Wrapping it up

I did not get a chance to climb this lighthouse as it is not in good condition. The Osterhouts and I visited with several of the rangers. As NPTC members we can talk anyone's ear off regarding national parks and travel, and the 4 rangers here were wonderful to talk to and gave us some good ideas for future visits. The sun was setting and it was time to head home. This page completes the album

This page is based on a Virtual Crop layout. Scroll to Sketch #2 for the details. I used some more of the early NSD paper here, a border sticker, and a few other stickers from the kit. I originally saw the green paper as cloth, but after consideration, I decided that it could be similar to the texture of the bricks on the lighthouse. So I used it for the far right border and the mat under the photo of the lighthouse. I wanted a touch more detail on the edges so I used a fine-tip pen to draw some stitching around the cardstock. It's a good way to frame the page.

Seek and Ye Shall Find

Sandy Hook Lighthouse was the last stop on the challenge. As this is a common occurrence, the crew handling the challenge materials were prepared and I was celebrated on completing the journey with cheers, bells, and horns. AND I was given my final card that completes the deck (well, it was, now that card is part of the layout below!) It was here that I met up with a couple from the NPTC--Karen and Tom Osterhout. I was there to witness Karen's completion of the Junior Ranger program and we walked about the site together.

I made this layout as part of a Cricut class I took from one of my Facebook groups. I didn't follow instructions well so I didn't have the cuts done before the class started so I was behind the entire time. But they sent the directions with both cut files for the lighthouses AND print-then-cut files. I started with the print-then cut files and couldn't figure out why we were also assembling cut-out versions. Turns out it was to be my choice--I didn't need both. Ah well, that provided me with a supply of embellishments that I've been able to sprinkle throughout this album. When it came to assembling the page I had some difficulty trimming my photos to fit the small squares in the filmstrip so I left a few empty and used them for journaling and embellishments. This ensured that people would see the concept. The few stickers on the page are using up more of the old NSD kit. It's ALMOST done.

On the Hook

My last stop on the Lighthouse Challenge is at the Sandy Hook Lighthouse in a part of Gateway National Recreation Area. This park has additional sites in New York. This part of the unit includes the lighthouse, lots of beach areas, and the remains of a military installation. On this visit (and, like McArthur, I shall return) I only visited the lighthouse.

This layout is based on a sketch from the CM 101 sketches book (page 10). The essence of the sketch calls for a large die cut or cluster group in the upper right corner. What I really liked about the sketch is that the left side included a vertical photo and a square photo. I substituted the unigrid in that place. It does call for a border around the background paper, so I gutted the background cardstock and then layered a slightly trimmed wood texture paper on top. I struggled a little with embellishments as I was nearly out of lighthouse stickers. With the red strip of paper under the unigrid, I decided to add some blue embellishments. I now keep a "rainbow" binder which separates small embellishments without other themes by color. I turned to the blue page and found all the blue stars and the little laser-cut banner and that seemed a perfect fit. One of the few remaining lighthouse embellishments I DID have, was added to the side of the journal box to give it a little more interest. I suppose on my "to-do" list should be creating more of those embellishments on my Cricut.

The Last Stamp Standing

My next park visit happened in October 2018 when I decided to participate in the New Jersey Lighthouse Challenge. This event happens every year on the 2nd weekend in October. The challenge involves visiting 13 different lighthouses and life-saving stations in New Jersey over 2 days. Most of those buildings have nothing to do with the National Park Service (except the last one which I'll show you next week). The lighthouses start along the Delaware River (a fact I hadn't known before starting the challenge) and along the way, the route gets very close to Fort Mott which is a stamping point for the New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail. However, as their website will tell you: "Since September 30, 2011, as a result of a sunset clause, the National Park Service is no longer the legislative authority to be involved in the management of the Trail. At this time there is no single authority responsible for the management of the trail, although there are legislative efforts to reinstate the NPS as the legislative authority."

While the rest of the sites have relinquished their Passport Stamp, the Fort has not (and as of 2023, still hasn't!) So I decided to make a little detour and visit the Fort, get my stamp, and then finish the lighthouses.

I worked on this album while at a crop. Planning to attend a crop means figuring out what papers to take without taking my entire crop room. I knew that this fort was on the tour so I took military pages. Yet when I got to this layout I didn't really feel the military essence (also it was a single right-hand page given the prior layout). I had also brought my "Fall" themed papers with me and this paper and embellishments are from that group, specifically from the Harvest Delight CM papers (circa 2019).  The layout is loosely based on a sketch or rather one of a series of sketches from Creative Memories. Noreen Smith developed a set of formulas. By cutting one pack of paper (generally 12 double-sided pages for CM) as the formula indicates, you can create an entire album by arranging the strips in various ways. I didn't need to do all of the cuts, I just figured out which strips were used and what the widths were.

The Fort hosts a small museum detailing life during its active years. The large gun below is the correct size but is actually painted on the wall. A few buildings are remaining and some batteries are falling down. As I wanted to keep moving to the lighthouses I didn't spend too much time on site here.

This was a fairly easy layout as it is technically the "Wallpaper" technique. I bought those 2 papers at the Lancaster Scrapbook Convention. The yellow house was blending a bit into the tan background so I matted them on black cardstock. I added a few stickers from the new CM sticker pack "Called to Serve" to add a little more eye movement around the page but this one came together quickly.

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.