"Discover Cartagena" and "City Tour"

Time definitely got away from me this week. It's been a good week, but I haven't had much time for blogging. Today, I thought I'd share a couple layouts with you of ther second port on our cruise. These are from Day 5, Cartagena, Columbia. We were there December 7, 2010 the exact day of our 25th wedding anniversary. I can't think of a better way to spend our big day...in a new land with many sights to discover.

This was the view from our balcony room as we pulled into port that morning. We took a ton of photos as we ate our breakfast, watching as we sailed into this new world. It was quite a mix of architecure from the high rise buildings to the stone fortress and the old city.

I used Graphically Speaking Cricut cartridge to cut the first word "discover" and a font cartridge in two layers for "Cartagena". "Discover" was placed overlapping the top edge of the picture to blend the photo into the horizon. The Fiskars postage stamp border punch is one I'm using a lot in this travel album. I really love the red and blue togehter which were pulled from the ship and freight in the photos. The paper is DCWV, Creative Memories, and Kraft. 

On the right side I stamped a  medallion (StampinUp!) in dark red as a backdrop for the compass cut with the Going Places Cricut cartridge. I layered it onto Kraft, and then colored in the letters for more definition. I used the compass to journal the day and date of the cruise. The medallion stamp seemed to really help the compass pop. I inked the edges of the compass to grunge it up a little and placed an antique brad in the center. All of the journalling is done on strips of Kraft. 

My second layout of Cartagena is pictures we took while on the bus going into Cartagena. You may want to double click on these and check out the culture and the locals selling items in the street. They do have a beautiful beach, but we didn't stop there.  

Our tour guide's name was Harold. We had to wear tape on our shoulder with his name, so we didn't forget to get back into the correct bus. He had very good English and was so happy and proud  to show us around his country. Much of the area we drove through was very poor and dirty.

The cardstock is Deja Views. I used a little map patterned masking tape across the page under the title.

On the right side I cut a large highway sign (Going Places cartridge) using K & C Co. patterned paper. I journalled along the solid green paper edge. The bus is also from Going Places cartridge. I inked the edges to grunge it up a little. I had to be so selective with my pictures. I could have probably made 3 double layouts just of the bus ride itself, but I thought these gave a pretty good overview of the sights.

I still can't believe we were that far from home. I never dreamed we'd be in South America, even for just one day! What a wonderful cruise with such memorable ports. If you ever get a chance to stop in Cartagena, Columbia, you better go and check it out. There will be several more layouts to share soon from this beautiful destination.

Have a fun 4th of July holiday!! We'll be grilling up some shishkabobs and eating some type of strawberry dessert. So many yummy summer foods to choose from. We are very blessed to live in a country where we have many freedoms, but lets remember that these freedoms were bought with such a price! Enjoy your Independence Day!