Stamps Ahead

Here is a layout I finished today for a challenge over at Archiscraps Community Group on Facebook.  Archiscraps use architecture as the basis for their challenges.  This month we were to be inspired by this photo - with the additional challenge of using scallops and texture.  This is the first time I have completed a challenge on this site. I have achieved texture on my layout by using threads, pins, words and I have used an old 12" square canvas by Finnabar as my background. Whenever I hear the word "scallops" my mind always turns to a dress that I made in the late 60's.   I just loved a dress designed by Prue Acton, at that time an up and coming Australian designer, the pattern of which is above.  At this stage I was still making my own clothes and I fell in love with the scalloped hem (pattern shown above) and together my mother and I created a dress for me based on this.  We created the scallops on the kitchen table using various sized cups until we were satisfie

I am trying to catch up with a few March challenges today, it is cold, wet and windy outside today, so a great day to be doing it! This layout was for a challenge over at White with 1  where the challenge is to use white with black. Inspiration mode board to be inspired by. The photo, of my sister (sitting right) and I would have been taken circa 1952 - 70 YEARS AGO!!! We are sitting in a bush furniture bench that our Dad and Grandfather would have made.  It sat for many years on the front verandah of our home.  My sister and I were usually dressed alike, in clothes made by our mother,  and we would have been celebrating a birthday I am sure - I have a few more photos showing us on the bench through the years. Our younger brother would join us a few years later. Here is a close up of the photo on my layout.  I found it difficult locating just the right papers for this layout, and in the end found the background paper you see here (it had a grey tinge that I felt matched the photo perfe

 Here is my layout for the March challenge over at ARTastic  challenge blog For their challenges this year they made some changes and during inspiration for our layouts will come from ART ROOMS (aka store window displays).  How we interpret the displays is totally up to creator.  Here is the challenge room for this month  As you can see I was inspired by the leaves around three sides of the display - so I pulled out my leaf dies/stamps and went too town!   The photos were taken in 2015 when I and some friends spent a book club weekend at Leura in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales.  In the property that we stayed in I spied this mushroom and it was a delight to watch it 'blossom' during the 4 days we spent there.  Like a lot of my photos they have stayed and each time I think I will reduce the photos in my stash I just could not depart with them.  Thank you for looking, Margaret

I have made this simple card in support of the people of Ukraine.   Many cardmakers across the world are flooding the internet with cards made in the flag colours of Ukraine to show their support for Ukraine and its people. I was inspired by a card I found when I goggled Sizzix Geo Floral Frame die - unfortunately the link to the creator no longer works. Thank you for looking, Margaret #cardsforukraine

Last night I attended a local youth club and together they each created an Easter card to be given to residents at local retirement villages and others.   Here are the cards they created.  My thanks to my sister (mentor to the group) for her assistance and making card inserts to write their name. The card I designed for them uses a reverse stencil technique.  They first inked up Distress Oxide ink onto a craft sheet/acrylic block/plastic then sprayed with water.  Next, place the stencil into the water/ink and then lay it onto the white cardstock and then press to transfer the inks and dry with a heat gun.  The tag/cross I prepared for each card.  The cross die was a long ago free purchase with a magazine.  The youth enjoyed making their card for donation Thank you for looking, Margaret

 Here are the two cards I prepared for the local community group today A card that really displays the woodgrain paper beautifully. Minimal stamping. This card has a 'wow' - when the recipient opens the card there is a great fold.  I was inspired by a card I found on the internet. I needed to make a few changes to the measures to fit Australian measurements.      A Pop Up Card Idea with All You Need to Make an Amazing Surprise (simplysimplestamping.com) Thank you Connie for the inspiration.   This could be a birthday card, anniversary card, wedding card, etc.  The stamps are Kaszazz Silhouette Garden and FSJ Make Amazing Happen with die cut.   Thank you for looking. Margaret

 Here is my layout for the 3rd and final challenge at White with 1 Earth cyber crop. This was a Tic Tac Toe challenge (one of my favourite forms of challenge criteria).  Here is the board.  I selected straight down the middle - wood veneer, earth theme and stencil background (texture paste mixed with Bundled Sage Distress Oxide Ink).  I search my stash for any wood veneer flowers and the hearts and any other wood veneer I thought would work.  You may be able to see that I also added a shimmer to give that extra sparkle!                                                      I have had this photo of water lilies forever!  I took it years ago when my father was alive and I took him for a drive and if memory serves me well it was in the Hawkesbury area. I decided to search the internet for some interesting facts about water lilies and I found out these and more from www.bhg.com  There are many colours of water lily. From classic white bursting from a white lily pad to rainbow colours, jewel

 This layout I completed for a challenge at the White with 1 Earth cyber crop. The challenge White with green. Nature themed leaves or trees and product to be used was fibres of some sort. I took this photo at sunset at Uluru during a visit in September 2019.  After I stamped the trees with Distress Oxide Peeled Paint I sprayed water over the trees.  Two of the trees I did stamp separately and then die cut.   I was going to put hessian/burlap under the base of the photo but it looked too heavy so in a spurt of inspiration I frayed it and used it under the entire photo.   To finish off I took a marker and added some darker green to the trees. This was indeed a beautiful moment and one not to be forgotten for a long time. Thank you for looking, Margaret

