through the line. The servers placed food in the correct location (you don't get to choose) as you made it through the process. If everyone cooperates, the line moves pretty smoothly. I delayed getting my meal just so I could take photos of everyone in the line. All of the people in the photos are from the club.

This layout is based on the Club Scrap Trattoria deluxe layout #13-14. I had purchased the cut-apart strips but not the paper that goes with the kits. I used other supplies that I had on hand when I put them together. The left strip under "Cowboy" is a saying about pizza. Since that didn't apply, but I wanted to use this particular layout, I added the letters--it really gave "flavor" to the page! (Those letters and the other square decorations were cut from the center of a scrapbook daily calendar I received many years ago--still using the supplies!) I was one photograph short so I chose one of the decorative mats from the Wide Open Places collection to fill the gap.

In addition to dinner, we were entertained by the house band. There was some light-hearted banter included in their remarks and then a variety of Country and Western tunes. It was a great evening.

I wanted to use the left-hand page on this layout (not a lot of other opportunities for me to use a western guitar page). I matched the wood tone on the right but added a pop of purple (I chose that because of the color the stage lights gave to the pages). A purple mat on the left helps carry that color across the layout. I added some random stickers and other embellishments with music themes to finish the page.

The Great Western Journey Part 10--North by Northeast actually

When I think about Mount Rushmore, I always think about the Hitchcock film "North by Northwest". Since we came from Custer State Park (pages not in this blog, but do stop by to see them sometime!) we actually traveled North by Northeast. 😁 Having seen the incomplete structure at Crazy Horse the day before, it is impressive how much of the mountain had been carved in less time. The site includes not only patios with views of the structure but a lot of detail on the designer and the process of sculpting the rocks.

I bought the layered die-cut from Paper Wizard. It was a little tricky to put together (I wish they had the option to buy these already completed) but it does look amazing (even if it takes up half of the page). I chose a straightforward layout for the base pages (You have to look at the left page here and the right page below--there's an 8 1/2x11 pocket page between). I liked the look of the watercolor paper from the Emerald Gemstones kit so that became the base for both pages. I used a smaller strip of a neutral color along the bottom to offset the photos and sealed the "seam" with a border sticker. 

We had quite a bit of time at the site, but most of it was getting into photos with our friends and the presidents.

Because I needed a place for the brochure and was running out of "real estate" in the album (these would be the last 2 pages in the album). I added the pocket page for the brochure, one additional photo of the site and as you can see on the back, a lot of journaling (there is an interesting story about how to annoy club members by removing stamps from the stamping table while we wait to use them). The strip across the top is a bookmark someone gave me with a bunch of scrapping supplies several years ago. With a little trimming, it became the top border. The wavy borders are stickers that match the tone of the paper (and the bookmark). I wrote the story in a similar color marker and it's a bit light but I think it works.

We left Mount Rushmore to go to dinner and then returned afterward for the lighting ceremony they perform each evening. We did not get seats in the amphitheater so I don't know all that was said, but there is a dramatic presentation and then all of a sudden the mountain is illuminated. It's rather pretty at night but difficult to capture with a point-and-shoot camera. The dinner portion of this trip begins album 2 which we'll see next week!

I made this layout at the CM conference in June 2022. The expo center included a multitude of make-and-takes, and this layout was a way for us to see how to make a quick layout with just 4 mats. Because the mats are double-sided, you can choose whether the photos are vertical or horizontal. Luckily my horizontal option worked well for my photo and the postcard. While there are no fireflies in the photos, the concept was "Nighttime Wonders" and I think the illumination of the mountain was a perfect fit!

The Great Western Journey part 9--Deep Thoughts

 Friday was an ALL-DAY bus trip. And I do mean all day. We left around 8:00 in the morning and got back to the hotel after 10:00 PM. Our club loves these types of trips though as we are able to see many more parks during our visit. Our first stop of the morning was Wind Cave. We had a group tour but first had time to go through the visitor center. Many of our club members complete the Junior Ranger activities. The tour started outside the cave at a small opening that I would never have thought to enter. But this is the original natural entrance. Luckily we have a less strenuous entry through the elevator shaft.

