Going Places

Still working on using my 6x6 pads. How did I collect so many in so little time??? Same Open Road set from Crate Paper. And as usual, thinking way outside the box with a layout about being on the open road in South Dakota. It was my silly little goal to take in as many states as possible on that road trip. Once we arrived in Sioux Falls, we quickly took in Minnesota and Iowa in a loop trip. The following day, we dipped down into Nebraska. Three more states off my bucket list. Yay!!! Stamps are from a Unity SMAK set called Going Places. The precious little dies are from Technique Tuesday. Thanks for joining me on the road.

Wall Drug

Still on the road in South Dakota. This time we are travelling across I 90 on our return to Rapid City. You just know I had to stop at Wall Drug to try the homemade donuts and 5 cent coffee for Mom. She says it was worth 5 cents but the donuts and free ice water were da bomb. On the road, I enjoyed my drive-by shooting of the millions of billboards advertising Wall Drug. This is just a small sampling. Yes, I was driving. Oh, well, we survived. I don't know if they have the strict rules in SD that we have in California concerning handheld phones. Actually, now that I think back on it, they weren't taken with my phone so I guess I wasn't breaking any law in any state. I do ramble on. 

I built this layout based upon a sketch I found on Creative Genealogy which I thought would work nicely into my plan to decimate my stash of 6x6 pads. These lovely papers are from a pad called The Open Road from Crate Paper. Always thinking out of the box, I am. The base paper is American Crafts from my stash. Stamps and dies used are Going Places from Memory Keepers Studio. Thanks for driving by.

Boondocks

Back to scrapping the 2013 trip to South Dakota. Mom and I stumbled onto this Roadside America find quite by accident on our way to Deadwood. The smell of grease permeated the air inside the diner so we chose not to eat there but we did enjoy looking at all the artifacts. I used Cruisin', the old diner standby from Club Scrap. Always thinking outside the box. Snort!!! The stamps and dies are from the Going Places set from Technique Tuesday's Memory Keepers Studio.

Blue Bell Lodge

Another South Dakota layout. This one shows Blue Bell Lodge in Custer State Park. It had such a rustic old-timey feel. I loved everything about it. The kit used was Lodge from Club Scrap. No particular sketch. Just wanted to get the photos down and maximize the beautiful design on the paper. Title is computer generated and embellished with a Lodge stamp along with a dragonfly brad. This month I'm doing "things with wings" so I used a dragonfly. I'm not really much for embellishing. One little brad is enough for me. Thanks for stopping in.

Hanblecheyapi

Multi-tasking once again. It is past time for me to post the April scrapbook sketch over at Paperartistsonline. I realized I could use this layout I finished last night so I dug up the sketch and posted it. After the fact. Is that cheating?

Also, I used die cuts from The Stamps of Life so I will be posting it over there for the monthly challenge. The Crazy Daisy dies were colored with gelatos to simulate a stained glass look. 

Again I used gelatos with Club Scrap's Tilescapes stamps to create a bit of texture on the plain blue paper. All papers are from Club Scrap, the same kit. 

The photos were taken at Our Lady of the Sioux in Chamberlain, South Dakota. I was a bit excited to see a stained glass of Kateri Tekakwitha whose biography I read as a child back at Corpus Christi. I thought the Tilescapes paper and stamps worked well with the images. Very daring of me, I handwrote my own journaling. I really don't like to do that but I'm forcing myself to do it. To put a bit of me on my pages. I assume in twenty years, I will say, hey, my handwriting was good back then. Thanks for looking.

Take Another Shot

I loved all of the neon signs in Rapid City so, of course, I had to photograph them. Now that I'm posting, I realize I didn't create any notes describing where these signs are located. So I'll have to get on that. But the layout is essentially finished. I used the Club Scrap Get The Picture kit along with some photography stickers from my stash. And another wood veneer camera from my stash. Perhaps I should copy Shimelle and place a camera on every one of these South Dakota layouts. Perhaps I already have? I should check that. Anyway, I ramble on. Thanks for stopping by.

Corn Palace

This layout was built using Club Scrap papers from the Harvest and Henna kits. The Indian corn cob was cut on the Silhouette and colored with Distress Inks in various browns, yellows and oranges. Photos taken of Mom and me at the World's Only Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota. Such a fun place! And so unsual. All of the murals on the exterior are created from corn product. Sort of like the Rose Parade but done Midwest style. 

Welcome to Chamberlain

Still feverishly working on my Scrapbooking Outside the Pocket class over at Big Picture Classes before starting a new one this week. What was I thinking? Crazy, I know. But I do enjoy them. And since all our local scrapbook stores have closed down, it's just about my only option. 

So this one follows two different designs from the class. One is the T design and the other is Diagonal. Can you see which one is which??? I made a few cutting errors which sent the design a little wonky but I think the message is still there.