Here is a layout I have created for White with 1  Earth Cyber Crop that is on this weekend. This layout is for their first challenge  The challenge was White with Earthy Brown with theme Exploring the Outdoors and to use either wood veneer or chipboard.  The story of the photos.  For several years in 1970's and 80's I was a Girl Guide Leader. The Sydney Opera House was opened Queen Elizabeth 11 on 20 October, 1973, so of course the Girls Guides and Leaders headed to Sydney to wait for the Queen to pass by - it was an early start and a long wait for her car to arrive.  Eventually, it was time - there she is - cameras at the ready to capture this moment in time. Well, my photo does show her gloved 'wave' as she passed us by and this was the only view that we got on the day! Here is the photo more closely.  When a younger Queen Elizabeth 11 visited Parliament House in 1963 Sir Robert Menzies, a former Prime Minister of Australia in part expressed his admiration for her by

 Today Calvinball had an on-line crop and here is a layout I completed during the crop.  The rules I used included - handwritten journalling, date your layout, chipboard, frame, camera, flair, polka dot paper, washi tape, mushrooms and I found an AVOCADO on some cooking papers I had. Can you find the avocado on my layout? Hint - it is obscuring peoples faces. And no, we did not have avocado or mushrooms for dinner! Last night my sister (top left), our friend Heather (bottom) and I (top right) went to the Preview Restaurant at Ourimbah TAFE (Technical and Further Education).  The restaurant is a training venue for students studying inthe Hospitality Section of the college and is open for lunch and dinner on several days and nights.  We enjoyed ourselves and will plan to go again later in the year.   Remember if you want to participate in Calvinball check out    http://scraphappy.org/calvinball . Thank you for looking, Margaret

A card that I have made for the ladies (sorry, no men in the class) in the community group where I lead cardmaking classes. I realised when I finished that it did include a couple of rules in Calvinball 2022. I was inspired by a card that I saw on Pinterest - unfortunately the link no longer appears so I am unable to leave some love for the designer.  I used some old patterned paper from Stampin' Up! that I had in my stash.   Why not head to this link    http://scraphappy.org/calvinball  to find out more about Calvinball. Scrapbook layouts, Mini albums, Art Journal pages, Decorated daily planner pages and more are projects that you can share. Thank you for looking, Margaret

Layout No. 2 for Calvinball 2022 Rules used - Single layout, Green, Blue and Yellow (Distress Oxides Prize Ribbon and Mustard Seed smooched together), Stencil (Raindrops), Silver (Texture Paste and Glitter Kiss/Creative Expressions mixed together), Tropical flowers or leaves, stamping, date, arrow, camera. Record breaking rain over Australia's east coast has flooded towns and cities in Queensland and New South Wales (NSW), submerging thousands of homes and business and unfortunately there has been people who have lost their lives.  I live on the Central Coast of NSW and whilst I, my brother and his wife, and my sister are safe in our homes, we have not escaped the record rainfall that is expected to continue for several days more. Local roads have flooded, potholes have lost any repairs that have been made leaving big holes in lots of streets and laneways.  The photo above was taken on a street in Ettalong Beach.  I had attempted to take a photo of the ducks enjoying the pools of w

In my last post I shared the single page Sunflower layout that I had made for a recent class that I held. A friend really liked the layout and requested that I make her a double page layout.  Here it is: Unfortunately, the weather here today is overcast and rainy and the layout does not show the glittering wings of the Bumble Bee.   More photos below. Now, the good news, my layout also qualifies for Calvinball 2022 - A fun and entertaining scrapbook challenge for March, based on the cartoon characters Calvin and Hobbs. They would make up rules for the games they played - the rules could be added or taken away at any time. Every day new rules are added to Calvinball and you total up your points for whatever you have made. For example my layout got to 11 points and this is how they came to be: Double page layout - 2 points Polka dots (the base paper) - 1 point Green (the dots and leaves) - 1 point Bees - 1 point (not 2 points you can only count once) Hand coloured images - I coloured wit

 This past weekend I ran two classes that featured Sunflower images  Coloured with Distress Oxide Inks - Vintage Photo, Fired Brick, Fossilized Amber and Bundled Sage. A little bit of Distress Stickles Glue to make the wings sparkle.  Same colours used in the layout. Those doing the single page layout had the option of purchasing a small kit to make a mirror image double layout. Some random facts, courtesy of internet searching: Sunflowers are associated with positivity.  They are the national flower of Ukraine and people are flooding social media with photos of Sunflowers.  Who knew when I started researching a couple of weeks earlier that what we are now seeing in Ukraine came to pass. The current world record for the tallest Sunflower was set in Germany in 2014 (I checked and it still stands today apparently). It had its own scaffolding.  How tall did it grow? 30 feet, 1 inch (9.17m)! Sunflowers are native to the Americas. The sunflower was a common crop to American Indian tribes th