Although this looks like a 2-page layout it is two separate single pages using 2 different sketches. the left page was made for one of my scrapbook classes. I used paper from the CM Leave No Trace pack. the large square makes for a nice frame for the photos and journaling box and the smaller piece on the left can easily be accented as a border. The right page is from this sketch I saved on Pinterest. I used similar papers from my stash of camping and nature-themed materials. 

I enjoyed our time inside. I think there are more crystalline formations here than at Jewel Cave. Our group is pretty chatty so I do feel bad for the ranger that leads us through. Our tours take a little longer until our curiosities are satisfied.

This layout was based on one of the CM Virtual Crop sketches for November 2022. I used more paper from the Leave No Trace collection. I thought the stone paper was appropriate and similar to the Jewel Cave pages, I used the icicle border maker cartridge to create stalactites for the border elements. These are in black to contrast the lightness of the paper tones.

We like to take group photos on all of our tours and when I print them I think 8x10 is the best size so I can see all of the faces. It's so nice to do these group tours. It's like being in a big family.

For this page I used a very simple technique. The background is a black refill page (I've been trying to use them up) and I put a laser-cut page on top. There's no particular reason to use this one other than I liked the way it looked with the designs going in alternate directions. The title sticker and the small note about the formation of the cave as a national monument were mounted on similar colored cardstock so they would be visible against the black background. The other sticker is from Old CM and I think it's the perfect way to end this part of the trip.

The Great Western Journey part 8--A Star is Born

Friday morning I was up EARLY. Like O-Dark-Thirty early. But for a good cause. Our press release about the convention had been picked up by the local TV station and they asked for us to be interviewed on the local morning show. So as incoming president (I ran unopposed so I knew the outcome before the meeting) I joined the outgoing president, Roland, and a few of our Platinum Members on a street corner downtown. Periodically they would cut to us and their reporter for a few minutes of talk. We had a great time.

This layout is based on one of my monthly classes. I chose the Showtime collection. The sketch was supposed to have 2 4x6 vertical photos and a 4x4 which would stretch across the page. I used a 5x7 photo and a 4x4 journaling box. That left an inch along the side so I added one of the flocked embellishments. I used a paper  scrap to create the larger tag above the journaling box and then several embellishments clustered around the page to accent the layout. 

The Great Western Journey part 7--Dinner with Teddy Roosevelt

 We arrived at our host hotel on Thursday afternoon and picked up our registration bags for the conference. Our first event was that evening. A gentleman who doubles as Teddy Roosevelt came to a special dinner. After eating he gave an overview of Teddy's life in great detail. Below you can see that he took time to pose with the guests (including a Teddy Bear).

This layout uses papers in one of the Prismatic packs. It was free when you ordered the Tonal Collections in early 2022. The paper has a design on one side and the other has lines with suggested cuts. By making the cuts and reassembling the papers you can create designs as seen in this CM blog post. While I did not follow any specific layout, I did use the cuts to create some layered shapes and develop this layout. The borders at the top and bottom are stickers from the coordinating pack. The primary motivational color was brown (walls and Teddy's outfit), and the green contrasted that. You'll notice several patterns. So long as you keep the patterns to 1 small, 1 medium, and 1 large, you can mix and match on the page without overwhelming the viewer.

I took a lot more photos of the various tables of diners. I've met and become friends with a lot of people over the years so it seemed I knew someone just about at every table. To incorporate all of them I used some extra pockets. You can see in the 2nd photo the "inside" with more diners.

The layout for this came from a class I took so I cannot show the sketch. I liked the repeating border across the middle of the paper. I chose papers from a Paper Loft kit called Euphoria (I think). They have paper that is heavier--almost cardstock weight--and is printed in 2 designs. I gutted the blue gingham paper and flipped over the middle to the cream side. I used a variety of papers in the collection to punch borders and then layered them across the pages. They supply some cardstock sheets with words for decoration and I used those at the top of the page (and one on the inside pocket at the bottom right). Since the borders were so bold I didn't need much else.