Stamps Ahead

One of the fun things that my sister and I did when we were in New Zealand at the beginning of this year was a ride on the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway.  This just had to make you smile as the train went past this "Lavatree", in a private garden, on the side of the railway line. Yesterday, I posted a layout on which I had created lines of acrylic paint - this morning I decided to try it with my Dylusions paints and ink sprays.   I have kept the layout simple to show off the background. I am going to add this to Paper Issues Spring Crop. Below are the layouts before I added the photos and alphas.  Not colours I normally use, so it was good to get out of my comfort zone. Thank you for looking and smiling, Margaret.

Today, I am completing a Double Delight Sketch Challenge over at Soul Scrappers and here is my layout:  And a close up of both pages: Here is the Double Delight Sketch from Soul Scrappers: I have left space for photos I will be taking when I visit Disneyland later this year.   The papers are from Simple Stories Say Cheese 111. Thank you for looking.   Margaret :)

Here is my second layout for cyber crop over at Paper Issues - it was called 'Frost the Cake' and the requirements were to use strips of different paper or stripes of different paints on the background. I went with bold stripes of acrylic paint applied with a credit card to white cardstock.  Here are the tubes of nothing fancy colour (which I have had forever) that I used as well as a photo of the background before adding photo etc. I love how the colours blended into each other.  The hardest part - waiting for it to dry!!! The photo was taken on the wharf of  Nukuʻalofa, in Tonga  with the locals greeting us as the ship docked there.  So colourful and such warm and happy people. I have used a favourite stencil by Tim Holtz and I applied Opaque Texture Paste to it. I want to finish with a fantastic quote I found: "Paint your life in bright colours and bold strokes."  Hallmark Thank you for looking, Margaret :)

This weekend I am participating in an on-line spring crop run by Paper Issues.  Check them out on facebook. Here is my first layout: In this crop we were to be inspired by the work of Cassie Box and I selected her layout posted on 18th April, 2018 as inspiration. I am preparing for a visit to Disneyland later in the year so there is no photo on my layout as yet.  I used patterned papers and stickers from Simple Stories Say Cheese 111. Sequins and cardstock from my stash. Thank you for looking, off to do more layouts this weekend, as it seems Autumn has finally arrived in my neighbourhood here in Australia, good to stay indoors away from the cold and rain - not complaining we really need it here, even in the more populated areas. Margaret :)

I am participating in another challenge at Soul Scrappers this weekend.  This challenge was called Pick 3, more about that later.  Here is my layout: Here is how it works - you get a list of items to choose from and then you must choose 3 of those items to use on your layout or card. You can use other things, but you must use at least 3 of the items from the list below and let us know which 3 you chose. Here is the list and I have highlighted the items I chose: Flowers The colour pink Heart (s) Floral print patterned paper Wood veneer Bling/gems Ribbon The photo was taken about 8 years ago at Tangalooma Resort, near Brisbane in Queensland. I suppose it was just looking for the right inspiration to be scrapped.   I have used many items from my stash to complete this layout and many may recognize some from their own stash.  The patterned paper is from Basic Grey.  I love the words on the embellishments sums up my attitude to life. Thank you for lookin

Here is a layout I have completed for a sketch challenge at Soul Scrappers .   Here is the inspiration sketch. My photo is of The Radiance of the Sea docked in Auckland.  After the completion of my cruise in January that ended in Auckland I met my sister and in the afternoon we took a ferry ride across the water.  Looking back I saw the ship in dock. Now, a funny story (well funny to me).  I got off the ship at approx. 8am and I was heading towards the hotel my sister was staying at to join her for a week long adventure to Bay of Islands.  I arrived to take a taxi to the hotel - the taxi driver informs me "it is just over there - you could walk", so off I trotted with my bags laughing all the way.   Thank you for looking, I am off today onto the water - a ferry ride locally - not quite a cruise but on the water nevertheless!

Time for one more post before I head off to bed........this is another card I developed for the group of ladies at local community group. This card uses Tim Holtz Alteration die called Sewing Room and some free stamps that were included in a magazine some time ago.  Other bits and pieces are from my stash. The card is square. My mother was a tailoress and taught my sister and I to sew, knit and embroider therefore this card reminds me of her skills.   Once again, I am going to post this to Soul Scrappers   for their challenge to use a die on a card. Thank you for looking and good night. Margaret.

Sharing today a card I designed for the ladies from the class I lead at a local community centre.  I was inspired by a card I saw on Pinterest . This artist, Anne Tuck, had in turn been inspired by a card she found on Pinterest. Her card used paint card samples - I went with cardstock and glossy cardstock. My card uses die cuts for Butterfly (Stampin' Up!) and Delicate Fern (Memory Box Inc).  The leaves, in the background, were squares with 2 opposite corners punched with corner rounder. The butterfly was created using glossy paper with Distress Oxide Inks rubbed onto it and then die cut. There is a card challenge over at Soul Scrappers to use die cut on a card...I think this one meets that criteria. Thank you for looking. Margaret 😊

What do you do when you lose your MOJO and there is a heap of inspiration out there?  Well, you get stuck right into creating.  This weekend I have been creating.  Here is a layout I have completed for a challenge over at Soul Scrappers - the challenge is random word challenge PHOTO and we were to use one of the following on our layout - Say Cheese; What a View: Snap: Camera Shy; Photo Bomb or Selfie.   I choose What a view.   Here is my layout. I took the photograph last year when I visited Central Australia.  It is of Kata Tjuta (also know as The Olgas).   I took a trip out to see them and do a walk around the rocks.  They are just as spectacular as Uluru (in fact they are larger in size). In search of inspiration that would do my photo justice I came across Scrapbook Boutique blog and there was a layout/video by Louise Turner that got my mojo going. I have used products available from Kaszazz on my layout.  I have kept the embellishments to a minimum as I did not see flowers,