Stamps Ahead

Another challenge completed over at Scrapbook Challenges.  This time it was a challenge to use a previous SC sketch layout and then add: 4 patterned papers (I actually used 5 as the strip to the left seemed to blend into the background Card Stock. 1 fibre (twine, ribbon etc - I used ribbon that I ruched up as I used glue dots to adhere) Minimum 1 stamped image (My favourite Medallion Stamp from Stampin' Up!) Minimum 1 technique (ink, sanding, tearing etc I distresse the edges of wide blue strip to imitate the waves, and also use ink around the Memories title) Minimum 2 metal bits - around the ribbon and bottom left The photographs were taken earlier this month when my sister and I were walking along Waikiki Beach in Hawaii. Enjoy.  I am "on a roll" with my scrapbooking this weekend.

I am catching up with scrapbooking since I came back from holidays and I was over at Scrapbook Challenges and in November they had "Gratitude" challenges posted.  This challenge was to select at digi layout as inspiration and then interpret as a paper layout.  I was inspired by a layout by Tanyia. I liked the small squares of  patterned paper (PP).  What my photo does not show is that the floral PP has glitter and it really pops on the pages. I added some jewellery findings for additional sparkle. I am grateful for meeting my friend Reta from Kentucky.  We met over 22 years ago on a European holiday and I have spent many happy holidays with her in USA, and she visited Australia in 1995.  This month she celebrated her 90th birthday. 

Yesterday, my sister and I went fishing at The Entrance, New South Wales. We tried out our new fishing rods and licences (well not really new we have had since August but have not used previously). The Entrance is on the Central Coast of NSW but one hour north from my home. We did not catch any fish this time but it was fun trying.  Here I am  looking the part.  Lunch was at Toowoon Bay, again on the Central Coast, just down the road from The Entrance.  Toowoon Bay Beach.  Love this shot.  Glorious.  There is something about seeing a bench in front of a beautiful tree.  Rock fishing at Toowoon Bay - not for us - give us a river or lake anytime.... As children, our family spent many happy times on The Central Coast and in particular The Entrance and it is always great going back.

Just sharing with you some of my Christmas celebrations.  My sister came for breakfast, before we headed out to Christmas lunch at our brothers place.  I made coconut and raspberry pancakes. I found the recipe online, basically it is a standard pancake batter with added coconut and raspberries (fresh or frozen). The recipe called for coconut essence to be added but I did not add as I did not have any, and I am not sure it would have been necessary. They were yummy served with fresh double cream and additional raspberries.  The plate was a gift from my friend in US. This is the card I gave my sister for Christmas. She has booked to tour Highclere Castle, where they film Downtown Abbey, in April.  She has booked for afternoon tea as well, so I made this card - the main images came from the web, I printed on cardstock and then adhered to card front.  I put some more images in the middle together with some money for her to enjoy the afternoon...

I have started scrapbooking my photos from my recent holiday - a couple I did whilst I was away when I attended an all day crop in Jefferson City with friends. This double layout of the beautiful, fresh water Spring River Bayou Access. On 8th November my friends took me to this beautiful area of Arkansas (not far from their farm in Missouri).  I could not fish as I did not have a licence, so I had a great walk around the river area.  Each person can only catch 5 fish each. On 12 November (Veteran's Day in the USA) I travelled from Jefferson City, MO to St Louis, MO.  I have been to St Louis before but have never had the opportunity to investigate the Gateway Arch.  This layout features the professional photo taken as you go up to the top of the Arch. It was a beautiful day with hardly a cloud in the sky.  The views from the top were just amazing. I am so glad that I got the opportunity to go to the top of this landmark.  This layout is of ...

Before I went on holidays I participated in a day of cardmaking for Christmas cards for Australian Armed Forces organised by Karen aka Paper Lady . It was our 3rd year and each year more cards are made.  Here are some photos, taken by Karen:  A surprise visit from the Army I invited our army representative to make a card and he did. Smiling through the day Together with the cards from this day and cards made throughout the year (I have previous posts of cards that ladies made with me that were donated) Karen was able to deliver 4,631 cards that will be distributed to our troops overseas to send home to loved ones. Thank you Karen for your continued support of this initiative.  For more information click on the link for Paper Lady above.

Santa Monica, California Las Vegas, Nevada San Diego Zoo San Diego Zoo St Louis, Missouri Waikiki, Hawaii I have been travelling in USA.  Here are just a few photos of some of the places I went. I will be starting my scrapbooking of my adventures shortly, so please check back soon.

Thank you for coming to my blog, do I say that enough?  This is a rather lengthy entry as I have had painters in for the past week and my house looks like an episode of "Hoarders", they have gone now and I am trying to catch up with all that needs to be done to get back into order. Once again, over at Scrapbook Challenges there was a Progressive Scrapbooking challenge for September. Here are the steps published each week: Week 1 Choose one 4" x 6" photo (hold on to it) Choose and adhere a pattern paper (pp) background (no cardstock allowed) Choose  and adhere another piece of pp to match and cut to any size you like Week 2 Choose and adhere one piece of pp and cut a 2" wide strip Choose and adhere another co-ordinating pp and cut to about 8" x 8" or 9" x 9" Week 3 Place your photo on layout add journal spot and subtitle(s) Week 4 Add title , journaling and embellishments!. Here are my finished layouts. Yes, I di...

Firstly, this card design was popular with the ladies of the local craft group, who have been making Christmas cards for the troops for the past 4 weeks.  Together they completed 286 cards that I will deliver to Paper Lady, Karen ,who founded and co-ordinates this initiative, on Saturday.  Contact her if you would like to be involved. Closing date for 2012 is 2nd November. Secondly, here are some photos of the some of  ladies creating their cards this week. Thank you to all the ladies involved.  Margaret

Okay, I have taken the plunge and signed up for Pinterest as over at Scrapbook Challenges they had a challenge to create a layout inspired by a 'pin' on Pinterest.  I was inspired by this layout by Nicole Samuels , I loved the scallop border. Here is my layout inspired by her layout. My photos were taken not far from where my sister and I were staying in London.  We were on our way to Christmas afternoon tea at The Ritz last December.  Even though they were taken at the same time, the exposure is different.  The one of me, on the right, is closer to what it was actually like.  Thank you Nicole for your inspiration. 

Scrapbook Challenges  had a progressive scrapping challenge, this month, over 4 weeks.  Here are the steps: Rules: One step per week will be given. New steps will be give each Wednesday. Step 1. Choose your photo. Don’t add it yet. Choose a soft or faded patterned paper. Distress or rip one corner Place a plain paper beneath. Step 2. Add 1-3 paper strips, 1 piece of lace, and stitching(faux or real) Post your LO for step 2 in the gallery and link back here. Remember you can dress your papers and embellies up with ink, paints or mists. Step 3. Crop your photo into a circle or oval. Frame the photo. Place embellishments behind the photo. (flowers, vines, branches etc.) Post your LO for step 3 in the gallery and link back here. Step 4. Add ribbons and a bow Add something that flies. Add shadows as needed.  I loved the idea so much I did two layouts simultaneously.  Here are my finished layouts. What do you think of them and the idea of a progressive challenge. ...

Here are two more cards that I demonstrated to the ladies of the craft group yesterday.  Again there are many variations of this theme.   Both of these cards make good use of scraps that you may have around the place. Thanks for looking.  Margaret

No, not the classical piece of music! For the month of August I am helping out at a local craft group and we have been making Christmas Cards for our Overseas Troops to send back home to their loved ones. Here is one card I developed for last week. As you can see the basic design is the same, but variations in the use of silver card/corregated cardstock, ribbon/thread and background paper.  The ladies did a terrific job on their cards. Please accept the photograph it has been sunny in Sydney today and it reflects on the silver paper. Who am I to complain after the cold weather we have been having lately I will accept the sun on my cards.

Whilst blog surfing I came across this poem, author unknown: A Scrapbooker  A scrapbooker is a treasure seeker, a rainbow chaser, a smile maker, a memory keeper. A scrapbooker preserves a moment in time and saves a dream from being forgotten. A scrapbooker clothes a piece of yesterday in the caring hands of today and makes a legacy of love for tomorrow. A scrapbooker is a treasure seeker, a rainbow chaser, a smile maker, a memory keeper. A scrapbooker is one who sees that knowing our roots gives us wings... and understanding our past gives us hope to celebrate our future. Note: The original has references to "she" eg she preserves ..............but as I know there are male scrapbookers out there so I have amended so the term is generic to all scrapbookers. 

