Presque Isle State Park

Back in 2005, we went on a road trip through parts of New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. Near the end of the trip we decided to stop and stretch our legs, and the map (no GPS – we did this old school…lol) showed there was a park nearby. We pulled into Presque Isle State Park. What a find! It’s on the south shore of Lake Erie, about halfway between Cleveland and Buffalo, and almost directly south of Long Point Provincial Park, in Ontario.

For anyone who’s been to and loves Long Point, you will love Presque Isle State Park. It’s got the same great expanse of beaches, the warm waters of Lake Erie, great opportunities to birdwatch and fish, and lots of places to put in a canoe or kayak and explore around the shores. It’s got one thing that Long Point doesn’t have enough of though – public beaches. Long point has a couple of public beaches – Presque Isle has a dozen, and they all have lifeguards during daytime hours. The park is really open and allows everyone to access and explore everything that exists there.

Just another quick note – there is amazing history associated with the area. So if you like military history, American history, naval history, or have a love of lighthouses, it’s a great place to look around.

I’ve been trying to make a dent in the box of scraps that I can’t bring myself to get rid of, and this layout was made almost entirely of scraps. The navy cardstock and the photo overlay (under the photo), were the only pieces that didn’t come from the scrap bin – everything else was repurposed. I do almost exclusively 8×8 layouts, so I have a lot of decent sized scraps and I love how punches and dies let me get so much more out of papers.

This is another layout where I used Copics to change the colour of letter stickers too. I love that trick. It means I can buy stickers that are on sale (score!), or that are a font I love but in a colour I’d never use, and know that I will be able to make them work. The script letter stickers were an orange colour and the others were white, and I changed them both using just two Copic markers. Using Copics lets me blend colours and add gradation if I want, but I’m sure other types of markers would work as well. I plan on trying some Distress Inks – those vibrant colours would be gorgeous, and I’ll be sure to post how they turn out.

Products:

American Crafts, navy cardstock
Crate Paper, Close Knit, photo overlays
Crate Paper, Maggie Holmes, Open Book dies
We R Memory Keepers, Evolution Advanced die cutting machine
Fiskars, Hexagon Punch, medium
Sookwang, Scor-Tape
Martha Stewart, gold glitter
October Afternoon, Daily Flash Alpha, Bonfire “Story Book”
Basic Grey, bas-3984, letter stickers
Copic Markers, R27 Cadmium Red, E08 Brown
Recollections, Fall, brads
My Mind’s Eye, Mistletoe Magic, enamel dots
Sharpie Pen, black

Blue Skies

I had a meeting downtown Toronto, and took a few minutes after my meeting to take a couple shots of the buildings against the day’s brilliant blue sky. Toronto’s City Hall was designed by Finnish architect Viljo Revell, and it is his most famous building. I’ve always loved the building and I was able to visit other buildings he designed while I was in Finland. It’s been used in a number of big and small screen productions. If it seems familiar to you, it might be from films like Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Red, and The Sentinel, or tv shows like Star Trek: The Next Generation, Pokemon, and Flashpoint.

Blue Skies

This layout was fun to make, but I’m a bit torn about whether I like it or not LOL. I don’t like how the splatter turned out. I didn’t have a mist the colour I wanted, so I tried doing a splatter effect with some paint. The dots are larger and not as random and scattered looking as they end up when I use mist. I’m not sure if it’s a case of just me seeing the ‘mistake’, or if it’s distracting to everyone who looks at it.

I love the grey, navy, turquoise, and pink combination. That came from Adrienne Looman’s Ocean Melody collection and from Pink Paislee’s Switch Board collection. I also loved using a flair badge. I don’t usually use them – although they’re some of my most favourite embellishments to buy/collect LOL. I thought the dimension of the flair was a nice way to echo the curved dome in the center of the building. I’m also happy with how the title turned out – I love using Copics to custom colour white letter stickers.

Products:

Recollections grey cardstock
American Crafts white cardstock
Webster’s Pages, Adrienne Looman’s Ocean Melody, Cool Water
Studio Calico, Darling Deer, Gardner
Crate Paper, Flea Market, Heirloom
Pink Paislee, Switch Board, Ephemera Pack
Pink Paislee, Switch Board, Stickers
Chic Tags, Cloud 9, Mini Icons
October Afternoon, Daily Flash, Flash Alpha Meringue “Story Book” letter stickers
Copic, Sketch, BG23 Coral Sea
Tim Holtz, Distress Paint, Chipped Saphire
Tim Holtz, Distress Ink, Pewter
Ranger, Foam Blending Tool
misc: flair, washi, ATG, Fiskars trimmer, EK Success scissors

Boathouse: Buffalo

On a trip to Buffalo, New York, we stopped by the then newly built boathouse. It hadn’t been opened to the public yet but when we stopped by, a member of the building committee was on site and asked us if we wanted to take a look inside. It was wonderful luck – I love Frank Lloyd Wright, and to be one of the first to walk through one of his buildings was such a privilege. The boathouse is used for rowing, and also community and private events. More information can be found on their website.

Boathouse: Buffalo

This layout is the first I made using the Tim Holtz Distress Marker Spritzer that I wrote about on Tuesday (you can check out my review of it here). I love the idea of using graph paper for the background, and how the mist from Copic markers mimic the main tones in the photo. Before I attached anything to the graph paper I used a typewriter to add some journalling. The photo represents the process of designing and constructing a building to me, so I wanted the layout to have a documented, office-y (okay, not a word), feel to it. I also knew I wanted to include some of Frank Lloyd Wright’s signature colour – Cherokee Red (Pittsburgh Paints Color #6432-7). An office supply tag was the perfect way to introduce the colour and it worked with the office-y (sorry, it’s all I got), feel. To make sure the red on the tag didn’t look out of place, I also used it for the title.

Products: