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.

It's Not Easy Being Green

It's bonus post time! I'm playing along with Lasting Memories again so here's an additional layout for this weekend! (And there may be more to come!) This layout starts a tour I took along the Green in Dover which is part of the First State National Historical Park. The stamps, you may recall from this post, are inside the Old Dover State House and the staff there will tell you that touring that building in no way counts as visiting the National Park Unit. So I planned my visit to take advantage of a guided walk along the Green. One of the first stops was King George's Tavern, a gathering spot for discontented colonials who debated the need to break with England. Eventually, this was also the site where Delaware ratified the Constitution making it the First State of the Union (and ultimately naming the National Park Unit!)

This layout was made to fulfill the Lasting Memories Challenge #658 "Sharing is Caring". The instructions are to scraplift one of the design team's previous layouts. I chose this layout from Cheryl Evans. I used her sketch but did make a couple of modifications given my photos. I also used 2 different papers for the "A" and "B" pieces on her layout. There were some gaps at the corners and as I was hunting embellishments I found 3 die-cuts from a CM Heritage kit from many years ago. The black cardstock provided a nice tie-in across the 2 pages though and I think it was a great finishing touch. The background cardstock is Avocado (yes, the 70s have returned!) which is new from CM (I just got my supply this week). I added some Graphic 45 papers from the Olde Curiosity Shoppe as components A and B as well as the embellishments. It came together fairly quickly!

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.

No Pigs are Involved in this Post

It's Hogmanay! That's a Scottish tradition where you celebrate the incoming New Year. The Brearly House in New Jersey hosts one every year. And again, since I now live closer it was easy for me to visit. They have a bonfire (carefully controlled by the fire department) where they encourage you to write down everything you were unhappy with in the previous year and throw it in the fire to BURN! It's quite cathartic. I arranged an NPTC meetup for this event and had a great turnout! It was a very cold night and had recently snowed but we kept warm and enjoyed the event.

This layout is from one of my Paper Loft classes and uses their Euphoria paper kit. I liked the brown tones that also incorporated fun with the banners and diamond prints. I didn't pay any attention to the photo mats--I just placed my photos where I wanted them and it worked out perfectly! I do love their word cut-apart sheets. They are the perfect accents to the page.

The official picture was indoors (and I think everyone appreciated that!) You can also see the organized, polite line of people stamping. I think we were a bit loud and may have drowned out the fiddle player in the next room though. Well, it can be months between seeing each other and there's always a lot to catch up on!

This is the last page of the album so I only needed one page. I used another of the same layouts from Paper loft and again ignored those photo mats. Quick pages!

Meeting George Washington

Now that I've moved to Bucks County I am taking advantage of some events that I never did before. On December 19th every year Valley Forge recreates the march in of the Continental Army in 1777. That was the year they used the "off-season" to learn to become an army. I arrived a little later than I had planned thanks to traffic and work but I was in time to hear Washington give a speech and then to get a selfie with him! I also met one of his aides--James Madison! A little surreal but nice!

I based this layout on Challenge 3 from the April 2023 CM Virtual Crop. I pulled papers from the Winds of Winter paper pack (CM 2017). I liked the starkness of the pages and the brown tones (unusual in a winter collection) matched the historic look of the photos. I traded the 2 vertical photos on the right page for the program/brochure from the evening. With a decorative cover, it works both as a photo and memorabilia. I mounted that with photo corners.

I spent some time in the visitor center (that's where the stamps are after all) and saw a few of the displays. Mostly I hurried out to see GW. I also hiked out to the Muhlenberg huts. They were all filled with reenactors and period displays. Some of it was geared toward children but I found quite a bit for myself as well, such as the camp physician.

For the left page, I used Challenge 2 in the same virtual crop as above. For this page, I used Winter Woods--still the winter theme but this pack has that nice cut-log paper that is perfect for these cabins. I was able to trim my photos to small squares--it actually improved them by giving the viewer a focus. I substituted a decorative card for one photo and turned another into a journal box. On the right page, I used a Power Hour layout from Meggan Jacks. Her technique of folding the paper so that you have a punch running through the middle of the page was unique. This page continues with the Winter Woods papers and embellishments again, trading one photo spot for a journaling box.

My last page focuses on the outdoor experience. I feel bad for the "soldiers" who had the job of guarding the fire and talking about setting up the camp. It was a very cold night and I believe they most resembled the soldiers from 1777. 

For this page I dug back to the Virtual Crop from November 2022. This is a very simple sketch. I used just one sheet of paper and cut the square from the middle. When you flip it over and replace it, you have a two-tone paper for your photos. I wish there was more contrast in the 2 sides but you can tell it is slightly different. I used some embellishments from "Frost" (another older CM line). The darker photos stand out nicely on the medium-tone paper though.

Special Photos, Special Food

I wanted to show the Custers one of my favorite places, and it turns out they had never been to the Portrait Gallery in the Second National Bank building. The miniatures (bottom of left page) are some of my favorite pieces). We also listened to a Ranger talk about the statues and the Peale paintings.

This layout is based on the October 2022 sketch from a CM Virtual Crop. I liked the gold tone of the frames in the portraits so I used the Silver and Gold collection from CM--very versatile. You can use it for New Year's, Weddings, Anniversaries, or historic photos! I chose 2 rows of border stickers for the dividing line between the cardstock and the paper. The title "Old Photographs" worked so well here, though it was part of a heritage pack from Paper Loft. I had a few fleur de lis stickers that I scattered around as well. Probably could have managed those better, but the pages are done!

After our tour, we met up for dinner at City Tavern. Not only is it part of the NPS but Sierra had recently been in a baking competition where one of the judges was Chef Staib who runs the restaurant. I thought it only fair that she judge his food! We all enjoyed our meals.

This layout is based on a pin I saved on Pinterest. Now that I know more about Kiwi Lane, I likely would not have saved this sketch. Kiwi Lane products require you to trace and cut out your papers. I find that repulsive when there are so many better tools available. I used the CM 12" Decorative Trimmer to make the wavy segments in the middle of the page. The papers are from the Tonal Collections. Each quarter CM launches a set of 3 tonal paper packs with coordinating stickers. It is a great way to either add paper to a coordinating kit or to make pages without true "Themes".