Another challenge over at Scrapbook Challenges  where there was a list of bizarre holidays that exist for the month of August.  You needed to select one of the dates and scrap about it - it didn't have to consist of actual photos taken that day, but you needed find a way to connect them. I was particularly taken with 6th August - Wiggle your toes day.  This photo was taken at Kiama, NSW (about 3 hours south of Sydney) in 2011. I could not resist the urge to dip my toes into the beautiful sea water - bliss on a hot day.  I love this photo (that was not taken on 6th August!) and I did not know how to go about scrapping it until this challenge gave me the perfect opportunity.  Winter in Sydney is almost at an end - I am looking forward to summer and the opportunity to wiggle my toes much more.

Once again my starting point was a layout sketch from Scrapbook Challenges .  I instantly liked the sketch however it turned out to be more difficult than I imagined due to the colour difference between the photo and the postcard of Grace Kelly. In May, this year, with 8 friends I travelled to Bendigo in Victoria to visit the Grace Kelly Style Icon exhibition.  The exhibition featured many of her clothes and accessories and also costumes from some of her movies. We were not allowed to take photos hence the postcard. Like many I grew up watching her movies and reading about her in magazines.  One of my favourite movies of hers is "High Society" and the wardrobe designer gave her all the clothes she wore in the movie.  It was great to see them up close. Whilst we were in Bendigo we also visited many of the other highlights of the city - and the photo of me was taken in the conservatory in Bendigo Botanical Gardens. Thanks for looking...

Over at Scrapbook Challenges there was a colour challenge and I quote "find an image of the uniforms your service men wear. Whether it's the army, navy, air force, or specialty force, use their uniform's colors as your palette! If you feel so led, you can also draw inspiration from the detailing on them. When you post your LO, post the pic of the uniform you based your LO on too." Okay, definitely a challenge, Australian uniforms are KHAKI. It was difficult to get a photo as most are copyright, however I found one , about a week ago, that I could use as the inspiration for this challenge: I hope you stay with me as I tell you my thought process for this challenge. KHAKI could not get inspiration on how to use on a scrapbook page. 1. This morning I went to www.dictionary.com and put in KHAKI and one of the results was - DULL YELLOWISH BROWN. Getting less inspired with this. 2. Saw that there was a quote of the day on the page - "An idea is a point of depar...

On 1st January this year, my sister and I were in France and we decided to visit the Flea markets at Porte de Clignancourt.  My sister had visited these markets previously and had raved and raved about them, so we were looking forward to our visit this day.  Well, the French slept in obviously after celebrating New Years Eve as all the stalls were closed and did not open until much later than advertised.  We wandered around the labyrinth of market stalls and eventually found this one open and it was one of my sister's favourite from her previous visit.   A real treasure trove of unique objects. The embellishments on the page with the exception of heart and little sticker bottom right were purchased from the stall.. The background paper has french words all relating to commerce and marchandises and it was just appropriate for the layout. Thank you for looking.  Adieu.  Margaret

Over at Scrapbook Challenges  they had a layout to use that was just perfect for scrapping many photos. These photos were taken on 13th December, 2011 at the 5.30pm seating for Christmas Afternoon Tea at The Ritz in London.  We pre-booked before we left Australia.   Below is the double page layout.  Below is the left hand page with more detail.  This one is of the right hand page detail. The journalling says: Our afternoon to get all dressed up! We took the tube to Green Park, we walked to Fortnum & Mason and Picadilly Arcade before heading for The Ritz. We left our coats in the Cloak Room and got an impressive token and I pretended it was our room key!!! The tress were amazing decorated in red, gold and tea cups and tea pots and we posed for photos, of course! The time came for us to be ushered into the tea rooms, soft music, flowers and perfectly set tables awaiting us. And then the food and drinks arrived.  I had The Ritz Royal...

There are many blogs that have Clean and Simple Cards but I have gone for a clean and simple scrapbook layout. Last December, my sister (bottom left) and I were in Vence, Provence, France and we went for lunch at this restaurant, "Le Passe Muraille", in the old town on Christmas Day. Lunch was in the 700 year old cellar of the restaurant, it had a very jazz feel to it. There was about 13 people in the restuarant and there was Christmas music playing in the background. People in France celebrate Christmas Eve and so the old town was very quiet.We had the set menu of 38 Euro each. Menu de Jeuner de Noel Champagne and blackcurrant liquer (Welcome) As a non drinker I had Diet Coke. Small bread entrees - pate, cheese, bacon etc (See plate in the photos) Scallops and seafood 2 Fish with rice and cauliflower Goats cheese with salad Meringues Buche de Noel I hope that you have enjoyed this layout as much as we enjoyed out meal, well with the excepti...