These are photos taken in Chamberlain, South Dakota, during our two visits. I was overwhelmed by gazing at the wide Missouri. And I loved the great Neon signs on the old highway which was the original east-west route through South Dakota. This layout covers both. Thanks for taking a gander.

Pigtail Bridges

While travelling on the Iron Mountain Road in the Black Hills of South Dakota (no, I did not see Rocky Raccoon), I was enthralled with the "pigtail bridges" we navigated several times. Being on a bus, I was only able to photograph from the window as we curved around. This layout follows the L is for Layers suggestion in my class Scrapbooking Outside the Pocket. I used papers from a Heidi Swapp pad which includes pocket designs. It's a bit busy for my taste and way outside my usual style. But it's done and I'm content with it. Thanks for dropping by.

Mom + Bush 41

This layout is based upon the Lovely Little Layers idea in my Scrapbooking Outside the Pocket class over at BPC. However, I'm not really much of a layering person. I tried to embellish in threes which is about all I'm capable of pulling off. Pocket cards from Becky Higgins Vintage Travel kit by Crate Paper. Photos show Mom with Bush 41 on the streets of Rapid City where there is a bronze of the first 43 presidents on each street corner. I photographed as many of them as I could. There will be another facing page at some point with more of the Presidents. Thanks for taking a look.

Tiyospaye

The second assignment this week in Monica Bradford's great class Scrapbooking Outside the Pocket called for a T-design layout. I used digital images from the Becky Higgins Kerri Bradford Cinnamon kit printed on my inkjet printer. Not overwhelmed with the quality but it gets the job done. I may try glossy photo paper next time. The photo of my Mom in Chamberlain, SD, before a Tiyospaye Banquet at Cedar Shore Resort on behalf of St. Joseph Indian School. I like this design a lot and will use it again even though I'm not a fan of one photo pages. There will be more photos and words on the facing pocket page. Thanks for surfing by.

Stavkirke

Another very simple layout covering the photos of the Chapel in the Hills in Rapid City. The chapel is an exact replica of the famous Borgund stavkirke, of Laerdal, Norway. The Borgund stavkirke was built around the year 1150 and is considered the most completely preserved stave church still standing in Norway. The cardstock is from Club Scrap, one of the Michael Strong kits, I felt the design on the paper copied the designs in the wood panels in the church. The embellishments are stamps from Close to My Heart, called Scandinavian Wishes. First use. Thanks for looking.

To Teach is to Learn Twice

Photos taken at the St.Joseph Indian School in Chamberlain, SD. I couldn't resist using cardstock from Club Scrap's Academy kit when I saw the eagle on the paper echoing the eagle on the side of the Akta Lakota Museum on the school grounds. This is an old half-baked assembly line layout started long ago. I don't have many school layouts to make but this was a perfect fit. I also used a Cheery Lynn die of a Dreamcatcher as an embellishment to mimic the school flag. Thanks for stopping by.

Wild Bill

I'm not overly thrilled at this layout but it's as done as it's going to get for now. Cardstock is from the Club Scrap Wild Wild West kit. As usual, I'm thinking waaaaay out of the box. NOT! Photos are from the cemetery in Deadwood, final resting place of Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane and Seth Bullock (among many others). I used a pocket card for some journaling to fit my class assignment in Scrapping Outside the Pocket. I'm not happy with this final product so I'm hoping some inspiration will come to me eventually and I can dress it up a bit. Or not.

Drama, Drama, Drama

Another South Dakota layout, nearly completed on my table with an addition of Pocket cards to help me fit one of the assignments over at Big Picture Classes Scrapping Outside the Pocket. Other cardstock is from Club Scrap. Photos represent all of the historic theatres I photographed while on our South Dakota adventure. Another simple layout but it's done. Yay!!!

Embark on Adventures

My good friend and fellow Squirrel Farley lured me over to a new class at Big Picture Classes called Scrapping Outside the Pocket. The focus is to use the cards we are all accumulating designed for pocket scrapbooking. I only own one set called Chalkboard from We R Memory Keepers so I used it on this layout. I do own several kits in digi form so you may be seeing them in the future. 

This is another in a long line of many you will be seeing from my South Dakota trip. While leaving Rapid City on our way to Custer State Park, we stumbled upon these Big Heads I had read about on Roadside America, one of my favorite sites. I had given up on finding them and there they were, right along the side of Hiway 79. What a find!!! A simple layout but it's done. And done is better than perfect, as my sister always tells me.

Prairie Dogs

At long last I have started making the scrapbook pages of my trip with Mom to South Dakota in September. This first one was created using the sketch I submitted as the March scrapbook sketch over at Paperartistsonline. It's a sketch from Club Scrap's Lock and Key kit in October 2013. All papers are from various Club Scrap kits. The spinner2stamp set is from The Stamps of Life. I used the stamp and die set to create a journaling tag for the layout. These photos show the adorable prairie dogs who reside near the entrance to the Badlands. I know. They're rodents. But I like 'em. Thanks for dropping by.