Gone Fishing

As I was walking along the water, I crossed the bridge and saw the egret on the rocks. I took a few more photos and turned around to see that it had jumped up to the top of the bridge! And then, as I watched, it dipped its head into the fisherman's bait bucket and helped himself to lunch! You just never know what you will see in the parks!

I made this layout for an end-of-year challenge group I joined from Tammy McEwen. She put together a series of sketches from the CM blog throughout the year that totaled 23 pages (plus a bonus). I made this during her challenge but you can see the original here (scroll to sketch #7). I had used this one previously but when you change the papers, and put it in a different album, it doesn't really matter. Don't believe me? Check out this post that I made a few months ago. It's the 2nd layout on the page and uses the exact same sketch but with an older NSD pack. This time I used Tropic Time papers. The fish borders come from the Serene Waters pack. My only wish is that they had reversed the coloring so that it would match in the middle instead of starting over on the right page. The title sticker is from the Scrapbook Customs sticker pack.

Landlubber

My next stop is to Biscayne National Park. I was a little later arriving than I had hoped so I missed all of the boat tours that show off the park. Biscayne is about 99% water with just a tiny bit of land for a visitor center. I did what I could to explore that land but I will definitely have to come back to see some more.

In my quest to use up the Cool Serenity papers, I chose to use 2 borders I had made a while ago. Each border consists of a punched wave border, a contrasting lime green strip, and a 4x6 homemade mat with decorations from the kit. They did a nice job framing my photos of the entrance and compass. I added 2 Biscayne-specific stickers. On the left mat, I added a small shield sticker for the park. On the right, I added the map of the park from the Scrapbook Customs sticker page. I had a bit of the lime green paper left so I added the strips to balance the pages (right side of the left page and a small piece under the top photo on the right page).

Taking the Chance

My last stop of the day was to try the auto loop suggested by the ranger. It is a great way to get into the middle of the park and see the trees and more wildlife. After a few miles though, the road changes to dirt, and then it started to rain. I was in a rental (not all that different from the die cut!) and a little nervous about getting mired in a place with poor cellular reception. So soon after I passed the "Last Chance" I decided it was prudent to turn around. I made it through less than 1/2 of the loop. I suppose I'll have to revisit and see the other half someday. I'll rent an SUV next time.

As I was contemplating what papers to use, I found the die cut of the car and I knew that between that and the last chance sign I needed some red in the papers. I chose an old "Thank You" kit from Creative Memories that had a red, tropical theme. You may remember this technique--I trimmed the papers to 6" x 6" squares and put 4 on a page. The paper was originally 7" x 7" so not a lot of waste here. If your cuts are a little uneven, feel free to hide the center with photos or embellishments. The stickers were part of the same kit. While I didn't really have enough left to make symmetrical placements, I was able to make some focal points to draw the eyes.

Pretty Big

I made it to the Oasis Visitor Center just as it was closing. Luckily the ranger there was happy to see me. Not only did I have time to get stamps, we had a chat about what I could see before dusk. I love rangers who are enthusiastic about their jobs and want to help visitors. Before I got on the auto loop she recommended, I drove to the other side of the park to see the Nathaniel P. Reed Visitor Center. The photos below are all taken there. I loved the statues of the animals (the lizard is real). A sobering information sign did indicate that we are in danger of losing these precious habitats due to climate change. The photo that says "lift" gives a close-up view of the signs showing how much water they got from a hurricane and how much further the waters will rise due to climate change unless we can reverse our track. 

The papers and embellishments are from the Vitamin Sea pack. The design may be one of my own. I thought it was a 1-2-3, except that the pink/coral papers are both 6" strips, so that takes the whole page. I turned the right side so that instead of having the pink facing each other in the middle, there was some contrast. That gave me a space to put 1/2 of the laser-cut border. Hindsight--I think the other half should be on the left page under the water. what do you think? 

Going Postal

Big Cypress National Preserve is located fairly close to the Shark Valley area of the Everglades National Park. I had heard about this post office, so I watched for it as I drove. It is the smallest post office in the United States. It was closed when I drove by but I did stop for a quick shot of the building and the sign. You can see that the mail cart is too big to store inside! It was an interesting diversion as I traveled and since it sits between the 2 national park units, I'm including it here. Let me know if you've been here in the comments!

This layout is based on a sketch. Interestingly, I found it in 2 places. Sketch N Scrap has a Facebook challenge group and posts "throwback" challenges monthly. This was posted as a throwback challenge in November 2023. However, I had pinned the sketch from its original offering in 2017. I used some paper from Creative Memories "Travel Log" pack (released in 2019). I wanted a tropical feel but in muted tones and this paper worked perfectly. There are lots of ways to do a fold-over technique. I like this one that uses just a hint of the other side with its brilliant floral pattern. I tried to turn the journal box into a postcard by applying the "first class" sticker in the stamp spot of the card. I also chose to add postal touches to the 2 tags tucked into the fold. After I took this photo I did find 2 stickers that were better than my hand-drawn attempt (which I admit is backward) so I like the page even more!

Bonus Post--Complementary Colors

Hello all! I'm presenting a new layout for you as part of the Lasting Memories Challenge #687--Complementary Colors. This layout is part of a trip to the DeSoto National Memorial in Florida. Part of their nature trail includes these 2 religious statues. DeSoto's expedition had 12 Catholic priests, and the local diocese provided these 2 statues in the park. 

Complementary colors are those directly across from each other on a color wheel. There's a copy of a color wheel in the link to the challenge above. I chose blue and orange for my colors. The background paper is baby blue and the 1" borders are an orange-toned designer paper. I also decided to make the clouds a dark blue as part of the contrast, though I was mighty tempted to use the white on the reverse side. The blue worked out well though. The layout is based on a CM Virtual Crop sketch that I saved. The papers are from the CM collection "Tropic Time".

Finally! Anhingas!

And finally, after talking about them for a few weeks, we can see the anhinga bird! I got some great views of them as the tram tour returned to the visitor center. Because they dive for their food, they need to dry their wings so you can often find them perched on a branch in the sun with wings extended. The birds below show different age ranges with the head and neck getting darker as they age. This is the final entry from the Everglades but there were 2 more parks that I visited and we'll start with them next week.

I based this layout on the March 2023 Power Hour layouts from Meggan and Tessa. I liked the diagonal overlaps at the bottom. It really highlights the vertical photos at the top. The background paper (leafy green) is from Totally Tonal Zoo papers. The orange diamond sticker borders are from that pack as well. If you check out the Power Hour,  you'll see how 2 borders can cover an excess of 24" of paper!